Ziall Hybrid: Part 10

Zayn purred as the sunlight warmed his back. Against all odds, and certainly the lads’ expectations, his upper body and back was hair and fur free. A cool, wet hand rubbed down his back, and he glanced up at Niall, a small smile on his lips. “Are you feeling okay?” He nodded. “Talking, I mean,” he added awkwardly. Zayn’s eyes darted down, the smile fading.

“Ah… a-mrow.” He growled in annoyance, adding an agitated, “Mrow,” for emphasis. Niall lightly scratched behind his ear, trying to soothe the annoyed boy.

“It’s okay,” he promised, rubbing the smooth fur between his fingers. “Take your time, you’ll get it back.” Zayn glanced up at him hopefully, a quiet meow slipping from his lips. “I know most cats hate water, but…” Zayn glanced at the shimmering blue water, his tail twitching. “It’s warm and nice, I promise. Nothing like the rain.” Zayn curled up further, his purring ceasing when he realized Niall would have him in it whether he wanted to be or not. “You trust me, don’t you?” Zayn nodded softly, watching the other lads sleep peacefully on the lawn chairs. “Please?” He swallowed nervously but uncurled into a stretch, his legs trembling slightly as he took Niall’s hand and took his first step into the water.

Zayn murmured an uncertain, kittenlike, “Mew?” The water wasn’t so scary once he was in it, and he liked the feeling of it around his ankles. He smiled softly, stepping down further into the waters, the coolness lapping gently at his hips. Niall bit his lip as he watched Zayn sink down on the step until he sat on it, little droplets of water sneaking onto his shoulders.

“I told you that you could trust me,” Niall teased, flicking a bit of water in Zayn’s direction. The cat boy turning to the side and bringing his shoulder up in defense, a childish grin showing off his gleaming white fangs that looked rather cute in the situation. “Do you know how to swim?” Zayn shook his head, trying to force himself back to speaking.

“N-no-row.” He groaned and brought his hand up to rub his forehead. Niall waded over and sat down beside him, his hand finding its way to Zayn’s knee.

“You’ll get it back,” he assured Zayn, trying to ease the older boy’s anxiousness. Zayn knew he would be okay- it was the amount of time to pass before then that worried him. For six weeks he had been silent after the last gang bang, and it had only been two days before meeting Niall that he finally managed to talk again. And he wished he could tell Niall that, but he couldn’t talk and he couldn’t… that’s it!

“Mrow!”

“What is it?” Zayn held his hand to his ear, and Niall frowned. “Did something fly into your ear?” He shook his head, and Niall frowned. He was terrible at charades. “Are you hurt?” Zayn shook his head again, then changed his tactic, bringing his hands down and interlocking his fingers, but his lack of thumbs made it hard for him to explain what he wanted to. Luckily, Niall guessed, “Texting?” He nodded, and both boys grinned, feeling very proud of themselves. “Hold on.” Zayn watched Niall stand, excess water sliding off of him into the pool, splashing back into the pond, and smiled as he came back. “The thing is… you don’t have, eh…” Zayn blushed, but Niall added, “You can just hold it in one hand and type with your finger, like this.” Zayn nodded, watching Niall type out ‘see?’ onto the screen. Zayn took the phone gingerly and pressed his legs together in case he dropped it.

He typed out ‘it might take time to get my voice back’.

“How come?”

‘Loud voices scare me. Shouting on the streets. Went six months without talking. Don’t want that to happen again.’

Niall’s eyes softened and his arm slid around Zayn’s shoulders as he murmured, “I’m sorry.”

‘It’s ok’

Niall smiled. “You know we were just joking, right?” Zayn nodded, but he also knew that people could lie so easily. Still, Niall sounded so sincere. The blond decided to change the subject. “How’d you learn to read and spell and stuff?”

‘Happens over time. Not much else to do. Old menus, bus stop signs, sometimes books.’

“I don’t read much,” Niall confessed, earning a shocked look from Zayn and the phone.

‘’

Niall laughed and ruffled his hair. “You really are adorable.” Pink lit up Zayn’s cheeks, a shy smile edging its way across his lips as happiness danced in his brown eyes that were fixed on Niall’s cheeky grin. “You’re like a five year old… you’re like a more innocent Louis.” Zayn giggled, and a grin lit up Niall’s face. “You’re starting to get your voice back!”

“M- y-yeah.” Both boys grinned at the simple word. ‘But I don’t know if I can talk with the others around’

“Why not?”

‘I trust you the most’ Niall blushed slightly, cursing his pale complexion. ‘Not sure about them yet’

“But they stayed with you during the hospital…” Zayn shrugged. “I know you have a tough time trusting people, but I promise they care and they wouldn’t try to hurt you or me or anything like that.”

‘I know, but trust takes time’ Niall bit his tongue, no willing to point out that Zayn seemed all too happy to go home with him. ‘You seemed like you really wanted to help me though, so I trusted you from the start.’ The fading pink tinge in Niall’s cheeks revived itself. ‘You need sun block?’

“I’m just pale,” Niall murmured, turning redder with each passing second. “It’s a blush, not a burn.” Zayn snickered, and Niall glared half heartedly. “It’s not my fault. You’re too tan to understand.”

‘I’ve been red before. Sprinted ten blocks from loose dogs’

“I wouldn’t have made it,” Niall murmured.

‘Can’t run? You seem fit’

Niall blushed. “I’m just skinny.”

‘You’ve got a six pack, that’s not from being skinny.’ Zayn glanced at him and chuckled. ‘Sure you don’t need sun block?’

“Shut up you twat,” Niall murmured. Zayn bit his lip for a moment, before he reminded himself that Niall didn’t mean it, and a small smile edged onto his face. “I almost wish you didn’t take that so easily,” Niall murmured, and Zayn chuckled in response. Niall almost dreaded glancing down at his phone to see what Zayn was typing, but when he did a smile spread over his face.

‘You’re cute too’

“Oooh la la, have we got a little romance going on here,” a familiar voice cooed over their shoulder, and both spun around. Zayn fumbled to keep the phone from falling into the water, while the red in Niall’s cheeks started spreading down his neck.

“I mean like a brother,” Niall spat out quickly.

“I only saw Zayn saying it, actually.” Louis chuckled while Niall’s chest turned red. “You burning?”

“Shut up you twat.” Zayn grinned and nodded in agreement as Louis cocked his hip, his jaw dropped.

“It’s. On.” Zayn watched in horror as Louis pushed Niall down underwater and kept him submerged. He reached out to push Louis off of Niall when the blonde wriggled out of Louis’ grip and surfaced, laughing before dunking the older lad.

“L-l-let h’m b-breathe,” Zayn stuttered out as the air bubbles floated up from Louis’ mouth. Niall knew Louis would have been fine without air for a few more seconds, but the sheer shock of Zayn speaking again loosened his grip enough for Louis to struggle free and burst to the surface.

“Lou, truce.” Louis gave him a sideways glance. Niall lowered his voice so Zayn couldn’t hear and murmured, “He’s getting his voice back and I don’t want to scare him.” Louis nodded, knowing how important it was to Niall, and backed down. “Thanks.” Louis nodded again, going back to war when Harry leapt onto his back and sent him down under. Zayn flinched back from the splash and brushed a few stray droplets off of his chest, when Liam, who had woken up without him noticing, dumped a large handful of water on his head. He yelped in surprise and spun around to the laughing boy, barely managing to save the phone. He took a risk and threw it towards the lawn chairs- where, thankfully, it landed safely- before grabbing his wrist and pulling him into the pool to splash him. Liam chuckled, shielding his face with his arms while Zayn splashed him, but managed to send a wave in his assaulter’s direction.

After being thoroughly drenched, Liam finally said, “Okay, okay, I give! Quit it!” Zayn giggled and splashed him again. “Help! He’s attacking me!” Zayn grinned, but soon found himself trying to run through the water away from the waves now headed at him. Soon, the entire pool was churning as the boys kicked and thrashed, trying to splash the others without being splashed themselves. The problem was that half the pool dropped off into the ten foot zone, which meant that the five of them were confined to a small section where the water was shallow enough to stand and deep enough to be able to scoop handfuls of it up to drench those around them.

Zayn sputtered as water made it into his mouth, then his eyes, before soaking his hair. He managed to get away from the lads long enough to rub the chorine out of his eyes and shake it out of his hair and spit it out of his mouth. When his eyes stopped stinging, he decided he didn’t want to continue being soaked, so he climbed out of the pool, slicking his hair back with his hand. He curled up on his lawn chair, the warm sun already warming his back and drying the water droplets that didn’t slide off. His ear twitched as a drop slid down into it, and his hand came up instinctively to swipe at it. He watched the frothy water slowly settle around the boys, all of whom were grinning ear to ear. Niall and harry instinctively shook their heads, water droplets spraying everywhere. “Stop it,” Louis whined, the tiny individual splashes raining down on him and Liam. Harry chuckled and ruffled the smaller boy’s wet hair before climbing out of the pool, Louis following suit to tackle him to the ground. Zayn glanced away from the two rolling around on the grass to see Liam toweling off his hair and Niall, who apparently hadn’t had enough of the water, floating in the deeper end.

“Y’know,” Niall said with a chuckle, “The last time I was in here it was because I jumped off after you.” Liam glanced at Zayn, who was blushing. “Never try leaving again, or I’ll do something crazier.”

“Don’t even think about leaving now.” Zayn glanced up at Liam, who was looking at him sternly. “This is one of the few times he’s serious.” He paused as more pool splattered against his back, the origin of which had been a well aimed kick from Niall. “And I don’t want him- or you, after all that’s happened- being hurt.” Zayn nodded obediently, flinching a bit as the lad sat down beside him, but Liam scratched behind his ear instead of hitting him, so Zayn relaxed a bit. “How’re you healing up?”

“Frow.”

“Oh.” Liam chuckled. “Right. Are you feeling okay?” A nod. “Nothing hurts?” A shake of his head. “Good.” Zayn nodded again, repositioning his head so it sat on Liam’s knee. A quick rush of happiness surged through Liam at having Zayn finally fully warm up to him- a rush unlike the one of jealously Niall experienced at that very moment. He cast his gaze to the sky, and if looks could kill, the puffy, white cloud would have faded into nothing. “Don’t break each other,” Liam called out suddenly towards the two boys on the lawn who had taken to kicking and throwing punches.

“It’s just play fighting,” Louis shouted back, before yelping when Harry’s fist collided with his chest. “Y’little bitch!”

“That does NOT count as play fighting,” Liam replied, standing up to pry Louis off of Harry, who was groaning, his hands clutching himself between his legs. “Really?”

Louis shrugged. “It works.” Zayn glanced at Louis nervously- he had thought the boy was all innocent- or not-so-innocent- banter never suspecting the boy to be violent. Niall cleared his throat loudly, gaining all four lad’s attention. He then glared at Louis, who responded, baffled, “What?” Niall subtly tipped his head towards Zayn, and Louis cocked an eyebrow. Niall mouthed something at the oldest lad, and Louis snapped his fingers. “Right.” He turned to Zayn. “Trust me, I’m not one for getting violent and I don’t act this way in play fights with Liam or Niall- or, potentially, you. Just Haz.” Zayn tilted his head to the side, and Louis shrugged in response. “I don’t know why; it’s just how we fight, from something as simple as splashing me or something as complex as, say, setting my shirt on fire.”

“It wasn’t my fault, I told you the candle was there,” Harry replied, starting to recover from the hit. Louis chuckled and went over to him, offering him a hand. Harry pulled himself up and returned the hit, making Louis lurch over with a groan and stagger back. “No, wait!” Louis staggered back into the pool, falling back into the water. Zayn leapt to his feet, but Harry had already dove into the water and retrieved his disorientated, sinking boyfriend. Niall swam over, splashing as little as he could, and helped Harry drag a coughing Louis onto the steps. “Breathe baby, breathe,” he murmured, ignoring Liam coming over and Zayn watching nervously and Niall at his side. Louis managed to cough up the last of the water in his lungs and he looked up at Harry, his eyes cloudy and unfocused. “Are you okay?”

“Y-yeah.” Harry’s eyes lit up and he leaned down to kiss him, but Louis pushed him away. “I almost drowned and you think now is a good time to snog?” A spark of color lit up Harry’s cheeks and he murmured and apology. “Are we even now? Y’know, for the whole hitting thing?” Harry nodded, chuckling. “Well now that that’s settled, I’d like the kiss now.” Niall rolled his eyes and stepped out of the pool, not wanting to be close enough to hear the two sighing or gasping or whatever the hell they did when they kissed. Liam had wanted to investigate Louis further to make sure he wasn’t hurt, but he knew better than to get in between the two at times like these.

Zayn, unlike the lads on either side of them, watched the two with intent. He had seen plenty of drunken teenagers up against the alley walls, kissing and feeling and doing things he didn’t want to see, but this seemed so much more real. And he wanted to know why. He started to focus, because being afraid was no way to live, and he managed to finally form words in his mind so clear that not saying them would make no sense. “W-why d-d-do y-y-you f-fight a-a-and th-then k-k-kiss s-so f-f-fast?” The two split and Harry glanced up at Zayn.

“Because… that’s just the way we choose to be. We could fight like other couples do- screaming and yelling and being abusive- but you’d see us throwing paint or wrestling like that or trying to drown each other or you’d hear us doing something else in our room. Loudly.” Zayn’s tail twitched, and Harry chuckled, sending a playful glare down at Louis. “He’s made it all too clear to me that he’s a romantic, but nothing too ‘sickly’, which, in his definition, is anything in public, whereas I love that stuff. Personally, I’d never want him to baby me or wake me up with kisses or anything, because I think it’s sickly, and he loves that stuff. So we’ve got our problems, but that’s love for you- it’s always stupid and intelligent, it’s confusing and straight forward, but if you never want to tear the other person’s hair out, then you’re doing it wrong.”

“I don’t believe in love at first sight-“

“And I do.”

“But when I saw him, I knew I had to get to know him. I’m wary about love, because it can take over and drive you insane and sometimes people kill because they don’t know what else to do because of it, but I had to get to know him better before I could admit it, and when you finally feel it the way you’re supposed to, it feels… amazing.”

Harry smirked. “I, on the other hand, had been working in a bakery where he stopped by every single morning, saying enough to get me interested and too little to let me know everything I wanted to know. But I promise, he knew I liked him-“

“I did,” Louis piped in, a proud smirk on his face.

“So when I finally worked up the nerve, I slipped my number onto the receipt.”

“And it’s been happily ever after ever since.”

Zayn closed his eyes for a moment, letting Louis and Harry’s words sink in. For the first time, he realized that when he heard the people yelling in their apartments that that wasn’t love. When they were pressed up against the wall, yards from his hiding place, moaning and groping, that wasn’t love. When they held hands walking down the street but their grips were solid tight and their steps stiff and measured, that wasn’t love. That was conflict or lust or anxiety. And maybe he didn’t know what love was yet, and maybe he never would.

But something told him one of these boys would let him know just a little bit about this foreign emotion.