Something Great (Ziam AU)

Chapter Eighty Nine

Chapter Eighty Nine – Zayn

Zayn shivers as he watches Liam, he's doing amazingly tonight, there's absolutely nothing in this performance that can be criticized, at least not in Zayn's eyes. But Zayn can't help the prickling, overwhelming, feeling that he's being watched. It's the same as the day he was run over and he doesn't think that this time he can just ignore it the way he has in the past, not after what happened before. He bites his lip as he looks around, Louis is a few feet away, on his phone, mumbling quickly and pulling on his hair. He can hear Perrie and the rest of the girls just down the hall in their dressing room, Lou and Lux are standing just to his right, watching Liam, while bright pink headphones protect Lux's ears. Besides them the rest of the touring crew is buzzing around quickly, attempting to make sure everything runs smoothly while Liam's on stage. Zayn can't see anyone suspicious but that doesn't mean they aren't here, he jumps when he feels a hand land on his shoulder, spinning around to come face to face with Louis, who holds his hands up in surrender, "whoa. You ok?" Louis asks carefully. Zayn bites his lip as he nods, and runs a shaky hand through his hair, "I, uh yea. I just, feel like we're being watched, you know?" he asks. Louis' eyes soften and he reaches out to hug Zayn, which Zayn goes into willingly, "Harry told me you kept saying that the day you were hurt. Do you think it's the same thing?" he asks gently. Zayn sighs because of course Harry told Louis all about that, and of course Louis filed the information away for later, and because he honestly doesn't know right now, just that something doesn't feel right about this. Zayn pulls away from Louis and nods his head slowly, "I think she's here, somewhere. I just don't know where" he shrugs.

Louis' quiet for a minute and it would be uncomfortable if it wasn't for the sounds of Liam singing his heart out, and thousands of screaming girls, (and guys) in the background. Louis makes a strange sound that makes Zayn shiver slightly, before he pulls a walkie talkie out of his back pocket, and steps away from him, talking quickly into the device. Zayn furrows his eyebrows before Louis steps back closer to him, "alright, just stay here, Paddy'll be here in a moment. Then me and the rest of security that aren't protecting him out there, will search every inch of this place" he says seriously. Zayn blinks at Louis slowly, "Lou you can't be serious, Harry'll kill me if anything happens to you" he protests, but Louis waves him off, "exactly why I'm not just running off by myself. I'll be fine, Zee. Promise" he assures him. Zayn's still not entirely convinced but he knows as soon as Paddy steps up beside him, with a nod to Louis that there will be no talking Louis out of this one. So Zayn settles for maturely pouting and crossing his arms over his chest as he turns back to watch Liam, with Paddy standing protectively behind him.

Liam runs off stage a few minutes later, eyebrows furrowing when he sees Paddy's protective stance, "what's going on?" he asks, leaning in to kiss Zayn, who drops his petulant act to respond to him. Zayn shrugs, pouting again, when Liam steps away to change his shirt for the next half of the show, "Louis asked me to come wait with him" Paddy answers. Zayn doesn't miss the way Liam frowns at that, "why?" he asks, as someone steps forward and fixes his battery pack, Paddy shrugs and Zayn avoids his gaze for long enough Liam has to go back out on stage. Liam arches an eyebrow at Zayn, kissing him quickly, "this isn't over" he mumbles before grabbing his mic and running back onto the stage. Zayn watches him go and groans, he knows he's not being fair, not telling Liam, but he also knows Liam will let it bother him and he won't put on the best show he can, which isn't fair to the fans, Zayn reasons and feels slightly better about keeping where Louis is from Liam.

Zayn allows himself to get lost in Liam's performance after that, attempting to ignore the large man standing protectively behind him, in favour of listening to his boyfriend sing his heart out, Liam's just started singing They Don't Know About Us, and Zayn's allowing himself to get lost in the song when he hears the commotion behind him. Turning Zayn frowns when he sees Louis go running by first, followed by a cluster of large, burly men that Zayn recognizes as not only Liam's security team, but a few from the venue as well. Zayn turns to look at paddy who shrugs at him, just as his walkie talkie blares to life, "Tomlinson found her. Paddy stay with Zayn, all other available security personnel come to dressing room H" an anonymous voice shouts through the device. Zayn arches an eyebrow at Paddy, who shakes his head slightly, apparently knowing what Zayn's thinking, but Zayn needs to see who it is, if it's actually who he thinks it is, and know what's going to happen. He's torn between staying put, and running off to find the room mentioned on the walkie talkie, he also knows getting away from Paddy will prove difficult, especially because he's still in a cast. "Don't" Paddy warns and Zayn looks at him confused, "please, Zayn just stay here, watch Liam, and stay out of trouble" Paddy continues. Zayn bites his lip and nods slowly, trying to decide if he actually stands a chance in getting away from the burly security guard.