𝐓𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐅𝐚𝐭𝐞 ⸙

1.11𓆩ᥫ᭡𓆪

Zayn's internal organs were screaming.

His hands were on his mate's shoulders. His fingers touched Liam's neck. They stood close. Liam's eyes were trusting and beautiful in the silvery moonlight, pale and large.

Zayn's lips tingled at the thought of a kiss. They were in the perfect setting: alone, calm, focused on one another.

Zayn didn't know how Liam felt about him. Zayn wasn't obvious enough that he wanted to be more than friends. A kiss would let Liam know.

Liam's lips were already parted and soft. He's human, Zayn reminded himself. He doesn't feel what you feel yet. Don't scare him off just because you want him so badly.

Zayn wondered whether Liam was gay or bisexual or didn't yet know he liked men. The thought of Liam having a crush on someone else made Zayn insanely jealous, though the bond wouldn't let Liam crush on anyone else for long.

"Do you have a boyfriend?" Zayn's mouth blurted the words before he could stop himself.

FUCK. FUCK. FUCK. FUCK, FUUUUUCK.

Zayn took his hands from his mate's shoulders. Liam's throat tightened; his breath caught in his lungs. Zayn thought about quickly explaining himself, but he had fallen in a hole too deep.

"Uh.." Liam breathed, clearly nobody had asked him that before. "H-How did you know?"

"Know what?"

"That I'm gay."

Zayn looked relaxed on the surface, and the woods around them was quiet and calm. On the inside, his brain activated an entire firework display. "I didn't."

"Oh... Well, good guess," Liam said with a nervous chuckle. "A- And no, I don't have a boyfriend."

Zayn was good at staring until people looked away. Now, he found it hard not to break their gaze. Zayn looked around Liam's cute face in the darkness.

"Good," he said lowly, fighting hard to keep the muscles in his face still.

Liam pursed his lips and dropped his gaze to the woodland floor. He rolled back and forth on his feet, smiling.

Zayn's brain burst. He was given Liam because of the way he made Zayn feel. Liam was sweet and gentle and had a good heart. Zayn would learn a lot from Liam; most importantly, he would learn how to be kind.

"D-Do you... Have a- boyfriend?" Liam asked so quietly, Zayn was thankful for his abnormal hearing.

"No."

Liam, still smiling, whispered, "Good."

Kiss him. Kiss him. Kiss him. Zayn bit his bottom lip. Don't scare him off, not now. They were making steady progress. Werewolves usually moved fast. If Liam were a werewolf, they would have done much more than kissing by now.

Instead of rushing into a relationship, Zayn wanted to gain his trust.

He eyed Liam's hand poing from the ends of his too-long sleeve. "What time do you need to be home?"

"Ten is the latest."

Zayn stared at the moon; his pupils dilated. The placement of the waning gibbous moon told Zayn the time. Liam still had hours before he needed to be home.

He looked back down to Liam's hand and his nerves left with a long exhale. Zayn stepped closer and reached for him.

Liam's hand was much smaller than Zayn's. He felt his little fingers wrapping around his hand as soon as their skin touched, as though Liam's natural reaction was to hold Zayn. The flutter in Zayn's stomach was new. He never got nervous, only angry. The human part of Zayn now felt emotion he thought his wolf devoured years ago.