You're The Shining Distraction That Makes Me Fly

Chapter 2

The snow had finally stopped by the time Zayn made it back to the elementary school, the ground covered in a few inches of white fluff. His heavy combat boots left defined prints as he stubbed out his cigarette, making sure to throw it off campus. He'd been trying to quit for the past month, desperately failing today which he attributed mostly to stress.

Walking into the school's still empty halls, Zayn reached for his watched, realizing he was 15 minutes early. Truth was he'd spent the entire day waiting for this moment, all but running out of his last class to make it here in time. He had worried so much, hoping Mezi was enjoying himself that he had almost gotten hit by a bus on his way to Uni in the morning.

He'd been an incoherent mess all day, barely focused on what people said to him. He felt as though his brain refused to acknowledge anything the world threw at him, his entire life on hold as he waited to know if his son would be ok, if Mezi could adapt to the last piece of his new life.

Now that Zayn stood before the closed door of homeroom 103, he couldn't help but sigh out in frustration. He felt like such a failure lately, struggling daily with the four missing years of his son's life he had barely any indications of.

Every day Zayn woke up wondering if he cooked the right things, said the right words, read the right stories. It was a constant weight on his chest, all those elements he should know about his son's life but knew nothing about.

And tried so hard to make up for it, did everything he could to make Mezi smile. He bought the best food and tried every recipe he could manage until the little boy's eyes widened in wonder. He downloaded dozens if not hundreds of songs and movies, going through them patiently, waiting to see which ones the boy responded best to.

At the end of the day though, even if Mezi was cuddled in bed, warm and happy, Zayn still felt like something was missing; like he could have done something different to avoid all this.

Sighing, Zayn leaned against the classroom door, peaking through the tiny window to see all the kids gathered together on a checkered matt at the far end of the room. Liam sat before them, a book in his lap as he gesticulated widely, a goofy smile on his face that explained the children's amazement and laughter.

The little scene however was interrupted by the dismissal bell, announcing the end of the day. Immediately the children all but ran to their cubbies, flinging on their coats and mitts and before he knew it, Zayn had to jump out of the way, the door swinging open as children ran out wildly. Liam came jogging after them quickly, hollering at them to walk and all the kids giggled as they turned around, nodding to their teacher before continuing their way.

"Mr. Malik," welcomed Liam enthusiastically when he turned back towards the class, eyes falling on Zayn with what seemed to be a surprised expression. "I wasn't expecting you until 3:30."

"Please call me Zayn," shrugged Zayn in reply, embarrassed to admit he couldn't bear the thought of being away from Mezi any longer. "Got off early so, thought I'd come pick him up right away."

Nodding, Liam seemed to accept the excuse easily, leading Zayn back into to the classroom where Mezi was still seated, a book in his lap.

"He did great," Liam supplied freely as Zayn watched Mezrhad from a far, taking in the blush on his son's cheek, as he turned the pages of the storybook slowly.

"He made friends with everyone, honestly you can stop worrying."

"I'm not-," started Zayn but quickly stopped himself, giving Liam a knowing smile at the same time Mezi's eyes looked up from his book.

The minute the boy's eyes settled on his father, he was up and running, his small legs carrying him as fast as they could until he smashed himself into Zayn's leg, arms wrapped around him as tight as they could hold.