FRidAY? ↠ zarry AU

chapter 44

As Zayn had moved on with his life, it was only natural and normal that Harry would too. Work was great - he had really gotten into the swing of things at the primary school. He loved the kids and they loved him, and, he loved his job even more. He loved helping these kids realise their potential, their worth and, to overcome their struggles.

"Harry, love, why don't you come and spend the weekend here?" His mum asked over the phone.

"Uhm, I might pop in for a while later, mum. No promises."

"Alright, well, Gem's home as well so I thought that it could have been a nice family weekend -"

"Please can you not put me on a guilt trip," Harry took off his glasses and massaged under his eyes. "Not right now, I've got a lot on my plate."

"I'm not! Just putting it out there, Harry." She chuckled.

"Alright, yea. I've got a date -"

"OH! -"

"So I'll try and come visit tomorrow."

"No worries my angel, you enjoy yourself!"

Harry laughed to himself at how quickly his mother's attitude had changed once she heard the word 'date'. "Alright, love you. Bye."

Unfortunately, he hadn't found much luck in his personal life as he had in his professional one. Sure, he had been on a few blind dates and they were... interesting. Most of the guys wanted nothing more then to just go straight to sex - especially once they had found out that someone like Harry was their date. Poor Harry on the other hand wanted something serious (not that he would mind a quick romp once in a while).

The next morning he tried to force his dry and heavy lidded eyes to open to try and figure out where he was. Last night he was more reckless than usual and went home with a guy whose name he didn't even manage to get.

Blinking a few times was of no help, so he forced out a yawn to get some tears in his eyes and, once his vision was back to normal he noticed the heavily tattooed arm bent at an awkward angle on his stomach. "Fuck." Harry whispered and gently picked up the possessive hand to place gently on the bed.

"It was a good one." Harry's mystery man slurred once Harry thought that he was home safe and would silently sneak out of bed.

He quickly grabbed his underwear to cover himself up and grinned awkwardly. "Sorry. Uhm, I'm Harry."

"Jesse." The man rubbed his face and moved from his stomach to his side so that he could now face a very frazzled Harry. "And don't be." He grinned tiredly.

"I should go." Harry said and looked around for his clothes and shoes.

"Wait! Wait, you really don't have to." Jesse quickly sat up then, tried to play it cool. "I mean...it's only, uh...it's only eight...and a Sunday so.. you know,"

Translation: let's stay and fuck a few more times.

Well, that's what Harry made out of it anyways - honestly, why not? Jesse was absolutely gorgeous. His tan, flawless skin, sharp bone structure and, impeccable physique sealed the deal and Harry let his t-shirt fall from his hands before he could crawl back on his hands and knees onto the bed.

23:25

After an eventful day, Harry had decided that he would in fact go home to spend at least the Sunday with his family.

As he snuck into the house, he reminisced of his high school days, how him and Gemma would hide the spare front door key somewhere - either under the potplant or in the long abandoned birdhouse.

Harry softly shut the door and released the handle inch by inch so as to not disturb the still of the night, but someone was already awake and made themselves known to Harry. He heard desperate - almost confused cries come from the kitchen.

"...Gem?" Harry spoke softly once he recognised the voice. Her thin frame was slightly hunched over the sink. Moonlight filtered through the window to shed light on half of her tear stained face. Gemma spoke to someone in a furious and hushed tone which was far too quick for Harry to understand but he did pick up one word. 'Louis'.

Gemma turned slightly and let out another strangled sob once her eyes landed in him as she tried to suppress her emotions so that she wouldn't wake up her mum and Robin. "I'll call you tomorrow." She said and cut the call with no 'goodbye'.

"That bastard." Harry mumbled under his breath and cursed Louis' name to hell and back. He turned on the light and gingerly walked to Gemma. "Gem, I'm sorry." He said and pulled her into his chest - only to have her push him away.

"No. No, it's not that." She said in a shaky breath and dismissed Harry's thoughts that the couple had broken up.

"What? What on earth's happened then." Harry frowned deeply. "I heard you say his name."

"Uh -" She stared at the floor and stuck out her hand half-heartedly as if trying to grasp the words in front of her. "I'm pregnant." She barely whispered before fresh tears burned her eyes and spilled over onto her cheeks.

"Wh- are you sure?" Harry was so shocked his tone had dropped to Gemma's almost mute level.

She nodded and cupped her hands over her mouth to stifle yet another sob. "Oh God, Harry, you can't tell Louis, you can't!" She spoke quickly and clutched at his red sweater.

"Gemma -"

"I, I can't lose him. I don't -"

"Gemma. Please. Just stop and think. Okay, it's fine, it's Louis.... and if you don't, I will. He's my best friend."

"I know that, Harry, but I just don't think that I -"

"So what? Are you going to get rid of it, Gemma, not -"

"I'm scared, Harry! I'm not ready for any of this! I don't know how to be a mother!"

"Oh my God." Harry ran a hand through his silky hair. "You have to tell Louis, Gemma. Now. He has a right to know."

Gemma knew that he was right but the shock of finding out and confirming her fears of indeed being pregnant had gotten the best of her. She had stopped crying now. The tip of her nose and eyes matched Harry's red clothing.

"Come here, Gem." He said and pulled her into his arms.

The siblings both stayed silent for a while until Gemma pulled away slightly. "That's not your cologne."

"I see your super pregnancy powers have already kicked in." Harry joked, causing Gemma to shove him away and lean against the sink.

"Piss off." She huffed and sighed. "I just wanna go back to how things were, like when we were bloody idiots sneaking in after midnight." She laughed and said, as if reading Harry's earlier thoughts.

He laughed and made a grab for her hand. "It's going to be fine, Gem. I'll be with you all the way, alright? I promise."

A/N: picture above is reece king :)