The Summertime & Butterflies » Zarry ✔

☀️ 3: First Summer : Lake House

"You did good, son."

Zayn smiled at his grandfather. They'd gone fishing again today and Zayn ended up with the biggest catch of the day. They were all in the kitchen right now. "I did?"

"Yes! Absolutely. Bass are hard to find in this lake but you caught a big one. I'm extremely proud."

"So am I." Nan said happily. "All I have to do is gut and clean this, then whip up some vegetable medley and fresh bread and we have dinner tonight."

Zayn grinned and pushed his chest out a little. He caught dinner tonight? Wow. He might be better at this fishing thing than he thought.

"I'll go finish bringing everything in from outside, Papa. You two stay inside."

"That's thoughtful of you. Thank you. Do you know which side of the carport the fishing poles go?"

"Yes sir. I do."

"Okay. I'll leave you to it then."

Zayn left his grandparents in the kitchen, then went outside. They were out of bait so the only thing left at the dock were the poles and the tackle box. As he reached the dock, he heard someone yelling and turned to see Harry coming out of the house.

"Because you're always babying me! I know what I'm doing!"

"Or maybe you don't!"

"Ugh! Fine! I won't accept it, then!"

He slammed the door closed and then kicked at a pot of elephant ears just outside the door. Not wanting to appear nosy, Zayn quickly turned away and took the fishing poles and the tackle box to the carport. He was going to go back inside once he put the items where they belonged. But he couldn't help but look Harry's way again. When he saw him, he noticed he was sitting at the edge of the dock, hunched over with his chin in his hands. He didn't look alright and it worried Zayn.

Deciding to satisfy his curiosities, he made his way over to Harry's backyard and down the dock, towards him.

"Um..." He said silently. "Are you alright?"

Harry shrugged but answered him. "No."

"Is there something I can do?"

"No. You wouldn't understand."

"Okay. Well... I'll just go away then."

As he turned his back, Harry sighed. "You know what I hate? How everyone wants to have a say-so in what I do. I'm eighteen. I have my own car and I'm about to start college in a couple weeks. I should be able to make my own choices. It's not that big of a deal."

"Oh."

Harry faced him. "Listen. If you had the opportunity to work some place where the job was practically handed to you, would you not take it?"

Zayn shrugged. "I don't know. Depends on what kind of job it is."

"A cashier at a liquor store. That's it."

Zayn relaxed. "Oh. Well. Sure. I wouldn't mind. Especially if I didn't have a job and really wanted one."

"Exactly! As much as I love my parents, I'm tired of them wanting to pay for everything. I know they just want me to stay close but I don't want that. I want to make my own money and my own decisions. There is absolutely nothing wrong with working at a liquor store. She doesn't have to get so upset about it every time I mention it."

Zayn really liked Harry's mother and thought she was so sweet. So out of respect, he didn't want to speak against her. "Well if she was that angry, maybe there is a reason why. Maybe you could sit down and ask her what it is."