One Direction One shots (boyxboy)

Tabula Rasa (Zarry)

Tabula Rasa
(based on the eponymous tv-show 'Tabula Rasa'. All rights belong to Caviar Films and één.)

"Sweetheart? Can you come here for a moment?" Zayn's warm voice sounds through the house, catching Harry's attention from where he is putting the plates in the drawers of the old house. 

The married couple just moved into the old house they found in the woods. It used to be Harry's parents' house, the house he grew up in, but since his parents found a new, smaller and more modern one in the city, they told Harry and Zayn they could move into their old one. It was more convenient for Harry's parents to move closer to the city. With his father's dementia, they would be closer to the hospital if something went wrong. 

Zayn had figured it would be for the best to move to a familiar area for Harry. Maybe the familiar surroundings will trigger his brain enough to stop forgetting everything. Harry had been in a car crash in the beginning of the year. Spring had just started and he and Ellie, their daughter, had been on their way home from ballet school when the deer appeared in front of the car. 

Harry shouldn't have turned the wheel to avoid the deer. He knows he shouldn't have, but he did. The car had flown off the road at top speed and hit a tree. Harry had hit his head hard against the wheel. It had damaged his brain severely. The doctors had told Zayn that Harry would have trouble with his short-term memory. 

Harry had woken up from his coma after three days. Zayn had been there, next to him. It was late at evening. "What happened?" He had asked when Zayn had clutched his hand. Zayn had explained everything. He told his husband to sleep. Rest would make him better. 

The next day, when he had returned to the hospital to see his green-eyed spouse, Harry had looked up at him panicked. "What happened?" He had asked. Zayn knew this would happen. The doctors had warned him about it, had warned the entire family about it. 

So soon after, Harry had gotten his diary. Empty pages he could slowly fill with everything he heard and wants to remember. He draws the faces of the people he meets and writes short sentences with them so he can remember. 

When he finally had gotten home, the first thing Harry did was hug their daughter tight. He was so glad she got out unharmed. Their poor little Ellie. He would be the one spending time with her now. His career as opera star is over. He wouldn't be able to remember the texts anymore. Zayn still works as CEO for the... what was it again, Harry cannot remember. 

And thus, the little family had moved to a place that may trigger Harry's brain in remembering again. So far, it hadn't helped. The house is also closer to Zayn's work and closer to Harry's parents' new house. All good enough excuses to move.

"Yes, Zayn?" Harry joins him in the hallway, next to the stairs. Zayn points at the differently coloured bowls on the table. 

"You can put your stuff in here, so you won't forget where you put them." He smiles and Harry sees the small handwritten papers on the bowls. 'Keys', 'Phone', 'Panic button'.

He frowns at the last one. "Panic button?" He eyes Zayn's face and the kind smile he is giving him. Then Harry notices a black device with a single red button on it in Zayn's hand.

"I have to go to work. If anything is wrong, you can just push the button so I can come and save you from anything, okay?" He explains softly once Harry took the device from Zayn's hand. He pushes the button as a test and immediately afterwards, an alarm comes from Zayn's phone. The older man smiles at his husband and ends the alarm. "I also have a tracking app for your phone so I can find you when you forget the way home, okay?" He shows it to Harry. 

It's not that Harry doesn't appreciate Zayn trying to help him, but he feels a nauseating feeling in his stomach when he sees the map with Harry's phone exact location shown on Zayn's screen. He just doesn't like that he needs guarding like this now.