The Pedestrian » Zarry ✅

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When Zayn woke up two days later, he already knew what he was going to find next to him- or not find next to him. So he wasn't surprised when there was no Harry and he wasn't surprised when there were no children.

By now he also figured out the whole pattern. The only way Harry and the boys would return was if he left the house and did something. Then at some point while he was doing it, the day would change and they would be back. He wasn't sure what that "something" was. But he could always figure that out.

What he did know was that he didn't want to drive, so maybe he'd walk somewhere and get breakfast. Yeah. He could do that. So he showered, got dressed and headed out.

As he was getting ready to cross the street, he heard a familiar voice from the parking lot.

"Hey man! I was just coming to see you!"

He faced the person speaking. "Hey, Niall."

"Wow you're out early."

"You too. What are you doing here?"

"I need your help, man."

"What's wrong?"

"I'm looking for a new place to live."

"You and Lena are moving?"

"No." He said sadly.

"Just me."

Zayn completely deflated.

"What happened?"

"I can't keep doing these threesomes, man. It's not safe. There's too many people she's bringing home that I know nothing about. I'm going to get tested on Monday too."

"Have you talked to her about it?"

"Of course I have. Why do you think I'm moving out? We don't see eye to eye. So we're separating instead."

Zayn reached out and hugged Niall tightly.

"I'm so sorry. You don't deserve this, bro."

"I know. But what can you do? I let this happen. I encouraged a promiscuous lifestyle while we were together by inviting other women in our bed frequently. I take full responsibility. I knew what she was and how she was before I married her."

Zayn swallowed thickly.

"Well... I'm not doing anything. I was just going to get breakfast. But if you want to come with me and then try to find some new places afterward, I'm totally down for that.:

"Yeah, man. That sounds good. I could use something to eat."

As they walked down the sidewalk together, Zayn just felt sad. Here he was living in amazing life with this husband and children and Niall was in the midst of splitting up. Here Zayn was coming to care for Harry and be a family and get closer to them day by day while Niall was drifting further and further apart from his wife. If anything, he wanted to be there for him and let him know that he didn't judge him. His family could wait. He knew he would see them again. Right now someone else needed him more.

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Zayn ended up being out with Niall for three hours. They found a few nice places and even talked to one of the landlords in person. It was quite painful for Zayn watching his friend make plans for life without his wife. But he knew it wasn't nearly as painful as being Niall himself. So he kept his opinions to himself and did his best to respect Niall's boundaries while still giving him the encouragement and support he needed to move on. Because he didn't need a judge right now. He just needed his friend.

After they finished for the day, they came back to his apartment building so Niall could take his car and go back home. Zayn said his goodbyes and walked into his building. By the time he made it up to his apartment, he felt tired. But not the kind of tired he felt from spending the day with his friend. That was usually a good kind of tired. This kind of tired was a kind of tired he usually felt when he came home from a hard day's work doing construction all day.