Zayn Malik
Harry and Cleo looked very much hungover and extremely happy at the same time, and I didn't know what I should ask first after I opened the door to greet them.
They texted me to let me know they were on their way, and I knew this house was a safe place and it was so weird to see them in New York again.
It felt like time hadn't passed, and yet everything had changed. I spent the whole afternoon very anxious because they were going to meet Ella for the first time, and to be honest, these past few days with my daughter had been the best of my life. It was just me, Amber, and her... and I took the opportunity to focus only on Ella and maybe try to make up for the time I saw her only through video calls.
She was still very small but I was getting better at holding her and helping Amber with the necessary things, I was a quick learner but I was still very scared of doing something wrong because she was so tiny and I didn't want to break her.
Ella rarely cried, I hadn't heard her cry ever since I got back, and she was just the sweetest baby ever. She deserved the whole world and I was going to make sure she had it, I felt this unexplainable amount of love and protectiveness towards her and I felt just so fucking happy.
Amber was a bit wary about having Cleo and Harry here because, well, they were FBI wanted psycho killers, and maybe not the best kind of people to have around such a small baby. But Harry was my best friend and it felt wrong not to share this part of my life with him... I wanted to show him how proud I was of her, even though she was a very unplanned part of my life.
I was quite excited about his reaction and I knew he'd make fun of me, but I was restless all day waiting for this moment and now here they were...standing outside on the front porch and confusing the shit out of me.
First, because Harry's pinky finger was gone and he had a bandage there now. It was literally cut off like Cleo's, and I wondered how the fuck that happened.
Second, I could still smell the alcohol emanating from them and I doubted they even slept last night given the dark circles around their eyes, which was quite dangerous because it was almost seven p.m. and I knew they were probably tired from being on the road as well.
Harry was wearing a dark red button-down shirt and it was so weird to see him in something other than black, but it made his eyes seem a lighter shade of green. His longer curls were tousled on top of his head and he kept pushing them off his forehead, and that's when I saw a small bruise there as well.
Cleo was wearing black leather pants and a turtleneck, and it'd been a while since I saw her wearing one of those, which clearly meant they enjoyed their time alone in the penthouse and during the road trip. I was so used to her bruises now but I forgot Amber was also here and it would be a little awkward.
I noticed Cleo had the knife I gave her for her birthday tucked in her boots, and I was glad she liked the present.
"Hi, Z," Harry spoke up with a sly smile, surprising me a lot when he pulled me for an unexpected and long hug, so he could whisper in my ear. "I'm trying to make Cleo jealous, just play along."
He had to be kidding me.
So now I didn't have to worry only about a psychotic and jealous Harry because of the whole thing with Cleo, but now I had to worry about jealous Cleo as well?
I was terrified of her way more than I was of Harry, no way I was gonna participate in this. So I slowly pulled away from Harry and cleared my throat, wondering what the hell he had told her in order to make her jealous.
Cleo knew Harry and I used to fuck, but maybe it slipped her mind. Those two were insane, that was for sure.
"Where's your finger?" I asked Harry, pointing at his hand.
