Touch | zouis

Chapter 6

It's nine in the morning and Zayn's already sitting down at his desk and eating the breakfast his Papa gave to him before he left for his cooking class. It was good as usual but it didn't help him feel better like he thought it would, he was still sad and his heart was still being squeezed by the bit of loneliness that followed him as he made his way around the house. He wonders if he feels like this merely for the fact that he's always alone or if it's because Louis' never around, he doesn't know which it is but he thinks it's both.

He places his fork down and pushes his empty plate to the side, he places his head down on his arms that lay on his desk. It takes him a bit of strength to keep himself from letting tears trickle down his cheeks and he's grateful that they never do.

Zayn sits up and reaches out to the small flower, he hesitates for a moment when Louis' words begin to repeat in his head like they did the week before but right now he doesn't care. He places a petal between his index finger and his thumb and slowly and gently rubs it, it's almost as soft as Louis. But the edges of the petal a bit brittle, it almost makes him frown because he hasn't touched it in a week so how could it already be wilting?

As he picks up his plate and slowly makes his way to the kitchen, he hears a knock at the front door and his doorbell ringing. He sighs and places the plate in the sink then walks to the front door.

"Hello?" he says through the door.

"It's Harry." Zayn almost asks what the fuck he's doing here but he instead slowly turns the locks and opens the door. "Put some shoes on and come outside, I'll wait for you."

"Why are you even here? And why should I come outside?" Zayn asks a bit harshly.

"Just do it," Harry answers sternly before turning and going to sit on the steps.

Zayn sighs and closes the door without locking the locks, he makes his way back to his room and changes into something a bit more presentable and puts on a pair of sneakers. He makes his way back to the front door and opens it, he slowly closes the door behind him and feels Harry taking his hand.

"Hey! I don't need your help!" Zayn says loudly. "I can walk on my own."

"Don't care, just come on."

"I have to lock the door."

"This won't take long, we'd already be there if you'd stop being annoying and just come," Harry replies. Zayn's a bit mad now, some guy that he's only met once was pulling him away from his home with an unlocked door and to somewhere that he most likely had never been to. He had a right to be annoying and to push him away, plus Harry's attitude was just proper aggravating to deal with especially since he's never really seen him like this. Maybe this is what Louis meant when he called him annoying.

"Why're you so mean all of a sudden?" Zayn asked, thinking back to how nice Harry was when he first met him.

Harry sighs. "Sorry, just a bit anxious because I still have yet to pay my bill for the fall semester. It's not due till next week but I don't have the money.."

Zayn frowns. "It'll be okay, I'm sure you can go on some sort of payment plan."

Zayn gave in and walked close to Harry, he held on tightly to his hand to at least avoid being left behind.

"Yeah, hopefully you're right," Harry said with a smile.

Soon they were climbing stairs, Harry making sure he didn't trip over any steps or take an extra step and hurt himself. Zayn heard a doorknob turn and a door open then close behind him as he was engulfed by air conditioning that his parents still hadn't fixed back at home. "Where are we?" Zayn asked. The smell of this place was awfully familiar and he enjoyed it.

"Louis'." Right after Harry answered him, he was startled when he felt something brush past his legs along with heavy breathing.

"D-Dog?"

"Mhm," Harry answered. Zayn squatted down and reaches his arms out around him, he could feel the slightly wet hair and nose poking his chin as it licked him. A loud laugh left him and he suddenly felt lighter, like he move anywhere and do anything.

"You don't listen, do you?" Louis said to the dog, pulling it away from Zayn and looking at his smiling face. He looked to Harry and mouthed a small 'thanks' before watching him nod and walk past them towards the living room. "Hey, Zayn."

"Hi Louis!" Zayn yelled, his excitement overtaking him as he moved from his squatting position and onto his knees. He reached out until he was grabbing onto the sleeve of Louis' shirt, he pulled roughly on it and Louis then moved towards him, the dog slipping from between him. They sat on their knees, Zayn's arms wrapped around Louis' torso and his cheek pressing against his collarbone. "Missed you," he whispered softly.

Louis hesitates for a moment before wrapping his arms around Zayn and gently rubbing his back, the only reason he hadn't been to Zayn's was because he was getting used to taking care of this dog. "Missed you too, just been taking care of Bo here." He heard a small hum came from Zayn and his grip around his torso tighten, the smile seemed to grow wider on Zayn's face with ever moment he was near Louis.

"Bo? Very simple," Zayn whispers as he pulls away from Louis.

"Yeah? Well c'mon, I want you to formally meet her." Zayn was being pulled to his feet and led by Louis to where Bo was, shewas now eating dog food from her bowl and taking a few licks of water from the bowl next to it. "D'you really gotta be so messy, Bo?"

Louis let go of Zayn's hand and squatted down to the dog's level, scratching the top of her head and smiling down into those bright brown eyes.

"Come Zayn." He reached for Zayn's hand and gently pulled him down to his knees next to Louis. He placed Zayn's hand on Bo's head and smiled when Zayn began to gently scratch and rub Bo's head.

"Describe her, Lou," Zayn demanded kindly.

"Well, she's got white hair with big ears that stand straight up. Her nose is black with some pink spots and her eyes are brown like yours, maybe a little lighter." Zayn opens his mouth in awe as he thinks of the majestic puppy, he feels her hair and smiles at how soft it is.

"Beautiful," Zayn says.

Louis looks at him for a moment, his eyes are wide and his mouth is spread into a big smile with his bright blue braces showing. Zayn's beautiful, Louis' always known that but he can really see it now.

"Yeah," Louis whispers, "You're very beautiful."

•••

Decided to use the picture of a dog I took rather than one from Google!! Isn't she cute?