Zarry One Shots by dattumblrgal

Divorce - Non-famous AU

"We have to break up, Zayn," Harry said, his eyes full of tears. "There is no other way. It won't work."

They were soon crying, the both of them sobbing until they collapsed in a hug. But this was necessary. They weren't happy. They were holding each other back, even if it wasn't said out loud. Harry wanted to go to LA, Zayn wanted to stay. Harry wanted a baby, Zayn wanted a cat. Love wasn't enough to keep them together, not anymore.

Life seemed pretty laid out for them a few years back. The world was their oyster and they could do anything as long as they were together. So getting married at twenty was a great idea, the best idea they've ever thought of. Falling in love at sixteen, at twenty their relationship seemed like a done deal. Breakup was not a word in their vocabulary. Divorce as well. With slight disapproval from their parents, they put their savings together for a honeymoon in Italy and had a small ceremony a week after their second year of uni ended.

It was good for a while. Married life was great and so was living together in a tiny flat that might've had shitty plumbing but it was theirs. They graduated uni, found decent jobs, eventually moved into a bigger flat that didn't make them feel claustrophobic. They were soaring high and nothing could bring them down.

The fighting started around Harry's 24th birthday. He wanted to settle down, but not in London. The job opportunities in television, the industry Harry studied and worked in, would've been better on the other side of the Atlantic so they could afford a bigger place, one they could even raise a baby in. At first, Zayn didn't take him seriously. But when Harry started looking up job offers in LA and showing him house listings, it clicked that Harry was very much serious.

Zayn didn't want to leave. He had a great job that's basically a one in a million opportunity and he never wanted to live more than four hours away from his family. So he tried to convince Harry to stay. He even went as far as ask a classmate of his to try and get Harry a job at the studio she was working at but to avail. Harry was determined and stubborn but so was Zayn.

In the end, love wasn't enough. They talked about long-distance, tried to find the middle ground somehow but it wasn't possible. A divorce lawyer was needed after months of debating and screaming and crying.

Harry left in October of that year, his leaving bittersweet as they kissed for the last time at Heathrow. No longer married, the wedding bands that used to sit on their left hands hidden in their things not to be found again, they were just two men whose love was shattered after withstanding more than eight years of their lives.

And that was it. That was the end.

---

It takes four years for them to meet again. After their divorce, they cut off any and every means of communications. They unfollowed each other on Instagram and Twitter, unfriended one another on Facebook. Yet the numbers and emails stayed, not that they used them. Their accounts borne the evidence of their relationship and marriage, the pictures, videos and tweets staying where they were. Still, they had no idea what was going on in the other's life.

Zayn nearly misses him. It's a Tuesday morning and Zayn's just getting some groceries because he woke up early and why not give himself a headstart on the day once in a while? But as he decides whether to get mozzarella or cheddar for the salad he wants to make for lunch, Zayn sees Harry in the same aisle. Dressed in grey sweatpants and a grey hoodie, Harry looks older and yet not like he's aged a day at the same time. His hair is shorter, face thinner but it's still Harry.

Their eyes meet after a moment in which Zayn felt like he was in a trance. The moment when their eyes were locked laster a lifetime before Harry smiles clumsily and walked to Zayn with a shopping basket in his hand.

"Oh my god, it's been years," Harry says when he's less than a meter away from Zayn. "What are you doing here?"

"I live here," Zayn replies, the world around passing like he was in a dream.

"What?" Harry breathes out. "In New York? You're taking a piss."

"No," Zayn says quietly, unable to glue his eyes off of Harry.

Harry scoffs, as if in betrayal. He shakes his head a little, looking down at his feet before he attempts a smile again. "Please don't tell me you're married with a kid."

"No," Zayn chuckles. "But I did get a cat last year."

Harry laughs then, bright and ringing. "Well, if you're wondering, I don't have a baby. And I'm not married either."

Zayn smiles a little, trying not to look back at their past fights. "How have you been?"

Harry takes a huge breath, exhaling for a long time before answering. "Alright. Not as good as I wished for."

"Same," Zayn nods, Harry joining him.

They stand there in the middle of a Manhattan grocery store, nodding their heads like dashboard figures while the unasked questions pile on between them with each passed second.

"I missed you," Harry says suddenly. "Sorry. I shouldn't have said that."

"No, it's fine," Zayn shakes his head. He wants to capture Harry's lips in a kiss and say how much he missed him too but he's wary.

"I have no right to say that," Harry insists. "I left. I suggested the divorce."

"Haz, it's been years," Zayn tries to smile. "We have history, it's okay."

"I'm sorry, I'll go," Harry says quietly, his voice choked up like he's going to cry. "It was lovely seeing you. Really. Bye."

"Harry," Zayn stops him with a hand on Harry's wrist. Harry stares at him in shock, like there was no way Zayn would ever touch him again. It's been years and Zayn is finally touching him again, like he's wanted to since that damned day at Heathrow.

"I missed you too," Zayn says, his gaze unwaveringly staring into Harry's eyes. "I don't know how long you're here for so, whatever's your schedule but I want to catch up."

"I live here," Harry repeats Zayn's earlier answer. "Like, right around the block. When you turn left after exiting the shop."

Zayn laughs. "Did we have to both move across the fucking Atlantic to end up in nearly the same place? I love around the block but when you turn right. What are the odds?"

"Maybe it's fate trying to tell us we're two thick dickheads," Harry says with a smile.

"Maybe," Zayn says and he finally feels whole again.

---

It takes them seven months to get married again. The decision is as easy as taking a breath this time along. New York sees their second attempt at marriage and they know this one will be final and permanent. They're older, wiser and the time apart taught them that they seriously need to make compromises to be happy. Because while they were free to do whatever they wanted, they were terribly unhappy without each other and in the end, they wasted four years for nothing.

They buy a house in Brooklyn, Zayn's cat is allowed to stay and they have a baby three years into the second marriage. With compromises made, they find out that they're the happiest together. No matter where they live, what jobs they have, all they truly need is each other.