You'd Never Guess (Ziam/Larry fic)

Chapter Eight

Louis's P.O.V

"Zayn!" I called out, but the door had already slammed shut. I sunk back into my bean bag and sighed deeply. What had gotten into that kid? I put my magazine over my face and groaned into it, confused and unable to explain why.

Harry blinked and set his spatula down. He leaned all the way across the counter, hastily running his hands through his curly hair. "What the bloody hell just happened, Lou?" he muttered, his big green eyes sparkling with worry. Zayn wasn't Harry's closest friends, but Harry had gone to Zayn when Taylor broke his heart a while back, so they were still close, and could sense one another's pain better than the rest of us lads. Obviously Zayn was feeling some serious pain lately, because Harry had been quieter than usual - more stressed, careful, cautious, and nervous around us. I could see he was just as confused as I was, though, which was more than frustrating.

I opened my mouth to speak, but shut it as Liam murmured, "I -don't k-know, H-H-Haz..." Then he slammed his forehead back onto his palms, his entire body shaking uncontrollably. This had hit Liam much harder than it had hit any of us, and it was so hard watching him, but honestly, what could we do? All of us were confused as hell, and who knows, maybe Liam did something inspeakable to Zayn - very unlikely, as Daddy Direction protected Zayn more than any of us, but still. And I personally would feel pretty crummy if said hypothesis was true, because then a class-A silent treatment would have to be issued like always, and that would just make it that much more awkward.

So we just sat and pondered.

Niall looked pretty upset when Zayn left, too - if Liam was Ni's dad, Zayn was most definitely the boy's older brother, and Niall hated seeing Zayn moody - but he turned to his food quickly. The little blondie was scarfing down everything in sight trying to rid himself of the threatening tears that sparkled in his eyes. Niall, in my opinion, was best at coping with serious situations like these. Harry got silent, Liam freaked out, I got stupid, Zayn got angry, and Niall just ate.

"Li, it's really hard watching you cry, mind stopping please?" I said kind of cheekily, trying to make a joke out of it, but it came off as weak. Daddy Direction raised his tearstained face up from his palms, fixed me a look full of guilt and sadness and hurt, then sunk again and sobbed harder. I couldn't stand seeing Liam James Payne like this for one more second. I walked over and slung my arm around him, squeezing him tight. I wish I could squeeze all the caring out of Liam sometimes - I sometimes think he really cares too much about people, and it'll one day come back and hurt him.

"Hey, kid, it's going to be okay! Zayn probably just needed to get out for a while, clear the air. He'll be back in no time at all. You know Mr. Malik - he can get moody as hell, but he always comes back around!" I looked down at the timid boy in my arms, and saw him looking straight ahead with a faint smile on his face. I resisted the urge to fist-pump. Although I shouldn't be shocked - even the slightest mention of Zayn gets Liam smiling. It's so cute I can't stand it.

Then he looked back up at me, and tears filled his eyes again. "Lou...what if he doesn't come back this time? What if...what if he...remembered...or something?"

I raised my eyebrows. "Remembered? What are you saying, Liam?"

He sniffled and rubbed his eyes, sighing. "Well...I didn't really tell you guys, but..."

Harry and Niall were on the couch in an instant, looking like eager labrador retrievers waiting for the throw of a stick. Liam has a secretttttttt...

Harry flashed a flirty smile. My heart beat sped up a bit. NO, NOT NOW LOUIS. "It was sex, wasn't it? Wasn't it, Liam? Ahhhhh, that's why Zayn was kinda limping this morning-"