The Forgotten Child

19

Zayn and Lou sat in silence until Louis and Harry were arriving at the station.

"I'll go get them." Lou says as she stands up and follows the officer, who had just informed the that the two men had arrived, out. "Hey guys, how are you?"

"Where's Zayn, Lou, where's my son?" Harry asks, gripping Louis' hands.

"Harry you need to take a deep breath, Zayn is okay, but he is so scared right now. He won't talk and is so thin and sick looking. You have to go in there and show you're not mad." Lou says and Harry takes a deep breath, nodding slowly.

"I will." Harry says and Lou nods.

"Let's go on back then." Lou says turning around and walking back towards the room Zayn was in. When Harry walked in, his heart broke into about a million and one pieces. Zayn was sitting on some metal chair in a corner with his arms crosses as he slouched in his seat.

"Hey Zayn." Harry says quietly as he squats in front of the boy. Zayn doesn't look up though, he continues to stare down at his feet like they were the most interesting things in the world. Harry sighs and lifts Zayn's chin up. "Let's go home, yeah?" and Zayn stands up. Harry sighs but puts his hand on Zayn's back and begins to lead the way out of the station. Zayn was discharged and free to go since all stores dropped charges out of sympathy for the boy.

"I'll see you later alright?" Lou says as they make their way out to the parking lot. Zayn nods and Lou smiles, giving the boy a hug before turning to the men. "Give me a ring if you need anything."

"Will do Lou, thank you." Louis smiles and with one last wave, Lou was in her car and driving off.

"Come on Zayn, the car is over here." Harry says as he heads towards the black SUV with Zayn and Louis following.

The ride was silent until Zayn's small voice spoke up about halfway through. "Um are you going to ground me?"

Harry sighs and looks at Louis, "No, because we know that you know what you did was wrong and stupid and dangerous and you know we were worried sick about you, and if you ever do something that stupid again I will come strangle you myself. And I know I shouldn't have let you go, this was all partly my fault for letting you go again. I truly believed that is what you wanted." Harry says and Zayn nods, "But this also doesn't mean you are off the hook. We're going to watch you a lot more and you'll be under strict rules." Harry says and Zayn nods because that was sort of expected.

Upon arriving, Zayn expected to be met with his loud stepbrothers, but the house was dead. "The boys are at footie practice." Louis explained upon seeing Zayn's confused face. Zayn nods while looking around the house.

"I bet you're hungry, I can make you something to eat if you want to go take a shower real quick." Harry offers and Zayn nods gratefully and makes his way up to his old bedroom and bathroom.

"Well at least he hasn't been to mad or stubborn." Louis sighs once he hears Zayn's bedroom door close.

"No, he hasn't. He looks sick though, I don't know how he is walking." Harry says with a shake of his head and Louis hums in agreement.

"I'll make him a doctor appointment and see if she can fit him in tomorrow." Louis says.

Upstairs, Zayn was standing in the shower, watching as the dirt was washed off of his body and then slid down the drain. He probably washed his hair a good five times before moving on to washing his body twenty times. Being clean and showering was one of the few things Zayn missed when he was living on the street.