Delicate

Chapter 14

They sat on the floor while Zayn read the information on the book, Liam didn't look away from the picture

Zayn read the history of the 5 people in the photo, about their lives  upto their deaths

Once Zayn was done, Liam turned to him

"Who wrote that book?"

Zayn shrugged "The book has no name..." He said giving it to Liam

Liam looked at the cover and the back, he slowly nodded then gave it back to Zayn

"Well... That's a nice surprise" Zayn said and Liam nodded

They stayed quiet then Liam looked down "You asked me why I stayed with Luca, right?"

Zayn nodded "Luca is all I've ever know... He's all I ever was" He frowned "And... I always believed he's all I'll ever know"

Zayn frowned, and Liam sighed "Luca... Has my heart"

Zayn shook his head "Liam-"

Liam looked at him "Zayn, I don't mean it figuratively. I mean literally... I don't have a heart"

Zayn shook his head "That can't be, there's-"

Liam took Zayn's hand and placed it on his chest. Zayn furrowed his brows, he looked at Liam's face then down at his hands

"But... How?"

Liam let Zayn's hand go "The test... It took a lot from me, more than it should've"

~~~~~

Zayn was seated on Liam's bed and Liam took a deep breath and slipped his shirt off

Zayn's eyes dropped to the device in the middle of Liam's chest

He looked at it then at Liam and patted beside him

Liam was about to put his shirt back on when Zayn spoke

"You can keep it off if you'd like..."

Liam blew out a breath "I don't know how I feel about it honestly, it's keeping me alive but I'm not used to anyone seeing me without a shirt"

Liam slipped the shirt back on and sat down beside Zayn, Liam wiped his forehead and sighed

"After the test, a lot of my bones were weakened" he said and Zayn nodded

"Obviously, I lost an arm and a leg, but I also have a metal plate in my hip, have screws from my neck and all the way down my spine, my Patella basically melted off and that's a prosthetic too, I have a mechanical lung and got a few pieces in my brain too"

Zayn slowly nodded "But uh..." Liam sighed "After those, I started to feel like my chest was on fire" he looked down

"I went to doctors, they didn't find anything and it kept on happening..." Liam looked at Zayn

"My ribs were melting" Zayn's eyes widened

"Ribs can melt?!"

Liam nodded "Yeah, I... I learnt that the hard way" He cleared his throat "The problem is; doctors often put me to sleep because of the pain, so... Melted reminants would fall on my heart"

Zayn cringed "Shit..."

"Too little too late, I was rushed into surgery... Luca got asked what they should do." Liam tapped his shirt

"I got this, because Luca said he couldn't 'fathom the thought of me dying' but he got to keep it in a fucking jar and I watched it wither"

Zayn's jaw dropped "But... But that's-" He shook his head "Why would they let him keep it?"

Liam looked at him "Because... Money buys people and it gives them more strength"

Zayn frowned and Liam shrugged "So... Yeah, he said he kept it to give me strength but all it did was-"

"Slowly killing you"

Liam nodded "It did... And everyone in his family said I shouldn't complain" Liam looked at his hands "So, yeah... I stayed with him and stayed quiet..."

Zayn took Liam's hand "I'm sorry"

Liam looked at him "It's ok... I don't feel stuff like an everyday living person but I'm ok" he rested his head on Zayn's shoulder

"Not many things hurt me anymore"

Zayn kissed Liam's head and Liam squeezed his hand

"I'm here" he rubbed a hand on Liam's cheek

"I know it's not much, but I'll be here for you..."

Liam frowned "Even if I don't... Show or do much?"

Zayn smiled and held both of Liam's hands "As long as you're in your version of happy. I'm happy"

Liam stayed quiet then pulled away "My... Version of happy?"

Zayn nodded "Yeah, your version of happy."

Liam blinked then smiled "I like that"

Zayn smiled back then kissed Liam's head "I'm glad you do"