pomegranate

5

Liam pushed the covered off of him and quickly got dressed, it was still dark out; he had time for himself for a bit

He slipped his shoes on and ran out his bedroom

~~~~~

Liam sat on a rock and rested his head against his knees. The spring air hitting him in his face made him smile

The sun began to rise and he sighed, it was probably the most beautiful time of day, to Liam.

He enjoyed it the most, but frowned when he heard a loud crack behind him

He jumped up and quickly turned around, letting out a breath when he saw Zayn

"Oh gods... it's just you"

Zayn frowned "Is that... a compliment?"

Liam smiled "Yeah, it is."

Zayn nodded then focused on Liam, the younger (and smaller) of the two was standing right in front of the sunrise

His brown hair now turning golden before he turned half of him towards the sun again

But Zayn just watched him, he watched Liam join his hands and sit on the grassy floor, Zayn hesitated but took a closer step towards Liam and sat down beside him

"Do you... always wake up this early?"

Liam nodded "Yeah... It's my alone time"

Zayn looked at him "How many times did you come here?"

Liam looked at Zayn "Here here? Or do you mean Olympus?"

"Olympus"

Liam shrugged "About 5"

Not a lie, he's left and came back about 5 times
Liam-1, lies-0

"You know your way around well for someone who has only been here 5 times"

Liam-0, suspicion-1

"I believe I was an explorer in another life. I'm pretty sure I was"

"You think so?"

"Mhmm, I believe I used to either work with creatures, a baker, or an explorer"

"Why a baker?"

"I make amazing cookies, if I say so myself"

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. I gave a few around and Niall has been asking me for more ever since"

They both stayed quiet then Zayn let out a breath "Want to come with me to the underworld?"

~~~~~

"YOU WHAT?!" "You're insane"

Liam covered his face "I know!! I know it's bad, it's stupid, and I should've said no" he blushed and dropped his hands "But the way he said it... he sounded so worried I'd say no I just couldn't"

Edward frowned "How will we explain to your mother that you'll be gone all day?"

Liam shrugged "Doubt she'd notice, but just tell her I went to get a few things from home for the wedding"

Louis smiled "You know... this is your home"

Liam shrugged "Doesn't really feel like it..."

Louis patted Edward's back and he walked out, he walked towards Liam and nodded "Walk with me"

Liam smiled and nodded, they stepped outside and walked together

"I don't know what's going through that head of yours-" He looked at Liam "But wherever I have a home, you have a home too"

Liam laughed "Aww, you're an absolute sweetheart." It was quiet before Liam stood and Louis did too

Liam hugged Louis tightly and Louis hugged him back "I know, Lou" He whispered with a small smile "I'm glad for that"

Louis chuckled "Love you loads, kiddo"

Liam rolled his eyes but still smiled "Me too, Louis"

~~~~~

Zayn frowned while looking out the window, Hermes looked with him then looked at Zayn and chuckled

"Relax, there's nothing going on between them"

Zayn turned to him and frowned "What?"

"Your jealousy is-" He rubbed his jaw "In less to say, noticeable"

Zayn rolled his eyes "I'm not jealous" he said then turned to look out the window again

"They're just close, like siblings... Louis doesn't have feelings like that for Liam; he cares about him a lot."

Zayn just silently nodded and watched as the two walked back inside

"So... calm your not jealousy. Louis only has those feelings for Edward"

~~~~~

They walked, because Liam preferred walking. He had a bit of a bounce to his walk, but he looked like he wasn't even focused

It wasn't until Zayn put both of his hands on Liam's shoulders that he snapped out of whatever he was thinking

"Are you alright?"

Liam looked back at him, smiled and nodded "Yep, just a lot to think about"

He frowned "Want to talk about it?"

Liam shrugged "Just... stupid stuff"

They continued their walk, Zayn dropped his hands from Liam's shoulder

"What kind of stupid stuff?"

Liam opened and closed his mouth, he cleared his throat "Marriage"

Zayn looked at him "Why?"

"Because... my best friend is getting married, and usually that's some people's sign for them to get it on with it" Liam took a breath from between his teeth "And Apollo"

Zayn blinked "Marriage is stupid"

Liam shrugged "To you, to me it's something I want to do right" Liam looked at him "Why do you hate touching people?"

"Contact means connection, A connection can easily be ripped apart. I don't want to deal with that"

Liam smiled "What if it's a good connection?"

"Like what?"

Liam shrugged "The one I have with Louis, maybe? He's like a brother to me, and Ed is my best friend. Plus, hugs give out good endorphins"

Zayn rolled his eyes "That's a lie"

"How would you know if you don't like to get touched?"

"Because I used to get hugged"

"Yeah, more than a century ago"

Zayn stopped and looked at Liam "Ok sunshine, what makes you believe hugs can solve everything?"

Liam smiled "After my first breakup, I went to my dad's sobbing, told him I didn't even want to go out of the house anymore... he sat with me and hugged me for hours" he joined his hands in front of him "He did that every time I was hurt, it felt like it was slowly fixing every broken thing in me"

Zayn blinked "Where is he now?"

Liam looked at him "What?"

"Your dad, where is he?"

Liam cleared his throat "I dunno. Mum took me at 15 and I haven't seen him since"

He doesn't remember him, Demeter made sure of it. Though he'd most raised Liam alone other than the few times she came down to see him and to make sure he's well taken care of

"I'm sorry that happened" Zayn mumbled and they continued to walk

Liam shrugged "Eh, got over it. Louis kinda took that role to give me those hugs now"

"For how long have you known him?"

Liam shrugged "I dunno really, Feels like my whole life"

Zayn nodded then took a deep breath "Ready?"

Liam frantically nodded "Gods, yes!!"