Sweets For My Sweet

Part 1 - LIAM

Liam:

The sun had set a while ago. It was chilly outside but their penthouse suite in Soho was warm and cozy. It was in an exclusive neighbourhood with an extremely high level of security. Liam had started up their electric fireplace and lit up half a dozen of the huge, vanilla-scented pillar candles, placed on the mantle. The TV was on, volume turned low, and some romantic film was playing for Valentine's day. He was dressed in his grey joggers and a pale pink sweatshirt. His boyfriend loved that colour on him and constantly bought him clothes in different shades of peach and pink, of course, stealing them for himself almost all the time.

Zayn had called around 7 pm and apologised for running late. His meeting in the studio, with the producers was extended and he may not be home for another few hours. Liam had reassured him that it was okay, and that dinner will be kept warm in the oven. Both boys had a busy day scheduled and decided to celebrate Valentine's day with dinner at home (Indian and Thai takeout) around 7 pm.

Liam had finished his song writing earlier in the evening and rushed to the store to buy the flowers and candy for his beautiful boyfriend. He had gone home and quickly showered and changed. He set up the iPod dock by the towels on the rack after placing some lavender-scented candles and bath bombs by the tub, to be used later that night after dinner.

Liam had bought his gift in London and had managed to sneak it into his cupboard, two days ago, as soon as he arrived. He had placed it inside a small Ziploc. He now carefully unsealed the box of giant strawbs, careful not to cause any damage, and removed about half a dozen gummi bears from inside. He carefully used a fork (yeah, yeah, he still avoided spoons, so sue him!) to push aside the candy, and gently placed his Ziploc pouch inside and rearranged the candy, until the pouch was completely hidden. He used a black marker and wrote a message on the box. With a satisfied smile, Liam closed and resealed the box and placed it on the side table beside the living room couch.

Right on time, the special delivery from Jacques Torres, the gourmet chocolatier, had arrived. Liam had asked for the chocolate puzzle pieces (a new one this year and ideal for what Liam had in mind) and The Kissing Game (a favourite for the boys), a fun chocolate board game as the name implied. He had also placed an order for 2 gourmet hampers of Chocolate All Year, for their families. Liam placed the gift hampers carefully on the dining table, clicking a picture. He placed the 'I Love You Puzzle' chocolate box on the side table over the box of Giant strawbs from London. He left The Kissing Game chocolate box on the centre table next to a tall cylindrical glass vase semi-filled with water with a single stem of beautiful pale pink orchids. It was surrounded by a few floating candles in glass vases with dark pink orchid petals at the bottom.

When Zayn had called about the delay, Liam decided to sprawl on the couch and watch some film whilst checking his social media. Around 8 pm he had called for the takeout and currently the food was kept warm in the oven. Feeling hungry around 9 pm, but refusing to eat without his boyfriend, Liam scrounged around in the refrigerator and came up with a tub of mint choco chip ice cream. This will do nicely until dinner, he decided.

A few minutes later, Liam sat desolately on the massive couch next to the fireplace, digging into the tub of semi-melted mint choco chip icecream, and feeling sorry for himself. Valentine's day was almost over, it was well after 9 pm, and there was no sign of his boyfriend. He eyed the box of Giant Strawbs nervously. It was Zayn's favourite flavour but would he like the surprise inside? Liam sighed softly and waited ...