Stumbling forward, Zayn hits the ground after tripping over a loose cord from underneath his desk, feeling instant pain in his arm as a groan escapes his lips. Good thing he has insurance.

A knock erupts on his door. Still blinded by the excruitiating pain, Zayn has to force himself to stand, but he doesn't let go of his elbow because his arm really may be broken. He uses only his leg strength to get up and walks over to the door, gritting his teeth due to every step moving something within his arm.

He reaches the door and has to let go to turn the knob and open it, being met face to face with Harry. A smile goes on his lips and Zayn grimaces when he grabs his arm again before smiling slightly. "Hey, you're here." He says excitedly but sounds strained.

Harry looks down at Zayn's arm, the position he is in being strange. He furrows his brows, looking up at Zayn who keeps a small smile on his lips. "What's wrong?" He asks, reaching out to touch Zayn's arm and Zayn shudders out a breath when his fingers brush the bruised skin.

"I fell just now, I think I need to go to the hospital." He says, not really in the mood to go to the hospital.

Harry's eyes widen. "Should I call an ambulence?" He says frantically.

"No, no." Zayn shakes his head. "I just need a ride there. Let me call Louis-"

"I can do it." Harry says. Zayn looks at him, furrowing his brows.

"You don't know how to drive, though, its okay-"

"My mum can." Harry smiles, eyes hopeful.

"No, Harry, it's okay. I'll just call Louis, alright?" Zayn says gently.

Harry frowns, nodding before Zayn turns around and let's go of his elbow to pick up his phone. He dials Louis' number, putting the phone to his ear. Zayn turns as the phone rings, seeing the emerald eyed man still standing by the doorway. Zayn smiles, beckoning him to come inside but he shakes his head just as Louis answers.

"What up, bro?" Louis says loudly into the reciever.

"Hey, can you give me a ride to the hospital?" Zayn asks, watching Harry look down at his feet bashfully.

"The hospital?" He exclaims. "What the hell happened?" He asks.

"I'll tell you when you get here." Zayn responds.

"Alright, I'm on my way." He states then hangs up. Zayn throws his phone onto the couch and turns to Harry again.

"Do you need anything?" Harry asks.

"No." Zayn shakes his head. "But can I go over to your place?"

He nods his head quickly and Zayn steps out, Harry closing the door for him. "Are you um...hungry?" He asks. "I can make you something. Mum is out running errands." He states.

"No, H, I just want your company." Zayn says, liking the fact his mother is out. They can spend time alone, relaxing. They're constantly walking around or with other people but never sitting and taking each other in which is really what Zayn wants the most.

They step over to the apartment adjacent and Harry opens the door, letting Zayn inside. It smells like peppermint inside and Zayn sees theres a candle burning on the coffee table. He can confirm now that Harry really likes candles or at least nice smells.

"I've been looking for jobs." Harry says suddenly from behind the man. Zayn looks back, smiling brightly.

"That's great, Harry. Anywhere specific?" Zayn asks, walking over to the couch and sitting down. Harry slowly joins him, sitting on the opposite side of the man.

"A bar." He says.

Zayn's eyes slightly widen. "A bar?" He questions, furrowing his brows. "Its a rougher crowd."

Harry nods. "I know." He states. "I make drinks, and I'm taking a risk. It's perfect." He shrugs.

Zayn swallows thickly. "You really want to do that?" He asks. "There will be drunks and they can get stupid and even aggressive."

"I know." Harry says. And Zayn is glad he seems so sure of himself and has done research and knows what he wants...but he can't help but still worry. He had a panic attack at the cafe which is constantly quiet and doesn't get a lot of business, bars are so much more different. Especially at night. Maybe he'll be working during the day.

"What makes you sure that you'll be okay?" Zayn questions.

Harry blinks, flickering his gaze away from the man. "My father used to come home drunk a lot. He was aggressive. And the first few times, I was scared, and I had panic attack, but after a while I got used to it and learned how to ignore him."

Zayn parts his lips in shock from the sudden revealation. He scoots a bit closer to the man, grimacing from the sudden pain in his arm because for a second Zayn forgot why he was holding it. "How?" He asks.

"I like to sing." He says quietly, fiddling with his fingers now, seeming shy. "To myself mostly. Never out loud." He states. "Mum said I'm a good singer, so, singing makes me feel normal."

Zayn becomes confused, wondering how singing could make him feel normal just because he's good at it, but he doesn't know how to ask. Harry eventually makes eye contact with him, lifting his head slowly. "Everyone is good at something, you know? But I never felt like I was good at anything . Because of my aspergers I'm not good at talking, I'm bad at school because I never really cared about it so I didn't listen, I'm bad at drawing, I'm clumsy and bad at sports...and I really just don't have any talents. I'm...boring. But I really like music, and being passionate about it, I started singing." Harry says.

"When can I hear you?" Zayn asks.

"Never." Harry says, blushing and Zayn smiles.

"Too bad. I'm sure you sound beautiful." He states.

Harry chuckles quietly, looking away with a blush coated on his cheeks just as they hear Zayn's name being called from outside, both of their attention getting caught by it. "Guess Louis' here, want to come with us?"

Harry parts his lips. "Yeah." He says softly, nodding hesitantly.

Zayn remembers he doesn't like getting in other people's vehicles besides the public bus and Zayn still doesn't have a clue as to why. But for some reason, he accepted today. Harry gets up stiffly, looking nervous as ever, making Zayn frown. "You don't have to, babe." He says, shaking his head.

"But I want to. I want to make sure you're okay." Harry says.

Zayn smiles. He would reach out and grab his hand right now, but he'd rather not move his arm and cause pain again. He's pretty sure it's broken or at least something is out of place.

Harry opens the door for the man and they walk out of the apartment. Louis stands in front of Zayn's door, looking at the both of them with a quirked up eyebrow before smirking. "You two were having too much fun, huh?" He jokes and Zayn rolls his eyes groaning as Harry looks at Louis with confusion in his gaze.

"You know, if I could punch you, I would." Zayn snaps.

Louis chuckles. "Oh, so it's your arm? What happened? Were you jacking off too violently?"

"Louis." Zayn sighs, shaking his head as Louis bursts out laughing and Harry looks even more confused, but doesn't ask anything which Zayn is thankful for. He'd rather not explain what any of that means.

They all head down to the parking lot. Louis bouncing in front of Zayn and Harry who walk beside each other silently until Harry leans over a bit closer than usual. "How do I get him to like me?" Harry asks.

Zayn smiles, looking over at the man who has his wide, innocent eyes on display. "Just be yourself," he says, shrugging. "That's all you need."

Harry shakes his head, disagreeing. "No...not everyone is like you." Harry says. "Not everyone...no one...likes me. Any other suggestions?" He asks.

"Wait so, what actually happened to your arm?" Louis asks when they stop in front of his car. Zayn closes his mouth because he was about to say something, but figures he shouldn't say anything now with Louis' attention.

"I tripped and fell." Zayn says.

Louis laughs. "You're clumsy as fuck."

"Look whose talking." Zayn scoffs.

"But we're not talking about me, are we?" Louis smirks and Zayn simply shakes his head with a small smile.

"Dumbass." He says. The man gets into the backseat, looking at Harry as he stands a few inches away on the opposite side. Zayn bites his bottom lip, noticing Louis getting into the drivers seat already. A heavy sigh releases past Zayn's lips, concerned for this man but also extremely curious about what the hell is going on. "Lou, roll down the passenger window." Zayn says.

Louis looks back, furrowing his brows. "Why?"

"Can you just do it?" Zayn says.

Louis shrugs, rolling down the window Zayn is attempting to look out of. Harry backs up from the action.

"Harry." Zayn calls the man. Harry bends down, looking into the car with bewildered, emerald eyes. He looks afraid, but Zayn doesn't know why. "You don't have to come in, okay?" Zayn says, hating to see him uncomfortable. He hates anything negative Harry may feel. The fact he doesn't like the way he looks, who he is, and many, many situations that are fine for the average person.

Harry swallows thickly before reaching for the car door and opening it. He slides inside, his long legs having to tuck in because of the small space in the car. He shuts the car door quickly and instantly his eyes close, jaw clenched and hands in tight fists.

The car eventually is started up and Louis heads to the hospital. Throughout the ride Zayn steals glances at Harry who looks as if he's itching to get out of the moving vehicle. Zayn would dare to take his hand off his elbow and reach across just to grab Harry's hand to comfort him by the warmth of another human, but his arm is just hurting even worse now and it seems if Harry would be touched at this moment he may jump out of the damn car while its moving.

"Hey," Zayn says. And Harry, flinches, opening his eyes before looking over at Zayn. This seems to startle him, seeing Zayn in the spot next to him. And something changes, his muscles seem to be relaxing and his mind only focuses and zeroes in on Zayn. His eyes are set, frozen on the man and Zayn can feel that.

"Yeah?" Harry says.

"You're really brave." Zayn smiles and Harry shakes his head and looks away. Zayn frowns, not looking away.

Eventually they reach the hospital. Louis gets out of the car, opening the door for Zayn and helping him out. Harry gets out of the car afterwards, looking paler than usual. He walks behind Zayn and Louis as they rush towards the doors.

"M'am, my friend broke his arm because he's an idiot." Louis says, causing the woman at the front desk to give them a strange look before laughing as Zayn rolls his eyes, hissing his teeth.

"Happens to the best of us, just sign your name or someone else can, right here." She says, pointing to a line on the apparent sign in sheet. Louis smirks, picking up the pen before Zayn notices he writes an 'I' and then a 'd'.

"Louis!" Zayn exclaims as Louis simply chuckles.

"What?" He teases.

"Write my actual name, asshole." He glares, but can't deny his friend is funny sometimes. In his head of course.

"Fine!" Louis groans.

"How did you hurt your arm?" The woman asks. Zayn looks at her desk, seeing the name plate on her desk reads Wanda before looking back up into her eyes.

"Tripped over a cord." Zayn says.

"Because he's an-"

"Shut up." Zayn groans to Louis who simply laughs with Wanda.

"You can just wait in those chairs over there, someone will be with you in a moment." She states with a smile, looking between Zayn and Louis equally.

Zayn turns around, furrowing his brows when he doesn't see Harry behind them. He was just there a second ago, but he must've went to the bathroom or something. He couldn't have gone anywhere else without someone stopping him. The man frowns, looking around the waiting room and not seeing him anywhere. He notices Louis already took a seat so Zayn heads towards the exits again to see if Harry may be outside.

He opens the door with his back, turning around when the hot sun hits his skin. He looks around the empty parking lot, no human soul walking around. That's when Zayn becomes to get a bit bothered.

The man walks back into the waiting room and walks over to Louis, sitting down next to him. He sighs shakily, still flickering his gaze around. "I can't find Harry." Zayn says, causing Louis to look up from his phone. His blue eyed friend quirks up an eyebrow, looking around as well before looking back at Zayn.

"Bummer." He shrugs.

Zayn frowns, hoping he'll turn up. Eventually.

Louis stands up, walking over to Wanda. "Hey babe, can you point to where the bathrooms are?" He asks. The woman smiles sheepishly at him when taking notice that he's looking at her.

"Yeah, they're uh, just right down that hallway, second door on your left is the men's." She states. Louis nods before following her direction. He heads down the hallway and turns to the left when passing the womens' to get to the men's.

He walks inside, instantly seeing Harry in front of the sink washing his hands. "Oh, there you are." Louis says, making Harry flinch as he looks at Louis with wide eyes. Louis furrows his brows, taking notice of his flushed cheeks and even his nose is a bit red. Harry quickly wipes his wet hands on his pants before passing Louis, swiftly walking out of the bathroom.

Louis looks back, curious as to what the hell he just saw,but he's not going to question it because he doesn't exactly care about that guy. Zayn does though, and he's just going to have to deal with that.

LATER

Harry puts the finishing touches of his signature on Zayn's cast as they sit on a bench at the park. Louis is a few feet away talking with a lady who has a child running around somewhere, but it seems to Zayn that they're flirting.

However, all of his attention is on Harry now and how the sun shines through his curls, making them glow. His emerald eyes are wide, concentrated on drawing on Zayn's blood red cast. His pale skin shines with health, lips pretty in pink and Zayn can't lie that he wants to kiss-

"How's that?" Harry smiles brightly, looking up into Zayn's eyes hopefully. He quickly blinks out of his trance, flickering his gaze from this innocent man's mouth to the cast, noticing he drew a flower with Zayn's name in the middle, various adjectives in the six petals: Kind, lovely, smart, unique, friend, beautiful. And Harry then has signed his name below it.

Zayn smiles, fondness growing to he doesn't even know where or how much bigger it could really get. "This is beautiful." Zayn says, looking up at him. Harry flushes from the words, capping the pen Louis had given him and putting it in his pocket.

"Well, my flirting skills have sunk." Louis sighs as he sits on the end of the bench. He licks at an ice cream cone, it being chocolate.

"What happened?" Zayn frowns, looking at his defeated demeanor.

"Nothing important." Louis shrugs.

"And why didn't you get either of us ice cream?" Zayn snaps jokingly. "I'm injured, bro."

"Sorry, bro." Louis says, throwing his hands into the air.

"What kind do you want?"

"Vanilla." Zayn says, reaching into his pocket to get his wallet out. He takes out a five dollar bill and turns to Harry. "What flavor do you want, H?" Zayn asks.

"No, I don't want any." Harry shakes his head quickly.

Zayn raises his brows. "Are you sure?"

Harry smiles slightly, nodding. "Yeah." He responds.

Louis takes the five before leaving to get Zayn ice cream.

"Hey, Harry." Zayn says, catching his attention again.

"Yeah?" He says.

"Can I um...take you out tonight?" Zayn asks. Technically, this is a date...to Zayn...but Harry doesn't have to know that.

"Where?" Harry questions.

"Anywhere you'd like. What kind of food do you like?"

"My mum's." And Zayn chuckles, making Harry smile.

"I like your mum's cooking too." Zayn states. "But other than her great meals, what else?"

"I like sushi." Harry responds. "Its very good."

"I...I know this Japanese restaurant in Manhattan. You want to come with me?"

"Tonight?"

Zayn bites his bottom lip nervously, afraid of rejection by Harry. "Yeah, tonight." He nods, hopeful.

"Okay. Should I dress nice? I don't usually go out to restaurants." Harry says.

Zayn will hopefully get to know Harry better tonight.

"Anyway you want. Nothing special." Zayn shrugs.

Harry nods. "Okay. But this is special."  He says.

"Why do you say that?"

"I'm going to be with you." He responds nonchalantly, and wow he's completely oblivious of what his words do to Zayn.

NIGHT

"Louis." Zayn says, looking through his closet, towel hanging low around his waist as he attempts to find something nice to wear for tonight at the sushi buffet.

"Yeah, hot stuff?" Louis asks, attempting to sound as if he is joking as he bites his bottom lip, looking at Zayn, taking in the droplets of water sliding down his back muscles, following the curvature of his stature. But he looks away, back down at his phone to refrain from drooling anymore.

"I don't know what the fuck to wear." Zayn groans, throwing a bunch of clothes on the bed suddenly.

"Red looks good on you." Louis says quickly, making Zayn look at him. A blush coats the man's cheeks when Zayn smiles slightly.

"You think?" Zayn asks.

His friend chuckles nervously. "Man, I think so." He shrugs. "Usually red looks nice on darker skin. It's a good contrast." He mumbles, running his fingers through his hair. "Why are you asking me anyway?" He snaps, rolling his eyes. Zayn furrows his brows, shrugging.

"Just need some advice, and you gave some. So, red tee it is. White or black jeans?" Zayn asks, picking up his shirt that he hardly wears. Thankfully, it's in good condition.

"White." Louis responds, knowing a specific white jeans Zayn owns that he looks particularly good in. "The one with the tear on the knee."

Zayn snaps his fingers, nodding his head as he strides over to his dresser. "I like your thinking, bro." He says.

Louis doesn't respond as Zayn goes through his drawer with his pants, pulling out the jeans that were mentioned. The man takes off his towel, pulling on his underwear then jeans, turning around to no longer see Louis on the bed. Zayn furrows his brows, walking back over to his bed. "Louis?" He calls out, stopping when he sees Louis on the opposite side, laying on the floor.

"What?" He says frantically, sitting up.

"What are you doing on the floor?" He asks, chuckling lightly.

Louis uses the bed to help himself stand again, Zayn watching him curiously. "I fell, duh." He scoffs.

"You okay?" Zayn asks. "You're not acting like yourself." He snorts.

"What? Of course I am." Louis shrugs. "I'm gonna um...be in the living room."  He states.

Zayn nods and watches the man walk out. He pushes Louis' antics to the back of his mind and gets focused on how he looks again. The man picks up his shirt, pulling it over his head. He looks in his closet, pulling out his nice, white sneakers and slips those on as well.

Looking in the mirror, Zayn frowns, feeling as if he's missing something. He fixes his hair, running his fingers through it, moving it to the side. It falls over his eyes, shaved at the sides. Not much he can really do with it. The man goes back over to his dresser, pulling out a dog tag necklace and slipping that on. He pulls out a silver watch as well, buckling it onto his wrist.

He looks in the mirror once again, bored with how he looks, but takes it as it is. He wants to look the best for Harry, but he's really not feeling himself tonight.

Zayn walks out of his room to see Louis on the couch watching television. He walks over to the man, placing jus hands on his shoulders, causing him to jump in fright. "Hey," he says, turning around to look at Zayn as he takes a step back in order to show his outfit. Louis looks him up and down, biting his bottom lip. "You look good." He nods. "Harry will...really love you."

"Love is a strong word. Hopefully he won't notice I'm trying too hard." Zayn says, sticking his hands in his pockets.

"I think he's the last person who will notice you're trying too hard." Louis snorts.

"Well...I hope he at least-" a knock on the door cuts Zayn off from his thoughts and words, everything going into a frazzle as thoughts of who is behind the door comes to mind. Obviously its Harry, but Zayn is too nervous to answer so he looks at Louis with wide eyes, hoping he does it for him.

"Well? Are you gonna answer it, lover boy?" He chuckles, quirking up a curious brow.

Zayn purses his lips, blowing out a shaky breath before walking over to the door slowly, taking stiff movements. He stops in front of it, turning back to Louis again. "How should I greet him?"

"You're ridiculous." Louis groans, standing up. He walks beside Zayn, grabbing the door knob, making Zayn's eyes widen.

"Louis, no!" He exclaims as he makes the door fly open, Zayn coming face to face with Harry, looking as beautiful as ever. He definitely changed from what he was wearing earlier, looking a little more dressy than casual. He wears a black polo shirt, nice jeans and shiny, black dress shoes. His hair is pushed back into a quiff , curls dancing around his ears in a cute fashion. Zayn looks at him in awe. "Hey." He breathes.

Harry smiles sheepishly, his hands clasped behind his back. "Hi," he says softly.

"You look beautiful."

"So do you."

"You guys are gross." Louis groans.

Harry blushes and Zayn shoves Louis, reaching over with his good arm.

"Come on." Zayn says. He looks around for his phone, finding it on his end table and grabs it. He looks to Harry who still stands at the entrance, Louis walking back over to the couch. "Are you fine to go in my car, Harry?" Zayn asks.

Harry opens his mouth hesitantly, but nods quickly nonetheless. Zayn picks up his keys as well. "See you when I get back, Lou." Zayn says before shutting the door behind him.

He looks at Harry, reaching up to place his palm on his cheek gently, thumb behind his ear, allowing Zayn to caress his soft curls. Harry bites his bottom lip, shivering lightly. "Zayn." He says.

"Yeah?" He questions.

"Do you...do you like me?" He asks.

"Yeah, I like you a lot." He nods, smiling brightly.

"I mean...as more than a friend." Harry states.

The question startles Zayn because...of course he does. But he's too scared to admit it to him and himself. Zayn has never liked labels and commiting to a label is like not having a life. But he realizes he likes Harry so damn much he's almost able to look over the fear of commitment. More like completely as they stare into each other's eyes.

"Yeah." Zayn says lowly. His gaze flickers away momentarily from nerves, heart racing. "I like you more than a friend." He says, looking into his eyes again. "Do...do you feel the same way?" Zayn asks, stepping slightly closer. Harry's breath hitches, gaze flickering down to how close their bodies are.

"Um," he mumbles.

Zayn swallows thickly, pulling his hand away. "Its okay if you don't-"

Harry grabs Zayn's wrist, keeping his hand in place on his cheek and leaning into the touch, eyes fluttering. "Yes, I do like you more than a friend." He says quietly, cheeks heating up. "I just wanted to know if you do." He states.

"Well, are you happy?" Zayn asks.

Harry smiles. "More than you know." He states. Zayn laughs.

"I could say the same. But more." Zayn flirts, gaze flickering down to Harry's lips, causing him to bite down on it bashfully. Zayn smirks looking back up into his eyes.

"Have you ever kissed someone before?" Zayn asks.

"Once." He whispers.

Zayn nods, disappointed he wouldn't be the first but that means he just has to work to give Harry the best. "Can I kiss you?" He asks softly.

Harry blinks, swallowing thickly. He shakes his head, backing away. "No." He says.

Zayn's heart drops just as his mouth, setting into a deep frown. He takes his hand off Harry's cheek and smiles, noticing that Harry has gone through a lot just today. A lot that he wasn't comfortable with. And even though Zayn has no clue as to why Harry is the way he is...he can understand why he may be this way. "Ready to go?" Zayn questions.

Harry nods, looking down at the floor. 

When they make it to the restuarant, Zayn helps Harry out of the car by opening the door for him, grabbing his hand to gracefully pull him out.

"You're my prince." Harry chuckles and Zayn can't help but find that adorable.

"I guess that makes you my princess?" Zayn questions.

Harry nods. "Yeah, can I be?" He asks, a serious question at that.

"Of course, babe." Zayn says.

They get a table themselves, looking at the menu silently for a few moments. Elegant music plays softly in the background, a dimly lit chandelier lighting up their table in the darkness of the restuarant, murmurs of other people inside fill the space.

The two just decide on sharing a plate,  their menus being taken away by the waiter.

Zayn takes this as the perfect moment to get to know the man, that is, if he allows Zayn to. He's looking around the restuarant now, at all the different faces of friends, families, couples. Zayn smiles.

"Hey, Harry?" Zayn says gently. Harry looks at him, smiling as well. "Um, I've been waiting for a long time...for the day I can get to know the mystery that you are." Zayn says. Harry blinks, confusion written across his face.

"I'm a mystery?" He questions.

Zayn nods. "You have...so many secrets. And that makes me not understand who you are. But I really want to." He states.

"I want to know you too." Harry says.

Zayn shrugs. "I'm an open book...about most things. Other things you may have to pry out of me." He teases. Harry nods, not smiling.

"That's scary."

"What is?"

"Opening up to people."

Zayn nods. "Yeah, it really is." He says. "If you don't want to tell me anything, I completely understand." He states. "Don't feel forced."

Harry sends him a tight smile, nodding silently again. He looks down at his lap, not saying anything further.

"You know...when I was younger, I accidentally set my mum's new kitchen on fire." Zayn says, remembering the day clearly since it was the day that really turned around his whole life. He realized how much someone had to do to be listened to.

Harry looks up, curious.

"I was ten years old." Zayn chuckles. "And, I knew my mum was mad at me prior because I broke her new glass vase that she got as a present from my grandmother who died a week after Christmas...she held a grudge for months." Zayn says, and honestly up until now, he doesn't really understand why she held such a grudge but that's because he's never really received anything special in his life from someone he loves yet.

"So, for mothers day, I wanted to do something special for her. She loves chocolate so I tried making a chocolate cake with every type of chocolate on top along with chocolate frosting on the inside."

Harry listens silently.

"And everything was going fine, but then the oven caught on fire...I know now it's because something in the oven had to be changed...but I didn't know what to do so I ran out of the house and all the way to the fire station. When we got back, the whole kitchen was burnt to a crisp, my dad was yelling profanities at me, my mum was crying, my sisters were hiding in their rooms. And then I was sent to boarding school because I was a delinquent child." Zayn finishes his story, noticing he sort of had a flashback, coming back to reality to see Harry looking back at him with a frown on his lips.

"That's how you got here?" Harry asks.

Zayn nods.

"Well, sending you to boarding school may be the best thing they've ever done because I wouldn't have gotten to meet you." Harry shrugs. Zayn smiles.

"You're right about that." He nods.

"Why didnt you go back?" Harry questions.

Zayn shrugs. "Didn't want to. I don't have much of a bond with them." He says. "My family." He clarifies. Harry nods his head in interest, pursing his lips.

"I like getting to know you." He says.

Zayn chuckles. "I'm glad." He says, making Harry smile.

"But...I don't think it's right for them to ostracize you." Harry says, startling Zayn a bit. Mostly because he didn't expect that type of insight from him. He's already getting to know him better.

"Why?" Zayn asks, interested.

"It was a mistake." He answers simply.

"Sure." He snorts. "But my mum and dad, they're perfectionists, and Muslim at that. So, they're pretty strict and careful about how their children might turn out." Zayn says.

"Well, now, it was more than ten years ago, right?"

Zayn nods. "Well now, it's more so me. I guess I'm just resenting them." He says, shaking his head. He realizes he's never actually had a serious conversation with anyone about this. He's mostly kept this in his head, occasionally talking about it with Doniya but quickly brushing it off because it's too awkward since she was there.

"Why?" Harry asks.

Zayn bites his bottom lip. "They never visited me during holidays, and they didnt want me to come back until I was graduating."

Harry stays silent, waiting for Zayn to continue.

"And when I did come back, they didn't like what they saw." He snorts, looking down at his hands. His eyes glide over his tattoos, inked and etched to be there for the rest of his life just like the veins that pulse beneath them.

"Why?" Harry asks.

Zayn looks up, swallowing thickly. "Well, just look at me." He says.

Harry's gaze flickers around his features, looking down his torso then back up. "What about you?" He asks.

"I don't exactly look like the star child." Zayn shrugs. "They insulted my accessories, my tattoos, every decision I made after they let me go at ten." Zayn says. "They never really...guided me." He shakes his head.

"I think you turned out fine." Harry says.

Zayn shrugs. "Well, you don't know me." He mumbles. He notices how much talk about his family really gets him down. He doesn't usually talk like this, with so much self deprecation.
It's not his normal talk nor thought process.

"Not yet, but I know you're everything I wrote on your flower."

Zayn blinks, furrowing his brows. "My flower?" He asks.

"The one I drew on your cast." Harry nods his head toward Zayn's left arm.

Zayn looks down, his eyes observing it again, rereading the words that paint it. Another smile grows on his lips unconsciously.

"I forgot one though." Harry says. Zayn looks up slowly, curious.

"What?"

"Authetic." Harry says. "Because you're your own person and you don't let anyone change you." He states.

Zayn smiles.

"I wish I was that way."

Zayn shakes his head.

"You really don't know how special you are, Harry."