Don't Go

2

Zayn calls him. Harry’s got a slow, relaxing voice, and Zayn likes him instantly. “You can come look at it, if you want,” Harry says after asking a few questions. “Niall’s already given you the go-ahead, and I trust his judgement.”

“Sure,” Zayn says quickly.

“Great!” Harry says enthusiastically. “Liam won’t be back for another month and a half, but-,”

Zayn cuts him off, frowning at the wall above his bed. “Liam?”

“Yeah, the guy - oh, wait, you thought- it’s not me. I mean, it’s not my apartment. I live next door. You’ll be sharing an apartment with Liam.”

“But I thought-,”

“I’m just dealing with his stuff for him while he’s gone,” Harry explains. “He’s pretty busy most of the time. Works his ass off. If you ask me, the only reason he even got the dog was so he’d have something to come home to, you know? Not - not that I said that, if he ever asks. In fact, let’s just pretend all together that those words never came out of my mouth.”

Zayn continues to stare at the ceiling of his tiny dorm room. There’s a footprint up there. An honest to god footprint. How the fuck?

“What’s he like?” Zayn asks finally. “Liam, or whatever.”

“He’s great!” Harry said quickly. “Really great. I promise. He’s not, like, psycho or anything. A bit of a workaholic, maybe, but that’s about as far as Liam’s issues go. I’ve known him for years. He’d be a great flatmate.”

Zayn snorts. “How much he paying you to say that?”

“He’s not,” Harry replies, and he sounds genuinely sincere. “I’m just helping him out.”

“Okay,” Zayn says. “I’ll come see it tonight, then?”

“Yeah!” Harry is all enthusiasm and, for the first time, Zayn is actually grateful that it’s not Harry he’s possibly about to move in with. He wasn’t sure if he could handle someone that upbeat all the time. Hell, he’s best friends with Louis. He gets on better with people who are as cynical as he is. “Just come around whenever and knock on door 11, that’s mine, and I’ll let you in.” He rattles off the building address and Zayn sits up, shuffling around the bedside table for a pen so he can quickly write it down. “See you, Zayn.”

“Yeah, see you,” Zayn says distractedly.

As soon as he’s hung up with Harry and he has the address written down, he calls Louis. “That nice, huh?” Louis asks, and Zayn can hear the scepticism in his voice.

“A bit overwhelming, to be honest,” Zayn admits. “But it’s a good deal, right? I mean, I can’t pass this up.”

“You can’t,” Louis agrees. “I’ll drive you over?”

“Sure. I’ll see you in an hour? And maybe Harry’ll rub off on you and you’ll stop being such a prick all the time.”

He can almost hear Louis rolling his eyes. “You love me,” he says.

“I do,” Zayn admits. “Don’t know how that happened.”

Zayn pockets his phone and changes his shirt, just in case. He doesn’t think Harry will say no to him, but still. He wants this place.