Zayn had stayed up all night thinking, not that it was uncommon for him to do that, but this time, for the first time, it had been about something different.

Did he like Niall..? (Who wouldn't though..?)

The next morning, he goes on his daily walk. He sits down next to Niall. It's routine now, he thinks.

Niall puts down the books and takes off his headphones as soon as he sees Zayn.

"Hi," he says.

"Hey," Zayn says back.

They sit there for a while, staring at each other.

Zayn smiles at Niall's bright blue eyes.

Suddenly, Zayn realizes what he was doing. He shakes his head at himself.

"S-sorry," Zayn says, blushing.

Niall just looks back at him, giggling.

Zayn smiles again, and Niall smiles back.

"Uh- so... d-do you wanna chat or something..?" Zayn asks after a while.

Niall shrugs.

"Ok, let's talk then."

Niall just stares back at him.

"What do you wanna be when you grow up?" Zayn asks, then immediately face palms himself at the stupid question.

Niall answers anyways.

"I like dogs."

"You like dogs? So... do you wanna be like a vet, or something like that?"

"I volunteer at the animal shelter sometimes," Niall says.

"Do you wanna work there someday?"

Niall nods excitedly.

"I like dogs," Niall says again.

Zayn chuckles.

"That's cool, do you have a dog?"

Niall shakes his head, looking a bit sad.

"Harry said no... he wasn't being mean, he said in a nice way... but still..." Niall says, looking down at his hands.

Zayn just nods, unsure of what to do next.

"What 'bout you?" Niall asks, "What do you wanna do?"

Zayn looks up, and shrugs.

"I don't really know... honestly... I'm just trying to get through life right now..." Zayn says quietly.

Niall looks at him, appearing concerned.

"Are you ok?" Niall asks.

Zayn looks up, seeming surprised, as if he forgot Niall was there.

He shrugs.

"I-I don't know Niall... I don't know."

Niall is still concerned for Zayn, but doesn't know what else to say, and doesn't want to make Zayn uncomfortable, they've really only just met.

Niall just nods.

"You can talk 'bout it if you want..." Niall says.

Zayn doesn't say anything.

"So... do you have any pets?" Niall asks Zayn.

"No, I don't."

Niall nods.

"Do you like animals?"

"Yea, yea I do like animals, I like dogs a lot too," Zayn says.

"I like dogs!" Niall says.

Zayn chuckles.

"Yup, do you like all animals, mostly?"

"I don't like pigeons, th-they kinda scare me for some reason..." Niall admits.

Zayn nods.

"Is that weird?" Niall asks.

"I mean, I've never heard of it, but I've never heard of a lot of things, it's not that weird at all."

Niall doesn't say anything.

"So like, what do you like to do? Like, for fun," Zayn asks.

"I like reading a lot... can't think of much else," Niall says, "I like ping-pong I guess."

"That's cool. What types of books are you into?"

Niall shrugs.

"I like a lot of stuff, no fantasy though... if I chose a favourite, maybe... realistic fiction, probably. Do you like reading?" Niall asks.

"Yea, sometimes, if I find a good book I can really get into it, I don't read all that much though. My friend Liam, I play video games with him, not that much though, I kinda just... I just like chatting, don't need to go out and do anything, just chat, a coffee shop, one of our house's... something like that, a relatively quiet place."

Niall nods.

"That sounds fun," Niall says, "I don't really like video games."

Zayn nods.

"Understandable."

There's a pause.

"So... would you maybe wanna join us sometime..?"

Niall's face drops a bit.

"Uh... I-I don't really like going to other people's house's... at least, not that often, especially if-if I don't know them... n-no offense," Niall says, looking apologetic, and sincere.

"That's completely understandable, would you be interested in meeting him someplace else? Maybe I can invite him here, just for like ten minutes, just so you can meet him or something..?"

Niall nods, grateful for Zayn's understanding.

"That would be awesome," he says.

Zayn smiles.

"Glad you like the idea. He's out visiting his family, I think he'll be back tomorrow, or something, so maybe the day after that..?"

"Sure!"

"It's a plan," Zayn says.

"A-anyways... i-it's time for me to go," Niall says.

Zayn nods, familiar with Niall's routine.

"Tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow."

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