"Zayn?"

"Yep. It's me."

The door opened and Harry backed out of the way. "Can you lock the door for me, please?"

"Sure."

It was dark in the house so after he locked it, he felt his way into the kitchen and turned on the light. Now he was really able to take note of his surroundings. Something was being read through the speakers of Harry's phone.

Actually, Stanley had been impressed when he first found out that his great-grandfather was robbed by Kissin' Kate Barlow. True, he would have preferred living on the beach in California, but it was still kind of cool to have someone in your family robbed by a famous outlaw. Kate Barlow didn't actually kiss Stanley's great-grandfather. That would have been really cool, but she only kissed the men she killed. Instead, she robbed him and left him stranded in the middle of the desert.

"Um... What are you listening to?"

"A story called Holes."

He was lucky to have survived," Stanley's mother was quick to point out. The bus was slowing down. The guard grunted as he stretched his arms. "Welcome to Camp Green Lake," said the driver. Stanley looked out the dirty window. He couldn't see a lake. And hardly anything was green.

"Holes... Interesting."

"It is. By the way, when do we discuss the color green?" Harry questioned.

"Not for a while. Why?"

"Because Stanley is going to a place called Camp Green Lake in the story I'm listening to. I was curious about the color. That's all."

"Oh." Zayn pointed toward the door, using his thumb. "I um... I noticed Mindy's car is out there. Is she here?"

"Yeah. She's having a nap. We went grocery shopping earlier and she was tired. I was hoping we'd all have dinner together if she wakes in time."

"Oh."

"But I made plenty for all three of us. Don't worry. She helped me with the portions before I shooed her out of the kitchen so I'm sure there is enough."

"Okay."

"How about you go have a seat in the living room for now. You'll learn how I cook and prepare meals later on. It's not time yet."

"Alright. Fine."

"And don't stay in here just because I can't see you either. I will know."

"Come on. I'm not gonna do that to you."

"Goodbye, Zayn."

He left the kitchen and went to the living room where he turned on more light and took a seat in one of the chairs with his blindfold in hand. Now that Harry sort of brought it to his attention, he did wonder how Harry was preparing everything. He guessed the best part about it was that Harry said he'd show him another day. So that was something else he could add to the list of things to look forward to learning about him.

Much to his satisfaction, while listening to the noises Harry made, he never once heard a plate or any silverware drop to the ground. So Harry really did know what he was doing. And even though Harry always easily gave off the idea that he did, it was still very impressive.

While he waited, he also thought ahead of the game and opened his blindfold and put it on his head. But he didn't pull it down over his eyes just yet. Moments later, Harry finally called him for dinner.

"Alright, Zayn. It's ready! Go wash your hands and then come eat!"

He sprang from the couch rather quickly and rushed to the bathroom. When he was finished in there, he got up and went to the kitchen with Harry. "I'm here. He said. When he saw the plates of chicken and rice on the table, he immediately wanted to scream. But why? He wasn't sure. He just did. Somehow, a blind man fixing a full plate of food for him made him really edgy. But in a good I'm-so-amazed-by-you-my-screams-might-make-more-sense-than-my-actual-words kind of way.

"Looks delicious, Harry. Like, really delicious."

"Thank you. We picked that chicken up from a smokehouse restaurant today, though. And the flavored rice comes out of a bag. So I didn't have to do too much."

"The effort still counts and it looks amazing. So thank you."

He smiled. You're welcome. Now, do you have your blindfold with you?"

"Yep. Right here." He stretched the elastic so that it popped back against his forehead. "Ouch."

"Alright, then have a seat in the chair closest to the door because the other chair with the plate at it is where I usually sit. Your plate might not be directly in front of you but feel free to move it. You won't hurt my feelings."

"Okay. Should I go ahead and put my blindfold over my eyes now?"

"No. Wait."

"...I'll think of a number between one and ten. I'll marry whoever guesses the closest number. Okay, I'm ready."

"Ten," guessed Igor.

Elya said nothing.

"Elya?" said Myra. "What number do you guess?"

Elya didn't pick a number. "Marry Igor," he muttered. "You can keep my pig as a wedding present."

The next time the water-

Harry turned off the audio after letting the phone tell him where and what to push to turn it off. Then he came and sat down in the chair. "Are you right or left handed?"

"Right."

"Me too. So your cup of water goes on the left side of your plate and toward the back, like mine is. Go on and place it there if it isn't."

Zayn did. "Sure. But why does it have to go here? I sometimes keep mine on the right side."

"You do that because you can see how to keep from knocking it over. But I can't. People tend to reach more often with their dominant hand. But I can be clumsy. So by me doing it this way, there's less chance of knocking it over when it's on the opposite side of my dominant hand. This isn't necessary. Just easier for me."

"Gotcha." Even though it wasn't necessary, Zayn still wanted to do it like him.

"Okay. You may have noticed that I do have napkins ready on the table on the right side. And they come in handy right away. Why? Because what I like to do first is take my hands and locate my plate so I have an idea where it is and how big the plate is. Mine is directly in front of me and is normal sized. But I already knew that because I checked when I got it down from the cabinet. Now that I know that, what I'm going to do is leave my left hand on the left side of my plate and use my right hand to gently touch my food."

Zayn frowned. "What?"

"You may not have seen me when I ate over your parents house but I did that there too."

"You did?"

"Yes. And for the record, I don't always go through every step before I get ready to eat. For example, I didn't have to worry about drink placement when we ate at Village Grill because Niall always sits my drink on the same side since he knows where I like it. Secondly, I didn't need to feel around for the items on my plate because I only had a salad in a bowl with bite-sized chicken. Third, since I always order the same thing every time I go, I know how big the bowl is so I don't have to size it either."

"Oh, I see. So why do you touch over your food like that then?"

"Well, if you're having a meal with multiple food items, it only makes sense to touch the food on your plate to make sure you know where everything is for when you're ready to eat it. This is my chicken." He said patting one of the strips of grilled chicken. "This is my rice and this is my bread." He said after touching the rice and roll.

"Cool."

"Yep. And also another good feature of doing this is that you get to feel how hot the food is before you eat it. Mindy says you guys can see steam so you can relatively tell how hot the food is before you come in contact with it. But I can't. I have to see with my hands and feel the heat. And of course, this meal is good and hot but tolerable enough to eat and enjoy."

Zayn smiled as Harry used the napkin to wipe his fingertips.

"Now we eat. But not you. Don't touch anything yet." Harry carefully reached for his silverware. "I don't need to show you how to eat a roll. That's a given. So I'm going to show you how I eat my chicken and my rice."

"Okay."

"First, I use my knife to cut the same way you would do it. Grandma taught me this." He used his fork to hold a strip of chicken in place and then the knife to cut a small piece away from it. Once he stabbed the piece he cut away, he carefully brought the fork to his mouth and ate it.

"See? Easy. Two common and rude misconceptions about blind people is that we either A) eat like cave men and animals or B) we're incapable of feeding ourselves at all. Those annoy me so much. But as you can see, they're not true. We know where our mouths are. If we can blow our nose and scratch an itch, we know how to locate a body part we can't see without looking at it."

Zayn chuckled. "Yep true. Those people that assume that are terrible, by the way."

"They don't know any better but that's why it's important to do a little bit of research and educate yourself before you open your mouth. Now, let's move on to the rice. As you can see, just like I had done it at your family's house, I still have my knife in my hand. What I'm going to do is place my knife down in the plate somewhere in the middle of the rice or on the side, whichever way you want to go, and then use my fork to scoop the rice sideways toward the knife. The knife acts as a wall and keeps me from pushing my rice all the way to the edge of the plate and getting it all over the table. It's a great way to stay clean and be less messy when eating."

Harry then lifted the fork to his mouth and ate what he had scooped up. When he was done, he left the silverware on his plate.

"Let's say you get thirsty while you're eating. What you need to do is gently reach out with your left hand for your drink. But don't move too fast because you might hit it and knock it over. Once you have found the cup, pick it up, drink from it and when you're ready to put it back down, locate the left side of your plate with your right hand and then sit the glass down with your left hand. The purpose of touching the plate is so that you can sit the cup down gently and not accidentally sit it on the edge of your plate and knock it over."

As Harry spoke, he demonstrated it for Zayn and Zayn was so amazed by how simple it was for him. "Wow. You made all of that look so easy."

"It is easy but only because this is something that I've been doing for all twenty three years of my life. It might be a little bit difficult for you because you're just now learning but if you're patient, I believe you can get it fast. So let's test my beliefs. Go ahead and pull your blindfold down over your eyes."

Zayn pulled the blindfold down. "Done."

"Alright. Since I can't see what you're doing, you're going to have to say it as you do it."

"Oh boy."

"You can do it Zayn, I believe in you. Tell me what's the very first thing we do."

"Um... Well, I already moved my cup so I'm supposed to size my plate."

"Yes. Good job. Do it."

Zayn did. "Done."

"Then what?"

"Um... After I size my plate, I identify what food is on my plate with my fingertips."

"Right. That's why it's especially important for us to wash our hands before we eat even if we don't plan on eating with our hands. We don't want to transfer any germs into our bodies."

Zayn nodded. This was a great example of Harry living life from a different perspective. "This is my rice." He said and he smiled at the thought of using his hands. It was so weird. He felt like he was just playing with this food. "That's the roll and..." He felt around again. "Ah, my chicken."

"Good. So you know where all your items are. That will help you remember where they are when you start using your utensils to eat. What comes next?"

"I eat?" He asked.

"Well, first how do we get something to drink?"

"Oh. I slowly reach out with my left hand and grab my cup. Got it. Then I drink from it." He drank from it. "Afterwards, I find the edge of my plate with my right hand and then I sit my drink down with my left." It took him a moment to do it because he didn't want to be the one to spill anything but he did get it. "There."

"I told you, you could do it." He said excitedly. "Now we eat. Just don't forget your knife is a wall."

"I won't."

Zayn began to use the knife and fork to cut a piece of chicken just like Harry did. That went fine until the knife slipped a bit and the fork ended up pushing food toward the edge of the plate. He gasped.

"What's wrong?"

"I think I pushed food on the table."

"It's okay. You're a beginner. Keep going."

Zayn sighed and cut the chicken. This time, it was successful and he ate it. It was so delicious and he grinned into the air. Whatever smokehouse restaurant they went to, that place sure knew what they were doing.

Now he wanted to try scooping rice. He recalled what part of the plate he had touched and put his knife down in the middle. Then he tried using his fork to push against the knife. However, halfway through, he realized that this was very awkward. He couldn't really turn his hand the right way to use the knife as a wall. He was bringing his elbows inward to his body and turning his wrist but still, something was very wrong. Why was he failing miserably?

"I give up. I can't do this." He pulled the blindfold off of his face and saw that he was right. He had actually knocked the roll onto the table as well as a little bit of rice. "Food is all over the table now."

"How do you know? Did you peek?"

"Yep. I'm peeking​ now."

"Come on, Zayn. We're both supposed to be blind tonight."

"I know. But I've put more food on the table than I have in my mouth. I can't do this. I don't know what I'm doing wrong."

He sat back and pouted and Harry could hear the pout in his voice. "Okay, Zayn. First you need to put the blindfold back on. And then I will help you."

"You will?"

"Not until that blindfold is on."

Zayn quickly put it on and picked up his silverware all in one motion. "It's on. Now what?"

Harry slowly and carefully stood up and gently reached out for Zayn. He was going for his shoulder but he accidentally poked the side of his head. "I'm sorry. I was looking for your shoulder so I would know where you were."

"That's okay."

As Zayn was waiting for instructions, he felt Harry wrap an arm around his neck and use his hand to feel down Zayn's arm to his hand. He palmed that hand and then did the same with the other hand although he didn't need to wrap that arm around Zayn's neck.

"I'm sorry if I'm crowding you too much and making you uncomfortable."

"You're fine."

"You're sure?"

"Yep. I'm not uncomfortable. Go on."

"Okay. Thanks. Well, since food is already all over the table as you say it is, just eat the way you would normally eat if you weren't blindfolded. I'm using my hands on top of yours so I can feel the way you use the fork."

Makes sense.

As weird as it was, Zayn used the fork to shovel rice and took it to his mouth. After eating it, Harry smiled. "Ah. I see what the problem is."

"You do?"

"Yes. And there is a simple solution. You and Mindy hold your forks the same way. When I was teaching her how to do this too, I figured out that she learned to hold her fork differently than me when she was growing up. Just like her, you shouldn't try to copy me but rather learn to hold it differently in order to be comfortable. Here's how."

Now he squeezed his hand enough to be able to maneuver them. "Help me out, here. What you should do is turn your knife toward you. Since you hold your fork sideways, it's best that you push the food to you. Pushing it away from you will cause the mess you've already made."

He twisted his hands so that the knife was parallel to the front of Zayn's body.

"Then use the fork to get some of the rice." Harry pulled his hand toward him until the fork made contact with the knife. "Now eat."

He let go of Zayn's right hand and Zayn was able to eat. "Mmm. Delicious. And yes, that's so much easier than trying to copy what you did."

"Yes it is. From now on, you should do it this way. It is much more comfortable for you."

Zayn just realized that Harry was talking in his ear. He giggled. It felt weird but good. "You think this is how blind couples show each other how to do things?"

"Oh, I'm pretty sure. But it might be a little bit harder to explain to one another." He stood up and took his arms from around Zayn.

"Wait. C-can you show me one more time?"

"Why?"

Could he say why? It wasn't bad but maybe it was embarrassing. He would definitely be the weird neighbor if he told Harry that there was something about having a voice in his ear and being touched when blindfolded that was the most comforting yet titillating thing he had ever experienced. "Just to make sure I've got it. To be absolutely sure."

Harry was quiet for a moment. "Sure." Once again, he wrapped an arm around Zayn's neck and felt down Zayn's arm to his hand. After palming that hand he did the same with the other one. "Alright. We take the knife and point it to our right. And then bring to fork toward us. Now eat."

Zayn ate. "This is so amazing. I can barely form words to describe how amazing this is."

"It is, pretty cool isn't it?"

"Hmm, what's going on in here?"

Zayn jumped at the sound of Mindy's voice and accidentally dropped his knife to the floor. "Uh-umm. eating. We're eating."

"Did I startle you?"

"Yes." He admitted. "How long were you there?"

"Long enough." She said and Zayn couldn't help but feel sheepish. He wondered if she heard him ask Harry to show him again.

He took his blindfold off. "Oh. He was just showing me how to eat. That's all that was happening."

"He's learning quickly." Harry said.

"I see. Looks like I'm missing the interesting part."

"You can still join in. We haven't been long sat down to eat. Food is on the stove. Fix yourself a plate and come eat with us."

"Sure. Zayn, would you like another roll and knife?"

He could barely look at her. "Yes ma'am- Yes please. Yes." He cleared his throat and she smiled gently.

"I have my blindfold as well." She announced as she plucked it from her pocket. It was leopard print and shiny and so like her.

"You two don't have to eat with those on if you don't want to." Harry offered and he sat down in his chair again.

"No, this was your plan so that's what we'll do. It's okay. And you two were getting along just fine before I interrupted so this seems like it would be fun." She made a point to look at Zayn.

"Oh, alright. Let's do it."

Yep. She heard him. And Zayn was thankful Mindy insisted, so he quickly pulled the blindfold over his eyes again. At least by doing this, she couldn't look at him during dinner and he didn't have to feel shamed about being looked at. Perhaps being blinded did have some perks after all.

* * *

"It says brown can mean stability and indicates masculine qualities. But I don't get the relation at all."

"Me either." Mindy said.

"Nevertheless, that's what it means. The first thing I think of when I hear brown is chocolate and dirt."

"And poop." Mindy said.

They laughed.