ZIAM ONE-SHOTS (BOTTOM LIAM)

built to fall apart (and back together)

Author: weareonceinalifetime

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3094175

Summary:

"Fuck, Liam," Zayn growls. "I'm so fucking mad at you."

And then, before Liam has time to process, Zayn is kissing him hard.

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Italics mean flashbacks.

The sun is just beginning to peek over the horizon when Liam pulls his truck up to the curb outside the apartment Niall and Harry share and digs his phone out of his pocket, pulling up his recent calls and hitting Niall's name. He slumps against the cold window of the car, blowing hard on his fingers to warm them and wishing fervently that he'd thought to brew some coffee to bring with them this morning. It's cold, and the street is still damp from the rain last night, the truck's windows rain-streaked.

Once he's in the water, it'll all be worth it.

When he picks up the phone, Niall's voice is sleep-scratchy and slow. "You outside?"

Liam nods before remembering that Niall can't see him. "Yep. Ready to go?"

"Almost," Niall says. In the background, Liam can hear him fumbling around his room, probably finding whatever clothing looks the cleanest and throwing it on. "My board's in your car, right?"

"Yours and Louis's," Liam confirms. "And your sweatshirt, and a fedora that's got to belong to Harry. You guys use my car like a shared storage unit or something."

Niall laughs. "Sorry," he tells Liam in a tone that says he knows Liam doesn't actually care much. "'M on my way down now."

Thirty seconds later he slides into the passenger seat of the truck, a black beanie tugged over his hair, nose and cheeks red from the cold, his eyes half-shut. "Fuck, it's cold as balls out here."

"Did you hear the rain at, like, three in the morning?" Liam asks, pulling away from the curb and heading for Louis's mom's house. Logically speaking, he should have gone there first and then come to get Niall, but Louis had made it clear last night that he didn't want to be woken up a minute earlier than absolutely necessary, great waves be damned. "Loki almost scratched a hole in my door trying to get into my room because he was so scared of the thunder."

"I was out, man," Niall says with a shrug. "Work killed me, and I knew I was going to have a lot going on today, so I was trying to like, be responsible."

Liam swallows his grin, trying not to think about what exactly Niall has going on today. Zayn's not his business, not since last February. He'd made sure of that himself.

"Hey." Niall's voice goes soft, and he reaches out to rub guitar-calloused fingers against the nape of Liam's neck. "It's probably easier for you if we don't talk about it, yeah?"

"I don't think that's an option," Liam sighs. "Like, it's Zayn. I can't pretend he doesn't exist."

"Just for this morning, though," Niall suggests, his fingers still heavy and comforting on the back of Liam's neck as they come to a stop in front of Louis's mom's house. He's already on the curb, his hoodie pulled up over his head, his arms crossed against the cold. "This morning, let's not talk about it."

They don't talk about it, not when Louis gets in the car grumbling about it being way too fucking early, I don't care how good the swell is, why the fuck do I let you two talk me into dawn patrols so often? Not when Liam merges the truck onto the 101, not when they turn onto the PCH and Niall lets out an excited yell at the sight of the waves, not when they pull up along the side of the freeway at Heavens and hop out of the car, shivering in the early morning ocean fog. Instead, they talk about Niall's job at Guitar Center's corporate offices, about Louis's middle school drama students. They speculate on just how long Harry's going to grow his hair.