Brave || Zerrie AU

Only

Just warning you; grab some tissues. This is a long chapter. Play song when I tell you to :)

*****

"I missed you guys more than words can explain." Perrie said through her tears as she looked at her friends before her, smiling those rare smiles that make you feel like everything is going to be okay. 

Ciro stepped forward and pull Perrie into a hug. His scent engulfed her and reminded her of Sevence and how much she missed it and him. When he hugged her Perrie forgot about everything that happened that night and instead found herself happy in the arms of someone she cared so much about. 

"Freya." His soft voice whispered in her ear and sent chills down her spine. The story behind that name tugged her heart and that night came back into her mind. 

"Ciro," She cried into his shoulder, "You're here." 

After a moment Ciro pulled away and looked into Perrie's eyes. His eyebrows furrowed as if he could see the pain in Perrie's eyes. But he couldn't ask anything because Abriella's voice rang through the hall. 

"Perrie! I missed you!" Abriella said as she stepped forward and hugged Perrie. Everything felt alright when Abriella hugged her, too. Both of them were like rays of sunshine in her thunderstorm. 

"I missed you, too!." 

Someone cleared their voice from behind Perrie and she smiled. Her best friends were about to meet and she had been dreaming about this day since she met Abriella and Ciro.

 Perrie stepped aside and gestured to Harry. "Abriella, Ciro, I want you to meet my best friend since forever; Harry." 

Harry smiled but his attention was entirely on Abriella. "I'm Harry Styles. It is a pleasure to meet you." The introduction seemed to be only to Abriella as Harry could not take his eyes off her. 

Ciro stepped in front of Abriella, clearly the gesture of  brother protecting his sister. "I'm Ciro." He introduced himself. 

For a second, Harry's eyes flashed with confusion, but as soon as it appeared it left. "Hey Ciro, I've heard so much about you." 

"As I of you." He said as they briefly shook hands. 

Abriella pushed Ciro aside and rolled her eyes. "I can introduce myself, Ci." 

Harry laughed and extended his hand once again. Before Ciro could do anything Abriella rushed to shake Harry's hand. They stared at each other longer than necessary and Perrie found herself smiling at how Harry was looking at Abriella. 

"So you're the famous Harry, huh?" Abriella said with a hint of mischief in her voice. "Perrie has told us so much about you! I hope everything she said is true because you sound like a great guy." 

Harry blushed at Abriella's words and looked down in an attempt to hide his childish grin. 

Ciro moved to stand next to Perrie and gently griped her hips, pulling her closer to him. She tucked a strand of brown her hair behind her ear and looked up at Ciro and found him smiling down at her. God, she has missed that smile so much. 

"Are you okay?" Ciro asked Perrie, but Perrie ignored his question and hugged him. Ciro held her as if knowing she didn't want to talk about it just now. "It's going to be okay, Perrie." 

"Who are you?" Ciro asked after a long moment of silence. Perrie followed Ciro's eyes and saw Zayn standing by her door, his hand in his pockets and his eyes glued to Perrie. 

She had completely forgotten he was there. 

"I'm Zayn Malik." He said without hesitation. Zayn walked forward until he was directly in front of Perrie and Ciro. "I'm the man Perrie is in love with."