Syndrome // H.S.

15. Someone to Put Up With my Bullshit

Zayn's POV

I woke up suddenly, gasping for air; the room was pitch black. I sat up quickly and my stomach churned at the movement. My head was pounding and I just felt really confused. Was I back in the hotel room with Monroe? "Lil?" I called out.

"Zayn?" groaned a tired voice from beside me. I looked over but I couldn't see anything. I got out of the bed as fast as I could, unsure of where I was. My head spun. "Zayn, it's me. It's Liam," they said quickly. I sighed in relief. "Are you okay?"

I didn't know how to answer at first, but it hit me pretty quickly. "I'm gonna be sick," I let him know, trying to feel around for my surroundings. Where the fuck is the bathroom?

"Hang on, I've got you," Liam said, and I flinched when I felt his hands on me out of the unexpectedness. He quietly guided me to the bathroom in a rush, turning the light on and closing the door behind us. As soon as I was in front of the toilet, I fell to my knees and emptied the contents of my stomach. I was vaguely aware of Liam kneeling beside me, rubbing my back.

"What the hell?" I groaned once I was finished. I pinched the bridge of my nose, squeezing my eyes shut against the harsh florescent lighting.

"Do you remember what happened?" Liam asked. I noticed he was using a softer tone than usual; I had picked up a while back that it was one he only used for me.

"Harry's party..." I answered, trying to think back.

"Yeah," Liam's hand had stopped moving, but remained on my back. "You were really fucking crossfaded and passed out on the bed."

"I did?" I asked, frowning. I still couldn't open my eyes.

"You also kind of... got lost in the parking lot."

"How?" I was growing more frustrated with myself. He didn't answer. I finally opened my eyes, squinting to look over at his face to see he looked concerned and somewhat sheepish. I noticed that he was wearing his glasses as if he'd been sleeping with them on. "Liam," I asked sternly.

He sighed. "We all went out to smoke. You, Louis, Niall and I were out back and we wanted to go in but you said you wanted to walk around, so... we let you. You couldn't remember what room to go back to, but Harry and Monroe were out there. They found you wandering around the parking lot."

I groaned and closed my eyes again as my headache worsened. "Seriously?" I asked, more annoyed with myself than anything else. 

Liam must have taken the self-commentary as me being upset with him. "I'm sorry Z, we shouldn't have left you alone out there." His voice got a bit harsher when he told me, "I got an ear full of it from Harry."

That would be amusing if I didn't have a heartbeat in my eyeballs right now. "How did that go?" I asked.

"Not well," he said simply. "But..." I risked opening my eyes again to look at his face, seeing that he was biting the inside of his cheek. "He's right. I fucked up, and I'm sorry." Two apologies from Liam Payne in one night? Did I wake up in the right universe?

I sighed at the look of self-blame on his face. "It's not your fault, Li," I told him, trying to maintain eye contact despite the pain steadily building behind my eyes, so he would know I meant it.

He still looked upset with himself. "I made Louis sleep in the bed with Niall so I could sit up all night and watch over you. I guess I fell asleep though." He sounded guilty.

"You sat up all night?" I asked.

"It's only 3am," he shrugged, looking down.

I was in shock by his words and behavior. I narrowed my eyes at him until he finally looked back up at me. "Who are you and what have you done with Liam Payne?" I asked softly. I was rewarded with a small but rare smile.

"We should get you back to bed. I've got some Tylenol if you have a headache," he told me instead of answering the question.

"Liam?" I spoke up before he could move. "Thank you." I could tell from his face that that wasn't something he's used to hearing.

He was silent for a moment, just watching my face. "C'mon," he finally said softly, getting up to help me stand. I took his hand gratefully, my head pounding as I rose. He turned the bathroom light off before opening the door and leading us back out. He stopped us in the middle of the room, whispering, "Hang on."

I have no idea how he was able to see in the dark enough to come back with a handful of Tylenol and a bottle of water, but he did it. He grabbed my hands to help me take the pills from him. I threw them in my mouth and was handed the water next, which I used to swallow them down. Afterwards, he silently guided me to the bed, where we both laid down on our backs. 

"You know it's okay if you sleep, right?" I whispered, feeling my eyelids get heavy. 

"Zayn--" 

I cut him off, recognizing the argumentative tone in his voice. "Go to bed, Liam." He only sighed and shifted under the covers a bit, trying to relax.

"Goodnight," he said quietly.

"Night," I mumbled, drifting off to sleep.

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Author's Note:

This isn't really a chapter so much as it is a lil blurb.

Thank you so much for 200 reads! Syndrome now has a Spotify playlist with all the chapter songs. It'll be updated along with the story, you can listen to it here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0MDRTUO4wum8ei02HYWVzk?si=GpbtFHRaRoS_isziEM9VGw

Also if you're interested, please follow my Twitter @/lines2fine! I occasionally post little sneak peaks of upcoming chapters. Okay that's it bye I love you.