𝐚 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐚 » 𝐳.𝐬.

𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭

zayn's life was a complete and utter joke.

seriously. he was a thirty eight year old man being harassed by a spoiled seventeen year old kid. whatever god or deity he might believe in was definitely watching him right now, laughing their glorious, righteous ass off.

"i'm so sorry to request this of you, zayn, but i really have no one else i can ask," anne said solemnly, looking more embarrassed and flustered than he'd ever seen her. "i know the divorce isn't finalized yet, but harry is refusing to stay with gemma and her..."

"new boyfriend," zayn finished for her, shaking his head. "it's okay. you can say it."

"right," she coughed awkwardly, keeping her hands folded in her lap.

"why can't harry stay with you again?" he asked, resting his chin in the palm of his hand as he tried to absorb the information he was being fed.

"robin and i are going away for the next two weeks. we've already looked into bringing him along but it's just not possible. we made these reservations months ago and the cruise is booked," anne explained apologetically, giving zayn a sympathetic look. "i know it's a lot to ask but harry's still a minor. i just can't leave him alone for two weeks and he doesn't want to bother gemma."

this brat. if it were legal, zayn would kill him dead.

"so you want me to watch him for two weeks?" he asked, exasperated. it's not like he really had a choice in the matter. anne was a kind woman, always treated him well despite the rocky relationship he and gemma had. he could never say no to her.

she was even taking zayn's side in the divorce, though he had told her many times she didn't need to go that far. in all honesty, she was probably just embarrassed about the fact that gemma had cheated on him.

"yes. two weeks and then we'll take care of him until he goes back to the states."

"the states?" zayn asked, knitting his eyebrows together once again. every time he did, his mother's words played in the back of his head and he had to physically relax them to their natural state.

"oh... you didn't know? he's been studying in the states since the fall. he'll go back at the end of winter break."

zayn wanted to tell her if he can study in the states by himself, surely he can be alone for two weeks, but he didn't want to argue with her. especially after everything she had done for him.

"i understand if it's too much, zayn... i shouldn't have asked in the first place. it was selfish of me to ask, i'm sorry," anne apologized, sighing as she grabbed her wallet so she could take out money to pay for her chamomile and lemon tea.

he wanted to respond with you're right, it is selfish, but he knew she wasn't behind this. it was that insufferable brat behind it all.

"it's fine, anne," he said reluctantly, the words leaving a bad taste in his mouth.

"really?" she asked, perking up and smiling at him with her charmingly crooked teeth. "thank you so much, zayn. you have no idea how much i appreciate this."

"of course," he mumbled, rubbing his hands over his face. "i have a heavy lecture load this semester so i won't be around most of the day, but i'll do my best to look out for him."

"that's fine. as long as i know he is somewhere safe and taken care of, that's all that matters."

right... maybe harry would be safe, but zayn sure as hell wouldn't be.

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