Half the world away.

Chapter 8

"I'd rather be anywhere, anywhere but here. I'd rather be anywhere, anywhere but here. I close my eyes and see a crown of a thousand tears. I pray to god I didn't waste all my good years, all my good years, all my good years," Harry sang into the mic in the small studio. Zayn had played his 'rich kid' cards right and got them into a music studio downtown. It was really lucky, because the assignment was due the following week.

It was Sunday, the final week of studies for that term was ending for Harry on Thursday and as much as he felt relieved, he felt stressed down to his bones about the song which needed to be handed in on Wednesday, only three days from then .

Zayn had agreed to share his vocals after singing for a very impressed Harry. "Why aren't you in music?" He had asked Zayn when they'd gone over the song, and to his anger, Zayn answered, "Dad would never have allowed it and when you start one program and get your friends there, there's really no point in changing."

But now they were recording their song 'Good Years' and Zayn provided beautiful depth and melody to the chorus. They'd hired a vocal coach for the day and she was really helpful. For five hours they'd been working, getting lots of feedback and tips. The woman, Mary-Bell, was kind and gentle but didn't hesitate to stop them mid-verse or tell them to "Go again."

When they finished the song for, what felt like, the hundredth time and she listened with a smile before telling them, "got it, that's great," and both Harry and Zayn sighed with relief as they took off their headphones and hurried to the computer to listen.

They listened through it and when it came to a stop, both of them were speechless.

"Wow," Zayn said after a while, and Harry agreed with a nod.

"Do you want it on email, USB or CD?" Mary Bell asked.

"Ehm... Can I get all three options? My teachers want a CD, but I think I'd like to have the song stored too," Harry smiled and looked at Zayn who nodded.

"Absolutely, the USB you can get now, within five minutes. I'll register a copy of the song on a CD and place an order at the vinyl store outside town, the email will arrive in a day or two."

"Perfect, thank you so much." Harry hugged her and took the USB when the file was downloaded.

They left the studio after grabbing their things, and made their way out to Zayn's car.

"Can you drop me off at the hospital?" Harry asked nervously when they started driving.

"Yeah, everything okay?"

"Hopefully. I'm just gonna run some tests."

"Aha, okay," Zayn nodded and picked the quickest route to the city. He didn't realize he was a bit anxious until a hand came to rest on his bouncing leg, he looked up to meet Zayn's eyes and he smiled comfortingly. "It's gonna be fine, I'll come with you inside, and hold your hand," he teased kindly, and Harry chuckled.

"Thanks, mom." They laughed, and soon, the car pulled into the parking lot of the hospital.

The halls were cold when they walked through, their steps echoing in the silence. They made it through the reception with a little struggle. The old woman behind the counter seemed to wake up extremely judgmental that day and decided that Harry was the best person to take it out on.

"Good afternoon," he'd greeted her, "I'm here to run some tests."

"What kind of tests?" She'd asked while chewing some gum and looking extremely bored, like a retired teengirl.

"Ehm, for," he glanced at Zayn, but he seemed uncaring in a good way, "sexually transmitted diseases."

"Diseases would have been enough, thank you," she typed something on her computer, "name?"