The Parallels (Larry Stylinson+Niall Horan)

Chapter 37

Eyrie

“Eyrie? EYRIE!” I heard Zayn shouting from downstairs. I was in my room, watching a show on my laptop. I quickly got up and rushed outside. His voice seemed urgent and distraught. I looked at him from upstairs and saw him looking right back at me. His expression was hard to read but, he did not look happy. I registered the need in his eyes and I rushed down, towards him.

As I took the last step, he walked forward and practically fell into my arms. I stumbled a little, surprised at the sudden gesture but, managed to balance myself. I immediately hugged him back and tried to comfort him through whatever was happening. He buried his face in the curve of my neck and held me tightly. I moved my right hand, up and down his back while I patted his head with my left.

It was not like him to be so vulnerable. Even though he is pretty open with me most of the time and I have seen him all my life, he usually manages to keep his composure and rarely looses it. In that moment however, his breathing was heavy and he was uncomfortably shifting his head, not pulling away for even a second.

“Are you okay? What’s wrong, Z?” I finally asked. The silence was deafening and my worrying was not helping at all. I needed to know what was up with him and why he was so upset. I waited for his answer and he took a proper minute before he spoke up.

“I-” he sighed. “I broke up.” is all he mustered. At last, he pulled away and looked me in the eyes. His eyes, even though they did not have tears, were full of sorrow.

“Oh, love.” I said and looked at him sympathetically. He shrugged his shoulders and averted his gaze to the floor. I took a step forward and grabbed his face in my hands, lifting it up and making him look at me.

“I don’t know.” he answered my unasked question. As much as I wanted to know why he did what he did, I knew that he needed my comfort in the moment and that then was not the time to push him to give out any answers or explanation. He looked up brokenly at me and it was my turn to let out a sigh.

“Come on, let’s get you seated and comfortable first.” I said, leading him to the couch and making him sit. “How did you come here?” I asked.

“I walked.” he replied.

“From?” I questioned.

“From her house.” he answered.

“Holy.....” I exclaimed, shocked at his response. “That is more than an hour, Zayn!” I said, almost in a scolding tone.

“I know. I’m sorry. I didn’t know what else to do.” he replied in a broken voice. I felt my heart clench inside my chest at his behaviour. He simply agreed and apologised instead of replying sassily or telling me to quit it since he is the older one.

“You’re ridiculous.” I joked in hopes of lifting the mood up.

“I know that.” he said seriously and sighed, leaning back into the couch.

“Heyyyy!” I exclaimed, offended at his agreement. “You’re supposed to say that you’re not or that I am worse. You’re not supposed to agree!”

He simply nodded at my statement. I realised that there was no point in trying to humour him and I had to make him talk. That was the only way that he would accept his emotions and feel better. I moved closer to him and rested my hand on his right thigh. He looked up at me and I smiled at him.

“Look, I understand that you might need some space but, I need you to talk to me. I need you to trust me and tell me exactly what happened.” I said, looking him right in the eye. He looked back at me and possibly noticed my sincerity, which is why he decided to share right away.