Zayn's POV

"Do you think we should wake him up?" I asked Louis. We were standing in the doorway of Harry's room and watching him sleep.

I realize how creepy that sounds, but he looks so peaceful and I just don't want to disturb him.

"Yes, Zayn, we should. He needs to go to school and he can't be late," he told me sternly.

"But look how peaceful and cute he looks!" In my defense, he does look adorable in his bear covered pajamas and a teddy bear cuddled into his chest.

"I can see that, yes. I do have eyes you know." He rolled his beautiful blue eyes.

"Fine. But you have to wake him up then," I gave in. I don't like arguing with Lou.

"Alright," he agreed and walked up to Harry's bed. He started shaking him lightly and used a very calm tone.

"Darling, you need to wake up or you'll be late to school."

I saw Harry slowly open his eyes and yawn.

"Morning," he said tiredly.

"Did you sleep in Darling?" Louis asked him.

"What time is it?" Harry asked while rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand. Fucking adorable.

"It's 7.15. We weren't sure what time you wanted to be woken up,  or if you even wanted it at all, so we decided to rather be safe than sorry," Lou explained to him.

"Oh my god. is it really that late?" he asked with surprise and checked his phone. "Oh, thank you so much for waking me up. I think I slept through my alarm."

"It's no problem, sweetheart. We could start waking you up every morning if you'd like," I offered.

"I would hate to be a bother."

"Trust me Harry, you could never be a bother to us," I told him with full honesty.

"Thanks, I'd appreciate it then," he said quietly with red cheeks. How cute.

"Alright, we'll go now so you can start getting ready. I'm gonna start making breakfast so head down when you're ready."

"Okay."

Lou and I left the room. I just made some simple porridge that morning. Harry thanked me and told me it was delicious like he did last night and then went outside to wait for his friend.

Talking about that, we need to meet that boy. We need to know that he's not a bad person. Although I doubt that Harry would associate himself with someone ill-behaved.

Soon after Harry left, Louis left for a photoshoot as well, leaving me all alone. I decided to keep working on my current painting.

Art has always been my escape from the world. It makes me feel free and like I have a purpose.

And besides, doing art always gives me access to some alone time and just time to think. This time the star of my thoughts seemed to be Harry.

In the beginning, we were both so scared of the situation. We were sure that we couldn't even take care of a dog properly, which is why we don't have one, let alone a child. But now it doesn't seem that scary at all. Harry is actually really easy to look after and he's very fun and absolutely adorable.

Okay, I know that he's only been here for a day but so far it's been working out perfectly.

At first when his mum asked us this, I was so shocked, since we've never really even talked properly. I don't think before this I've even had an actual conversation with Harry. But now I'm so glad she suggested him staying with us.      

I still really want to know why she asked us and not some friend or something. Maybe she just wanted Harry to stay really close to home? Who knows.

I looked at my painting and noticed something strange. In the grass field I painted yesterday was a very familiar head of brown curls. Oh no...

I haven't really even painted Louis and now I'm painting a kid that I basically know for just one day? That's bad. That's really bad. Dangerous even.

My original plan was to take some green paint and cover the head, but looking at it, I just couldn't for some reason, so I let myself get lost in my thoughts again.

Harry's POV

By the time lunch came around, I was already starving,  so as soon as the bell rang I was out of the class and on my way to the cafeteria.

All my friends were already sitting at our usual table. How does everyone always get here so fast? It's like they can teleport or something.

"Hi guys!" I said before sitting down. Or well I was about to sit down but someone pulled me down to sit on their lap before I could.

I looked up and smiled at the person that just happened to be Luke. He wrapped his arms around my waist and I leaned back on his chest.

"Hello, baby," he greeted me.

"Hi, Luke!"

I took out the lunch Zayn had prepared for me and started eating.

"Well hello you two lovebirds." One of our other friends, Dominic, said as he sat down next to us.

Lovebirds? I do love Luke but isn't that usually said about couples? At least that's what I've heard in movies.

"Hi, Dom!" I reached over to give him a hug. It's been a while since I saw him since he's been gone the whole week.

"How was Italy?" I asked him. He went there for winter break to visit his grandmother. She moved there a few years ago.

"It was so cool, Hazza! I went to a concert of this really cool band called Måneskin. They were so amazing," he told me with excitement.

"Sounds cool! I haven't heard of them. Can you play me a song of theirs?" I asked him.

"Oh, I don't think you'd like them. It's a rock band."

"Oh," is all I said. He's correct, I'm not a huge fan of rock music. I definitely prefer slower and calmer tunes.

"Hazzy, do you want to come over today?" Niall asked me from the other side of the table.

"Oh, sure." I agreed. "I just need to ask Zayn."

"Who's Zayn?" Luke asked me. Right, I haven't told anyone besides Niall yet.

"Zayn Tomlinson. He and Louis are my neighbors, as you know, and I'm staying with them until my mummy comes back," I explained.

"You're staying with the Tomlinsons?"

"Where's your mum?"

Luke and Dom asked at the same time. I let out a giggle at that.

"Yes, I'm staying with them. And my grandma broke her leg so mummy had to go there to help her," I disclosed the situation. 

"Are they nice?" Dom asked.

"Yes, very," I said truthfully.

"That's good. If they ever do anything you don't like, then you have to tell one of us, yeah?"

"Okay." I promised although I was sure that would never happen. I took out my phone to text Zayn.

Me

Hi ,Zayn! Can I go over to my friend's house after school?

Zayn😊🎨

Of course! You don't need to ask. At what time should we be expecting you home?

Me

I don't really know. I think I'll be there for a few hours but I'm not sure.

Zayn😊🎨

Very well. Have fun!

Me

Thanks!

"I can come over," I told Niall.

"Great!"

○●○●○

"Give me all the details from yesterday," was the first thing Niall said. We were laying down on his bed, cuddling. 

"What do you mean?" I asked, feeling confused.

"I mean tell me everything you three did yesterday, how they acted and stuff like that. And in detail please," he explained.

"Oh. Well nothing special happened. When I got there Zayn showed me my room and then left me to settle in so I unpacked and then watched the tv. In the evening Louis came home and invited me downstream where we watched SpongeBob until dinner was ready. They were both extremely nice and caring."

"And that's it? Damn."

"What did you think was gonna happen?" I asked him with genuine confusion.

"Nothing, I guess," he answered with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Okie. What do you want to do now?"

"Let's play something," Niall suggested.

"Sure!" I agreed excitedly. I love games!

"Is monopoly okay?" Ni asked.

"Of course."

○●○●○

We played the game for almost two hours. I won, like always. Niall was a sore loser like he always is.

"You cheated!" he exclaimed.

"No, I didn't! You're just a sore loser!" I giggled.

"No, I'm absolutely sure you cheated you little bugger! You know what? I think I should punish you for it," he said with a mischievous grin.

Then I realized what he wanted to do. My giggles immediately stopped and I started shaking my head violently. He started stepping towards me so I decided to run.

"You can't escape the tickle monster!" Niall yelled. I didn't listen though and kept running until I hit a dead-end.

"Caught you!" Niall said and started tickling me like crazy. I was laughing and crying at the same time, trying to push his hands away from my stomach.

"Mercy!" I cried out in between my laughing. He tickled me for another torturous minute before stopping.

It took me a while to stop laughing and when I did, I sat there panting for a little bit, trying to catch my breath.

"Are you okay Hazza?" Niall asked me with concern.

I nodded dazedly, a smile still on my face.

"Are you sure?" he kept pressing.

"Yeah, I'm good," I replied. I decided it was finally time to get off the floor so I did that with the help of Niall.

"I think I should go home now," I told him.

"Do you want me to take you or walk with you?"

"No Niall, I'm good. It's only a two minute walk," I declined.

"Okay, if you say so." He walked me downstairs and waited there with me until I stepped outside.

Once out the door, I regretted my decision of not letting him walk with me a little bit because it was pretty dark outside.

I'm not exactly afraid of the dark but I'm definitely not a big fan of it. I always feel like something's gonna pop out and scare me.

I took out my phone and considered calling Zayn or Louis. But then I decided that they probably wouldn't want to be bothered for such a silly reason.

So I just put on my phone's flashlight and tried to hurry up. Once I got to our houses I relaxed. I almost turned into my driveway but then I remembered who I'm staying with and kept walking.

I opened the door and was greeted by warmth. It felt so amazing because it was so cold outside.

For a moment I couldn't decide if I should call out that I'm home or that I'm here. Because technically it's not my home but in a way it is for a few months.

"I'm home!" I finally decided. While taking off my coat and boots, Louis appeared in the corridor.

"Hi. Harry!" he greeted me.

"Hi, Louis!" I said back. I walked over to him and hugged him. He seemed surprised for a moment but quickly returned the gesture.

"Oh. What is this for?" he asked me with a chuckle before letting go.

"Nothing, just happy to see you!" I told him with a blush.

"I'm very delighted to see you as well, Darling." He told me. It made me smile widely.

"Really?" I asked him.

"Of course. Now go give Zayn a hug as well, he's missed you the whole day."

"Sure!" I agreed and headed to the kitchen where I knew I'd find him.

"Hi. Zayn!" I said and walked up to him to give him a big hug as well. He returned it immediately.

"Oh, hello to you too, sweetheart. How was your day?"

"It was so much fun!" I answered and finally let go of the hug.

"That's good. Why don't you go change and then come back down? The dinner is almost ready."

I nodded and went up to my room. I put on some sweatpants, a hoodie and warm socks before heading back down.

I decided to join Louis, who was watching TV ,in the living room. Once he saw me, he changed the channel to one that showed cartoons. I gave him a thankful smile.

Soon enough Zayn called us to the dining room. He had made potatoes in the oven. It was delightful.

Louis told us about his photoshoot. I found it super interesting. Then Zayn told us about his new painting. I asked to see it but for some reason he didn't want to let me.

I didn't dwell on it since I know that art can sometimes be very personal and I didn't want to be pushy.

I also told the two about my day. They listened to it all with smiles on their faces.

"Do you have any homework to do?" Louis asked me while Zayn was cleaning up the table.

"I do, actually. I have to finish a worksheet in math. I was wondering if maybe you could help me with it?" I asked him shyly.

I definitely wasn't prepared for his reaction. He started full on laughing.

"What's so funny?" I asked with a pout on my face.

"I'm sorry, darling, but I absolutely suck at math. I'm sure Zayn would be happy to help you though so you should go and ask him."

"Okay." I did ask Zayn and he happily agreed to help me, just like Louis had said he would.

After he was done cleaning, which I helped him with of course, we went up to my room. I took out the worksheet and sat at the table there.

He sat down next to me and looked at all the problems.

"Which ones are you having trouble with?" he asked me.

"All of them?" I answered with embarrassment.

"It's okay, I can explain it to you."

And he did. I honestly understood everything a lot better than I ever do in lessons.

"Thank you so much for your help. You're a great teacher."

"Oh, it's no problem. I'm happy that you asked for help." He seemed kind of proud? Why would he be proud though?

"Again, thanks for helping."

"I'll always help you sweetheart to my best capabilities. We both will," he told me seriously. I could feel my cheeks turning red because of his attention on me and the sincere look in his eyes.

"Thanks," was the only thing I could say.

"You should go to sleep now, tomorrow is a school day. Good night!"

"Good night!" I said back and he left my room. Around 10 minutes later, when I was in bed already, Louis also came to wish me good night.

I love staying with them.

2470 words