Delicate

Chapter 19

Liam looked at Zayn "Huh?"

Zayn nodded "Their last public appearance was caught by street cameras, after that they disappeared and nobody saw or heard anything from them"

Liam blinked "Seriously?" Zayn nodded "Can we see it?"

Zayn nodded, he walked towards a frame and let his hand get scanned, a button then appeared and he pressed it

They both stepped back and looked at the frame as Liam tied his hair up

They watched the couple walked down the street, they ere both laughing while walking hand in hand

One of them looked at the camera and saluted it it before they walked past it

The frame then turned back to a picture of Zayn the first and his husband

"They seemed so... I don't know"

"Give it a try"

Liam looked at them, in the photo they were smiling at one another with their knuckles so white from how hard they were holding each others hands

"Content, like if they world burned at their feet they wouldn't mind because they were together."

Zayn smiled "Spot on"

"You see it too?" Liam said looking at him

Zayn turned ahead "No... I see that when it's just them it's different when they're surrounded by a lot of people" He pointed at the picture

"In the books I read, it was said that he felt uncomfortable in crowds. He did what he had to for his kids but anything more just frustrated him, he hated the flash of the camera but let his photos get taken; yet if he didn't want to be seen, he wouldn't be"

Liam nodded before Zayn continued "They died 2 weeks apart though..."

Liam looked at the picture "Really...?"

"Yeah, nobody knows who died first, but some people believe the reason the kids weren't as broken up about this is because they knew their parents will only be happy when they're together"

Liam nodded "Waw..."

Zayn nodded "Mhmm"

Liam looked at him "You're nothing like him"

Zayn laughed "Because I'm not grumpy?"

"Yeah"

Zayn shrugged and looked ahead "Even though I'm named after him, his line sadly ended. His twin brother is a... Very old descendant of mine"

Liam shook his head "How old?"

"I can't count that far back"

Liam nodded then looked ahead "Where does your photo go?"

Zayn shook his head "I don't know, I don't even know where my father's photo is"

Liam hummed "You'll be remembered in history"

Zayn shrugged "Mostly for name" Zayn looked at Liam and nudged him "You'll be remembered for something you'll do"

Liam shook his head "You don't know that"

Zayn pulled Liam closer then kissed his temple with a smile "I'm sure of it"

~~~~~

Liam looked at Zayn and started to massage his temple "Are you ok?"

Zayn nodded "I'm just going to see my mother today..."

Liam nodded and rubbed Zayn's arm "Want to talk about it?"

Zayn frowned and held Liam's hand "Well..." He dropped his head back

"My mum and I, we didn't have much... I was told that I had to work for basic necessities" Liam nodded

"If I didn't work, I only get what she labeled as enough. If I didn't sell enough of her baked goods, dinner would only be what I can hold in my hand" He looked at their hands

"She'd forge my grades and tell the government I need a tutor, they'd send her monthly funds that I never knew about"

Liam's shoulders fell and he slowly nodded "As you know... I met my dad when I was 5, she always told me he doesn't want kids, that if he saw me, he'll kill me... She showed me a picture of him and said if I saw him I needed to run the other way"

Zayn shook his head and cleared his throat "Well uh... One day I was selling a few cupcakes for her and I didn't notice it was him, but he noticed me immediately... My heart dropped so low I don't know how I survived" Zayn forced a laugh and Liam nodded

"Well uh, mum said she'll let him see me as long as he doesn't take her to court. He agreed, I refused to talk the first few times we hung out together but I did-slowly"

"First it was about mums desserts, then it was about school then it was things about me"

Liam rubbed his cheek "You don't have to go on"

Zayn shook his head "It's not fair, you told me so much about you. I want to tell you about me"

He let out a breath "Anyways, when I was... 7, I think? I spent my first whole summer with my dad, which meant no work for me... But I didn't care, I could eat all and whatever I want... But one day I got sick"

Liam slowly nodded "Mum always told me doctors were a lot of money, but I didn't have money to go to the doctor..." He smiled sadly "My dad came into my room in his house and saw me curled up in tears"

His father put his hand on Zayn's head and his eyes widened "Oh shit..."

Zayn bit down on his bottom lip "I'm going to die"

"No you won't, kiddo. C'mon, I'll take you to the doctors"

Zayn slowly shook his head "I can't... I did not work"

Liam's hand stopped moving, and Zayn shrugged "Nobody told me upto that point that any necessary medical treatment was upto the government, that we never had to pay for anything"

Liam frowned "How did you react to that...?"

"Oh, well uh... Dad didn't tell me, he said he didn't want to ruin my young mind but when I was 12 he didn't want to lie to me anymore"

Liam nodded, Liam put a hand on Zayn's face "If you need someone to get you out of there, I'll help"

Zayn pulled Liam on his lap and buried his face into Liam's neck "I'm glad..."

Liam wrapped his arms around Zayn's head and held onto him and took a deep breath and smiled

"Me too"