Shoving his hands in deeper into the pockets of the varsity jacket Zayn Malik bowed his head against the wind that howled seeming to encourage the rain that pounded against him that could soak his warm yet not waterproof jacket in minutes. Had he kept his temper, he’d have still been at the party, grinding up against Melissa trying to rid the recent thoughts of his curly haired classmate, but Niall Horan had slid between him and Melissa as though he was invisible and without thinking Zayn had punched him square in the nose before fleeing the scene. Darting down an alley he knew would take him to an abandoned bus stop he quickened his pace as his blood started boiling again, not only at the obnoxious way Niall had treated him, had Zayn got the protection of Liam Payne and Louis Tomlinson he wouldn’t hesitate to abuse it like Niall did either, his anger was more towards himself for letting the Irish teenager get to them after a long year of being cruel and unsociable towards everyone in an attempt to build up his own protection bubble from taunts if his secret was to ever come out. Ducking into the bus shelter he quickly reached for his cigarettes, thumbling with his lighter until the orange flame finally danced around the unlit cancer stick encouraging him to dip his head forward slightly before deeply inhaling the nicotine within him, closing his eyes he rested his head against the cool plastic enjoying feeling of the bad substance flowing through him.
“They’ll kill you.” The words were spoken slowly in a deep voice he’d recognised anywhere and made him jump a mile cracking his head against the plastic that had been so welcoming just a few moments ago.
“Jeez Style’s what the fuck is wrong with you.” He snapped waiting for his heart rate to return to normal. “Fucking freak hanging around abandoned bus stops.” Thunder rumbled in the far distance as silence fell between the two boys, Zayn continued to smoke his eyes adjusting to the relatively small space lit only by a few street lights on the other side of the road.
“I’m not a freak.” Harry Styles finally stated softly, guilt pinched at Zayn’s inside, he wasn’t a bully or naturally mean he simply didn’t want to end up like he had at his last school, so he’d kept himself to himself, much like Harry did though he’d never known Harry be rude to anyone, even when an insult was thrown his way. “And if I am, then you are too as you’re also hanging out in an abandoned bus stop.” Zayn couldn’t help but smirk, the words were thought out so carefully and he could almost hear the effort it was taking Harry not to fall over them.
“I’m keeping dry from the storm.” He replied in a neutral tone eyes finally resting on the slender frame that was leaning against the same plastic panel as him nearly towards the other end of the shelter only half of him illuminated by the streets lights behind them. “What’s your excuse?” He asked as thunder rumbled again.
“Same.” Harry replied although his certainty was gone and Zayn was sure his eyes were closed.
“Liar!” He called him out focusing on the rise and fall of Harry’s chest, his eyes wondering in admiration down the long torso before him flicking over his hips, before he silently cursed himself, he’d always thought Harry was good looking though it had been watching him bustle in late for Maths that had made Zayn really notice him, the awkwardness as he tried to move quickly without drawing any attention to himself, while carrying a mound of books throwing an apologetic look to the teacher who had waited until Harry had sat down before asking him to leave for being late, a few had snickered but Zayn had watched the other boys face fall briefly before his mask was put back in place and he’d awkwardly exited the room again. “Why you here really?” He tried realising that he was staring.
“Keeping dry from the storm.” Harry repeated his words moving his head slightly to look at Zayn. “Thought you were at Melissa’s big party?” The comment surprised him, Harry walked around as though in his own little world, the common thought was that he was stupid, Zayn wasn’t sure if he believed it as being the new kid he’d had to sit next to Harry in quite a few lessons and often saw him stuffing ‘A’ graded papers into his bag or folders.
