It’s thundering, heavy with the before storm electricity in the air and they’re still kids really. Young and wild and free, just a couple days into their freshman year of college at the ripe age of fourteen and not much has changed in the transition; the summer was spent laying around each other’s houses and playing footie in the back yard with the other lads and it was simple. Except, well. There is something different. ”Harry ”The curly haired boy beside him looks up instantly, alerted by the fact that Zayn just used his full name. Concern flickered warm and bright in his green eyes and Zayn loves him so incredibly for how much he cares. He thinks that he couldn’t have asked for a better best mate than Harry, really; he’s thankful he has him because Harry is like him in a way the other lads aren’t. Harry wears himself wide open. His heart, his eyes, his hands. Just like Zayn does—only, it takes little bit more to read between the raven haired boy’s lines than it does to read through the younger lad’s. Harry though, Harry is well versed in the in between lines of Zayn, and his concern is bright and soft, and his hands instantly reach for the older boy’s, tucking their fingers together in a tangle, waiting. ”Harry, I think I’m in love with Louis.”And there it is, Zayn has said it out loud, and his distress is awfully quiet but he knows Harry sees it loud and clear as the sun in August. He can’t bring himself to look up into those big doe eyes though, can’t manage to make himself look anywhere but at their hands because what if Harry thinks he’s crazy. What if Harry thinks it’s a joke. What if…Harry shifts beside him and for a brief moment Zayn feels like he’s skipped the last stair at the bottom by mistake, sending his stomach into a low swoop of surprise—because Harry didn’t move away, he moved closer. One of his almost comically massive hands removed itself from the twine of their fingers to tilt Zayn’s cheek up and he’s smiling. Smiling of all things. ”What?”"Zayn, I know.” ” ”And that’s all it takes for the two of them to nearly fall over in a fit of laughter because of course Harry knows he’s in love with Louis. If anyone aside from himself would know, it’d be Harry. When the giggles die down to a lull of silence, Zayn notices that it’s started to rain, splatting spots on the pavement of the driveway around them, a couple landing with leisure across the bridge of his nose; he can see some on Harry’s forehead too but neither of them make any attempt to go inside. “What are you going to do about it, Z?”And there it is again, the sudden nervousness, the onslaught on uncertainty because he d o e s n ’ t k n o w. He doesn’t have the slightest fucking clue what he’s going to do about it. He isn’t sure he wants to do anything but wait to see if his feelings fade because— ”What happens if he doesn’t feel the same, Haz? That ruins everything. Our entire friendship just like that ruined because I feel something he doesn’t…”"You know he wouldn’t shut you out of his life because of that…"He thinks about it for a moment, and nods because Harry’s right. Louis is one of his best friends and if anything he’ll probably make a joke out of it and maybe avoid sleep overs for a while, but he wouldn’t leave him out there alone. But suddenly there’s another worry on his mind. What if he does feel the same what if… ”I mean I—I haven’t even kissed anyone, Harry. What if I completely fuck up that and then he doesn’t wan—”Harry cuts him off though, slips his hand around the back of his neck and leans in to mold their mouths together slowly, softly, sweetly and he tastes like fruit cubes and rain and something else entirely and Zayn is stunned, confused for a second as Harry pulls away again to present his best mate with a cheeky smile. "Now you don’t have to worry about fucking up your first kiss." Maybe it doesn’t really change anything, maybe the nervousness and the fear is still hot in his stomach but Zayn feels a bit lighter now. And if anything, at least he knows that should Louis turn him away—he’ll always have Harry. For which he loves him so incredibly much.
