Bound by No Universe • Zarry

vi.

That Friday, Zayn uses the worst excuse in the history of excuses not to attend Harry's welcoming party. He says that his parents are in town and he hasn't seen them in ages. (They weren't in town. And he saw them three weeks ago, which isn't that long considering they live in the UK.). Gail gives him a proper chewing up about it on Monday and goes as far as saying that Harry looked disappointed and "like a kicked little puppy trying to find his momma" which is absolutely ridiculous and Zayn tells her as much, because every sane person knows that Harry could not possibly care less about Zayn and his attendance on Harry's party. Or his existence in general. And there's proof.

            Harry doesn't talk to Zayn at all except for things concerning the research and even for those, he chooses to have Gail as the unbiased messenger most of the time. Gail's fed up with their bullshit of course and tells Zayn to go fuck himself after he says it's Harry that doesn't talk to him and also tells him that communication works both ways. She's right, of course, not that Zayn would admit it out loud. But she eventually gets the story about what happened with Harry out of him two weeks after Harry arrives. As expected, she states that they're both stupid as hell and that they should start behaving like adults and rekindle their romance. And what a stupid idea that is.

            Gail never gives up on her beliefs and becomes a literal pest about it. Specie – "Romance Rekindler without Common Sense". She thinks it's an awesome idea to be subtle about it and subtly ask Harry subtle questions about his romantic past, especially during university. That is precisely why she drag him, Harry and Chris out for lunch. Apparently, it's a team-bonding session. Chris easily agrees because they usually go to lunch in groups, even sometimes the whole lab goes together and Harry's still new so he doesn't have much of a choice. Zayn tries to protest because he can see right through Gail's schemes but she threatens to tell Ella to ambush him somewhere and give him a speech about the importance of forgivness and love in life.

So that's how Zayn finds himself sitting in a restaurant near the lab, right opposite Gail and between Harry and Chris. He's not sure if the whole situation is awkward but he feels awkward. Chris and Gail seem completely unfazed though. Harry... Zayn can't quite read him, both because he's trying not to look at him much in fear of Gail further supporting this unrequited love thing that doesn't exist and because it's been way too much time since Zayn knew Harry like the back of his hand. It all starts off fine, they order their food and drinks and Zayn has the foolish notion of hoping that Gail dropped the interrogation thing before she drops the bomb.

"So, Harry," Gail says with a grin, leaning her chin on her clasped hands, her elbows snugly on the table. "A little birdie told me, or rather was forced to tell me, that you and Zayn were classmates at Cambridge. How come you didn't tell us?"

"Oh," Harry's clearly taken off guard. His face drops for a moment before he schools his impression into the same impersonal politness as before. "It was a long time ago. We weren't in touch either way. Didn't seem important. We went to uni with loads of other people, didn't we?"

Harry then looks at Zayn, his eyes carrying a sharpness that makes Zayn's skin itch underneath Harry's gaze. It's almost as if he was pissed off Zayn told Gail about their past. He probably assumes that Gail knows about their fling, romance, affair, whatever you call and he wouldn't be wrong. Zayn drops his eyes down to the empty whipe plate.

"Yeah, I mean, Cambridge is a huge university," Zayn says quickly, lifting his gaze and giving Gail a pointed look, trying to get her to stop this crap immediately.

"But you both worked on the project that evolved into what we're doing now back when it was in its inception," Gail continues, clearly testing Zayn's sanity. "It wasn't a big group. Were you guys friends?"