A Full Course Meal (ziam)

/9/ The Zing

/9/ The Zing

Two Years Later

Liam watched fondly as Zayn looked at his own vague reflection on the industrial fridge's metallic door, fixing his tie. He parked his ass on a close by prep table, crossing his arms over his chest, mocking exasperation as he exhaled a complaint under his breath, clearly meant to be heard.

"I heard you..." Zayn warned, and Liam bit back a laugh, rolling his eyes. Zayn was, of course, taking his time on purpose, because he already knew how anxious Liam got at these kind of events, and well, this was the biggest one yet. Zayn knew Liam would need a moment to relax before facing the crowd waiting for them outside, so Liam couldn't fault him for locking the both of them in the now empty kitchen for a while, with the excuse of 'they can wait a little longer, jaan...'

Liam didn't really complain, but faking annoyance was fun anyways. It was the point of the whole charade, he was sure; a little pretend fight to help ease Liam's nerves.

It was their thing. It was the same thing Zayn had discovered by accident over a year ago, at the Food Network studios. Liam had been so nervous he was shitting his pants that day, and of course Zayn ended up being on the receiving end of that, mostly because he was the one that put Liam in that situation.

Because no, Liam wasn't visiting Zayn at work, or watching him record his show like he did so many times before. He was there because Zayn had convinced him of participating on Chopped again.

It took a lot of talking into, it did, but even when Liam was finally confident enough to accept the invitation to do a special rematch episode against Louis, Harry and Niall, he felt just as nervous as the first time.

Zayn had noticed, of course. He knew by then. He had taken the time to learn everything there was to learn about Liam, all the things he loved and also all about his over-thinking, his insecurities and his constant need for affection, everything that made Liam who he was.

So, on the day of the show's taping, when it was almost time to start and Liam was freaking out, Zayn dramatically complained about some silly menial thing, and that finally made Liam laugh.

They started a silly, ridiculous made up fight in the middle of the waiting room, managing to get Liam's focus away from his nerves, and it worked. Maybe it was also because he kissed him stupid before letting him go kick arse, but yeah, the point is that whatever he did, it worked, and it became their thing, and Liam would never be able to thank him enough, because he won.

The other guys did an excellent job, yeah, but Liam killed it. He got his much deserved win, and it being a special rematch episode, there was a double reward at stake and he absolutely killed it. He got the pickiest, meanest judges Chopped had to offer, and he still killed it, and in a way that was the start of what led them to the kitchen they were standing on.

Liam's kitchen. Or, well, his restaurant's kitchen. 'The Zing's kitchen. Because the money he won went straight to his savings account, adding to the money he had made and the money he kept making, working his ass off month after month.

A year later and with the help of a little loan he would gladly pay for a few years, he finally had enough to buy the space he wanted. It was small, yeah, but it was perfect, and he had to start somewhere, right? All he cared about was that it was his, all his, at last. He bought everything he needed to equip the kitchen to his liking, he decorated the place with the help of his family and Zayn's, and now, he was ready for the inauguration.

Because of course, that's another thing that happened. The people that had greeted him at Zayn's restaurant that first night were indeed Zayn's parents, and as soon as they found out their son was actually seeing Liam, they insisted on meeting him, formally.