Delinquent - L.S.

Eleven

Bradley ran off to meet a girl and Luke scattered in search of the brunette's hidden weed stash (hoping to steal a little before he got back). This left Harry alone with Zayn who was alarmingly calm considering that Louis had been gone for at least thirty minutes already. Harry was pacing back and forth, feeling more and more stress bubbling up inside him. "Zayn, is Louis okay? He's been gone a long time now. Should we go look for him? Maybe I'll call him," he rambled nervously.

Zayn flopped onto the couch and shook his head. "Louis' fine, he's a big boy who can handle himself. We don't need to look for him and you certainly don't need to call him. Having us crash the party would make things worse," he explained, waving Harry off. He pulled a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and grabbed a lighter off the table.

"I'm just worried about him," Harry sighed, moving to sit beside Zayn on the couch.

Zayn glanced sideways at Harry as he lit his cigarette, dangling it between his fingers. "You really care about him, huh?" he asked, taking a puff. He held the pack out to Harry with his free hand as if to offer the boy a smoke.

"No thanks," Harry replied in reference to the cigarettes. He wiped his palms on his thighs and shrugged. Shyly, he said, "And yeah, of course I care about him. I care a lot."

Zayn cracked a smile, "Well, you're in luck because I can tell that he really cares about you too. I haven't seen him like this in a long time."

"Like what?"

"Very protective, like he wants to shield you away from all the bad stuff. He doesn't want you to fight your battles, he wants to fight them for you. And he looks at you like you're perfect, like a fucking angel or some shit," Zayn continued, shoving the pack back into his pocket. He took another puff and gracefully blew out the smoke. He seemed uninterested in the conversation.

Harry felt like his heart skipped a beat. If Louis' best friend thought all of that stuff, then it was most likely true. It was weird to hear someone else think that Louis was fond of Harry, but it was also really great. "Really? You think so? Wow," he smiled, giddy like a schoolgirl.

Zayn simply nodded, closely examining his cigarette. "Yup," he mumbled, popping the 'p.'

"Would you mind telling me a little bit more about him? He doesn't really like answering my questions," Harry asked, hoping that Zayn could shed some light on the things Harry was still curious about.

"I guess. What do you want to know?"

"What was he like when he was younger?" Harry leaned forward, closer to Zayn, excited to get some answers. He was dying to know more and maybe Zayn would be better at giving the truth- Louis would try to make everything seem less serious or less adorable or less funny. He would downplay it all.

Zayn smiled softly, flicking his cigarette into a nearby ashtray. "He was great. Super wild, always running around and jumping off of stuff and acting out. He told tons of jokes and he was the life of the neighborhood! But when his mum died he had to push that side of himself away to take care of the house and the bills and their family since his dad sure as hell didn't. He kind of pushed me away for a while too, but he always came back. It was all really tough for him and it's just kind of been hanging over him ever since," he told Harry, making gestures and speaking with his hands.

"I didn't know his mum passed away. I knew about his dad and that whole deal but he never mentioned her," he said softly, eyebrows furrowed.

"Yeah, her name was Jay and she was Louis' whole world. He was really shook up when she passed. It was a dark time for him," Zayn sighed. "Killed me to see him like that."