Him

Mum was recovering quickly, and I visited her daily at the hospital. She has been staying there for a week and sadly, now has to stay an additional week.

Meanwhile, I had been staying at Zayn's house while his parents were out on a work trip, as usual. I wondered when Zayn will tell his parents about us, but I have a feeling that he doesn't want to any time soon. And I'm okay with that.

We were now sat at the kitchen island of Zayn's house, playing footsie under the stools. Helen was at the stove, humming to herself while making us a batch of fresh blueberry pancakes.

"Enjoy, you lovebirds!" She chirped when she was done, setting down the plate of steaming hot pancakes on the island and turning back to the fridge to rummage for some milk and juice.

"Thanks Helen," Zayn mumbled around a mouthful of the delicious pancakes. I squirted some maple syrup on mine and took a bite of the heavenly pancakes. I couldn't help but moan a bit, they were so good.

"You should really open a restaurant Helen, you'll be a hit!" I commented cheekily, re-stuffing my momentarily empty mouth.

Helen rolled her eyes and smiled, setting down a glass of milk for me and another glass of OJ for Zayn. "I'm perfectly fine with cooking for you sweet boys, though thanks for the compliment lovely."

Helen was such a sweet lady. When she'd learnt about my Mum at the hospital, she had sent food for her everyday, knowing just how appetizing hospital meals were. Mum was more than happy, of course.

When Helen left us to complete our breakfast, Zayn nudged my sock clad foot with his. "Whatcha wanna do today? No school."

"Hmm, how about we cuddle?" I suggested.

"As much as I'd love to do that, let's do something productive today."

"Like...?"

Zayn smirked. "How does the beach sound?"

"Beach?" I echoed. "Isn't it a bit cold for the beach? And besides, there aren't any beaches in London!"

"Well, Louis knows of a really cool beach that's only an hour or so drive away, and the water's pretty warm during day time. What do you say?"

I sprang up excitedly. "Let's go then!" I hadn't went to a beach in what felt like years, and so I had every right to be excited. Then I suddenly remembered Mum. She was at the hospital, and it didn't seem right that I was having fun while she couldn't go anywhere.

Zayn instantly noticed my transitioning mood. "What's wrong love?"

"I don't think it's fair to Mum. After all, the last time I didn't stay with her..." I trailed off.

Zayn tutted and stood up from his stool as well, placing his hands on my shoulders. "Look, your Mum would want you to have fun and it's not your fault, what happened a week ago. We can visit her before we go, and we can all go to the beach again with her when she's better."

I smiled at his words. He always knows what to say and how to make me feel better. "Thanks Zayn, you're right," I murmured and hugged him tight. He kissed the top of my head.

"Now where's the excitement that I saw before? Who wants to go to the beach?"

"I do!" I beamed, my mood suddenly changing. Zayn has that effect on me, he can cheer me up anytime.

~*~

"I do!" Harry grinned adorably and ran up the stairs to my room. I followed him. Inside, he was rummaging in his duffle bag for some clothes to change into, then turned around with a frown. "Hey, can we invite the others too? It's been a while since we've all hung out together, you know, outdoors."

I felt slightly disappointed, 'cos I wanted this to be our alone time but shook that thought off. I've had my more than fair share of alone time with Harry this week. Harry was right, and besides, he had such a cute puppy dog expression on that no one in their right mind could ever say no to.

"Alright, fine!" I sighed in defeat, pulling my phone out and dialling Liam first. He informed me that he was free today and would love to come, and would ask Dani too. Next, I called Louis, who had Niall staying over, and they both agreed to be at my house in an hour.

"Okay, that's done. Everybody's coming," I informed Harry. He was standing at the far end of my room near the huge window, looking at my painting. Oh.

"I can't believe I forgot about this! It's in such a hidden corner of your room, that's why! So, um, what does it mean?" Harry questioned shyly.

I stood next to him and wrapped an arm around his waist. I don't see any reason why I shouldn't tell him. I have never trusted a person more than I trust Harry. And this painting means a lot to me. "Well," I started. "I painted that when I was 14-"

"Whoa!" Harry gaped at me. "You painted that, when you were 14?!"

My cheeks reddened, and I don't know why. "Remember when I told you about the time I used to be bullied?" I asked and Harry nodded, his eyes darkening. "I painted this around that time. It was basically the result of all my pent up anger and helplessness, I released it all out through my art. I guess this is me, it's about... me. Who I am, who I want to be and who I'm supposed to be."

Harry nodded, an intrigued expression on his face. "It has dark elements, but light at the same time," he assesed the painting again.

"Yeah. Some days were bad, some were good. Just like some parts of me are good, some, not so much."

"This is so beautiful Zayn, like I had said a long time ago when I had first seen your painting. You're really talented. As if you weren't already so amazing!" He groaned at the last part, making me laugh.

"Thank you love, that means so much coming from you," I kissed his temple. I had a lot of sketches of him hidden in the darkest corner of my room, but he didn't need to know that.

"And, are you jealous that I'm so perfect?" I asked cockily.

Harry rolled his eyes, a light smile on his lips. "Believe me, that's not the case. And we should probably get ready now. We've to touch by at the hospital too."

"Yep!" So we both packed all the stuff needed for a day at the beach and sure enough, we heard Louis' car honking downstairs exactly and hour later.

"Wow, you're on time for once!" I teased Louis. We all decided to go in Lou's car, and Liam and Dani would be coming in Liam's car.

"Oh, shut up! I'm a very punctual person!"

"Yeah, okay, you are Louis. Now let's GO!" Harry urged and we all looked at him questionably. He blushed under our gazes. "Er, yeah, okay. I'm excited to go to the beach after so long, so don't blame me, yeah! Let's, um go now?"

We all laughed and loaded our stuff in the cars, then piled inside ourselves. Minutes later, Liam and Dani showed up, and after taking directions from Louis, we were off.

~*~

We made a quick stop at the hospital and Harry wisited his Mum, who was more than happy that Harry was going to the beach and having fun. She had practically shooed him out!

"Feel better now?" I asked Harry.

He smiled. "Much better."

~*~

"This is... wow!" We were all at the beach now after the- I have to admit- pretty fun two hour ride, and Harry was looking at the natural scene with a happy smile on his lips, his face peaceful. He closed his eyes and breathed in when the salty breeze blew past us, and I couldn't stop looking at him, at how contented he looked at that moment. How beautiful.

It was amazing how the littlest things could make him so happy.

I wrapped my arms around the curly haired boy, placing my forehead on his. His smile turned into a smirk and he opened his green eyes. "Though, this view isn't far behind from the other one," he commented cheekily and I pecked his lips.

"Let's go, Zarry!" Niall called out, the rest were already far ahead. I naturally took Harry's hand in mine and we walked down the boardwalk, and minutes later our feet were sinking in the soft golden sand.

I whipped my shades out and placed them on, Harry doing the same.

~*~

God damn it! Zayn always looked like a Vogue model, and now with those shades on... God help me. I bit my lip and looked around, fighting the urge to just push my boyfriend on to the soft sand and do, er... things to him.

Zayn gave me a sideways smirk as if he seemed to have guessed my inner turmoil, and tugged my hand. We walked in the direction of our friends that were setting up a spot.

Niall and Louis were already tugging their shirts off and racing to the water, Dani was laying down to sunbathe even though she was already quite tan. Liam was just peacefully sitting on the sand beside his girlfriend, earbuds in.

I instantly pulled my shirt over my head and tossed it with the other stuff, ruffling my curls. "Oh dear God," Zayn groaned.

"What? What's wrong?" I asked him worriedly.

"Why are you so sexy?" He growled huskily and I bit my bottom lip. Wow, he can turn me on just by talking a bit dirty. God, this boy.

"W-why are you so sexy?" I shot back, but it didn't gave the effect I wanted to since I was already breathless. Zayn ran his finger along my collarbone and my breathing hitched.

"Z-zayn."

"Mhmm?"

"You, uh, do you want to swim?"

Zayn grimaced. "I can't, remember?" Oh, right. He had a fear of water. But I really wanted to go swim with him, damn it.

"Please?" I pleaded. "We won't go deep, I promise!"

Zayn stared at me and I held his gaze. He then groaned and ran his fingers through his hair. "The power you have on me, I swear to God..."

Without another word, he turned his back to me and pulled his red tee over his head. I gulped when I saw his back muscles ripple. He turned back and caught me staring.

"Like what you see?"

"Very," I tried to smirk seductively and I think I succeeded a little 'cos I saw Zayn blush faintly.

We strolled to the water, the waves crashing gently at the shore.

Zayn grasped my hand tighter when we reached the water. "Don't worry love, I won't let go," I assured him and he gave me a thankful smile.

We slowly waddled into the water and Zayn was right, it was pleasantly warm. A while later, Zayn had forgotten his fear of water and along with Louis and Niall, we were dunking and splashing each other.

"Told you the water won't be cold," Zayn murmured and I nodded, my breath quickening as he brushed our noses together. He brought his hand up and traced my skin, and I looked down.

"You're so beautiful," he murmured, biting his lip. I looked back up and my heart faltered, in the exact way that they talk about in the books. He was biting his lip the way I loved, water crystals were dripping down from his matted black hair and running over his toned chest... and I couldn't take it. I wasn't one for PDA but this bastard was just asking for it.

I grabbed his face and tilting my head, slammed our lips together. Zayn responded immediately, pressing our naked torsos together, deepening our kiss, slipping his tongue past my parted lips.

I felt myself melt into him from the pleasure, but the spell was broken when someone splashed us, rather violently.

"Oi! This is a public beach!" Louis had his hands cupped around his mouth. "Hence, please refrain from showing any personal displays of affection, thank you." And Niall was beside him, howling with laughter.

I laughed but Zayn was grumbling under his breath. Liam and Dani had joined us a while later and Louis splashed them as well when they started kissing.

And of course, when Louis and Niall shared a kiss, they were splashed so bad that they both fell under. My sides still hurt from laughing at that one.

We got out of the water when we started pruning and the temperature of the water shifted. After getting into dry clothes and doing a bit of sight seeing and photo snapping, we decided to grab something to eat.

And conveniently, we found a cosy little coffee shop just in the middle, and immediately went into it. After ordering, we sat down and bantered. The bantering done by mostly Louis.

"Harry?!" I heard a voice beside me.

"Oh, Carter! Hi!" I got out of the booth and stuck my hand out for him to shake but he pulled me in a friendly hug. Yep, he's a hugger.

"Wow, fancy seeing you here!" He grinned. I grinned back at my red head friend. "Yeah! Me and my friends were here for a beach day, wanna join us?" I offered.

"I'd love to, but your boyfriend is giving me a look that could possibly murder me." My eyes widened a bit at that. Was Zayn jealous? That made me feel weird. A good, proud weird.

I passed an arm around Carter's shoulders. "Well mate, you're more than welcome to join us now."

He smiled, a bit unsure. "Um, awesome!"

~*~

Who the fuck was that little scrawny head head?! And why the fuck was he hugging my boyfriend?

Alright, I know I sound like a possessive girlfriend -er, boyfriend, but I can't help it. I'm the insanely jealous type. The guy glanced at me then hurriedly averted his gaze. Good, my glare worked.

But then Harry passed an arm around his shoulders and pulled him close. "Whoa, Zayn. Easy, mate. You're gonna have to buy a new one," Liam informed me in an amused tone. I looked down and released my phone from my clenched hands, rubbing at the red marks on my palm.

Harry steered the scrawny guy towards our table. "Uh, guys. This is my biolagy lab partner, Carter. Carter, I'm guessing you already know my friends."

The Carter bloke nodded, grinning. God, does he always grin? He noticed my glare and flinched a bit. "Er, Harry. It was nice of you to offer to join you guys and it was nice meeting you all, but I uh, gotta go. Bye! See you Monday, Harry!"

Good riddance. Harry sat down beside me, a frown on his face. "What's wrong?"

"I can't believe you scared him away," Harry pouted but I could see he was trying not to smile.

"Aw, sorry! I can't help it. I'm the possessive type. And . Only mine," I growled the last part in his ear and heard him suck in a breath.

Sadly, before I could say any further, the food had arrived.

~*~

We drove back before sunset and were now cuddled in Zayn's bed. "I had an awesome day today, thank you," I spoke, kissing Zayn's jaw.

"That's great," he squeezed me. "I noticed how you looked so happy today, when we reached there."

"Uh-huh," I smiled, remembering the calming smells and sounds of the beach.

I yawned involuntarily. "You want to sleep already?" Zayn raised a sexy eyebrow. "It's Sunday tomorrow."

I shrugged. "What else could we do?" And I knew what his answer would be, I knew it very well.

"We could play cards."

"Eh?"

Zayn wiggled his eyebrows, his eyes glinting mischeviously.

"Or we could..." In an instant he straddled me and leaned down, softly kissing my collarbone, while I threaded my fingers through his soft black hair, pulling him closer.

~*~