SILENCE AND SOUND | LARRY AU

15 | SECOND CHANCES

SILENCE AND SOUND | CHAPTER 15

Door-bell. Bang. Thud. Thud. Bang. Another door-bell.

"What the fuck is going on?" Harry groaned in annoyance as he bolted down the stairs to give a piece of his mind to whoever was banging on his door at 1.00 AM.

A little part of him that was a fan of cheesy rom-coms hoped that it was Louis and when he opened up the door, his hopes – for once in life – didn't disappoint him. It was Louis. He looked like a God, as always. But along with Louis, there was Zayn.

"What the fuck are you doing here?"

"I drove Louis here and I'm here to talk to you." Zayn said with a calm voice. He wasn't angry at all, which confused Harry, but when he looked at Louis again, the latter only nodded in encouragement and so, Harry let them in. They settled across the big living room – all three of them on three different seats – and Zayn was the first one to start talking.

"I didn't do it."

"What?"

"The graffiti on your trophy case and everything. I didn't do it."

"How stupid do you think I am?" Harry said in part anger and part disbelief. How dare he lie to Harry's face? "I recognized your signature at the bottom, Zayn. As much as it might shock you to think that, I actually loved you and paid attention to the things you did back when we were still friends."

Zayn had known this was going to happen. After all, he knew Harry well, too. He knew the boy better than anyone in the world after Gemma. They'd done everything together since they were literally four years old and that understanding doesn't just go away. Zayn knew Harry's temper wouldn't let him see sense and so, when Louis came over earlier this evening to take him to Harry and to tell him about the whole ordeal, the raven-head had decided that he was going to set things right this time. Once and for all.

"Then you also know that I have a stencil for my signature. The same one we made together."

"What's your point?"

"My point is that the team members stole my stencil. Since I am the captain, they brought the idea of ruining your trophies with my graffiti stuff, but I outright forbid them to do it. But, just because I'm captain doesn't mean they listen to me because outside the field, I'm not like them and I'm not their friend and they went behind my back to steal my stencil so that the blame would fall on me."

"Oh."

"That's what I thought." he said and snorted as he finally looked at Harry. Those familiar green eyes that'd become so comforting over the years that it was hard to believe that Zayn hadn't seen something other than hate in them for himself since over two years. That was, until tonight. "I never meant to ruin things between us, Harry. When mum married Asad, I was furious and I lost myself a little along the way."

"I'd say." Harry muttered and Louis had to swat his arm to get him to shut up. Seeing the gesture, Zayn had to try hard not to smile at the two of them. Nobody could deny that it was a total couple move, but he decided to stay on course for the time being.

"If you'd only stayed with me and not given up on me like practically everyone else, we would've been okay, Haz."

"Zayn, you never told me anything anymore. You started lying –"

"– Because you would always judge me when I told you the truth."

"No, I didn't, Zayn." Harry said quietly and then moved closer to Zayn. "I'm sorry if it looked or felt like I was judging you. I just – I just thought that if I pestered you enough, you'd get annoyed and listen to me to get me off your back. I'm sorry I wasn't there for you when you needed me the most." He said and his head hung low in shame and Zayn's heart melted. He didn't care they had hated each other's guts for the past two years because at the root of that hate was complete and utter heartbreak from loss of a friend.