Smoke & Mirrors • Zarry

34. The whole truth

"You're free to go," a bald, portly police officer spoke to Zayn, who had been sitting inside a cell in the LA County Jail for the last hour with his head in his hands, feeling like absolute shit.

"Bout fucking time," Zayn growled as he opened the iron door and he walked out in a huff, flipping the other police officers off as he made his way towards the front and saw Harry standing there.

"Oh my God are you okay?" Harry questioned as he immediately ran up to Zayn and threw his arm's around his shoulders, drawing him in close for a hug.

"No, are you okay? You must be freaking out," Zayn replied with concern, pulling away from him and holding both of Harry's arms tightly, worried that Harry was feeling shaken up by the event.

"I'm alright. I'm more worried about you, actually."

"I'm fine, don't worry about me. Fucking cops just piss me off," Zayn grumbled as they walked out the front door and made their way toward Harry's vintage Mercedes.

"I spent the last hour arguing with them, telling them the entire story of what actually happened. You're not being charged. I got your wallet and your phone back for you," Harry said as they climbed into his car, handing Zayn both and he graciously accepted them, his hand still throbbing in pain and he could tell it would end up being badly bruised.

"Turns out that piece of shit's been wanted for robbing people for awhile now so, in hindsight, they caught him thanks to you," Harry went on as he started up the car and drove off into the LA streets on his way to take Zayn home.

"Glad to be of service," he replied sarcastically, still feeling incredibly annoyed by the whole situation.

"But I don't regret beating the shit out of that guy, I really don't. He got exactly what he deserved for threatening you like that with a fucking knife. Like, what the hell...that scared the shit out of me," Zayn said, glancing over at Harry with anguish.

"I was so fucking terrified not going to lie," Harry admitted.

"Like I genuinely thought I was going to get stabbed."

"I would have never let that happen to you," Zayn asserted.

"But good thing you were with me because what if you had been alone?"

"I know," Harry responded lowly, still sounding a little shaken up.

"Wait, remember the time you decked that guy for being a homophobic prick at that uni party?" Harry then brought up and even in the midst of Zayn's remaining anger, he started to laugh a little bit after recollecting that fine moment.

"Yeah, I remember. I guess I never got my anger management under control, huh?"

"I'm happy you didn't for fuck's sake. And honestly, thanks for protecting me...again," Harry said with a slight smile.

"I'd never let anything bad happen to you, ever," Zayn stated firmly and he saw Harry smile again as they made their way towards the Hollywood hills.

Zayn started to feel his rage subside as Harry continued driving along, but he was reminded in that moment that life was truly terrifying, that anything could happen at the wrong place, at the wrong time, and he looked over at Harry, feeling this incredible urge to just hold him, to keep him close and ensure that Harry would never be hurt, that nothing bad would ever happen to him. And Zayn was still in disarray by the entire event, feeling that hellish anxiety creep back in, so Zayn started to close his eyes and breathe in an attempt to calm himself back down as the car grew closer to his cabin. They pulled up his driveway shortly afterward and Harry gazed out at it, smiling to himself as he put the car in park and then looked over at Zayn.