relief next to me (by dolce_piccante on ao3)

25 (epilogue)

"We've got twenty minutes."

"Twenty minutes?" Zayn tugged a pinch of hair away from his scalp and let it flutter over his forehead. Pomade felt smooth under the pads of his fingers, the smell of coconut filling the steamy en suite. "I thought the invitation said noon? It's not even ten."

"The requested arrival time is noon, but I want to be early and we need to swing by Ed's to pick him up before we meet up with my parents."

Zayn sighed and slid his hand back through his high pompadour.

"But we know where we're going."

"So?"

"So," he smoothed the sides of his temples, "it's not like we'll get lost on the way. We've been to Kitchen Corp before."

The shower stopped hissing and the glass door opened. Zayn's eyes strayed from his own reflection to watch Liam reach for a clean white towel. Liam's wet hair was matted down to his head, water glistening on the fuzzy centre of his chest.

Liam smirked while rubbing a towel over his stomach.

"I see you perving."

"Dunno what you're talking about," Zayn said, his voice raspier than usual. "I think you dropped something." He jutted his chin forward. "Why don't you check? I think it's next to the shower."

Warm brown eyes crinkled at him in the mirror, Zayn sharing a small smile with Liam's reflection. Liam came up behind him and rested his face in the crook of his neck. He softly kissed beneath his ear, earning a noseful of coconut.

"Are you trying to trick me into bending over for you?"

"My tricks usually work."

Liam laughed, "Yeah, right." He gently spanked Zayn's bum in his tight black suit trousers. "It's your own fault for insisting on showering first. Should have just showered with me, as suggested."

"I told you. This hair takes me forever. It needs my undivided attention and at least a fifteen minute head start on you."

Liam nuzzled his nose against his neck.

"Very true. Very worth it, though," Liam said as he stepped away and lifted his towel, ruffling it through his hair. "Kind of rare for them to ask guests to dress up. Usually their gatherings are so casual."

"Didn't they say they're going to take photos for promo or something?"

"Did they?"

"Yeah, since it's a new restaurant with more to offer on the menu than just sweets and nibbles at Étincelle. I think that's why they're having us dress up."

"Yeah, maybe," Liam said as he flipped his hair back. "Étincelle is only a tiny cafe, after all. Not much space to do promo there."

"And ice cream line."

"Of course. How could I forget the Étincelle line of ice cream? The home of 'Hot Legs' Cinnamon Ice Cream?"

"You're a thoughtless beast, that's how."

Liam snorted and dabbed his chest with his towel.

"It's kind of nuts that Harry and Alex connected so well with that Joe guy after just one Top Chef challenge."

Zayn yawned, "Who?"

"Joe. The rich, restaurateur guy. I think that's his name." Liam lifted his arm and turned away from Zayn to spray deodorant. "They swung this whole Kitchen Corp partnership thing so quickly."

Liam looped his towel around his waist and walked into the bedroom. Zayn followed behind him.

"Wasn't really that quick, though," Zayn said. He sat on the end of their messy bed, watching Liam go from the closet to their chest of drawers. "It sounds like they sort of had an idea of what they'd want to do when the time came, then did Top Chef: All Stars last year and had more time together to plan. Harry's only doing the desserts for Kitchen Corp. Maybe that's why it seemed fast?"