🎄 Underneath the Tree 🎄 Zarry

Five ❄️

Harry feels like it's too damn early when he wakes up. The sun is barely peeking through the curtains but somehow, he feels rested enough. He's usually a morning person but after those shitty few weeks of finals, he seemed to sleep for more and more time each day as the exhaustion caught up with him.

    But not only does he feel well-rested, he feels an arm wrapped around his waist and it takes a lot for Harry not to freak out. He clearly remembers falling asleep with him and Zayn back to back. How the fuck did he not wake up when at some point during the night, Zayn wrapped an arm around his waist and their legs got tangled together?

    Harry stops freaking out and starts to think about what to do about this situation. Is he supposed to wake Zayn and tell him to move? Should he just slink out of bed and act like nothing happened? When he thinks about it, he's not exactly uncomfortable. Zayn is warm and the weight of his arm is comforting. But then Harry realizes that this is very weird. It's one thing unconsciously cuddling someone but knowingly staying in this situation when you're scarcely friends just feels creepy.

    So instead, Harry very, very carefully gets out of bed and goes to take a shower in the en-suite. When he's finished, Zayn is still in deep sleep so Harry decides to leave him be and go downstairs. He doesn't look like much of  a morning person either way.

    Once he gets downstairs, he finds his mom already in the kitchen, a cup of coffee on the counter as she prepares things to decorate gingerbread cookies.

    "Morning, mom," Harry says, his voice still rough, kissing her on the cheek before he goes to the coffee maker. He pours himself a cup before grabbing one of the pastries on the counter.

    "Morning, sweetie," Anne chirps. "You wanna decorate these with me? Or are you planning to do something with Zayn?"

    Harry nearly scoffs. "We've nothing planned. I'd love to help you." He snacks on two croissants and some other thing that has raisins in it as he moves around the kitchen, automatically helping with the things and putting the whole picture together. He and Gemma have been doing this with their mom ever since they were little kids. It's like he's on autopilot now.

    "Is he still in bed?" Anne wonders as they fill piping bags with white and coloured icing.

    "Yep," Harry nods. "Not big on mornings."

    "Are you happy with him, darling?" Anne asks out of nowhere as she decorates a gingerbread man. Harry watches her in confusion, icing leaking from his piping bag as Anne draws some glasses on the cookie.

    "Why would you ask that, mom?" Harry wonders, slightly panicked.

    Anne straightens her back, sighing. "You two were acting a bit off during dinner last night."

    "No," Harry says quickly. God, if his cover is blown he's fucked. "We're fine. It was just a lot lately with college and stuff. We're fine, honestly. He loves me so much, it's nothing like with Logan. We talk and spend time together and we have a lot of things in common. We both... like tattoos a lot. And animals! Did you know he donates to pet charities and shelters?"

    "Sweetheart," Anne gives him a slight smile. "I'm not doubting that Zayn isn't a good guy. He's a very nice fella. I was just wondering if you had any troubles. You can talk to me about anything, you know that, right?"

    Harry looks at her for a moment, a crease between his brows. "Yeah, of course. But we're fine, mom, I promise. We're really happy together."

    "Then I'm more than happy," Anne smiles at him and goes back to the gingerbread.

    Harry feels fucking awful for lying to his mom. There is nothing more he wants than to tell her the truth. Just tell her that none of this is real, that he and Zayn are not even friends, not really. That he's honestly fine after Logan, even if he hasn't dated anyone since. But she worries about him so much because yeah, Harry was a mess for a while but he's not anymore. So this is essentially a harmless lie. In a few months, or next Christmas, his mom will remember Zayn only as the nice boyfriend Harry brought over for holiday that one year and this charade won't be anything more than a footnote in the whole story. But in the meantime, Harry has to keep his cover.