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After that night in the club, everything had changed for Alex.

The boy he had dreamed of turned out to be nothing like he imagined. The heartbreak wasn't loud; it was quiet, bitter, and deep.

Zayn, it was his first love,first crush, but something in him closed off. He focused on his future. Packed up everything and left the country for higher studies. London, then Paris, then New York. He never looked back.

Now, seven years later, he was 25. Confident, mature, and successful. He returned home with a degree, experience, and a sharp mind for business. But even now, sometimes in the silence of the night, that memory crept back. Of dark eyes, a furious voice, and a smile he saw only once, on a random night.

That evening, he was out for a run. His hair was slightly damp with sweat, music playing in his ears. The sky was painted in soft oranges and pinks as the sun dipped. His route took him through a park. He stopped to catch his breath, dropping onto a nearby bench, tilting his head back, and closing his eyes.

His phone buzzed.

"Yeah, dad... I was thinking the same. Okay, then you can join the company. We can arrange a meeting with the heads."

He sat properly and grabbed his water bottle. As he sipped, a sudden shriek of joy caught his attention.

"Mommy! Catch meee!"

A small boy, about three or four years old, ran across the grass laughing wildly.

Behind him

"Ari! Slow down, you could hurt yourself!"

Alex froze.

And then he saw him.

Zayn.

He looked different. Softer. His face was glowing with a kind of joy Alex had never seen before. He wore casual clothes, a light hoodie, and jeans. His eyes sparkled as he chased the boy his son, Alex assumed.

Alex's heart twisted. He smiled weakly, but it didn't reach his eyes.

You'll probably never know, he thought, that someone loved you silently for years. That someone waited, longed, imagined a future that never came.

He stood up and walked away quietly.

---

Six months passed.

Alex was working late that night. The rain poured relentlessly, and his windshield wipers could barely keep up. He sighed, exhausted from back-to-back meetings. The red light ahead forced him to stop.

He leaned back in the seat, letting the radio play softly, when something out the window caught his eye.

A man.

Standing in the rain.

His entire body trembling, soaked, barely standing.

It was Zayn.

Alex's heart pounded. Without hesitation, he parked his car and jumped out.

"Zayn?!"

He rushed forward, the rain soaking him instantly. Zayn didn't even acknowledge his presence. He was holding his head, fingers pressed harshly against his ears.

"Please... please stop... stop it... STOP THIS VOICE!"

He was screaming, shaking violently.

Alex didn't think. He just wrapped his arms around him tightly.

"Hey... hey... it's okay. I'm here. You're okay, Zayn. You're okay. Just breathe. Please... breathe."

Zayn's knees buckled, and Alex held him as he collapsed, unconscious.

---

The hospital was quiet. The only sound was the ticking of the clock and the soft hum of machines.

Alex sat outside the room, drenched and freezing, but he refused to leave.

He had managed to contact Zayn's family. A nurse had found emergency contact details in Zayn's wallet. When they arrived, Alex moved away, choosing to stay in the shadows.

Rhys was there, looking more worn than Alex remembered.

"Not again," Rhys whispered, tears sliding down his face. "How long can he survive like this?"

Another man Adric, if Alex heard correctly stood beside him, fists clenched.

"We need to do something, Adric. This... this trauma.....will kill him, It's deeper. He needs help. Real help."

Rhys said helplessly. "He kept saying the voices came back. He hadn't slept in days. The meds... he stopped taking them. He didn't trust the therapist. I thought ... but he wasn't."

Voices? Meds? Trauma?

What had happened to Zayn?

The boy he once saw as a villain, a monster, a player... was now in a hospital bed, broken, fragile, fighting invisible demons.

Alex clenched his fists.

He didn't understand it fully, but he would find out. He had to.

Because no matter what had happened in the past, the sight of Zayn trembling in the rain was burned into his soul.

And for the first time in years, Alex wasn't thinking about heartbreak or jealousy.

He was thinking about saving him.

______

Alex standing in front of his office glass window, the evening breeze brushing against his sharp suit as he stared at the bustling city lights. He had everything money, power, success but tonight, he felt like he had nothing.

Earlier that day, he had called his most trusted assistant into his office and handed him a single, chilling instruction.

"Find me everything about Zayn. Every detail. I don't care how long it takes just bring me the truth."

It took a month.

And when his assistant walked into his office that afternoon, holding a thick folder and a small flash drive, Alex could already sense the weight of what he was about to uncover.

"Sir," the assistant said, voice low. "It wasn't easy. Whoever tried to erase his past... they were thorough. But we got something. A clip. And a few documents that... you should see."

Alex took a deep breath and played the video.

The screen flickered to life and then there he was.

"I'm pregnant," Zayn said in a fragile voice.

He watched the video.For a long time, there was silence. The kind of silence that made your heart ache.

His assistant placed a folder in front of him and gently said, "There's more. These are photographs. Messages. Hospital bills. And employment history. After that... after that moment, he disappeared from the social circle.Leave every social media app. He joined his father company but as an employee company two years ago. And since then, he's been working quietly, avoiding any interaction."

Alex opened the folder.

There were ultrasound reports with Zayn's name on them.

Medical prescriptions from trauma therapy.

A few pictures from CCTV footage Zayn sitting outside a hospital alone in the rain, a hand on his stomach.

And then the last photo Zayn holding a tiny baby wrapped in a blanket, tears rolling down his cheeks as he stared at the child.

His assistant quietly left the room, giving him privacy.

Alex leaned back in his chair, eyes stinging.

Six years.

Six years Zayn had carried that pain alone.

Six years he had buried his emotions, lived in shadows, rebuilt himself brick by brick in silence.

Six years, and no one saw it.

No one, until now.

Alex clenched his jaw. "You've suffered enough, Zayn. Not anymore. I won't let this world hurt you again. It's my promise."

He stood up with a newfound purpose, storming into his parents' study that evening.

"I want to get married," he declared.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

FLASHBACK END 🔚

"What are you thinking about?"his heart stumbled.

He turned, and there he was. Zayn.

Dressed simply in a loose beige hoodie and jeans, hair slightly tousled, eyes soft with curiosity. There was a kind of calm in his aura these days, but Alex could still see the shadows in his gaze faint remnants of the storm he had lived through.

Alex didn't say a word. He just took a step forward... and hugged him.

And Zayn, without hesitation, hugged him back.

It was the kind of embrace that held years of unsaid things. That held safety. That said "I'm here."

Alex shut his eyes as his arms tightened around Zayn's back. Zayn's scent, faint and familiar.

"You'll never know...", Alex thought, feeling a lump rise in his throat, "...that I have loved you for eight years."

He had loved him through distance, through heartbreak, through silence, and through hope.

"Six years in trauma... and still standing. You're stronger than anyone I've ever known." Alex thought as he pulled Zayn closer.

"Are you okay?" Zayn asked softly against his shoulder, his voice warm and quiet.

Alex pulled away just enough to look into his eyes. "Yeah," he lied gently. "I just... feel lucky to be here."

Zayn blinked, unsure of how to respond, so he smiled a small, hesitant one. And that was enough for Alex. That smile was rare. It was real. It wasn't for the world. It was for him.

"I'm glad we met like this," Zayn said.

Alex chuckled. "Why? Because it was an arranged marriage?"

Zayn nodded. "Yeah. I didn't expect to talk to someone who actually... made me feel comfortable."

"That's because I know you more than anyone ever has." Alex didn't say it out loud.

Instead, he gently reached out, brushing a strand of hair away from Zayn's forehead. "You don't have to be scared of me."

Zayn's eyes shimmered with something unspoken. "Why are you being so kind to me?"

Alex smiled, a little too sadly. "Because no one ever was... when it mattered the most."

Zayn swallowed thickly. "Why are you like this? Why do you treat me like I matter?"

"Why does it feel like I've known you forever?" he whispered.

"Maybe because you have," Alex smiled. "In some quiet corner of your soul, maybe you've always felt me waiting."

Zayn looked at him, long and hard. And then, wordlessly, he leaned in.

Zayn's voice broke the silence, soft and vulnerable, "Kiss me."

Alex didn't move at first. He just looked at him, searching every inch of Zayn's expression the hope, the trust, the quiet affection. His breath caught in his throat. He had waited for this longer than Zayn could ever know. Through years of silent glances, quiet admiration, and hidden pain... he had waited.

So when Alex finally leaned in, it wasn't rushed. It wasn't reckless. It was full of everything he had carried in his chest for eight years.

Their lips met in a gentle, feather-light kiss. It was soft at first like a question, like a secret finally whispered after years of holding it in. Zayn's eyes fluttered closed, and Alex let himself drown in the moment. The taste, the warmth, the truth of it.

He pulled back slightly, just enough to kiss Zayn's cheek... then the other. Each kiss was a silent promise.

Then, his lips found Zayn's forehead a sacred space and he lingered there, holding his face as if he were the most fragile, precious thing in the world.

"I love you," Alex whispered, his voice cracked with emotion, almost like a prayer.

Zayn opened his eyes, a soft smile blooming on his face. "I love you too, Alex," he said like it was the most natural thing in the world.

And something in Alex shattered the last of the restraint he had kept all these years.

This time, the kiss wasn't slow.

Alex kissed him hard with a hunger that came from years of holding back, from years of aching silently. He cupped Zayn's face, pulling him closer, almost desperately. It wasn't just lips meeting; it was memories colliding, dreams unraveling, years folding into one.

He kissed him like he was trying to reclaim lost time sucking everything Zayn had to give, pouring out everything he'd kept locked away. Their bodies pressed closer, breaths shallow, hearts wild.

Zayn responded with equal intensity, fingers gripping Alex's shirt like he didn't want to ever let go. The world blurred around them. Nothing else existed.

Alex broke the kiss, resting his forehead against Zayn's, breathless. His chest heaved, eyes glistening.

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