Reverberate - an Echo of Us sequel |Zarry|

one.

Zayn didn't want to cheat.

He genuinely didn't. They were married, they had three kids, sort of. They were in love and everything was perfect. Why would he cheat when he had a husband who adored him and was so beautiful millions of people around the world would kill to get a chance to do as little as kiss him? And yet there he was, cheating.

It felt incredibly hypocritical since their last breakup was kickstarted by Zayn holding Harry drunkenly kissing a friend during a game against him, and the media made it into a full-fledged cheating scandal. Ten years, a marriage and three children later, Zayn was the one cheating and it wasn't just a drunken kiss.

He didn't set out to just go about cheating on the love of his life. Because Zayn isn't stupid or heartless, he loves Harry despite the mess they've both unconsciously created. He's going to love him until the day he dies and he doesn't want to leave him. It's the last thing he wants to do. His love for Harry has burned brightly in his heart for so many years, it's unthinkable that he could fall out of it at any point in his life, for any reason. Harry is the one constant in his life, from the time when they were in a different country every day, young and wild, to now when their lives are more settled. Harry is at the centre of it like the sun of the solar system of Zayn's life. That is why he's hiding his indiscretions, because he can't bear Harry leaving. It would wreck him and he doesn't like to imagine how that would look.

Zayn knows exactly the first time he thought about cheating, in their current relationship, titled take three, matrimony and two babies. Isla and Milo were about seven months old. Zayn was lying in bed, waiting for Harry to come back from their room after putting them to sleep. Truth be told, he was horny. They hadn't had sex for more than two months. It was ridiculous because not that long ago, they had rarely gone more than two days without sex. It wasn't anything to be ashamed of, they both enjoyed sex, they were good at it and they were both attractive as fuck so why not have sex? And then they had kids. Two infants in their house that they loved with all their hearts but those two little humans exhausted them to no end. The first few weeks, Zayn was too tired to initiate anything more than a lazy handjob in the shower here and there but after the twins got better at sleeping and he didn't feel like a zombie, he ached for more. They had sex a few times then, proper sex, but it wasn't nearly enough. Zayn is only human and there is his husband next to him, absolutely beautiful, promenading around shirtless and naked and yet... he couldn't really touch him, not like he wanted to anyway.

So there he was, lying in bed, horny, waiting for his absolutely stunning husband to come back to bed after putting their adorable babies to bed. He was already thinking about it, how he wanted to take Harry apart, take good care of him so he wouldn't complain about getting tired. He got a semi just thinking about it. And then Harry walked in, wearing Nike shorts and an old band t-shirt with a tear near the collar, with his hair half up in a hair clip. Zayn thought he was the most beautiful man to ever walk this Earth.

"They finally fell asleep," Harry sighed as he took his clothes off and chucked them into their walk-in closet. "I'm so exhausted. It's only gonna get worse I feel." He didn't even wait for Zayn to say anything and off he went to the en-suite bathroom. Zayn heard the toilet flush, the sink running, the brushing of a toothbrush against teeth and there was the love of his life once again in the bedroom, wearing nothing but a pair of briefs.

"If it makes you feel any better, you're so sexy I could eat you whole," Zayn said, biting his lip. That usually worked on Harry. Now, he laughed.

"Alright, well," he said and got into bed. "I know I'm sexy and I know what you're trying to do but the answer is no."

"What am I trying to do?" Zayn asked, feigning ignorance as he scooted closer to Harry in the bed. "Am I trying to do something?"

"Yes," Harry scoffed and looked at him. "I'm not having sex tonight."
"Why not?" Zayn still tried to play it the nice way. He slid his hand to Harry's thigh underneath the duvet, stroking the delicate skin. "It's been so long, I swear to god my dick is gonna fall off."