🎄 Underneath the Tree 🎄 Zarry

Three ❄️

Truth be told, Harry doesn't leave his dorm room until midday on December 22nd. He might've been sulking, he might've watched six Christmas movies and he might've stalked Zayn's Instagram while drinking shitty red wine. No one will ever know though.

Zayn texted him his address and Harry begrudgingly replied that he's gonna pick him up at 12:30PM, sharp, because they need to get there quickly due to roads and snow, which is a combination made by Satan himself. He packs at the last minute because he was too lazy to get his ass off the bed before. In the end, Harry manages to get everything into his car by 12:25 and he's at Zayn's place, magically, at 12:32. Zayn doesn't live on campus. Instead he shares an apartment in a brownstone with a friend of his not that far from Columbia.

Harry has no trouble finding the place since Zayn's already standing outside, in a camel coat with a designer holdall on his shoulder. The snow's softly falling around them and Harry only rolls his eyes because it's not the time nor the weather for Zayn to look this put together. Who is he, honestly?

Zayn waves at him, which Harry doesn't return and only gives him a half-assed smile, before going straight to the trunk of Harry's Range Rover. Less than a minute later, Zayn's in the passenger seat, taking off his gloves and gently shaking snow off of himself which nearly makes Harry smack him because now his car's going to be all wet. Whatever, Harry doesn't want to start a fight even before they reach the destination.

"Thanks for picking me up," Zayn says.

Harry's now set his eyes on the road, already making his way through the snowy streets of Manhattan. "No problem. We're... boyfriends, after all. At least until January the 6th."

"Quite short-lived one then."

Harry just hums in response. An awkward silence fills the car so Harry turns on the radio, setting it on an indie station. With all this extra Christmas things Harry's family does that Zayn will encounter, Harry doesn't want to play Christmas music now in case Zayn starts thinking he's insane. Silence is better than strained conversation that no one's comfortable with.

The drive stays like that for a while. Harry can see Zayn texting on his phone out of the corner of his eye but it doesn't bother him. Later they talk a bit, mainly about exams and their fake relationship. They tell each other some little facts so everyone won't see how clueless about one another they truly are. Harry learns that Zayn's favourite colour is green, he has three sister and his guilty pleasure is superhero movies. That's probably it for successfully faking a relationship.

Thankfully, they arrive without getting stuck in a snowstorm somewhere in Pennsylvanian forests. They silently get their bags out of the trunk and walk around the car on the same side.

"Wait," Zayn says suddenly.

Harry turns around, giving Zayn a questioning look. "Did you forget something?"

"No," Zayn shakes his head and steps closer to Harry. "Your mom's watching. And... we haven't really tried out the whole kissing part and I assume we will have to kiss at some point this week to make this whole thing believable. This is a good opportunity to try it out and show some affection, albeit fake, when your mom believes we think no one's watching."

'We have kissed before, I just wasn't important enough to you for you to care,' Harry wants to say. He doesn't.

Instead Harry puts his free hand on Zayn's cheek and pulls him into a kiss. Their lips touch, this delicious warmth spreading all over. Harry moves his lips experimentally, lightly running his tongue along Zayn's bottom lip, asking for permission. Surprisingly, he opens his mouth and meets Harry's tongue with his, the kiss immediately firing up. Zayn puts his hands on Harry's hips and that's when Harry ruts him, meeting him in the middle. They're both wearing coats so the effect is a bit lost but Harry thinks he made his point. Zayn surely won't fucking forget this kiss.