All the Leaves are Brown (Zarry AU)

Chapter 3

He’s got some bollocks, Zayn thinks just before midnight. The flat is heaving. More of his mates have just come in from the pub, full of beer and ready to start on the spirits, so he puts on Mundian To Bach Ke and well, rowdy doesn’t begin to cover it. The living room is shaking so much the record skips and when Doniya’s mate, Faryal, starts banging on some bloke’s arse like a dhol, Zayn looks over at the kid, but he doesn’t seem fazed at all, his eyes wide as Zayn turns the volume up and rowdy descends into chaos.

The kid’s mate, however, doesn’t look as in awe of what’s going on and keeps tugging on his t-shirt and nodding at the door. The kid ignores him, though, gasping and clapping when Zayn’s cousin, Jas, clears a space in the middle of the living room and starts dancing. They must be pretty good friends, Zayn thinks, because he stays. He would have left his arse, especially when the kid raises his arms and tries to copy Jas. He has no rhythm whatsoever and he’s spilling beer all over himself, but the effort is appreciated, especially by Doniya who grabs his wrist and pulls him into the fray.

Zayn looses him then as he’s swallowed by the tangle of people filling the living room. Every now and then he thinks he sees a hand or a flash of the kid’s curls between the heads and he doesn’t even know why he’s looking for him. But then Zayn hears a laugh he’s never heard before, something new and bright interrupting the familiar refrain of his mates cheers, and he knows why he’s looking. The kid must be looking for him, too, because when Faryal pulls Doniya onto the coffee table with her, there’s suddenly a gap in the crowd and when Zayn looks through it, their gaze collides. Every hair on Zayn’s body bristles this time, as though someone has opened a window. Then the kid smiles, a loose, unpretty smile, as though he can’t help it, and Zayn doesn’t realise that he’s forgotten to put on the next record until the cheers turn into boos.