Lounsbury Prep

“Oh my God,” Louis groaned the next time he saw Zayn, which was at dinner. Granted, the Dining Hall, surrounded by hundreds of other boys, probably wasn’t the idea place to have a private conversation like the one Louis seemed to try to be initiating, but at least no one was paying much attention. “I’m so sorry, Zayn. I had no idea she was going to walk in on that, and I definitely didn’t mean to ruin what you had going with your family.”

Zayn shook his head fiercely before looking Louis in the eye. “No, stop it. Don’t apologize. There’s no way you could know Doniya was going to walk in.”

But he still looked guilty as he ran a hand through his brown locks, shaking his head. “I just can’t believe that happened. Since when does security let in guests during class hours?”

“She had something important to tell me,” Zayn replied, thinking back to the extravagant ring. “And my sister can be very convincing when she wants to be.”

“She’s really pretty.” Zayn looked up at his boyfriend with amused eyes, but Louis could only shrug in response. “Bi, remember? And I can’t deny beauty when I see it.”

Zayn laughed and picked up a piece of broccoli with his fork and popped it into his mouth. It was already getting cold. “Well, um, thanks, I guess? I don’t know how I’m supposed to accept that.”

“Thanks works.” Louis chuckled before taking a small sip of the water in front of him. “Okay, so onto serious things, what happened? Is she going to say anything or…?”

And suddenly, Zayn didn’t feel so hungry. He still hadn’t heard from his older sister, so he had no idea which route she’d decided to take, and he’d done a very good job of shoving the whole disagreement out of his mind until just that moment. “I honestly don’t know,” Zayn answered finally, not making eye contact with the boy sitting across from him. “I tried to convince her that staying here was the best thing for me, even if it meant lying to Mum and Dad for a little while, but I’m not sure she bought it or not. She told me that she’d think about it on the train ride home, and if she thought my happiness was worth sneaking around behind my parents’ backs, then she’d keep it a secret.”

“You don’t sound too confident that she will.”

Zayn wasn’t sure how to answer that, so he kind of avoided the accusation. “Doniya and I have always been close, but she and my mother have always been closer. I guess it just depends on where her loyalty lies more.”

“Damn,” Louis commented before letting out a low whistle. “No one should have to make that kind of choice.”

“I agree. But that’s life sometimes, you know?”

Louis nodded solemnly before stabbing the last, small piece of steak on his plate and biting it off his fork. “So it’s a waiting game right now?”

“It’s a waiting game,” Zayn repeated.

The two were quiet for a second before Louis laughed and said, “Okay, guys, you’re allowed to join the conversation now.”

“Thank fucking God,” Harry groaned, rolling his eyes dramatically. “I thought you’d never stop whispering to each other. Was it really that important?”

“Important enough that we don’t want Douglas to hear,” Louis replied seriously, nodding to the burly guy with a mullet on Niall’s other side.

“Notorious tattletale. Gotcha.” Harry shook his head slowly, tsking like a disappointed parent. “Never trust someone with hair that gross. That’s my motto, anyway.”

Zayn almost called him out on how that couldn’t really be the words he lived by, but when he looked around his place at the boys Harry was closest to, he couldn’t help but notice that they all did have really nice hair. So there was no evidence to the contrary.

“But are you going to tell us, though?” Niall’s Irish brogue broke into the conversation, careful to lean enough away from Douglas to keep him from overhearing a word. “What happened this afternoon, I mean.”

“Later,” Louis agreed before sneaking a look at Zayn, who just nodded in agreement. What did he care if the other boys knew about the incident? It was better they did know, really, since it was entirely possible that Zayn could be pulled out of the boarding school in a week’s time. Preparation was always a good thing.

So later, after dinner, the boys all piled into Liam and Zayn’s room, where they sat around on various pieces of furniture, and Louis told the entire story in gruesome detail.

No one spoke a word or even so much as blinked until Louis said that Doniya walked in after Louis had taken Zayn’s pants down, and Harry burst out laughing. “Wow. You guys have the worst possible luck when it comes to snogging. Maybe it’s time to retire.”

Louis ignored the comment altogether, continuing the story right where he’d left off, while Liam and Niall laughed and Zayn glared harshly.

When the tale was over, the three boys stared at Zayn with wide, open mouths, their eyes sad and shocked. “So you could be gone?” Liam breathed, his expression genuinely upset. “Like, next week? I could just have my roommate ripped away from me?”

Zayn shrugged, since he was afraid his voice would crack if he spoke aloud. The reality was truly starting to hit him, looking around at the great friends he’d made at Lounsbury, and he couldn’t even fathom leaving them. No matter what.

“I hope not,” Zayn finally answered, fiddling his thumbs in his lap. “And if my parents do show up to take me home, I’m not going to walk without a fight. That’s for sure.”

Louis leaned over and wrapped an arm around Zayn’s shoulders, planting a single kiss on his temple, which made Zayn’s face explode with a violent blush.

Liam sighed and voiced what the other three boys were probably thinking but were too afraid to express: “I really hope you don’t get taken out because we seriously need your vocals in the performance at the end of the year. You’re easily the strongest singer.”

Zayn flushed again with embarrassment, but he tried to hide it as he said, “Thanks, but we’ll have to see what happens. After all, what we did is against the rules, right?”

“I’m not sure it’s in the rules,” Harry answered matter-of-factly. “This place is really old-fashioned, and it might not have crossed anyone’s mind that gay students could be attending.” Louis coughed, so Harry rolled his eyes and added, “Or bi. Excuse my bigotry.”

Niall snorted with laughter, while Liam nodded in agreement. “I think it’s only against the rules to bring a girl from town back to your room.”

“Which is why cars are such handy things,” Niall voiced. “Before I had a girlfriend, of course.”

“Oh, of course.” Harry’s tone was flat, and Zayn kind of wished that Niall hadn’t just admitted to fooling around with other girls on the weekends.

Niall must have seen Zayn’s face and rushed, “I only started after I suspected she was cheating on me with someone back home, I swear.”

“It’s none of my business,” Zayn mumbled uncomfortably.

There was a long silence before Harry clapped and said, “Okay, so this is awkward now. How about going to Glee Club rehearsal, huh? That’ll perk everyone up.”

“Should we really rehearse right now if we’re not sure Zayn will be here permanently?”

“Way to look at the bright side, Liam,” Louis scolded, while Zayn just shook his head to dismiss the argument.

“Liam’s right. But it doesn’t matter. Let’s just drop this for now and pretend I’m not a ticking time bomb, okay?”