𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐬𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐥𝐲 ( 𝐳𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐲 )

𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐞 " 𝐛𝐚𝐛𝐲 " 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧

Even during what was probably the hardest part of his life Zayn found solace in art. Focusing on getting every stroke of his pencil just right kept him from dwelling on the the scattered shambles of a previous life he didn't quite remember having. So it wasn't really a surprise that after the first police interview Zayn had started sketching again.

Harry had been a little busy over the past weeks with stuff for his album so Zayn had been alone a lot. Harry always left Zayn with a driver and a car and the option to go out if he ever so desired, Zayn didn't want to though. Not without Harry or Eric, maybe there would eventually come a day when he'd understand how to navigate the world outside on his own but he knew there was a ways to go before any of that could happen.

Unfortunately Eric had been busy too, she was one of Harry's photographers so pretty much everywhere Harry went she had to be. Zayn didn't mind, he was used to being alone in the house and it was peaceful knowing that when he wasn't alone he wasn't going to be beat within an inch of his life.

Harry did say before he left on that day that they were meeting with the therapist later in the day and that he'd be back to pick him up for the appointment. Zayn was a little afraid, he didn't know the kind of questions he was going to be asked and he didn't know if he could go into all of that again just a few days after already telling the police the story. But he trusted Harry, everything Harry had done for him till this point had been so overwhelmingly kind Zayn felt floored most days. He couldn't wrap his head around the fact that kindness like this still existed, that people still did stuff like this.

Zayn had been working on his current painting for a while, he had woken up at 4am from a nightmare, luckily he hadn't screamed himself up this time. He hated when he did that, it woke Harry up and Harry was forced to nurse him back to sleep. It made Zayn feel really guilty. Not being able to go back to sleep he'd started drawing the view from outside his window. It felt similar to sketching the world outside from the window at Trevor's flat but things were different now. Just physically his room in Harry's house was on a higher level than what he saw when he sketched sat on the floor, instead of just having his sketchpad on his lap it was on an actual artist's table, he had endless amounts of art supplies compared to his previously diminished art supplies that he had been trying to save since his days in university; over and above all of that however he did feel a lot lighter mentally. He wasn't constantly terrified of the clock striking 7. He felt moderately at peace. Harry had walked in at 9am before he left for the day, he looked a little surprised at seeing Zayn up already but just smiled, said he had a few meetings with the label and that he would be back around 5, reminded him about the car at his disposal again and told him to call him if he ever needed anything.

He can't say he hadn't expected his precarious sense of peace to be disturbed but he could neither say that he wasn't disappointed when it did. At around 2pm Harry called, he sounded like he was in a hurry. Said he was on his way to the precinct and that he'd already called the driver he'd left at home for Zayn and that as soon as possible he needed to be there. Zayn knew what this was for and there was already a heavy weight settling in his stomach it only got worse as he made his way to the car and the closer he got to his destination.

Harry was waiting by the door for him and he had a weird urge to go hug him, not for anything other than the comfort his arms seemed to provide. He didn't know how noticeable the tremor in his hands or his shortness of breath was but he knew his face was white as a sheet.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•

Zayn was visibly shaking when he walked out of the car and Harry wanted to pull him into a comforting hug but he knew that probably wasn't the best idea right now cause that might only make things worse. He had just finished a meeting and was on his way to another one when he'd recieved the call from Superintendent Regan about Trevor's arrest, he wasn't only arrested for abuse but arson as well.