eternity. ♡ zarry ♡

13: happy pics

Age 16

"Your hair's getting long. It goes passed your nose," Harry whispered as he carefully styled Zayn's hair.

"Should I cut it? My ma says it's a mess." Zayn stared at Harry like he always did.

"Who cares what your mom thinks? I think it looks pretty sick." Harry smiled and fixed an out of place strand. "Plus, we can be twins with tiny space buns."

If Zayn could, he'd watch Harry smile everyday. The simple motion alone was enough to make Zayn's heart beat twice as fast and three times as hard.

"Sit still and look up for me, okay?" Harry said softly as he reached for the black liner pencil.

Harry carefully began to fill in Zayn's waterline with the pencil. "What's the photo for, Haz?" Zayn asked slowly.

"A project about masculinity." Harry moved onto Zayn's other eye and began to line that one as well. "I would have Gemma do this but she's off at college, so you're stuck with me."

Zayn could feel his eyes watering from the unfamiliar substance on his water line as he held back every urge to blink.

With one last gentle stroke of the pencil, Harry pulled away and stared at Zayn who stared back. "How's it look?"

Harry brushed away the stray tear away from the corner of Zayn's right eye with his thumb. "Pretty," he answered.

And Zayn never thought his mouth could stretch as wide as it did then. For once, he wasn't trying to keep himself from smiling.

"Do you wear makeup?" Zayn asked while Harry began to setup his camera.

Harry's entire body seemed to go rigid at the question. "Only to parties."

"Why just parties?"

"No one can judge me there."

Zayn felt something inside of him snap. "Show me one day. I'd like to see you with lipstick on."

He watched Harry's lips curve into a smile. He wished he could turn back time just so he could watch Harry smile again.

Harry set the camera back down on his dresser and began to rummage through the first drawer until he pulled out a thin black box. He made his way over to Zayn who sat at his desk.

"Can I put this on you? It's just eyeshadow." He slowly opened the box to reveal a palette of different shimmers and mattes.

"Yeah, go all out," Zayn said. Then he looked up to Harry.

So Harry did just that. Using his fingers and one of the brushes Gemma forgot to bring with her, he dabbed a deep red color to the corner of Zayn's eyes and then smoothed on a bright sparkling red to the rest of it.

Harry wasn't any good at makeup but he loved the process of it anyways.

"What color lipstick would you like on me?" Harry asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

"To be honest, fuck lipstick. Wear some lip gloss, makes your lips look all moisturized and shit."

Even with his eyes closed, Zayn could see Harry's smile growing wider as a soft laugh erupted from him. "Yeah? You'd like that?"

"Yeah," Zayn whispered. "You know I think you look good in anything."

Suddenly, Zayn could feel everything from Harry's pinkie pressed against his eyelid to Harry's breath blowing against his nose.

He opened his eyes and there Harry was, smiling. "You're way too cute, ZeeBug," he whispered back.

He went and placed the palette back in his drawer before getting the camera off of his dresser.

"Do you call Louis cute too?" Zayn stared at himself in the mirror that leaned against Harry's wall.

"Would you be mad if I did?" Harry asked, eyes still on the screen of the camera.

Zayn looked away from the mirror and at Harry. "Do you or do you not?" Zayn asked again.

Harry looked up from the screen and at Zayn with a grin. "It's cute when you get jealous like that."

With shaky hands, Zayn covered his burning cheeks that were flushed his usual soft pink. "I'm not jealous."

"It's okay, I'm not mad. I like it when you get jealous," Harry said. "But you also have no reason to be jealous, Zaynie. Like I've said before, it can only be you."

Zayn thinks this was the first time he's ever felt butterflies in his stomach. It's gentle at first and then it grows into this nauseating feeling, but he liked it nonetheless.

So when Harry walked over to him and grabbed his hand, he felt it again.

When Harry let go of his hand and wrapped his arm around Zayn's shoulders, he felt it again.

When he could feel Harry's breath against his ear, he felt it again.

"Always you," Harry whispered.

Then Harry pulled him out of the room, down the hallway, and out the front door to Harry's porch where he decided was the easiest place to take photos of Zayn.

Harry had him sit down on the front steps and just before he backed up to take a few photos, he reached to Zayn and tucked a few strands of Zayn's hair behind his ear.

Zayn felt it again.

"Now, just look into the camera and just.. be you," Harry instructed. "Smile if you want, but you don't have to. Just be pretty."

"How do I be pretty, Haz?" He frowned.

"Be you, ZeeBug, you're always pretty."

There it was again, like a tsunami of various colored butterflies swarming his stomach. He wondered if Harry could hear them fluttering around like tiny heartbeats.

When Harry took the first photo, Zayn smiled his only-for-Harry smile. The smile he kept hidden away, the one that was too wide and made the corners of his eyes crinkle until his eyes looked small.

It was then that Zayn knew his smile, the only-for-Harry smile, was the smile he had whenever he was happy.

So whenever he smiled like this, whenever he was this happy, it was all because of Harry.

*****

:D thx for reading, I hope this was worth the wait. sorry for the cheesy writing (& sorry for any typos). I like being cheesy <3