Bound by No Universe • Zarry

v.

Zayn stands there motionless, staring ahead as if he's seen a ghost. Well, he might as well has. His lungs have probably just collapsed but Zayn wouldn't notice over the loud drumming of his heart and all the thoughts bombarding his mind. He can't think, can't stop on a singular thought that would bring him back to his senses and have him act like he should right now. But he can't. This is something Zayn never thought he'd have to deal with, not in this universe or any other.

Gail, on the other hand, only throws him a worried look before walking to the man standing by the door.

"Hi! Welcome to Berkeley. We are Alt-World's research team. You're our new guy, right? I'm Dr. Porter, I think we emailed a bit, didn't we? Call me Gail, please," she gives him a warm smile and shakes his hand. He smiles back, grabbing her hand with both of his.

"Thank you so much. I've almost gotten lost in this building. Actually, on the campus. Glad I found you at last," he lets go of Gail's hands but continues to smile.

Zayn is still glued to his spot, unable to do anything but stare. He's here. After more than nine years, Zayn is seeing Harry Styles again. And it's in his own lab, surrounded by his team. And suddenly there he is – tall, wild-haired and still smiling so fucking beautifully like nothing in the whole world could shake him.

"I'm not so glad, though. I'm the second most important person here, you're taking over my place, dude," Gail complain with mock offence and an exaggerated eye roll.

"That I am very sorry about," Harry says seriously and places his giant hand over his heart. Gail laughs and Harry joins her. It's rather painful to watch.

"You better be. Now I've got to deal with two Brits as well. That is a tragedy in my book. Anyways, I've got to introduce you to everyone. How rude of me," Gail nearly twirls and turns to the room. Everyone's standing around, eyeing Harry with curiosity, clearly eager to meet their new colleague. Zayn has to get his shit together before Harry looks at him. So he plasters a big smile on his face and hopes for the best. He realizes that as the leading scientist of this project, he should've been the one to welcome Harry, despite their past. At least he should try to seem like a presentable adult with manners now.

"Hey, welcome to Berkeley," Zayn says and he comes closer to Harry. At first glance, Harry doesn't seem fazed, his smile not faltering but Zayn can see the shock in his eyes, the way the corners of his mouth fall down a bit before he regains his composure. Harry sticks out his hand and with the same Hollywood smile from years ago, he shakes Zayn's hand as if they were strangers meeting for the first time.

"Hi, thank you so much," Harry chirps and moves on to greet Miles. He makes his way around the room while Gail nearly tiptoes to Zayn, scaring him when she loudly whispers into his ear.

"What the fuck was that, Zayn?"

"Nothing."

"Stop fucking lying to me. I've known you for years, I can tell when you're lying. Spit it out."

"It was nothing, just surprised me a bit. Thanks for taking care of the situation."

"Perhaps you could tell me why you look like as if you've seen a ghost as a form of gratitude."

"Leave it, Gail. It's not that important. Get back to work."

Zayn walks away from her as if nothing happened. Nothing at all. As if the man he used to love but foolishly never admitted it to himself until it was too late wasn't walking around the room with a heart-stopping smile, greeting people Zayn's worked with for years. As if his heart wasn't trying to shoot straight out of his chest with how hard it's beating. As if his whole life wasn't about to turn out on itself.

"Alright everyone, we can't forget our deadline. Everyone get back to work, please," Zayn calls from his desk once he turns the screen on. He's already sitting down when he notices Harry standing in the middle of the lab awkwardly, unsure what to do. Knowing he's responsible for this project and for the people working on it, Zayn swallows his pride and fear and stands up, making his way to Harry. It feels too alien but familiar at the same time. Harry doesn't belong there, in the new lab and essentially life. He hasn't been a part of Zayn's life for years. This is a room where Zayn spends hours upon hours and he knows about every squeaky cabinet and every chipped beaker. Harry standing in the middle of it feels like a bonfire in the middle of the ocean.

"Harry?" Zayn says quietly when he approaches him.

"Yes?" Harry turns his head.

"For today, you can join anyone on the team and just kinda walk around and see what we do. I believe you've been sent all the new findings and information that's been discovered since the beginning of this program?"

"Yes, I've been given all of it so I'm quite familiar with everything."

"That's great," Zayn nods. "Feel free to ask about anything and you can work on anything you want but since your expertise is kinda ranked above what Gail does, you should mostly stick around her work or mine, possibly Chris' since that's the closest to what you're here for."

"Alright, yeah. Well, I better get going then," Harry turns his back to Zayn and starts walking towards Gail's desk.

"Harry?" Zayn says before he can stop himself. His heart is in his throat as Harry turns around slightly, waiting for the question with blank face.

"It's good to see you again," Zayn says and for a second, he feels like those words are the worst thing that's ever left his mouth. The lab is silent except for the monotone clicking of computer mice and keyboards. Harry takes a shuddering breath and Zayn's convinced Harry's going to just turn around and pretend like they've never seen each other before.

"You too," Harry says finally, his voice ineptly quiet for the vast room. He leaves Zayn standing there, mirroring his position from before.

Even though there are millions and millions of questions whirring through Zayn's head, he gains his composure and walks back to his desk. From his seat in the chair he can clearly see Gail's desk. A disgruntled Gail is holding a paper with 'YOU GOT SOME EXPLAINING TO DO' scribbled messily on it with pink highlighter. Zayn just sighs agonizingly and gets back to his work.

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HARRY IS BACK! Wonder what's gonna happen now 🤔🤔🤔🤔 Thank you all so much for reading and for the positive response to this fic ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️