𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐬𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐥𝐲 ( 𝐳𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐲 )

𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐜𝐚𝐧'𝐭 𝐚𝐝𝐦𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐞'𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐲

Just to be clear in this story Zayn is 2 years younger than Harry.

Harry's always been taught to feel. To give into to his feelings, to let his emotions guide his actions. He's been taught to express his feelings freely with no fear of the judgement he might receive for it. He loves and cares deeply because all his life he's known nothing else. He worries for everyone he cares about and people, especially the three idiots he used to be in a band with still give him hell for it but he knows they appreciate that he's there, at their constant beck and call whenever they might need him. So maybe that is what it is, the fact that Harry cares so deeply, sometimes to a fault. Maybe that is why he's been riddled with constant worry over Zayn for the last three days.

Harry had decided to let Zayn have a little time to settle in before they did anything about the police report they were supposed to file but over the three days he's woken up every night, sometimes multiple times a night to Zayn screaming in his sleep, nightmares so bad the poor man had been trying to scream himself awake; as if his unconscious mind rationalized it by thinking that the pain in his throat would help him escape the hell sleep took him to every night.

He wanted to ask Zayn so many questions about the nightmares, if they had started once he left the flat he'd previously shared with Trevor, if he'd suffered with them for a while but just never had anyone to comfort him back to sleep the way Harry had made a point to, he wanted to promise to him that he was going to do all it might take to give Zayn back all of the time he had lost. He knew he had to get him some sort of professional help, he was going to start looking into that when he had the police case figured out. He couldn't imagine the condition Zayn's mental health might have been in, having to manoeuvre not only the soul crushing pain of suddenly losing your entire family in one night but also the sudden abuse that had been meted out to him by someone that apparently loved him for three years. Harry cares deeply, sometimes to a fault so he promises himself that he was going to build Zayn Malik back up to the man he could have become if he only had some support in the most painful time in his life, he was going to eventually get some light back into Zayn's chocolate eyes.

Harry knew it was going to be difficult for Zayn to relay all the information to police, to look back over the last three years and look to the darkest parts of them, the parts he must have pushed to the back of his mind. Harry hated that it had to be done this way but he had talked to his lawyers and Zayn's evident bruising all over his body coupled with his nearly unhealthy weight loss and vulnerable appearance they thought would make the police sway to their direction, especially since they already had their own doubts about Trevor.

At about 10 A.M. the Superintendent and the Chief Inspector of The Metropolitan police are at Harry's door. Harry hated that he had had to use who he was to get two of the highest ranking officers to come to his house for this but it had to be done, he wanted Zayn to be as comfortable as he could make him. By the time Harry had made it back into the hall with Inspectors Regan and Scott Zayn was already there. He was standing near the couch with his hands limp down by his side almost like he was waiting to be instructed on what to do next.

Now that Harry looks back at it it's almost as if Zayn tried his best to not leave a trace of being there, cleaning up after himself to an extent that you couldn't even tell if he had ever even been in the room, he never asked for anything, looked like he almost wanted to burrow himself into the walls. Harry hated it, he wanted Zayn to take up space; let him know that he deserved it. He deserved the space he occupied, he didn't have to try and be invisible; not anymore. He wanted Zayn to have the confidence to walk into a room and sit down without having to be told to do so, he wanted him to maybe even leave a mess behind where he'd been to show that he had occupied this space and that he was here, present and not shut in his mind that was inevitably still in the prison he'd been in for three years.

He would get there, Harry would make sure of it but that was for another time. The inspectors both inhaled sharply once their eyes landed on Zayn when he looked up at the men entering the room, it had been three days since he had escaped but almost all of his wounds were perfectly visible. Different shades of purple, blue, black, yellow and green littered Zayn's skin and that was just on his face. Harry made sure to sit next to Zayn at a safe distance so as not to crowd him once he had asked Zayn to sit down himself. Without really much preamble at all inspector Regan began, " Do you have bruises in any other areas other than your face Mr. Malik?" Zayn nodded as he self consciously pulled his jumper sleeves even lower. Harry had a feeling Zayn constantly dressed in clothes that covered his entire body to keep scars and wounds hidden and he was almost scared to see what he was hiding. " Would you mind if we took a look at them sir?" Continued the Superintendent while the Chief inspector seemed to be taking down notes. Zayn looked to Harry for help, " If you want I could lend you a tank and shorts" Harry suggested having the feeling Zayn didn't really want to have to completely strip in front of them. Zayn seemed to mule over the options he had and seemed to come to the conclusion that what Harry had suggested would be the most comfortable, after quickly excusing themselves Harry made his way into his room and brought out the items of clothing handed them to Zayn who walked into the bathroom next door and soon walked out.

Harry had to hold on to a gasp of his own because being able to see Zayn's exposed arms revealed a slew of other bruises. Some eerily fresh, some fading. Once in the hall the inspectors quickly took note of the bruises on his arms and asked him if he was hurt anywhere else to which Zayn slightly moved the strap of the tank you reveal a very deep gash, " Did he use a weapon on you Mr. Malik?" Zayn answered with his eyes still intently focused on Harry's rug, " No he threw a vase at my head, it missed but hit my shoulder and broke." Harry felt sick, he was horrified, increasingly so the more bruises he saw, littering Zayn's entire abdomen and chest, all over his thighs and calves, there was barely an inch of Zayns skin that hadn't been touched. There were scars that proved that the gash on his shoulder wasn't the first of it's kind.

That was just the beginning however, after this Zayn was implored to go into as much detail as he could about his predicament over the past three years, Harry could sense him nearing a panic attack a lot of times. He would put his hand on Zayn's back to show him that he wasn't going to go anywhere, trying to be as supportive as possible while Zayn relayed clearly very painful information to the police. When asked why he didn't report Trevor to the police before he explained how he felt he had nowhere else to go and had no idea how he was going to support himself. At this point the inspectors asked him if he knew about the massive funds his parents had left him with and it was clear from Zayn's at first confused and then completely ashen face that he had never heard about any of this money.

After the inspectors had left saying they would be back in a few days, Harry walked back into the hall after seeing them off to see Zayn now changed back into the jumper and sweats he had been in previously sitting on the floor, looking out the window at the traffic passing by outside. " Want to go out for a walk?" Harry suggested, seeing as it was clear Zayn wanted to be out there. Zayn's shocked expression at Harry's question broke his heart. It was becoming clearer and clearer to Harry that Zayn didn't understand that he had autonomy of his life again. Zayn slightly nodded yes to Harry's question and Harry put on a hooded jumper with another thick jacket on top and put his hood up to try and conceal his identity cause he didn't see how them being mobbed by fans was going to help Zayn. They walked out of Harry's house and down the sidewalk by his house at a slow enough pace for Zayn to look around at everything. For him to have this time, his peace of mind after basically having to relive the horrors he had been through. They walked quietly for a few minutes side by side before Zayn abruptly stopped. Harry stopped too, a little taken aback by Zayn's sudden halt and turned around to see him facing the ground and clearly crying from the way his shoulders were shaking, Harry walked over to the boy and gently pulled him into his arms while the younger fisted the fabric of his jacket as he cried for the first time since he began living with Harry.

Hi, just wanted to say if you haven't already,read The Things I Don't Ask by Thisonegoes on Ao3 . It's one of the most hard hitting, well written Zarry stories I've read in a very long time. You will not regret it I promise.