Barefoot │Ziall Horlik AU

Chapter 5 - I Will Carry You Over Fire And Water For Your Love

             Niall snuggled into the pillow, face buried there and his feet ticking back and forth. Zayn just wanted to...kiss them. Wanted to touch and Jesus, even lick them which was...weird. Even for him, but this was Niall were talking about, the little homeless boy from the park he always draws? That perfect boy?

             Zayn grumbled to himself and grabbed his sketch pad. "Would it be okay If I drew you?" He wondered quietly and grabbed a fresh sketch paper. "I don’t see why not, you do it all the time." He said quietly, rolling on his back. "Could you...take your shirt off? And uhm...pull the blankets over your lower half?"

             Niall blushed and pulled the warm cloth over his head, tossing it in the corner and laying back, pulling the blanket over himself, dressed in gym shorts that Zayn had grown out of at some point. The blanket draped over the shirts, but left Niall’s feet poking out and Zayn reached forward timidly, adjusting his arms, one over his head, like the girl from titanic. Niall hadn’t seen the movie but he had heard the term.

             Zayn started drawing when he spoke with a unsure tone. "Are you...drawing me like one of your...fresh girls?" He said a little quieter and Zayn chuckled, drawing one of his arms. "Its French girl. And no, I don’t have any French girls, nor am I Jack." He smiled softly at Niall. "Who's Jack? Friend of yours?"

             Zayn just laughed again and continued to draw. Niall was a good muse, didn’t move a inch and Zayn continued, tongue sticking out as he drew. He liked drawing Niall like this, getting to see the actual dips, and the real features, capture Niall’s sleepy face just trick, his wet hair perfectly messy.

             When Zayn finished, he shaded it and looked over the drawing. Niall was climbing across the bed then, leaning over Zayn to take a look. "That’s...really good. It’s like a picture of me. I've never had my picture taken. Well, once in the hospital, but that’s because I had a lot of bruises." He shrugged uneasily. Zayn bit his lip and looked up through long eyelashes. "These are better than pictures, I think." He smiled and ripped the paper out, handing it to Niall. "Here, you keep it."

             Niall looked at the picture for a long while, never tearing his eyes away. He blushed a little here and there, smiled mostly and glanced at Zayn a few times. "When is your mother coming back?" Niall asked after a few moments and rolled on his side. Zayn shrugged a little and licked his lips. "Soon, I'm sure. It’s been a hour or two. Do you want me to make you some lunch?" Zayn offered, stumbling over himself in a rush for his slippers but Niall shook his head. "I...I just wanted to thank her, I should go back to my things. I could, come by during Christmas but I have to be out of here by spring, find another place to settle down." He sighed and scratched his jaw sleepily.

             "You’re not going back out there Niall, not in weather like this, not at all if I've got anything to do with it." Zayn shook his head and stood from the chair, wondering around the room together the clothes he'd set out for Niall. He handed them to the blonde and left the room for him to dress.

             When Niall pulled the door back open, he sat at the end of Zayn's bed with a huff. "Do you think I should stay here? Like, in this town? Or...city? I don’t know what to call this place." He blushed, beautiful cheeks breaking out in beautiful red. Zayn snickered. "Well...I usually just call this 'Zayn's room', but City works, I guess."

             Niall laughed a little, laughed a lot. He laughed for minutes with Zayn till he could hardly breath and he finally sighed with content, assurance. "I'm serious...Do you think I should stay?" He voice dropped and his eyes were sleepy. Zayn smiled absently. "Why wouldn’t you? It’s nice here, isn’t it? I mean...you've always got me, you know? You can stay here, with me. I mean, that’s what I pictured. Always wanted a brother," He teased and fluffed Niall’s hair. He pushed Zayn’s hand away and scuffed at him quietly,

             He found it so easy to play with Zayn, have fun and laugh and just be himself, not that he had ever figured out what that was. But he liked it...He liked the way Zayn smiled at him, made him feel safe and warm. He'd never had a friend...A real one anyways, and it was better than any stuffed animal. Zayn talked to him and comforted him, cared about his life and his well-being.

             Niall wished he'd had a friend like that when he was younger, but he hadn’t. He didn’t have anyone to guide him through the thought bits, didn’t have anyone to lean on. Now he did, and damn him if he thought he was going to leave that someone now.

             "I'll stay…But I'm not intruding on your family. This is your life, I can’t absorb that and make your share, you know?" He jostled around the bed and nuzzled himself under the warm blankets. Zayn nodded, yet disagreed at the same time. Niall wasn’t an intrusion, he was a gift...even if he didn’t see it just yet.

             Zayn lay on the big bed beside Niall and closed his eyes with a sigh. He was so damn tired, all he wanted to do was close his eyes and never open them again. He would get the sleep he so desperately wanted if his life depended on it.

~*~

             It was hours later that Patricia returned and put things away, Safaa running to her mother and stating that Zayn was a meanie head. She only huffed.

             The eldest girls made some warm tea while Zayn’s mother determined the medicine dosage they both needed. She brought the tea and medicine up on the tray she had used earlier and set it down. "Boys, wakey wakey!" she hummed and set the tray down. "Zayn, baby, wake up. Your sisters made tea and I need you to take these pills, it will make you feel better." She hummed.

             Niall blinked open first and whined, his throat scratchy and dry. "Hey, at least one of you knows how to wake up when there asked. The girls made some tea, would you like some? It will wash down the pills you have to take to fight off the cold." She handed Niall a cup of tea and a little dish of pills, one green, one white and one a mix of red white and blue. Niall sighed and looked at the pills. Mom took a lot of pills...

             He downed the pills and took a sip of the warm tea, washing them down like a stream. He sighed happily and took another drink before handing the cup back and laying back down, his whole body sore from head to toe and still half naked. Oppsie.

             Zayn woke soon after with a soft groan. He defiantly didn’t want to be up this early, despite the fact that it was twelve noon. He whined and turned on his back. "I don’t want to take pills Mum."

             She shook her head. Zayn wound up taking the pills, as his mother asked. He always did what she asked, no matter how much he hated it.

((Sorry for the long wait guys :( Things have been hectic and yeah. But thank you to my ten thousand reads like OH MY GODDDD?? You guys are AMAZING! Love you all, Comment and tell me what you think??))