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Liam is standing by the giant window, staring out, the city stretching below him. Bright, celebratory, peaceful, calm. The opposite of what he feels right now.
His thoughts are a mess; his emotions are all over the place. And his knuckles hurt, making him hate himself for hitting Louis so hard. He hadn’t meant to really, he had loathed Louis in that moment a lot but smashing his face wasn’t in his list of priorities. He is so sorry but he is also not in a way and its too much to handle because it hurts.
Soft hands touch his shoulders from behind and he leans into the touch automatically, a chin rests on his shoulder and long inked arms go around his waist, small hands linking over his stomach.
“Babe, you okay?” Zayn whispers lightly into his ear.
“I didn’t mean to,” Liam says, his voice threatening to crack.
Zayn doesn’t ask him to elaborate, “Yeah, I know.”
“He shouldn’t have done it,” Liam justifies.
“I know.”
“But I didn’t mean to hurt him.”
“You can never mean to hurt anybody Liam,” Zayn says, and it is true. Liam might have changed into a hardened up, bad ass over time but inside, he is still that caring, concerned and apprehensive boy Zayn had once wanted to ruin. Funny how it has been the other way round all along.
“What will we do now Zayn? Our friends are against us, everybody is against us. Where do we go from here?”
Zayn doesn’t know what to say, he was never good with decisions. If he had been, what a life it would have been for him. He doesn’t make decisions, he follows Liam. Because Liam is what defines him and Liam is what keeps him safe. And he wants to stay that way, and he wants Liam to have the first say. But sometimes when Liam breaks, like right now, Zayn knows he has to step up. And recently, Liam has been breaking a lot.
“We have each other,” he says, hoping that it’s enough for Liam, like it is enough for him, “As long as I have you, I don’t care what happens to me. And I don’t care who is against me.”
Zayn sees Liam smile in the faint reflection of them in the window, his heart bursts with elatedness. Making Liam smile always does that to him.
“Yeah,” Liam says, “Just never hate me Zayn, I might have not been good lately, but just don’t hate me. I don’t think what I’ll do if you turn into everybody else. I need you if I have to fight for us, and I promise, I will fight for us, for both of us.”
“I believe you. I know you will.”
“Never hate me.”
“Never can.”
They stand in silence, they like how the time slows down around them. No rush, no haste, just them two, away from the world. But their moment of bliss is short termed. They have to jerk apart, startled, when Zayn’s phone starts ringing. Zayn makes a reluctant noise before sliding his arms off Liam’s waist and pulling his mobile out. Liam watches as his face turns into a mask of anxious when he looks up at Liam and says in a small voice, “Its Will.”
“Pick it up,” Liam says, swallowing hard. Why is it so difficult to be left alone?
Zayn presses the answer option and puts the phone on speaker, “Hello?”
“Zayn. Where are you?” the voice comes out of the speaker.
“Uh… I am in my room,” Zayn answers, looking at Liam who has his lips pursed in a tight line.
