"What about this one, Harry?" Zayn question just as a loud crack of thunder sounded from outside.

"Which one?"

Zayn took his hand and put it to one of the pillows on the shelves so he could feel over it.

"Ooh. Yes. That's really nice. So soft and fun. What color is this one?"

"White."

"Does it come in any other colors?"

He checked the tag. "Yes. It comes in Penny Brown, Forrest Green, and Aubergine which is in the purple family. Aubergine is an eggplant color."

"Hmm. Brown, Green and purple." He repeated as he thought for a moment. "I don't really have a preference for this and Mindy usually likes to be the one to choose these things. What do you think?"

"What do I think? What do you mean?"

"Would white go well with what I already have?"

Zayn put his hands behind his back and stood up on his tip toes before letting himself down again. He didn't know too much about home decor and he had told Harry that before. But he did like the idea of having his opinion matter when it came to something that was going in Harry's home.

"I think the white is cool if you like it. But I also think the brown one matches the furniture in your living room the most."

"Okay. Then if you say it matches, I trust your judgment. Can you jot that one down and put it at the top of the list?

"Absolutely."

He used his phone to take the information down in his notes, making sure to accurately record the name, product number and color options. Just as he saved it and pushed the phone down in his back pocket, they heard a scream and hard thud inside the store. Someone yelled out in agony and then suddenly there was the cry of a baby."

"What's happening?" Harry asked in a panic.

"I'm not sure. Wait here while I go check."

"No, Zayn. Wait."

Instead of waiting, Zayn rushed to the end of the aisle and looked towards the direction of where he heard the noise. Right away he saw a woman lying out on her back and a baby on her chest. He rushed to her aid at the same time one of the female employees did so he stopped and waited for the employee to make a decision.

"Ma'am, I'm so sorry. There should have been a wet floor sign here. Are you okay?"

"No. Not at all. I think I've broken my hip and hurt my elbow."

"Oh no. Well, you just stay right there. I'll go call for help."

She hurried behind the counter for a phone and Zayn realized that he was still the only customer standing near her while many others were keeping a safe distance. The woman's baby was still crying so he bent down next to her.

"Hi, ma'am. My name is Zayn. What's your name?"

"Ruby."

"Ruby. That's pretty. This is your daughter, right?"

She winced in pain. "Why do you want to know? Do you work here?"

"No. And I'm sorry. I don't mean to be intrusive, Ruby. I just noticed that she's scared and so I was wondering if I could hold her until help arrives. Just to comfort her. I promise."

The woman was still clutching her baby girl close to her. But she also knew that she sensed something was wrong. She did not want to scare her any more than she already was.

"Yes, please, take her. Her name is Roslyn.

Comforting her works best when you use her name."

Truthfully, when Zayn volunteered to console her baby, he didn't really expect her to say yes. He was just trying to be nice and come to her rescue. So he actually panicked a bit when she not only gave him permission to hold her daughter, but tried to hand her to him.

He reached out and carefully took the crying child, then put her up against himself.

"Roslyn. It's okay sweetie. It's alright."

She was wailing loudly in his ear but he ignored it. If he had to guess, she was around four months old. How could a baby as small as her have such loud vocals and how did her mother deal with this every day?

He held his hand against the back of her tiny head and kept her pressed against him as he gently swayed back and forth.

"Shh, Roslyn. Everything is going to be alright."

He looked down to Ruby who was still lying in the middle of the floor. By now, the employee had finally come back with the wet floor sign and put it down. Even if it was a little too late, it needed to be there for the next customer who decided to walk in.

"The paramedics are on their way. You stay right there so you don't make anything worse, okay?"

"I don't really have much of a choice, do I?"

"I... Sorry."

She knelt down next to her and began asking her questions about the pain she was feeling while she got up the water with a towel. So Zayn backed away and gave them some space.

"Roslyn it's okay. I promise. Mommy is going to be alright. And so are you. You just watch." After a few minutes of rocking her and discreetly checking the visible parts of her body for bruises or possible injury, she finally quieted down and rested against his shoulder. His ears were still ringing a bit and he couldn't get it out, but he did want to sit down so that he could place her in his lap. Just as he'd found a blue bench near the area for outside furniture, someone came rushing over to him.

"Excuse me."

"Yes?"

"Are you Zayn?"

He frowned. "Yes. Why?"

"There's a man on the aisle with the blankets and pillows and he's asking for you."

He gasped. "Harry."

"I guess that's his name. But he wouldn't tell me. I was trying to help but he only wants you."

"It's okay. I've got it. Thank you."

"Need any help?"

"I said I've got it."

He rushed to the aisle where Harry was and found him sitting on the floor in the aisle. He scurried over to him and bent down.

"Harry."

"Zayn."

He put a hand on his shoulder to let him know he was close. "Yes, it's me. I'm here."

Harry was crying. "Where were you? You left me."

"I know. There was a lady who fell. I guess a lot of water from the rain accumulated on the floor just inside the doors and she slipped on it. She's really hurt."

"But why did you leave me? You know that I need you."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't you understand? I can't be by myself. One moment I hear someone screaming and then you just leave me alone as if I can see what's happening around me when you know that I can't. That's scary."

Zayn exhaled. He really didn't think about that when he chose to run off and offer his help. It must've been terrifying to hear all the commotion and then have the only person he trusted here run off like that.

"You're right. I'm so sorry. I wasn't thinking. I... Come here."

He leaned forward to hug him on the side of his body that Roslyn wasn't on, but Harry went for a full body hug and and made Roslyn whine a little and sit up to look at him. He jumped back when he heard her.

"Whoa. Is that a baby I hear?" Harry asked as he wiped his face with his hands.

"Yes. The lady who fell, had a baby girl with her. Her name is Roslyn. I offered to calm her since her mother is too hurt to do it herself. I don't think she got hurt from the fall but she was very scared. A lot of tears came from those beautiful big blue eyes. Didn't they, Roslyn?"

When she heard her name, she softly hit at his chest. He smiled and looked at Harry who seemed as if what he'd said triggered a thought."

"Harry, are you alright?"

"Yes. I'm fine now. Looks like Roslyn and us both experienced the same kind of emotions."

"Yeah, you did. You both were scared. And speaking of getting scared, I think we should go to the front of the store so that Ruby doesn't think I ran off with her child and end up panicking."

"Oh... yeah."

With his free hand, he took Harry's hand and helped him up from the floor. Once he reached the bench he found earlier, he helped Harry sit down on it and he went over to Ruby.

"Looks like she's doing better, Ruby." Zayn told her.

She smiled up at him even though it was strained due to the pain she was feeling. "She loves her name, doesn't she?"

"Oh yes."

"I told you."

"But who can blame her? It's beautiful. Just like her."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

Just then, the doors opened and in rushed two paramedics.

"Oh, thank goodness." The woman said.

The paramedics had immediately begun tending to her but Zayn took away the attention of one of them with a tap on the shoulder.

"Yes sir?"

"Hi, can I speak to you about the accident for a second? I'll be brief."

"Sure." He stood up to his feet. "What is it?"

"I just wanted to tell you that this is Roslyn. The lady you're tending to was holding her when she fell. I'm not sure if she's hurt. I checked what I could. But you might want to do it again to be sure because she was crying a long time before I was able to calm her."

"Oh, of course we will." He said and he reached out for her. Zayn happily handed her over. "Thank you for being a great samaritan."

"I didn't know what else to be."

He watched him walk away while softly talking to her and then decided he'd better get Harry home after what happened.

"Wow." Harry said, once they were safely in the car and out of the heavy rain.

What?"

"You actually held a baby."

"Yeah. I did."

"What was it like?"

"What do you mean?"

"Not long after we met, you told me babies make you uncomfortable."

He chuckled nervously. "It was... it was nice. Roslyn is a cute baby. I'm sure I won't ever see her again, but..."

"Hey, you never know."

"I mean... that's true, but I don't know. Time will tell, I guess."

Harry leaned against the door with his palm against his head. "I know your reason behind it."

"Behind what?"

"Behind the way you feel about babies. At first I didn't but now I do. I know you don't hate babies. You actually really love them. It's just that what happened to you at college... You almost becoming a father and then suddenly finding out that you weren't. Babies remind you of what happened to you. And so you try to distance yourself from that memory by distancing yourself from children and babies. But you shouldn't. Children have the ability to make the atmosphere lighter. And you need that. We all do."

A weird feeling went through Zayn's body then and he knew it was because Harry was right. Maybe it was time he stopped running from the things that reminded him of his past and see them as good things that were glimpses into his future.

He reached over and rested a hand on Harry's knee. "You're not wrong in what you said. You are very right."

"Yes. I know."

"But not only babies can make the atmosphere lighter. You do that for me too. Everyday, you know."

He was expecting Harry to turn it around on him and tell him to be serious and pay attention to what he was saying. But instead, he just reached out and put his hand over Zayn's. "I know."

* * *

When Zayn and Harry both reached Harry's place, Harry was sleepy. No doubt the tears he cried and fear he felt earlier brought it on and the heavy rain falling outside did not help either. So he went right inside and took a nap while Zayn waited in the living room for him to wake up.

An hour and a half later, Harry did wake up and peaked out into the hallway. "Zayn, are you still here?" He called out.

Zayn stood up and went into the hallway. "Yes. I am."

"Okay. I'm coming." He walked up to Zayn and they both went into the living room together.

"You must be ready to order that pillow now."

"No."

"No?"

"No. I have a question."

"Okay."

Zayn sat down in the chair at the computer but Harry didn't want to sit.

"When we were at the store earlier and you were holding that baby girl."

"Roslyn."

"Yes."

"What about her?"

"You said that she had beautiful big blue eyes."

He smiled. "She did. They were shining." However, he stopped smiling when he saw that Harry was not. "Harry. What's wrong?"

"Nothing is wrong. I'm just curious. I've been aware that the color of my eyes are gray. I know. I've been told before. But that's not a color you taught me about."

"That's because it wasn't on the list."

"Well is there another list? Is there some other place you can look? What's the meaning of the color gray? I really want to know. Maybe it might help me understand."

Zayn poked his lips out a little. He wasn't sure what Harry could be wanting to understand about his eye color but it wouldn't be too much to look up the color for him. "Okay. I can look online. Wait a minute."

Using Harry's computer, Zayn went online and searched for the meaning of the color of Gray. He clicked on the first link he saw. "Okay. Found it."

"What does it say?"

"'Gray is a cool, neutral, and balanced color. The color gray is an... mmm."

"What?"

"Ah..."

"What?"

"It... It basically means formal, conservative, and sophisticated."

"You're lying."

"I'm not."

"You are."

"I'm not lying. It really says this."

"But what are you leaving out?"

He sighed. "I don't want to say."

"Why? Is it bad?"

He didn't say yes or no.

"What's wrong, Zayn? Do you think I can't handle it?"

"It's not that."

"Then why can't you just read it to me? Why do you feel you get to know and not me when I'm the one who asked?"

Once again, Zayn sighed and he faced the screen. "Okay. If you really want to know, I'll just read word for word and get it over with."

"Thank you."

He dropped his shoulders in defeat. He knew Harry was not going to like what he heard.

"Gray is a cool, neutral, and balanced color. The color gray is an emotionless, moody color that is typically associated with meanings of dull, dirty, and dingy, as well as formal, conservative, and sophisticated. The color gray is a timeless and practical color that is often associated with loss or depression. Dark, charcoal gray communicates some of the strength and mystery of black. It is a sophisticated color that lacks the negativity of the color black. Light grays can carry some of the attributes of the color white. The gray color affects the mind and body by causing unsettling feelings. Light grays are feminine in nature, while dark grays are masculine in nature."

When he finished, he looked at Harry who was very quiet now. He felt so guilty after reading those things and he shook his head at himself for even giving in and reading it to him.

"Ace. Those negative things.... They don't mean anything. And your eyes. They're not all gray. They're more like a blueish gray. Mostly gray but like a blue gray. Kind of..."

He was still quiet and Zayn clicked off the web page because he just didn't want to see it anymore. "See... this is why I didn't want to read it."

"But I understand."

"No you don't. Or you wouldn't have kept asking me."

"I mean I understand you and what you see."

"Me?" Zayn stood up and took two steps forward so he could put his hands on his shoulders. "No. Not me. I don't look into your eyes and think those negative things at all because they are not you. And anybody who thinks that doesn't know you."

"Zayn, I know."

"Huh?"

"I know it's not me. Don't you think that I would know myself?"

"O- okay. So why are you so quiet then? You seemed hurt by what I read."

He chuckled but it was short lived and not heartfelt. "Hurt? No. Not hurt. Relieved."

"Relieved of what?"

He smiled a smile that seemed sad in a way. "When I was curious about what the color meant, I only wanted to understand what people see and why people find my eyes weird."

"Yeah... but not because of what the color means. Most people have no clue what the colors mean and most are not even aware of the feelings colors can evoke."

"I know. That's why I'm relieved. I know that the color has some negative attributes. But I also know it's not the attributes that makes people apprehensive about me. It's just because they don't understand. They never could and they likely never will. People are always afraid of what they can't understand."

Zayn really tried but he just could not understand what Harry was saying. "And that relieves you?"

"Yes. And no. No one likes the feeling of being missunderstood. But the truth is you have to experience what it's like to not be understood in order to know how great it really feels when someone comes around and finally understands." He lowered his head and shook it and Zayn knew then he was fighting tears. But he was afraid to touch him.

"It's just... when you started reading that and you hesitated to tell me everything, it was a relief. Because I know it was only because you didn't want to hurt me. Even if it meant lying to me."

Zayn looked back at the screen where the web page had already been clicked off. "You already knew what the color meant."

He swallowed thickly. "Yes. I asked Mindy about it yesterday and she looked it up for me. The whole thing with Roslyn just reminded me to ask you."

"So... you were testing me?"

He looked up and there was a rivulet of tears falling down his face. But it scared Zayn because it was like Harry was looking right at him even though he wasn't. "No. I wasn't. I was hoping to have you explain it in the way that you always explain things to me because I like the way you do it. Much better than when Mindy tried to do it. It wasn't until I heard the distress in your voice that I began to realize what you were doing and it told me how you really feel about me. Sure you've told me before how you feel or how I make you feel but it's not been like this. Cause it's not just about us being together like it used to be. Zayn, you understand me. You understand me in the way that people I've loved and still love understand me. And it's a relief.... It's just a relief to know that I'm lucky enough to have someone like you in my life. That's all I'm trying to say."

After that, Zayn could not take standing there and watching him cry. So he reached out to pull him in tight for a hug. Harry leaned on his shoulder without fighting.

"Oh, Harry it's okay. I promise. But I've done nothing I shouldn't have done. This feeling you have isn't something you're lucky to have. It's something you deserve."

"You think I deserve it?"

"I know you deserve it."

He pulled back. "So I deserve you?"

That caught him off guard. "Only if I'm what you want."

"You are."

"Then I'm yours."

When Harry faced downward, Zayn kissed his forehead and made him lean on his shoulder again.

With Harry sniffling in his ear, he was struggling to process what just happened. But as Harry quieted down and relaxed, things began to become more clearer. Coming back home after three years of college seemed like the last option for him. It seemed like the last stamp that branded the mark of failure on his biography. He thought he was done doing good for the world and for himself.

But he was wrong. Coming home was much less like the end and much more like the beginning. His mind had been introduced to a whole new prospective. Not only did he gain a lot for himself but he learned that he very well had much to give others too. And the biggest irony of it all was that it was not himself coming to realize that, but a blind man who came so seamlessly into his life and took the time to make him see it.