golden | ziam

1. GOLDEN

❝It goes and it's golden
Like sands of time
I hope and I hope
You'll still be fine❞

He looked at the drawing that occupied one of the pages in his school notebook. The grayish-white paper was decorated with precise and proportional scratches of one of the pencils he usually kept in his pencil case. His definitely long, raven black fringe was caught in his eyes by the blowing wind, which additionally caused the leaves of the tree he was sitting under at to fall right next to him. Leaving traces of the fast approaching autumn and the beginning of October - the second month of the school year, which was promising, so far.

He watched attentively as the amused students went out onto the basketball court, sitting on the free benches or taking out balls from specially designed baskets. This meant that lunch break had started, which didn't seem like the most interesting thing for him, knowing that he had substitutes for the next two school hours, so without any further delay, he looked away.

He has always been drawn to art - in every aspect. He loved expanding his knowledge with newer and newer musical genres, finding himself in one of the characters in his favorite book, playing with the flexibility of his native language and how even the ugliest words can sound good if they are given the right meaning.

However, the things that were closest to his heart are art and sketching in general. He could spend entire days drinking his favourite coffee, listening to the radio, and simply drawing silhouettes of people he passed on the street that day.

He wouldn't say that it was a coincidence that a drop of his favorite morning dark coffee, bought in a nearby café, appeared in one of the drawings, which depicted a person from his close school environment. One of his favorite things was discovering drawing techniques. Everyday products could fill the empty gap on his page, making sure everything was in its place.

This was also the case here - where the birthmark on the boy's neck was replaced by the previously mentioned dark coffee stain. As he looked around out of curiosity, he noticed that the students were starting to return to the school, which meant that the break was over, so he could sit down quietly without having to worry about the noise disturbing him and making his work difficult.

* * *

In addition to the leaves that slowly began to decorate the sidewalks with warm colors, autumn also brought rains that made their presence felt and began to occur more and more often at the least expected moments.

He tightened his grip on the shoulder of his backpack, feeling heavy drops falling on the fabric of his gray sweatshirt, which became heavy under the influence of water and took on large, wet spots. There was silence, broken by the sounds of heavy black boots scraping on the wet pavement, and the soft breaths of the boy who, trying to even his steps, scolded himself for too many cigarettes he had smoked during the previous year of high school.

But he didn't stop, bravely keeping his eyes on the boy passing a dozen or so meters away. His shaggy, light brown, curly hair fell gently over his lightly cloth-covered shoulders, and he had headphones in his ears, which Zayn was grateful for, because he could admit that he was not discreet when it came to observing someone, especially when it came to staying silent - definitely not a thing for him.

So why does he do it? He had been watching him for several years and knew almost everything about him. When Liam was successful in his studies - he was also happy. When Liam got himself a first girlfriend, whom he was sure he would be forever with, and who broke up with him not even a month later - he was also sad - only because he saw the younger boy in such a state, which overwhelmed him.

He wanted to make him comfortable, but he took a wrong path that would definitely not make their relationship better, but it was too late and he was helpless. So with each passing day, he waited patiently until he reached home safely, so he could turn around and go his own way. He was sure it wasn't fair that he was intruding and not respecting his privacy that he deserved, but it was stronger than him. Wherever Liam was, Zayn was there moments later.

He wouldn't call himself a stalker, but rather a person who has characteristics similar to this term. However, not all of them are bad, because he was mainly accompanied by care and responsibility for every step on the younger boy's path. He didn't hang pictures of him around his room, nor did he ever write his initials on the back of his notebook.
He simply watched, feeling that by doing so he was completed.