Once in a lifetime

Chapter 57 Hurt

"'Course I would help you, doll. I'll make sure to talk to your daddy and help you have a mom and dad, for as long as possible. M' so sorry about your mom, princess. I wish I could get her well for you, yeah?"

Zayn wanted to cry. He knew exactly what he had to do, and Harry wasn't gonna be happy.

"It's okay. I know people die and go to heaven. Mom is in pain even she doesn't say. I don't want her to hurt, I don't want her to die, either, but I prefer that, so she doesn't hurt anymore." She said, eyes wet.

"I need a hug, meri jaan. Can you hug me?" She said yes, and hugged Zayn firmly, just like a Styles.

"Are you hurting too? I like you, Zen. I don't want you to hurt either."

"No, doll, m' good. I like you a lot too. I'll talk to your daddy to help you, but I won't be able to stay boyfriends with your daddy for a while. I need to go back to where I live, and he will stay with you."

"But I want to see you more and talk to you. I want you to draw me something nice too in my arm."

"We'll see each other, just not as soon. You must go to school too, yeah? I have to go back to work."

"Yeah. I don't like maths, do you like maths?"

"No, doll, maths suck."

"Right?!" She squealed, happy to find an ally against numbers. "What is your job like?"

"I, uh, I paint. I draw things and people buy them if they like them."

"Can I do that too? When I grow up?"

"You can do anything, meri jaan. World's yours to take." They then heard Anne calling Maddie. Zayn felt the lump on his throat again. Harry and Maddie had to meet. It was time.

"Bye, Zen. We'll talk more later?" She asked, eyes glowing with hope.

"We will, meri jaan. Now, go." She giggled and blushed one more time, and then she leaned on, kissed him in the cheek and ran. Zayn then let the tears go, the ones he had been holding for a while now.

He stayed in the garden, loosing track of time. He would wait for Harry and then, do what he had to. He felt a hand on his shoulder and jumped like a scared cat.

"Oh sorry! I didn't hear you coming." He said when he saw who was next to him.

"It's okay, dear. They, uh, Harry took her to the playground few blocks down so they could talk on neutral ground. Marianne is with them, too. I guess it will take some time." Anne said, hugging him.

"Okay, thank you for letting me know. I, uh, I need to make a few phone calls. I left my phone inside."

"Go ahead, my dear. I'm so sorry for all this, Zayn. We didn't know, I swear we didn't know anything."

"It's okay, Anne. I know you didn't. Maddie is such an angel. I can see Harry in her clearly."

When Zayn got his phone, he called his mom first, and told her everything, starting by the fact he was stepping UK land. He told her about Maddie, about what she asked and what he was going to do. She cried with him, asking him to go home for few days. Once he was done, he made the next call.

"Lou...?"

***

"Harry, baby, listen to me, yeah? Zayn said, cupping Harry's face, wiping his tears away without caring about his own. They had been fighting for a while, almost since Harry came back from the park with Maddie.

"No. I don't want to. And don't call me baby again, not when you are doing this to us."

"You'll always be my baby, Harry. I'll never stop calling you it. Baby, just this one time hear what m' trying to say, please? Harry reluctantly nodded.