Shadows Settle on the House - Zarry

ii.

"Fuck."

"What?"

Harry sighs, assessing the damage in the wallpaper he just ripped off. "It's fucking ruined."

He hears his husband's footsteps approaching until he feels him right next to himself.

"Well... we can do an accent wall? Or put a bookshelf there?"

"Zayn," Harry whines. "We're gonna have to take it all off. This whole library is just... decaying. I don't understand why the hell didn't the previous owners repair this room as well. The rest of the house is upgraded, everything from pipes to fucking light switches. Everywhere but here."

Harry feels Zayn put his arm around Harry's waist and Harry leans into him automatically. Naturally like a sunflower following the sun.

"You heard the realtor, they had this room locked and didn't use it," Zayn says and tries to kiss Harry's cheek, but Harry pulls away, annoyed at the whole situation. He didn't expect any major renovations when buying this house and now they have to deal with a library that's falling apart, is full of junk and probably has some fucked up shit like black mold or asbestos.

"Babe, I'm not in the mood," Harry fusses as Zayn tries to kiss him again.

"I'm just trying to cheer you up, love," Zayn smiles and Harry lets himself be pulled into a hug.

"Yeah, well. Make this room disappear or look brand new without investing any more money and time and I'll be more than cheered up."

"How about we get a sitter tomorrow and enjoy a night out?" Zayn asks, punctuating it with a kiss on the side of Harry's head. The familiarity of it brings Harry to wrap his arms around Zayn's torso even tighter and burying his face in Zayn's shoulder.

"What do you think, Haz?"

Harry just groans as a response, closing his eyes for a few seconds before lifting his head up and looking at his husband.

"There's nothing more I want than that but we can't leave the kids alone here just yet. It's an unfamiliar place and I'm sure Lila wouldn't be able to sleep without us putting her to bed and I just... I don't want to alienate this place for her even more."

"It's not that bad," Zayn argues. "She's had just one nightmare since we moved in. It's normal for kids. It's a foreign space, new environment. I'd be more worried if she had no reaction at all."

"One nightmare and an imaginary friend," Harry reminds him. " Those are never a good sign."

Zayn chuckles and shakes his head slowly. He watches Harry with a smile, the same one that made Harry fall in love with him all those years ago. It still makes Harry's heart clench up in the same, most delightful way.

"One would think that you were the psychologist, Haz. Lila's more than okay, babes. It's perfectly normal for kids to create dreamt up friends and even events in their head. She's-"

Zayn's interrupted by high-pitched screeching. They stare at each other in shock as they listen to the pair of quick footsteps running over their heads, the sound then moving to the stairs and eventually down the hallway leading to the library. Their eyes move to the door just as their daughter appears in the doorframe, breathless and panting with tears in her eyes.

Harry's heart drops to his stomach and he moves before he can even process what's happening. He lets go off of Zayn and his legs carry him to his little girl standing at the door, holding onto the frame with her tiny hands. He crouches down to her level, immediately looking over her body to see if there's any blood, any bruising, any torn clothing. The relief when he finds her unscatched is a bit calming, but it doesn't do much since there are tears on her cheeks and Harry just wants to know what caused her to scream like that.