Rising Up From Ruin - Ziam (AU)

Chapter 20 - Please Come Back To Me

Liam’s P.O.V.

“Liam, this is amazing!” Louis shouted as I lead them into my new home—that was now their new home as well.

I nodded, looking around and inspecting the high walls and doorways. Believe it or not, the past week had actually made me accustomed to this place.

“You boys can follow Liam to your rooms,” Mrs. Watson said, smiling at us. Louis and Harry ran over to Mrs. Watson and hugged her, making her smiled and laugh more.

“Thank you,” Harry said.

I lead them down the hall to my room, and showed them to spare rooms that they could now occupy. Louis and Harry would share a room, probably, and I had been planning to share with Zayn. But he wasn’t here. He was missing. Harry said that he runaway.

Niall though.

There was something up with Niall. Normally, I minded my own business, and let Harry handle these kind of things, because I was bad with my words. So, I normally just shrugged it off. But now, seeing Niall not smiling was weird. I had grown so accustomed to his smile, I didn’t even realize how amazing and bright it was.

“N-Niall,” I whispered, surprised that I actually decided to speak. He seemed surprised too, and he walked over to me, wrapping his arms around me.

“Yeah, Liam?” He said.

“A-A-Are y-y-you…a-a-are y-you o-o-okay?” I couldn’t manage my stutter. The more I was away from Zayn, the worse it seemed to become.

He seemed caught off-guard by my concern, “Uh, well, I guess, yeah,”

I gave him a look, showing him that I wasn’t so easily fooled.

“I need to tell you something,” He finally gave in, coming a bit closer to me and looking at the ground. “I’m gay too,”

Hearing those words come from his mouth made me feel better. About everything, really. It made me feel less lonely, less strange. I smiled, and wrapped my arm tighter around him, letting him know that I was happy and proud, and completely unphased by it. He seemed happy by my response too.

“But, I have a crush,” He then mumbled, blushing a deep shade of red.

“W-W-Who?” I asked, honestly curious. Was it one of us? One of our brothers? Or was it someone else.

“His name is Josh,” Niall said, “But now I’ll never see him again,”

Zayn’s P.O.V.

Josh was a good lad. He did what he was told, and didn’t talk too much, or too little. He was street smart, and also knew how to work good food and money from people. All it took was a little puppy face from Josh, and people would hand us money and food left and right. It didn’t take long for us to find an apartment that we could rent. It was one room, kind of old and disgusting, but a room all the same. Plus it was the only place we found that wouldn’t ID and ask for a bunch of other information that I couldn’t provide. I still wasn’t eighteen.

So Josh and I started living out of this one room apartment, with a bathroom down the hall and one mattress lying on the floor. We had blankets, and used our extra money to buy food and better coats. Honestly, this was better than being at St. Xavier’s. Plus here, I thought of Liam less.

Don’t get me wrong though, I still think about him all the time. Just less than I used to. Before I go to bed, he is the last thing I think about, and when I wake up, his beautiful image overruns my mind. I am still in love.

And the worst part was, I had no idea where he was. Not even a hint. He could be out of the country for all I know.

“Hungry,” Josh groaned, grabbing his stomach and rolling over on our shared bed. I nodded and stood up.

“I’m heading out to get more food,” I said, “Stay here, and keep the door locked,”

He nodded, and pulled the covers and blankets tighter around his body. I grabbed my coat and headed out the door, towards a small convenient store down the street—the one we always went to.

I pushed into the store, listening to the lovely ring of the bell, and then headed for the food aisles, searching for something with decent nutritious value. That’s when I noticed the store worker staring at me. It wasn’t a normal stare either. It was a suspicious stare.

Sure, I probably looked like a homeless kid about to steal food. But I wasn’t, okay? I had money. I continued to look for food, trying to ignore him, and when I finally picked out something good and cheap, I headed up to the counter.

“What’s your name kid?” He asked, looking at me suspiciously.

“Levi Miller,” I said, pulling a name out of nowhere. I didn’t want him to know my name. For all I knew, the cops were looking for me. I was a runaway.

“Really? You fit the description of Zayn Malik pretty good too,”

That’s when I ran.

I couldn’t go back to St. Xavier’s. I couldn’t leave Josh out here all alone. I wouldn’t let the police catch me and take me back there. Not to sound too cheesy, but I would die of a broken heart and soul. I would be destroyed. I heard footsteps behind me. Did the store clerk really chase after me? I turned into the alley behind the store, noticing I was still holding the food in my hand. Shit. Now I was about to get charged for shop lifting. My lungs burned, and I could hear the footsteps getting louder, he was going to catch me.

My thoughts distracted me from the task of running, and I tripped clumsily on a trash bin and fell to the ground, cutting up my hands and legs.

“Calm down, kid,” The store clerk said, “I only asked because there is someone looking for you,”

My heart was pounding. I didn’t want to go back. I felt tears pricking at my eyes.

“Another boy about your age named Liam gave me a piece of paper with your name and description on it. He said that if I found you, that I should give you the paper. He’s been littering the whole town with these things. Going to all the store clerks and giving them these papers, but being careful not to get the police involved. The boy is very smart. Now, he wanted me to give you this,”

He held out his hand, the folded piece of paper held tightly in his fist. I timidly reached forward and took it, opening it up to see Liam’s familiar handwriting. The first thing I read was this:

Please come back to me.

___________________________________________________________________

So....tired.....

You guys owe me big for updating this week.

Honestly, never been so tired in my life.

School is just....ugh....

And then I have my college prep....

And then I have band...(cause I'm a geek)

And then I have homework....

And then I have to tutor.... (pretty much my job)

And then I have to babysit....

Wow.

Let's just say life has been crazy.

WHAT DO YOU GUYS THINK?!?!?!
Hope you are still enjoying this story. It will be wrapped up soon...

A few more chapters, but not many more.

Okay...

So....

Yeah.

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:)