Satellite Stomper and Wild Sunflower [Zarry Stylik AU]©️

It takes time...

H,

A few weeks later ...

We fixed each other with time; after all, we had sunk into the shit, and we needed to get ourselves out.

Of course, we weren't trying to lie to our friends and family, but we didn't need judgment or commentaries on what we should or shouldn't do.

We just... did.

Not to say our friends didn't care for us, but they could be overprotective and sometimes rush with their judgements, without taking into account our feelings.

It was all from a place of love, of course.

To the outside world, Zayn and I weren't on speaking terms. We kept it simple; whenever one was mentioned to the other, we'd say:

"I don't know. Haven't seen or spoken to him."

Our friends would then easily understand that we tried to fix things, but weren't successful. They knew that Zayn and I had spoken once, but no more. They knew we didn't want to talk about it. They knew not to probe. It was for the best.

In a way, it was funny trying to see them manoeuvre our relationship. How they wouldn't mention Zayn's name when I was around or how they did the same with him. Dinners and pints became trickier: they would either alternate who they would invite or divide the group in two.

"Oh, going for a pint with Lou and Xander tonight." I'd say.

"I'm meeting Niall and Liam for some footie game." Zayn would add.

And that's how things would work. Scheduled visits, timed appearances and little mention of us.

Meanwhile, between us, we tried to make the best of it.

Of course, things weren't perfectly fine overnight. It takes time. It's not something that just... happens.

Many would suggest we see a therapist and go over certain aspects of our relationship, but...we believed we had it. We still argued, of course, and it was hard to keep accusations out of our lips. But, we managed to talk through our resentment, recognize the mistake and build from there.

We wouldn't scream, storm out or yell out of passion. Whenever a statement with a little more weight came between us, we would pause.

Silence.

Let it sit between us, giving time to process it and then go from there. With calm, addressing any emotions that ran between us. Lower our heads and apologize, if need be, or recognize this or that situation.

It demanded complete dedication and ego death. We were fighting for ourselves and not for a prize. It wasn't supposed to be easy - it was supposed to be uncomfortable.

Trust was essential. We learned to mean what we say and say what we mean, with every word and intent. We were vulnerable whenever doubts began creeping back and we'd talk for hours.

We would talk about past actions, correct ourselves and express our emotions. It was an exercise that demanded a lot of effort from both of us, but we worked on it.

And little by little, as time went by, who we were and what we had done was nothing but a mirage. As Zayn and Harry we managed to become better versions of ourselves, completely attuned to who we were. We didn't forget our mistakes, we learned to live with them and moved forward learning the lesson.

I found a few more freelance gigs as a photographer, collaborating with a magazine, and working on special editions and other photoshoots... Zayn had his shop and gradually was starting to tattoo again - small designs at first.