eternity. ♡ zarry ♡

3: shoelaces

Age 8

"Can I have this, please?" Zayn said, holding the bag of Hot Fries out in front of him.

Gemma, Harry's only sister, looked away from the various selection of snacks in front of her and looked down at Zayn. His eyes were big and his bottom lip was poked out.

She crossed her arms and thought about it for a moment before nodding. "Really?!" Zayn said loudly.

"Really." The smile that grew on Zayn's face made her heart warm.

She was always nice to Zayn because of his family situation, since she was older, she understood it a lot better than he did.

The most she knew was that Zayn's parents were never around, they never dropped him off to their house or picked him up, it was always Ms. Lily.

"What? That's not fair," Harry pouted and crossed his arms.

"Well, Zayn's cute and you're not so shut it," Gemma said through gritted teeth.

Zayn's eyes lit up at the bag of chips, he hugged it to his chest and smiled. "I promise to cherish it, Gemma, thank you."

"Well, we have to buy it first."

After paying, they slowly began walking back to Harry's and Gemma's house.

Zayn trailed behind the two siblings, watching them bicker and argue with each other. Gemma was going to be twelve years old at the end of the year, Zayn hoped he'd be invited.

Gemma was also always kind to him, she'd buy him treats with the money she earned from doing chores and would sometimes even let him play with her toys. She was great.

Sometimes, Zayn wished he had a sibling to argue with. A person that would defend you and protect you. Zayn knew Gemma was like that no matter how mean she was to Harry.

"Do you think mommy will let Zayn stay the night?" Harry asked as he scratched the back of his head.

Gemma shrugged and took another bite of her popsicle. "Dunno. She'll probably say yeah because Zayn's sweet and never makes a mess. It's really all up to his nanny," she answered plainly.

"She's nice, she'll say yes!" Zayn chirped behind them, the bag of chips still held to his chest and his eyes as bright as the sun.

Gemma turned and smiled down at him, stoping when she noticed his shoes were untied.

"Zayn, tie your shoes so you won't trip," she told him. "We'll wait."

Zayn smiled up at her. Would they really wait for him? No one ever did that.

"Okay!" He handed Gemma his bag of chips and squatted down on one knee to tie his shoe.

He struggled with it, his fingers didn't seem to work properly and he couldn't get it right.

He groaned after pulling the shoelaces only to end up back at square one. Harry frowned as he watched.

"Didn't your parents teach you how to tie your shoes?" Harry grumbled as he squatted down and took the shoelaces from Zayn.

Zayn stared at his shoelaces sadly as Harry made the two bunny ears then pushed one under the other.

"No, I had to learn by watching you do it," Zayn whispered.

Gemma slapped the back of Harry's head, she gave him an angry look when he turned to look at her. She was genuinely upset with what Harry said.

She understood why her mother never told Harry about Zayn's situation, he wouldn't understand. But not telling him led to unknowingly harmful comments like that one.

Harry shook his head and looked back to Zayn who looked like he was about to cry. He frowned.

He placed his hand on Zayn's nicely combed hair and ruffled it, then giving Zayn a smile. "Don't worry, I'll teach you," Harry said happily.

"Really?" Zayn gave a small smile.

Would Harry really teach him how to tie his shoes? Would he really do that for him?

"Yeah, silly. It's just shoelaces, plus it's not hard once you get the hang of it," Harry shrugged as he stood.

Zayn stood too, his eyes gleaming like the reflection of the sun.

Gemma smiled down at the two and gave Zayn back his bag of chips. She noticed how easily Zayn could smile when it came to Harry.

She could finally see that superpower her mother always talked about.