Blinded (z.h)

s e v e n t e e n

It was noon, meaning it was time for my lunch break, so I decided to go to this new cafe around the block. I'd been meaning to take Liam there one day, but I wanted to try it out myself to see if it was good enough. I didn't want to take him somewhere that would end up being terrible.

Right when I stepped inside, I got a whiff of coffee brewing that took up the air. I walked down the aisle to one of the booths in the back, but stopped when I saw a man laying his head on the table, weeping into his arms as he tugged at his brunette quiff.

I decided to go up to him and ask him if he was okay. He seemed hurt, and although I didn't know him, I felt obliged to care. "Excuse me, sir, sorry to bother you, but are you okay?" I asked as I shook the man's shoulder a bit.

The man looked up with teary eyes, revealing his familiar face. In fact, it was the same exact face I saw ten years ago; red and crying, except this time he had glasses and a slight stubble.

"Niall?" I asked, shocked.

The man furrowed his eyebrows, then released them in recognition. "Zayn?"

"What happened to you?" I immediately sat in the seat in front of him. I knew he had hurt me before, but I didn't care; he was hurt now, and it would be wrong of me to just leave him like this like he left me. I took a napkin out from the napkin holder and passed it to Niall.

Niall sniffled as he took the napkin and wiped his nose and cheeks. "It's H-Harry. H-he—"

"He what, Niall? What did he do?"

"He left me!" Niall began to break down into tears as he threw his face into his crossed arms again.

My heart broke in my chest when I saw Niall like this. He might've put me in the same position before, but that was all behind me now. Besides, I would never want this to happen to anyone. Not even my worst enemy.

"That's awful, Niall. What happened?"

"W-well, we got married a couple of years ago. Eight years ago." Niall wiped the tears on his cheeks away with his bare hands. "Once we w-were married, I noticed that he, th-that he—"

"He what?"

"H-he was a ch-cheater," Niall sobbed.

"Oh, Niall, that's truly terrible."

"You know, I t-tolerated it for years, but recently, I-I had enough of it and c-confronted him about it. And you kn-know what he did? He k-kicked me out of the h-house! And he had the n-nerve to call it his and not o-ours!"

I put one of my hands over his in comfort. "I'm so sorry that happened to you. You didn't deserve that."

"Yes I did," Niall whispered.

"What? Why?"

He looked right into my eyes before saying, "He broke my heart like I broke yours. No one deserves to get their heart broken, but I broke yours. I'm getting karma for that."

"You're right, Niall; no one deserves to get their heart broken—including you. Do you have anywhere to stay?"

"No, I'm on the streets. The only person I had in my life was Harry, and now I don't even have him."

"None of your friends will take you?"

"The only friends I had were Harry's; Harry never let me make friends of my own."

I sighed as I scratched the back of my neck, hesitating with what I was about to say. "Do you . . . do you want to stay with me?"

"Oh, Zayn, I couldn't." He seemed like he sincerely felt guilty for making me feel bad and getting me involved in the situation.

"Nonsense, come with me," I said as I got up and grabbed his hand. "My place is big enough for the two of us. I have work right now, but I'll drop you off and I'll be back at five." I began to walk as I dragged Niall with me, but he was stuck in place.

"Zayn, please, this is unethical. I can't just stay in your house after ten whole years of not speaking to you."

I stopped in my tracks and turned around. "Forget everything that happened, Niall. I mean it. We're starting fresh with a clean slate, okay?"

Niall looked down in shame. "I'm sorry for—"

"Sh, sh, sh. What did I say? None of that ever happened. Come along now, Niall."

And with that, I took him to my place with no regrets in mind.