When no one's watching

Chapter 5

Louis' pov:

Actually, on Sunday me and Harry wanted to do something together but then Niall invited us all for a movie night. And what's better than a movie night with your friends? Well, maybe a date with Harry would've been better but still, me and Zayn finally got a friend group and this would be fun.

We had planned on meeting at 5pm at Niall's house. Unfortunately I fell asleep shortly after 3pm and woke up at 5.30pm. I didn't really care that I was just dressed in a tracksuit.
I actually always was dressed in a tracksuit but you got the point.

After another 30 minutes of getting ready and driving to Niall's place, I finally arrived.
His mom and dad were just leaving for a short trip so they told me where Niall's room was and let me in before leaving.

Something was weird because before I could knock on the door I could hear Zayn's voice and he sounded pretty furious.

"What 'that's normal'?! How can you not care about him, I mean are y'all blind or just don't want to notice?!"

Before he could yell anything else I walked into the room.
"What is going on? And why are you screaming?"

"Oh nothing I just asked about something." Zayn looked at Harry and Niall, his glance saying that they shouldn't tell me anything.
Niall and Harry both nodded along.

"Oh yes of course." I gave them all a fake smile but I really didn't want to heat up the mood any further so I changed topic.
"Also, where's Liam?"

"He said he won't be coming." Zayn was now again furrowing his eyebrows, like he always did when he was mad or worried.
So the conversation really had to do something with Liam.

"And...what film do you guys wanna watch?" I tried to lift the mood a little and it seemed to work.

"I don't know I thought we could maybe order some Pizza and then just decide spontaneously."
We all agreed on that plan, just Zayn remained quiet.

He was my best friend since I could think and I knew exactly that something was wrong.
But he definitely wouldn't tell me when the other two were here. It was a challenge to make him speak about his feelings anyway.

"Uhh...would you guys like to get the pizza in town?" I pointed at Niall and Harry. Niall wanted to complain since we could just easily order but Harry had gotten my plan and pulled Niall towards the door.

After me and Zayn said what pizza we wanted, they left and as the door fell shut I immediately looked at Zayn expectingly.

"Let's start." I just earned a questioning look from Zayn so I continued. "Why did you talk about Liam before I arrived and then didn't wanna tell me?"

"Why do you think it was about him?" It was audible already that he knew he had to talk now. So he sighed and continued explaining.
"Nothing, I just have the feeling he isn't doing great and they don't see that. I mean why shouldn't he be coming today?"
Zayn looked down sadly, he definitely didn't tell me the whole story.

"Zayn...do you like Liam?"
I didn't really want to say that out loud because I knew the answer anyway but didn't want to pressure him.

"What?! No, what the hell Louis?! I'm straight!" He looked at me but I couldn't really read his expression. He looked confused but also like he was now questioning himself.

"It's just the way you care so much about him. It's okay to like him, just think about it, yeah? I don't want to pressure you into anything."
Zayn seemed a bit speechless and so he just nodded.

The following 20 minutes passed by with Zayn staring at his hands and me watching him or being on my phone.

Finally, Niall and Harry arrived with the food and we all sat down at the table.

As we ate we chatted about what film we should watch or just about random things. Zayn didn't seem to be into the conversation nor into eating.
"You aren't gonna eat this, Zayn? Can I have your food?" Niall had already finished his pizza and was now looking at Zayn with puppy eyes.

"You can have it." Zayn smiled at Niall shortly and Niall grabbed the food just like he hadn't eaten in days.

Zayn knew exactly how much I hated when he didn't eat.
So after we all finished I went up to him. "Tell me what's going on?"

"Nothing, I ate at home. And Harry, can you maybe call Liam?"

"Huh, why?" Harry looked at Zayn confused.
"I don't have his number and I want to see if he's alright."

"Sure?" Harry handed his phone over to Zayn and a minute later, Zayn held the phone to his ear.
He was biting his lip, indicating that he was nervous.
But why was he nervous?

After some time, Zayn frowned and gave the phone back to Harry.

"Don't worry Z, he often doesn't pick up."

Afterwards Niall made some popcorn and we went into the living room to watch a movie. After long discussions we decided on "The Avengers" and started the film.

I really wasn't into that type of film so I was rather bored. Such stuff was Zayn's thing.
But he didn't look amused or interested as well.
He was fiddling around with his fingers. As he glanced at me, he looked away a second later.
That meant he was thinking about our conversation earlier.

After we had watched a few films, me, Harry and Zayn thanked Niall and said our goodbyes since tomorrow was school again.

Before Zayn could leave to his car, I bro-hugged him and whispered: "Don't worry, you'll see him in school tomorrow."
He smiled at me slightly and said goodbye to Harry and me.

After I gave Harry a peck on the lips and hugged him closely, we also left to our separate cars and went home.

Zayn's pov:

As I looked on my phone it was already 3am. Shit, I had school tomorrow and I knew that I probably wouldn't fall asleep any time soon.

No matter what I was trying, the question just wouldn't leave my mind.
Did I really like Liam?

I mean, there had been a few rumors in school about me being gay. But I never paid attention to it because I thought I knew better. And the rumors passed fast since I wasn't a popular or interesting person...but were they right?
Was I gay?

The more I thought about it, the less bizarre the thought became and the more I freaked out.
It just wasn't possible that I liked Liam. Firstly he was a boy and secondly, a boy who I had just met a week ago.
That was absolutely ridiculous. And Louis was ridiculous as well, with his theories that were driving me crazy.

I was just a friend of Liam's and I thought he was nice.
I was just worrying like a friend. And I was 100% sure that if Louis would have been with me and Liam on Friday, at the cliff incident, he would be worried as well.

Maybe "worried" was a bit of a massive understatement since I was concerned to death.
I just hoped that he was ok.

He was ok. He would come to school tomorrow and everything would be fine. He just hadn't had time today. Right?

Right.
And Liam was just a friend of mine.
We were just friends.