Levirate [Haniaal/Zarry]

Chapter 22

The change starts very small for Harry. First thing is getting groceries because he had not done that for himself since he married Daniaal. He mistakenly went without a shopping list and he found himself walking around absentmindedly for hours on end and eventually left feeling satisfied with whatever he bought. But when Zayn came with four full grocery packages two days after he did, his confidence took a knock and he felt like a snake poked in its hole. Zayn might not have been at fault at all but he needed to do these things for himself and it seemed like Zayn was taking over. In typical Harry behaviour, he chose not to address the situation upfront but rather get annoyed with Zayn.

Seeing that shopping did not go well, Harry chose to rather shift his attention to finding himself. After the fight with Gemma and his mother's advice, he has decided to revisit his life and determine whether he really liked the things he did with Daniaal. The first thing on his list is movies. He went to watch a movie alone last week and watched a movie based on social affairs like they normally did with Daniaal then watched a romantic comedy after. He cannot really say that he hated the social affairs movie however the simple fantasy romantic comedy felt light enough to uplift his spirits. He has joined Safaa's reading app as well and has engrossed himself in the most fictional stories that he can find like bad boy falls in love with the nerd. He knows they are really ridiculous, but anything is better than real life at this point.

The next aspect of his life that needed his attention are the finances. The finances at Styles Inc are managed by the accountant but he has not really been interested in the personal finances. He knows that they had a joint account with Daniaal and his card had never had insufficient funds so he has not really bothered himself with the nitty gritties of the account. The bank is still a very sore point for him so he has invited his private banker for coffee at the local café.

He is pacing up and down the living room looking for something but he is not really sure what it is. Pregnancy brains are a nightmare and Zayn has had so much fun teasing him about it. Zayn had mentioned it the other day, how he has become forgetful. Harry had dismissed that he is forgetful and Zayn has recently resorted to counting the number of times that Harry forgets something at home. Harry has just ignored his remarks and pretended not to be aware of it but he has seen how Zayn smirks whenever he hands him the keys for the door or his phone when he is about to leave without them and mumbles number as he walks away and he has heard Zayn's chuckles when Harry celebrates after finding whatever he had been looking for.

It takes 15 minutes for him to remember that he is actually looking for his folder of important documents for the meeting, that with no credit to his brain. Zayn had asked him where he was planning to go after watching him pace for a while. He did not want to mention anything to avoid the stupid goofy look Zayn gives him whenever he assists him but he was starting to feel tired now from all the pacing. Zayn mentioned that he might need his documents to go over all the accounts and probably Daniaal's ID as well and that's when it finally clicked. He really needs to start setting reminders on his phone he thinks as he makes his way upstairs, choosing not to comment on Zayn's goofy smile.

Harry is about to drive out the garage when he thinks to call the banker and find out if the meeting is still on. He looks everywhere and he cannot seem to find his phone and goes back to look for it in the house. Harry reaches for the door but it is opened by Zayn, Harry's phone in hand and an annoying smirk on his face.

"Don't even think about it"

"What? I didn't say anything" responds Zayn while laughing

"I had not driven the car out of the garage yet so it doesn't count" Harry says as he grabs his phone from Zayn's hand.

Zayn shrugs and steps back into the house. As Harry turns to walk back to the garage, Zayn loudly says "27" amusement apparent in his tone.

Harry growls frustratingly but does not give Zayn the satisfaction of a response. He steps into his car and drives off leaving an amused Zayn standing by the door.

***

It is a beautiful sunny day in London for once and Harry is sitting on the balcony of the quint café mindlessly scrolling through Instagram. The meeting with the banker went better than expected. He has learned that the house and the cars are all fully paid up, thanks to Daniaal's life cover. He finds that Daniaal's card was hardly used so there are enough funds for him to laze around for a long time or even go for a full year world tour. If he was not pregnant, he is almost certain that he would join 5SOS on their tour and live as a groupie for a year. The thought brings a smile to his face.

"Harry?"

"Is that really you?"

He looks up to find Fai smiling brightly at him. It has been a while since he hung out with his old friends and Fai has grown so much since the last time he saw him. Harry is 20 weeks pregnant now and he is spotting a very noticeable bump which Fai spends almost 10 minutes freaking out about how cute it is. The two get to reminiscing about the old times and laughing at some of the wild things they got up to. Fai mentions how he could not have guessed that Harry would be the one to be married already at age 22 and Harry just laughs and shrugs the comment off. The mood changes a bit when Fai mentions that they heard about Daniaal's passing but could not attend due to the sacredness of the funeral proceedings but it seems Fai can still read him because he changes the topic swiftly and talks about how the old gang still hangs out together. The two exchange contact details and follow each other on Instagram and go their separate ways after eating too much cake and drinking too much coffee.

By the time he reaches home, Harry is too exhausted to do anything at all and just lays on the couch for a break. The house is quiet so he guesses that Zayn is out because he is not the quietest of persons. He must have dozed off on the couch because he is awoken by Zayn's quiet whispers of his name. He looks into the golden orbs staring at him worriedly and is confused. "Shit Harry, I have been trying to wake you up for the last 5 minutes. Don't scare me like that". Harley barks as if to agree with Zayn's concerns and he pushes himself up on the couch, swatting away Zayn's outstretched hand that was attempting to help him up.

"I am fine Zayn, I guess I must have been more tired than I thought" he yawns and stretches before he is hit by the delicious smell of curry. "Did you cook?"

Zayn smiles nervously and nods. "I thought you might appreciate curry so I cooked some when I got back and found you knocked out. I saw how happy you were when Safaa helped you cook it the other day and wanted to thank you for letting me host the party last week. Sit here. I will dish up for you" he says excitedly moving to the kitchen.

The two eat together quietly, the only sounds being the cutlery hitting against the plate and Harry's soft murmurs of enjoyment. Harry looks up to find Zayn smile what looks like a genuine smile at him.

"What" he asks

"Is it any good? I haven't tried the recipe in a while because it takes forever to prepare"

"It's exquisite. Thank you Zayn"

"You are welcome Harry"

They continue to enjoy their dinner in silence and Harry makes his way to his bedroom as soon as he is done. He offered to wash the dishes at least but Zayn did not want to entertain the thought. When his body hits the bed after his shower, he feels lighter. Today has been better than most days. He can afford to raise his baby without working his fingers to the bone. He has reconnected with his friends and Zayn was not as annoying as he usually is today. Maybe the future is not as bleak as he thought after all.