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Niall first spotted the rabbit when he was walking home from work one day. Zayn had stopped by when his shift was almost over, telling him that he wanted to surprise him and walk him back to their flat to enjoy the take away Zayn already picked up. Technically it was originally Niall’s flat, but he asked Zayn to officially move in about a month ago now and things were going better than expected.
The animal hopped across the sidewalk right as they were turning into the complex where their flat was located. It stopped just on the other side, freezing right after it had crossed to look up at Niall and Zayn with fearful eyes. Niall continued walking, but was pulled back by Zayn’s hand on his arm.
“Aw! Niall, look a bunny! He looks so scared. Aw, poor baby. Can we keep him Niall, please, oh please, oh please?” Zayn says, continuously tugging on his sleeve as he jumps up and down a little.
“No,” Niall says quickly, turning back around to continue their walk.
“But, Ni,” Zayn whines. “He’s just a bunny, he’s not going to make it in this big world. What if something eats him?”
Niall sighs and turns around to face Zayn again, brushing his hand off of his arm. “So is the circle of life, Z. It’s not like this is the only bunny in the world. Now, c’mon, we’re almost home. We’ll snuggle up on the sofa and eat our food, how does that sound?”
“It’s so scared, though Niall. Just look at his face!”
Niall refuses to do so. “We already have a cat, Zayn. We don’t need any more pets,” Niall shakes his head disapprovingly. We can’t save every stray animal we see. Besides, bunnies are supposed to be wild.”
They can be pets. I know tons of people who have them as pets. Okay, no I don’t, but I do know of people who own rabbits. I promise, I’ll do all of the caretaking, just please. You won’t have to do anything!” Zayn pleads.
“That’s what you said about our cat!”
“Leave Louis out of this,” Zayn says petulantly.
“No,” then, because Niall hates seeing Zayn sad, “besides, it’s probably too scared to even let you pick it up to take it home.”
“It’s still here, isn’t it? How about if he lets me pick ‘em up, we get to keep it?” Zayn tries to negotiate. Niall sighs, peering down at the frightened rabbit. He takes notice of the wide eyes and the black spots over his white body, almost like tattoos – if tattoos were random spots that is. There’s no way it would allow someone to get close to it.
“Fine,” Niall says, knowing it’s an easy out. Zayn cheers for a second, and leans down to pick it up, but the rabbit scurries away before he gets half way down. Zayn doesn’t cry, but his eyes tear up for the rest of the walk back to the flat. Zayn refusing to allow Niall to console him.
“It’ll be okay Z, it was just meant to be I guess.”
“You’re only saying that because you got your way,” Zayn huffs.
Niall doesn’t argue the point, just opens the door for Zayn. The night is relatively quiet for the two, which isn’t unusual per se since Zayn likes the silence, but Niall can still feel the slightly heavier air in the room and it makes him uncomfortable.
***
On the way home from work the next day, a rabbit crosses his path again. Niall laughs with no amusement in his laugh. The thing is, is that Niall knows it’s the same stupid rabbit. He’s positive. It has the same spots Niall remembered from the day before. Here’s the thing. Zayn is waiting for him just inside their flat about twenty meters to his right, already having told Niall that dinner is ready. So, he can absolutely walk by and pretend he saw nothing. However, the damn rabbit won’t stop looking at him and it makes Niall feel guilty.
Niall just told Zayn yesterday that ‘It was just meant to be.’ Which means Niall would be a hypocrite if he thought this chance occurrence was a coincidence. Niall thinks about the smile Zayn will sure to have upon seeing the rabbit as he looks bunny in the eye. “Alright, Harry,” Niall says. He’s not sure why he picked Harry as the rabbits name, but, oh well, too late now. He looks the animal straight in the eye. “It’s just you and me. This is your only chance. You can let me pick you up and Zayn and I’ll give you a good home, or you can hop away. But that’s it. If I see you back here tomorrow, I’m just gonna walk right on by, okay?”
The bunny’s ears stand straight up and Niall laughs self pityingly because he’s talking to a rabbit. With a sigh he bends over with his arms outstretched, fully expecting it to hop away again, and is surprised when his fingers touch fur. Once the rabbit is safely in his arms and he is making his way to the flat, he allows himself to let out a real laugh and the ridiculousness of the situation.
“Zaynie, dear. I have a surprise for you,” Niall says as he pushes the door closed with his hip.
“What is it?” Zayn says, peering around the corner at him. The way Zayn’s eyes light up upon landing on the bunny makes this whole thing worth it. A small smile makes its way onto his face, but quickly grows into one of the biggest one’s Niall has been blessed to see on Zayn’s face. “Oh my god, Niall. Where did you find him?” Zayn practically cries as he makes his way over to the bunny.
“He crossed my path again and figured if that’s not some cliché story, I don’t know what is. So I picked him up and brought him here.”
“And he just let you?” Zayn pouts, jutting out his bottom lip. “He likes you better!” Zayn accuses. “How do you even know it’s a he?”
“I used to have a bunny when I was younger and we had to check if it was a male or female. So I was able to tell. We’ll have to get him neutered by the way. I’m not letting Harry become a baby daddy.”
“Harry?”
“Don’t question it. His name is Harry and that’s it. You got to name Louis, it’s only fair. Maybe they’ll be best friends,” Niall suggests.
“Niall, bunnies and cats aren’t friends.”
“These two are special, I’m feeling it,” Niall says instead. “I’m going to set him in Louis’ carrier for now, and then we’ll have to go after dinner to get him his own stuff.” Zayn follows Niall into the spare room they keep as a room for Louis and all of his stuff like his bed, scratching posts, toys and climbing stations. Zayn opens the door of the cage, moving out of the way for Niall to place Harry into the enclosure. Niall makes sure to lock it, not wanting him to get out. They make sure Louis is out of the room and close the door behind them.
Before Niall can make his way back to the kitchen, Zayn pulls him into his embrace. “Thanks, Niall,” Zayn says, nuzzling his face into Niall’s neck. “I love you.” Zayn pulls Niall’s face to his, kissing him shortly for a minute. He goes to pull back, knowing Niall probably wants food at this point. He’s pleasantly surprised when Niall pushes him up against the wall gently instead. Niall leans down to kiss him again. Taking his time as he licks into Zayn’s mouth.
“I love you too. Even if I do have to take care of a stupid rabbit because of you,” Niall says, finally pulling back. He cackles as he makes his way to the kitchen, happy as he makes his way over to the already set table. “I love when you cook.”
“You love when anyone cooks for you,” Zayn reminds him. Niall just continues chewing in reply.
***
Zayn ends up bringing Harry with them in the cage, not wanting to part ways with him. As they pull into the pet store, Niall makes sure to put down all the seats in the back, knowing they’ll need a lot of room for all of the stuff they will no doubt, end up buying. It’s a good thing Niall manages Liam Payne – one of the biggest music acts of the decade – and therefore has enough money for this sudden change. Plus, Zayn holds his own as a new up and coming artist. He just sold a piece for two hundred pounds just last month. They mentioned buying a house together soon, though, so they are saving up for a nice one in a gated community.
With Niall’s previous knowledge on rabbits as well as an employee’s help they are able to find a metal enclosure for his bed, with a plastic container to place on the bottom so it doesn’t hurt Harry’s feet. They get a bigger one that is probably necessary, but Zayn wants to spoil him so Niall doesn’t complain. They also get some wood chippings to place on the bottom for the bunny to make a nest out of as well as a litter box to place in the corner of the enclosure.
For food purposes, they get a couple bags of hay and pellets, Niall already making a list of vegetables in his mind to buy for Harry on the way home. When they were getting him neutered, the veterinarian at the store was able to confirm that their bunny is a boy and that he is only about five weeks old, most likely having lost its mother shortly after it’s born based on the way it was acting. Because it’s younger they had to get Alfalfa hay to feed it, but would eventually need to switch to something called Timothy hay in about a month. They also get him a bowl to eat out of. Just a small red dish, matching the blue one Louis, their cat, uses. They go back and forth on whether they should get him a bottle or bowl to drink his water out of and up getting two of the same bowl and a bottle, not able to figure out which one Harry will like better.
They go looking for toys next. The employee recommended getting chew toys since chewing was vital to a bunny’s survival. They got a bunny leash to take him outside. Assuming that Harry is still alive, they decided they would buy a fenced pen for him when they buy a house so they can leave him out in their yard. They got a couple balls, Niall remembering that his old bunny used to love playing with them. They were told that giving a bunny something to chew on like a cardboard box can also provide entertainment for an hour or so.
They decided to get a bottle of shampoo to wash him with. They were told shampooing isn’t necessarily really, but they wanted to do so to start off with because he was living outside for a while. The employees tried convincing them to get another bunny, since bunnies tend to be a lot happier when they can converse with a member of the same species. Niall refused quickly, before Zayn could get any more ideas, saying they already had a cat at home that could do the job.
“Cats and bunnies tend to not get along,” the employee warned. “We don’t recommend placing them in the same room.”
“I have a special feeling about these two,” Niall says cheekily, annoyed that this employee is trying to sell him something while completely dismissing his idea. “We’ll give them a couple weeks to get acquainted with each other before we go buying another bunny, thanks. Who knows, these two can be the next viral, surprising-animal-friends video.”
Shortly after they’ve carried all of their purchases out to the car and Zayn places the carrier Harry is in on his lap, they are off to the store to get some veggies. Zayn stays in the car with Harry, knowing it’s probably not the best idea to bring a bunny into a place that sells food. Niall quickly makes his way to the vegetable area, filling up a basket with spinach, broccoli, some celery and watercress. Niall knows that carrots and bananas aren’t the best for rabbits since they have a lot of sugar in them that aren’t good for a rabbit’s digestive system, but he decides to get a bag of them for a treat. It’ll be a good way to get Harry to warm up to them too. Niall makes his way back out to the car with four bags of vegetables in his hand and they are quickly off to their flat.
Zayn keeps Harry company in the living room, feeding the bunny some spinach leaves as Niall tries to quickly set up Harry’s new living space. Niall lets the cat wander in the room with him, still wanting to keep the pets separated. Once Niall has made sure he has set everything up correctly, Niall picks up Louis, not wanting him to go chasing after the bunny. He calls for Zayn down the hall, telling him it’s ready.
Zayn comes sauntering down the hall with Harry in his arms. He places him in the cage with walls high enough so the bunny can’t get out. They do have a lid they can put over it though, if it becomes an issue or the cat tries to get in.
“Alright, Harry,” Zayn says as Niall places the cat out into the hall, closing the door behind him. “Here you go bunny. How do you like your new home?” Harry begins shuffling around his cage, knocking into the sides to see how big his cage is. He begins to eat some of the hay that is laid out on the ground in the corner opposite the litter box. Niall and Zayn let Harry get situated in his cage for a couple minutes before going trying to get him to eat some of the pellets. They place the food bowl into the cage in the corner where Harry is, but Harry just continues munching on the hay.
Next, knowing that water is extremely important in a rabbit’s diet, they place both the water bottle and bowl into the enclosure. Harry seems to take a liking to the bowl of water, hopping right over to it as soon as it is placed in its cage. Niall assumes it’s probably a little dehydrated, not having had water for the past couple of hours. Niall quickly comes back with more water to refill the bowl with. Once it seems that Harry has settled down and is done eating, Zayn picks him out of his cage, placing him on the floor of their room.
“Let’s see if we can get him to play with one of the bouncy balls,” Zayn suggests.
“Y’know. You told me I wouldn’t have to do any of the taking care of and I feel like I’m doing all the real work while you just get to play with him,” Niall says begrudgingly, going to get the ball Zayn was talking about from the corner of the room.
“Oh will you shush up? You can just admit he’s cute, Ni. No need to get snippy with your wonderful boyfriend.” Niall comes back with a small, almost apologetic look on his face and places the ball down in front of where Zayn is sitting. They watch for about forty minutes as Harry scampers back and forth, pushing the ball around as he goes. Eventually, Harry hops over and settles onto Niall’s lap, eyes drooping.
“Oh, no. Nuh uh. I’m not becoming his bed. We bought you one Harry, go use that one. Niall picks him up off of his lap, which only causes Harry to stir in his lap and then he is up and about again, running around the room. He goes over to the opposite side, smelling the cats stuff which gives Niall the idea that maybe it would be a good idea to introduce Harry to their cat Louis now.
“I’m going to go get Louis,” Niall explains as he exits the room. Then, shouting as he continues down the hall as he looks for Louis, “See if they will play with each other for a bit, or at least get to know one another. Pick Harry up will you? Don’t want him trying to attack pour Louis,” Niall says as he scoops Louis up into his arms. “Okay, Louis. I’m going to take you to meet a new mate of yours. His name is Harry and you’ve got to be nice to him okay. Don’t go pouncing on him first chance you get. He’s not like you, he won’t enjoy that. I’m coming in,” Niall says, talking to Zayn now.
“Alright.” As soon as Niall steps into the room with Louis, both animals begin acting up. Louis tries jumping out of Niall’s hand, curious as to the new pet in the middle of the room, while Harry tries hiding into Zayn’s lap. They continue keeping a tight grip on them as Niall makes his way over to Zayn. They wait for a couple minutes, letting the others get used to each other where they can’t hurt one another. Once both seem to have calmed down, they set them on the floor about a foot away from each other.
Harry freezes, trying to be as motionless as possible, while Louis is quick to scamper over to Harry. Louis circles around Harry quite sassily, checking him out from all angles before staring into his eyes again. Louis then pounces on Harry, slapping his head a bit. Zayn is quick to scoop Louis up, not wanting Harry to be injured, but Niall interjects. “I think we should let them go at it for another minute or two. Apparently that’s a cat’s way of signifying dominance. I think we just need to let Louis get it out of his system.”
“I will never understand why you know so much about animals,” Zayn says as he places Louis back on the floor in front of him. Louis pounces again, hitting Harry’s head a couple more times, Harry just sitting there and taking it like a champ. “Good boy, Harry. Such a good boy,” Zayn coos as they continue to watch the scene unfold.
Louis stops hitting Harry after a couple seconds, once he sees Harry not moving. Louis then pushes himself into Louis’ side, purring as he does so. Harry hops slightly to the side, getting out from underneath Louis. Louis walks back over to face Harry again and smacks him on the nose once more. He then leans in and licks Harry right where he hit him, as if in apology.
“Alright,” Niall says, going to pick up Louis. “I think we should end it there for tonight. No need to push our luck. Niall puts Louis into his caged area of the room, almost like a playpen. They don’t usually enclose Louis like that at night, but they don’t want him trying to attack Harry during the night. Zayn goes and places Harry back in his cage.
A minute later Harry walks in with a banana and carrot in hand. “Wait,” Niall instructs Zayn. “I’m going to give him a treat for taking his beating so well.” Niall sits down so Zayn can place Harry into his lap. Niall leads the carrot up to his Harry’s lips, waiting for him to take a couple nibbles from it. Harry just pushes it away though. Niall huffs, thinking that Harry just isn’t in a comfortable position, lying on his back in Niall’s lap. “Here, Zayn hold my banana for a sec while I flip Harry around.”
Niall doesn’t even need to flip Harry around as he does so himself. He goes straight for the banana that is still in Niall’s hand, just ready to have gotten passed over to Zayn. “Seriously!” Niall exclaims. “I have a carrot less than a millimeter from your mouth and you want my banana. Mine?” Niall sighs, knowing this rabbit way different from any others he knows. He’ll let some cat jump on him and now he wants the banana. “Of course you go for the banana, stupid rabbit.” Niall gives up, breaking off the bottom half of his banana to feed to Harry. “You enjoy my banana,” Niall says sarcastically.
Zayn throws his head back in laughter at Niall who is pouting down at Harry as he eats part of his banana. He leans over Harry so he can place a kiss to Niall’s cheekbone. “Thanks for getting me Harry, my love. You are the best boyfriend ever.” Niall turns to capture Zayn’s lips with his as Harry continues munching happily on his banana.