The Beautiful Escape [ZARRY]

11

Harry levered himself into the cramped front seat of the vehicle. He rapidly discovered there was a soggy patch in the worn padding. A quick survey revealed the half-open window was the most likely culprit. He tried to close it, but it seemed as though the ventilation was permanent.

Harry, who liked his cars the same way he liked his women; sleek, racy and maintenance-free, gritted his teeth and settled back to make the best of it.

"I'll be with you in a minute," the lad promised, bending down to peer with concern at him through the window.

Harry saw that the guy had discarded the yellow cagoule thing in favour of more masculine garb- a dark knee-length coat that billowed as he ran off down the steep path towards the grim-faced big sister, who, it seemed to Harry, was the only one in the family with enough common sense to view him, a total stranger, with even a hint of suspicion.

A heated conversation followed and, thanks to the broken window and prevailing icy wind, Harry could hear snatches of what they were saying.

"Give the keys to Dad, Zayn."

"Don't be stupid, Doni, Dad is tired as it is."

"And you're not?"

A gust of wind snatched away the next section of the conversation but it involved a considerable amount of gesticulation- it seemed to Harry that his colourful neighbours favoured extravagant body language.

"What if he's a homicidal psychopath... or a sex maniac? Or worse?"

Harry's muzzy, throbbing head didn't immediately make the connection between the sinister character they were discussing and himself until the sister continued in a suspicious growl, "And I'm sure I've seen his face somewhere before. Styles... Styles.... why does that sound familiar? Don't laugh, Zayn, I'm serious. Your trouble is you're too damn trusting."

Under the circumstances, it seemed more than reasonable to eavesdrop. Harry leant casually towards the open window but unfortunately a large dog chose that particular moment to poke his nose through the gap and lick him affectionately on the forehead. He withdrew swiftly to avoid any more displays of overt affection.

"See!" he heard the guy cry triumphantly. "Boris likes him."

He assumed the canine approval finally swung it because a few moments later the raven-haired came jogging energetically down the path towards the car. He fended off the affections of the dog, who bounced over as he saw him coming, and only clicked his tongue in irritation as he brushed off the large muddy paw-prints on his coat.

"No, Boris, you can't come today.:

Harry didn't think he'd miss the large, slobbering dog.

"Sorry I was so long." Zayn's smile faded as his eyes collided with the large stranger's green eyes and their gaze meshed. His stare had a heady, narcotic quality, and for a moment Zayn was physically incapable of looking away.

A breathless, confusing moment later he was free of that mesmeric gaze, and other than a heart that was thudding too fast and loud and a dryness in his throat there was no lasting side-effects. It all happened so fast he wasn't really sure in retrospect if anything unusual had happened- he certainly wasn't acting as if it had.