fOoL fOr YoU (Zarry) *discontinued*

7.8

harry, by mistake, finds zayn in the living room at some time past 4 am. he only woke up to get some water when he heard the tv. it was on the lowest volume, but harry still heard it. zayn was curled up on the loveseat, eyes shut, mouth slightly open. harry smiles at the sight, ignoring the twinge in his heart. he slowly makes his way over to zayn, contemplating whether to let him just sleep here, but then harry thinks better of it. knowing zayn's whole body will hurt if he stays in the position he's in now.

"zee," harry quietly calls from a safe distance, not wanting to startle zayn, but he still does. "hey, 's alright, love. it's just me." it takes a second for zayn to settle down. "come lay down in bed, love." they've been sleeping in the same bed, there are a bunch of pillows between them though, because zayn can't stand touch. not like that. not when he's got his guard down.

zayn shakes his head, pulling his knees up to his chest again. harry frowns, stepping forward. he crouches down in front of zayn. "what's wrong?" zayn makes a face, pushing harry's hand away.

"oh, hey, i thought i heard you," michael suddenly says, standing in the doorway. harry hesitantly turns away from zayn.

"hi, can't sleep again?" he asks, standing up. something has been off about michael, too, for quite some time now. harry can't remember the last time he went to sleep at a decent time or got his eight hours of sleep. and he's been quieter than he usually is, opting for spending his days alone in his room rather than with any of them like he used to.

"nah," michael lightly says, brushing it off. "why are you awake? haven't you got work tomorrow?" shit. that's right. harry's got work and he can't call in sick again. he bites his lip anxiously. he's not sure what he's going to do tomorrow, the thought alone of being away from zayn is making harry feel sick. he's sure he's going to spend the whole day worrying.

"i do," harry mumbles, looking back to zayn, who's staring at michael.

"you can go to bed if you want to," michael offers. he doesn't know what happened— or well, harry thinks so at least. "i'll stay with zayn." zayn though doesn't seem to accept the offer, because he stands up and leaves. harry sees the hurt flash across michael's face, until he realises that zayn's gone to his room, not to harry's.

"wake me if something happens, alright?" harry quietly says, internally convincing himself that zayn will be fine. that he needs his sleep more than zayn needs him right now. "mike," harry calls just before michael walks off, too. "i'm here for you, yeah? i don't know what's going on or whether i'd be able to help, but i'm here whenever you need me." michael smiles and nods curtly, though he doesn't look too convinced.

harry knows he's not all that reliable to his friends. he knows they've seen him fight with zayn, seen the way he throws everything back into zayn's face. the way he goes for blood when it comes to it.

still, it stings.

——

michael's not stupid nor blind. he saw the bandages, the worry on everyone's face, the bags beneath their eyes, and the empty look in zayn's eyes. it was easy enough for him to put two and two together. he realised what happened on the third day zayn spent at louis'. luke knows that michael knows. the moment luke found out, he broke down. admitting how scared he was, how he couldn't sleep at night, how a small part of him resents zayn for calling that night, how the biggest part of him was so glad zayn called. michael didn't know what to do with that information, but luke got to unload some of his baggage, so at least there's that.

"i hate him," zayn quietly whispers as michael gets back into bed. michael's only half shocked to hear zayn talk again, he's mostly shocked because zayn chose to talk to him, and not louis or niall.