•esther gray•➳{h.s}

⇝v -thinking out loud-

•Previously•

Her slightly red, large eyes twinkled as a small smile tugged on her lips, this was the first time he witnessed her smile. It was so acardian, not debauched by the vitriolic hands of the world. He wanted her to stay more than anything, even if it was hedonistic.

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"She's been feeling sick for the past days, Zayn. No, I don't know who her parents are, I was helping her! Just get your witty butt here quick, okay? Bye."

His raspy voice filled the flat, his heart pulsed as he heard her.

"Who was that?" She grabbed the mahogany door frame for support as she waddled towards him. Even ill, she was still eesome looking. Her long hair tousled, the silhouetted moons around her eyes, and her puckered red nose. He gave a soft smile and opened his arms, gesturing for her come. She was sick but he didn't care, he knew she was filled with dysphoria, she needed someone.

"It was a mate of mine, he's a doctor. He'll come to check up on you."

It puzzled her why he cared so much. Why he put so much effort into her. As she pulled away from his lingering touch. She would leave after this, she couldn't be a burden any longer.

"Harry. I'm going to leave after I get well again. I just wanted to thank you in advance for letting me stay these past few days, it means a lot especially since I had no place to stay. Especially since I was completely lost in my own world." She whispered the last sentence before looking up to find him smiling widely, his eyes shining like small stars.

He used his long fingers to tilt up her face to meet his eyes, his eyes were noticeably darker, filled with an iota of anguish.

"Theres no need for that, darling." He muttered to her, his voice as smokey as the cigarette she smelt on him. "You'll be staying, that's final."

His words were kind, but his voice was far from it, it was proprietorial almost.

Before she could shakily respond, the doorbell sounded. With a luring smirk, he eased the door open, in stepped in a gorgeous man with midnight colored hair that tumbled down his face, his angular jaw as if carved in marble. Dressed in all black, he glanced around the till his eye's zeroed in on the nervous small girls who was on the balls of her feet swaying back and forth in a jittery manner.

He grinned and walked over to her and slightly bent his knees, he extended his hand for her shake it in her small one.

"Hello Gray. I'm Zayn." He kindly stated, her insides cooled down as she decided to trust this benign stranger. She glared at the two older men and shifted uncomfortably.

"Well, I'm here to check up on you since you're ill." He deadpanned in an authoritative tone, sounding like a real docter.

"Harry where would you like it? Here or inside of your room?" He inquired as he pulled out a stethoscope from a leather bag slung around his shoulders.

"Inside, please."

As they trudged into Harry's bedroom, littered with tissues as the air smelt of musty sickness. Her face flushed as her eyes darted down as she tried to gather the room together.

"Sorry."

Harry smiled and crossed his arms.

"It's fine, darling."

As she laid down on the plush bed, the man with charcoal colored hair hooked the stethoscope to his ears before lifting her shirt to her chest and placing the cold metal on her ribs. Her creamy, unblemished skin stood there as the doctor tapped her ribs several times. He eyed them with ease, he wondered how it felt like, how soft her skin might feel. He didn't thoroughly like it, he didn't like that he was touching her. Her skin glowed as he gently feasted on the sight, his orbs dancing around the room.

She closed her eyes as he continued his tests before being requested to stand back up and take her temperature. She gazed into the warm hazel eyes of the man she did not know. She was intrigued by them, they were hazel brown with flecks of gold and green and yellow. She leaned in, getting a closer look at the tranquil colors near his pupil, squinting her own to get a good look. Her nose touched his before realizing the awfully close position she was in, his warm breath clouded her lips before he was pulled back abruptly.

"So when will she get well?" Harry spat nervously. Zayn chuckled lowly and to Harry's chagrin, shrugged.

"I need to speak with Gray alone, please, Harry. Just a moment, y'know doctor stuff." Zayn smugly smirked, his tongue in between his teeth.

And the only sound that could be heard in those few milliseconds was the rapid beating of the thermometer in her mouth, her temperature going up.

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"You just have a slight fever, nothing too serious, luckily."

"Luckily." She repeated, too tired and devoid to muster up words of her own.

"Hey Gray." Her eyes flickered toward the unexplainably handsome man that idled near her phone. "I'm going to punch my number in just in case you fill sick again, okay?"

"Okay." She mewled in response as she laid her head back on her pillow. She felt worn out and too exhausted to mind.

"You should take a hot bath to warm you up, I'll ask Harry to run you one. I'll come check up on you tomorrow, okay?" He pushed a piece of hair from her face before smiling to himself. He finally understood what Harry was obsessing about, it was her.

Her eyes closed and opened a few times before she felt her self airily being scooped up and set in a warm tub of water. The medicine she was on giving her a high feeling, as if she was floating on cloud nine.

"I would leave you to take a bath, but I get the feeling that the medicine is making you a little helpless." He mumbled awkwardly. The gray shirt she donned floated in the tub of water as she shed it off, her limbs being taken over by obdormition. She wasn't even aware if it was Zayn or Harry.

But she was finally warm, asleep, and comfortable.

The heat of the water surged through her body as she felt uncomfortable from the heat. She heard voice's and from the corner of her eye saw blurry figures against the wall. But it was then which she heard the voice she wanted to hear.

"Damn, I knew he was going to take advantage of you, he gave you that god damned drug on purpose." His voice ranted in paranoia as he stroked her wer hair. Her gray shirt was stripped off leaving her in a white tank top and shorts, and he was going to keep it that way.

She was aloof and wasn't in her right state of mind, he wouldn't dare to disrespect her, but all that flew away as she slipped her shorts off in the bubbling water, frothy and large soap suds rising to cover her body. The water was far too scalding for her liking, she couldn't take it anymore. As the bubbles rose to her shoulders, shielding her body completely she slid out of the clammy, soggy tanktop as he watched her with curiosity, his pink lips in a thin straight line. His eyes franticly darting around in order to avoid her but he obviously could not.

She exhaled as her mind began to clear, running her hands through her tangly hair. Forgetting that the boy with curious green eyes was ever here. She completely loved water, she was a previous paralian. He stood silently, internally debating with himself if he should speak up yet he tried to find the mot juste.

"Are you okay?" He murmured as she effortlessly shifted her eyes open. She glided to the side of the bathtub closest to him and smiled.

"Yes. I'm fine." She reassured. "Was it Zayn that put me in the bathtub?"

"Yeah that conniving twit. I felt like he was going to.....take advantage of you."

She tipped her head back and airily laughed while shaking her head, her next words throughly surprising him.

"No. He had good intentions, I trust him, and plus, why would a twenty something year old man even try to take advantage of me. I'm only fourteen."