Cracking the Zarry Code - how Deep is real.

I Won't Mind

This is where things start to take off.

I Won't Mind marks the start of the true Zarry era, in terms of the Zayn and Harry writing intense, longing, coded songs about each other. This is going to be a long chapter, so apologies!

I Won't Mind is the song that inspired me to write a fanfiction, Deep, imagining Zarry was real. I had no proof of Zarry at the time – only the lyrics to this song and the body language we had all seen over the years. I didn't even take much notice of the rings, the tweets and the tattoos, believing that they could all be explained away by coincidence or wishful thinking.

I truly believe we were never supposed to hear this song: it was for Harry's ears only. Why am I sure of that?

First, it sounds like a demo: half-finished.

Second, the unbelievable twitter fight that broke out around the time the song was leaked, between Louis and Naughty Boy (who leaked the track). Just after Zayn left the band, the producer Naughty Boy (who Zayn had been working with) tweeted a link to a video of them in the studio saying "Naughty Boy saved Zaughty" and "Zaughty will rise". Louis replied calling Naughty "inconsiderate" and telling him to grow up. The language Louis used was pretty strong. Louis went on to accuse Naughty of trying to wind 1D fans up. Naughty retaliated by leaking I Won't Mind – which he later seemed to claim was leaked by both him and Zayn. The track was put on Soundcloud then pulled off within a day. The press said this was because of a "bitter backlash" from fans. A "source" then emerged who supposedly told the press that I Won't Mind was an old 1D demo meant for the album Four. Louis replied to this claim in a tweet by saying: "Is that an April Fool?". Harry and Zayn did not get involved in the tweets at the time, and Zayn later defended Naughty when Louis got into another twitter fight in July of that year. However, months later – following another leak by Naughty – things had changed and Zayn made it clear how he felt about Naughty when he called him "a fat joke" on twitter.

For a band that was highly media- and social-media-trained this reaction was strange, to say the least. It didn't seem like a co-ordinated reaction at all: I think the song coming out took them by surprise. The hatred directed towards Naughty also seemed extreme.

Let's think about what was actually happening – or at least the "official" line about what was happening in One Direction at the time: Zayn had left the band: Zayn Malik, a singer, employed by a record company, had broken his contract to terminate his employment. According to the official line, there were no hidden relationships in the band... therefore, although Zayn was letting down a lot of people, he was only letting them down as a colleague, friend and bandmember (I'm not including the fans for the moment, who Zayn was arguably letting down in lots of other ways). Simon Cowell had accepted Zayn's resignation (somehow) and they were all going to move on.

People leave jobs all the time. People break contracts all the time, disappointing colleagues who rely on (and may even be close to) them. I know Zayn was a member of the biggest boyband in the world and a huge global phenomenon but, in the end, that's showbiz. If you believe the official line (i.e. that there were no hidden relationships in the band) then the only people entitled to be raging and heartbroken about Zayn leaving were the fans – people like us. For the people working with Zayn (including his bandmates), accepting his "resignation" was part of being professionals. Yes, they were close friends but true friends want each other to be happy, first and foremost. So they had to sing his parts? Big deal. Zayn wasn't happy in the band (according to the official line) – therefore his friends in the band should have been disappointed about losing a bandmate but happy for him because he himself would be happier out of the band. And so what if Zayn was working on solo material with other producers like Naughty? People leave boybands and girlbands constantly, always with a view to developing a solo career. Justin Timberlake, Robbie Williams, Camila Cabello.... There is always someone who eventually wants to split to go solo –it comes with the territory.