𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐞 » 𝐳.𝐬.

47

the flight wasn't as bad as zayn had anticipated. there weren't many people crowding the plane because of the ongoing fear of the virus, and he had the window seat so the experience couldn't get much better than that. niall was passed out for most of the three hours, and although zayn was exhausted after having not slept properly for four consecutive days now, he definitely wasn't going to fall asleep on a plane.

nevertheless, he couldn't keep a smile off his face the entire second half of the flight and there was only one thought responsible for it.

harry.

he would be lying if he said there weren't butterflies fluttering around in his stomach, twisting and turning from the anxiety of their first meeting. (or maybe it was nerves from flying... who knows?) he didn't know what to expect. there were so many unanswered questions that had been eating away at him and keeping him awake for the past few nights. would harry be the same in person as he was over the phone? would harry be attracted to him in the same way? would he still be attracted to harry?

he wasn't sure how their dynamic would change once they met in real life, if it would even change at all. still, the thought of seeing harry's adorable face in person was more than enough to ease his mind, and he was able to relax most of the way.

getting off of the plane was another story.

niall refused to wake up and zayn had to actually slap him in the face to get him out of his seat. they were the last two to exit the plane and he had to apologize to the attendant for his friend's behavior.

as soon as they were through the gate and had their face masks on, zayn turned his phone off of airplane mode and saw harry's texts. he was a little nervous to meet ares, but with all of the times they spoke on the phone, it felt like he already knew him quite well.

he shot harry a quick text that they landed, and followed niall through the terminal towards the lobby.

"they better be here already. i want to sleep in the car," niall grumbled and zayn pinched his arm, rolling his eyes at the boy's attitude. he was always a grouch when he first woke up.

"you better not be rude to him," zayn warned, "he's letting you stay in his house for free despite trying to break us up. i would count your blessings."

"i thought you weren't officially together yet?" niall mocked the conversation they had when zayn first invited him to fly out to california together, where he asked if they were officially dating yet and that was zayn's response.

"shut up," zayn muttered from beside him, his eyes rapidly searching through the crowd of people in the terminal.

he starts to get annoyed by the surprisingly large number of people present when he hears a young voice calling out his name.

"zen!"

he recognized that voice anywhere. he turns his head in the direction of the voice but before he can even get a good look, he feels arms wrapping around his waist and he looks down to see ares smiling up at him with his father's beautiful green eyes and pretty dimples. his face mask is hooked under his chin, not offering any protection at all.

"hey, kiddo," zayn laughs, bending down so he could wrap his arms around ares' shoulders and hug him firmly. "how are you?"