Smoke & Mirrors • Zarry

14. Would you rather

Harry was gone when Zayn woke up the following morning, but he could feel the warm imprint from where Harry had been laying next to him all night and his pillow smelled like the sweet scent of vanilla. The day was dreary, cold for summer, with dark, grey clouds rolling in and it looked to be the perfect day to do nothing but lay around. Zayn took his time getting out of bed, dozing off and on for the next few hours until the hunger pains in his stomach woke him up for good and he climbed out of bed, grabbing the empty plate from his nightstand and moving to the kitchen.

He felt a bit hungover and started to recall the events from the night before and the massive amount of whiskey that he consumed to destroy the images he had of Harry performing sexual acts on other guys. This newfound jealousy surged inside of him, eating away at his core and he felt it stronger than ever before, building up within his veins as he forcefully over-scrubbed the plate in the kitchen sink with a soapy sponge. Zayn thought about why Harry was able to do this to him, why Harry was the one who swept through his life like a tornado and turned everything upside down, causing him to question himself, to reevaluate the way he went about things, to challenge him to think about his past, his present, his future.

Zayn picked up the sparkling clean plate and stared at it, tempted to just shatter it on the floor in a fit of anger, but he didn't and Zayn could sense that he was starting to change and the fight against this switch inside of him felt weaker as he looked down at the dining table and saw a note in Harry's handwriting.

Off to film that commercial. I'll be back later. I hope you're feeling better. - H.

A smile naturally appeared on Zayn's lips as he read it and he grabbed a bag of chips, heading to the living room, reclaiming his spot on his favorite chair as he ate and fired up the Playstation, beginning to play FIFA again. And he did feel much better, in fact. Everything inside of Zayn wanted Harry to come back and stay and the mere thought of Harry spending one more night on Finn's couch unsettled him, made him yearn for his company.

Zayn didn't have many friends, not many real ones, and that's aside from Louis, and if nothing else he hoped that he could at least consider Harry one of them. Maybe he wouldn't be able to let Harry all the way in, but all Harry had asked for was just a little more from him and as Zayn continued on with his game, he reasoned that perhaps he might be able to give that to him. He'd try, at least.

The clouds rolled in faster as the day grew on and the sky was dark and menacing. A storm was headed their way and Zayn could feel it in the misty, ominous air that hung around the city. He looked outside, starting to worry that Harry would get caught in the storm and be unable to make it back safely so he picked up the phone and called him, but it just kept ringing and Harry never answered.

He waited a few minutes and tried again, but Harry never picked up. He looked outside and heard thunder roaring in the distance, growing closer. And then it started to downpour.

Zayn decided to lay down on the couch with his favorite blanket, the one that he had covered Harry with the night he first slept over, and buried himself underneath it, flicking the channels to find something to watch to pass the time, when he heard the door swing open and Harry trampled in, soaking wet. 

"Jesus fucking fuck!" Harry exclaimed, soggily dripping all over Zayn's kitchen.

"It's a fucking mess out there," he continued, pulling at his wet, white t-shirt and Zayn looked over at him just standing there, drenched, looking as though he had just taken a dive into a pool, but damn, he looked so incredibly hot.

"I called you a few times," Zayn spoke from the couch. "Just to see if you were alright."

"Yeah I saw, sorry I didn't call back. I was real busy," Harry replied, peeling his shirt off and laying it over the back of Zayn's chair as his long, stringy hair fell into his face and he began tying it back into his signature bun.