Strong

{Chapter 3}

3rd Person POV:

The day following the group's second get together Liam and Zayn had texted throughout the morning hours and decided to meet up for coffee at three o'clock that afternoon before going on with their day's activities. Zayn was spending his day at home, occasionally writing new lyrics, while Liam went to the gym and relaxed at home after grabbing a shower. Liam and Zayn got dressed around one thirty, both taking way too much time styling their hair. Liam got to the coffee shop they agreed on a few minutes early so he went ahead and ordered his drink then took a seat. Almost five minutes later, right at three o'clock, Zayn walked in. Llam and Zayn saw each other and waved before Zayn went to order his drink before making his way to the table Liam was sitting at.

The two shared greetings and a hug before sitting down. "How's your day been so far?" Liam asked. "Good, I've just been relaxing. Doing a little bit of drawing and writing new lyrics. How about your day?" Zayn said like it was no big deal. "That's awesome! If they are like any of your songs that Harry has played me then I know they will be great. I spent most of my morning in the gym trying to get a good workout in before I have to just stand around most of the week yelling at people as they do their workouts."Liam told Zayn, both men laughing at what Liam said. "Do the people you yell at include Harry?" Zayn asked, trying not to laugh. All Liam did was nod his head yes and they both started laughing again.

Once they calmed down they started to talk more about common topics that are used for people to get to know each other such as favorite colors, TV shows, movies, books and even got to know more about each other's jobs. Everything was just light subjects until the topic of Liam's next deployment came up. "Louis said the night we all met that you and Harry are going to deploy soon. Can you tell me about that?" Zayn asked nervously, not knowing how Liam was going to react. "Last week We got the dates sorted out. We need to get all of our gear ready to be on base for prep on December twenty eighth. Then we fly out on January third to go to Kabul, Afghanistan. That's the plan as of right now, but is most likely going to change. We will be returning around December fifth of next year." Liam told Zayn a little bit about what was going to happen, not wanting to go into too much detail. Liam and Harry learned early on in their careers, after their first deployment, that it was easier for those around them to not know the extent of their jobs because once people knew, they viewed Liam and Harry in a different way, sometimes in a very bad way.

"Wow. Even though I have known Louis for years and Harry for almost a year, they never told Niall or I what you guys do for the military." Zayn says after a minute. "Yeah, Harry and I like to leave out most of the details of deployments when talking about work, even with family, friends, and significant others, it's just easier that way." Liam explained why they didn't know. Zayn just nodded his head in understanding, but not really understanding in depth what Liam ment.

After that, the topic of the deployment that was four months away, ended. The subject changed back to light hearted topics for the rest of their coffee date. When their snack sized muffins and scones were gone and coffee cups were drained the two men left the small coffee shop holding hands, not that either of them noticed. They then decided they were not ready to leave each other yet so they walked around the local area for about an hour before Liam walked Zayn back to his car, leaving a kiss on Zayn's cheek before walking to the other side of the lot where his car was parked, both with smiles gracing their faces thinking about how they spent their afternoon.