We Don't Talk Enough

15. Meet.

It's exactly 5 days after when they finally meet.

It's nearly 1 A.M. and Harry is walking around the food aisle of the 24x7 open grocery store near his house when he accidentally trips over someone's shopping cart. He mentally curses his clumsy self before looking up and apologising to the stranger.

"Hey, I am so-" words get caught in his throat when his eyes meet the familiar pair of hazel ones.

"Uh - Hi?" Zayn says awkwardly.

"It's you." Harry says as if he can't believe he is here. Zayn is here. Right in front of him, in person. He is seeing him not behind some phone screen but in real.

"Yeah? It's me." Zayn says. "What are you doing here?"

"Just -" Harry shrugs pointing at Zayn's shopping cart. The one he tripped over just some moments ago. "- shopping."

"Yeah." Zayn curses himself mentally. Of course he is here for shopping. What else a person would be doing in a grocery store at this time of night? He is really being stupid.

"Um, so I gotta go." Harry says in a small voice before pushing his cart forward, wanting to escape the awkward situation he just found himself in. They both nod at each other before Harry turns around, ready to go to another section.

"Wait, Harry." Zayn calls from behind making Harry stop in his tracks. He doesn't turn around, but he hears Zayn's footsteps coming towards him. "Uh, you up to go for ice cream?" He sounds hesitant when he says it. 

Harry turns to him at that. He raises an eyebrow at Zayn who is looking directly into his eyes. There is something in there. Something like determination mixed with a bit of hesitation and something else that Harry has no idea of.

"At this hour?" The curly haired lad asks.

At this point, he just hopes Zayn can't hear how fast his heart is beating inside his chest. Because fuck, Zayn is asking him for an ice cream date. Like the old days. Not like they haven't talked to each other in three years. Like it's normal for them to sneak out and go on late night dates. Okay, maybe this is not a date, but Harry can at least pretend it's one.

"It's never late for ice cream." Zayn smiles at him. Easy and soft. Like it's not new for them. Like they never stopped doing this.

"Y-Yeah." Harry stutters before clearing his throat. "Yeah, sure. Just let me-" He gestures to his own cart then the cash counter. Zayn nods at him, knowing what Harry meant.

"Yeah, I'm done too." Zayn says, already moving his cart to the cash register.

The cashier smiles at them, before telling them the amount. They pay for their own goods, not knowing if they are still on the terms where they should pay for each other.

They leave Harry's car in front of the grocery store and get into Zayn's Range Rover. They put both their grocery bags in the backseat before Zayn starts the car. Harry rests his head against the tinted glass of the car, letting the mild volume of the radio fill up the silence between them.

Harry thinks about the times they have done this before. Sneaking out of the hotel room in the middle of the night to roam around the city or to go for a long drive or go for late night dates. When no one could see them. When they could pretend they weren't famous, when they could just be normal people When they could be two boys in love with each other.

Harry mentally shakes off the thought. No, they didn't love each other. Because Zayn didn't love him. His love was one sided. If Zayn had loved him, he wouldn't have left him. He wouldn't have gone into another relationship with Gigi. Yeah, they had broken up. Harry heard that, but it didn't hurt less. Whenever he thinks about the times he had cried himself to sleep because of them, it hurts him like nothing else.

His thoughts break when Zayn stops the car after a long time. Harry looks out of the window only to find they are in front of the beach. Not any other beach but the beach where they used to sneak out often when they were in the band. Harry clenches his hands in order to stop them from shaking. He looks at his side to see Zayn looking at him from the driver's seat. Like he wants to say something. Like he wants Harry to say something as well.

"I - I can't do this." Harry shakes his head. "I can't."

"Haz-"

"No, you don't get to do this." He looks at him angrily. But there's also a tinge of sadness behind those green eyes, Zayn can see that. Because even after all these years, he can still read Harry like an open book.

"Do what?" Zayn asks softly, even though he knows the answer too. This isn't hurting him any less, but he knows they need to talk. He knows, if they can't get back to what they used to be, at least they need closure. They both deserve it.

"This." Harry gestures the space between them with his hands. "You can't just pretend the last 3 years never happened Zayn. Because they did, and it hurts like hell."

"I'm not pretending anything Harry, but I think we both know we need to talk." Zayn says as calmly as possible. "Look, just get some ice cream and talk. Yeah?"

Harry doesn't say anything. Just sighs and opens the door to get out of the car. Zayn does the same and locks the car behind him. He sees Harry already walking towards the familiar small ice cream shop - the one just outside the beach.

He wonders if Harry still comes here, without him. Shaking off the thoughts, Zayn decides to follow him.

**********
I know I am late. Sorry? :(

I love/loce y'all. xx