They call it Puppy Love -on hold-

Don't Cry Over Split Peas

“Um, Liam, can I talk to you for a minute?” Zayn asked nervously. Liam shrugged as he was pulled into the kitchen.

“Why is there a person I’ve never seen in my life in our living room?” Liam asked confused and Zayn sighed.

“Harry found him this morning when he went to get the morning paper. Li, he’s not normal, like seriously,” Zayn whispered knowing Niall was in the other room.

“What do you mean he’s not normal?” Liam asked growing more and more confused.

“Liam, he has dog features. Like a tail and ears,” Zayn stated and Liam looked at him as if he’d grown an extra head.

“Dog features? Really Zayn that’s the best you got? You almost got me there,” Liam started laughing and Zayn rolled his eyes.

“I’m serious Liam. He doesn’t talk either and he has bruises all over his skin,” Zayn said with a straight face and Liam stopped laughing.

“Do you at least know his name or something?” Liam asked realizing his friend wasn’t joking.

“Niall, his name is Niall,” Zayn said. The hybrid must have heard his name and he wandered into the room and whimpered from behind Zayn. Liam looked at him and sighed.

“How long is he going to stay here?” Liam asked realizing just how vulnerable the poor lad was.

“I don’t know. But he needs to gain some weight. You can count his ribs,” Zayn said putting a possessive arm around Niall’s waist.

“Fine, just, can I see the dog parts so I know you’re not joking?” Liam asked taking a bite from his slice of pizza.

“Sure, Niall, Liam won’t hurt you,” Zayn whispered the last part into Niall’s ear before gently pulling the hood off of his head. Niall let out a yelp and hid his face in Zayn’s shoulder.

“Whoa, you weren’t joking! That’s pretty cool. Hey Niall, you can stay and have some pizza. You’re so tiny!” Liam said lightly touching Niall’s puppy ears and gave a small smile before turning back to the pizza box. “Help yourself. It’s gonna get cold,” Liam said opening the box and stealing another slice.

Zayn smiled and nudged Niall. “Go take a slice. Do you want something to drink?” Zayn asked earning a sad smile from the boy. “I’ll get you some milk, it tastes good with pizza.” Zayn smiled and grabbed two cups from the cabinet before filling them three quarters up with milk.

Niall had carefully taken the smallest slice of pizza and looked back at Zayn as if he needed permission.

“Niall, you aren’t just eating that. You’ll never gain any weight that way,” Zayn laughed and placed the cup next to Niall and began eating a slice of pizza. Niall took a small bite out of the pizza and smiled.

“You like it?” Zayn asked as Niall quickly finished the slice and started another. “Do you just not talk?” Zayn asked curiously and Niall whimpered. His eyes were big and he curled into himself. “Okay, sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you feelings. You can have as much pizza as you want. Just don’t eat too much; you’ll hurt your stomach.”

“Zayn?” Liam called from the living room. “Where’s Niall staying while he’s here? You do remember this is a two bedroom flat. No offense to dog-boy but I don’t know him and I don’t want to share a bed with him.”

Niall whimpered at the nickname Liam had given him and put his third pizza slice down. His face etched with sadness.

“He can sleep on the couch or something. Don’t call him that, he has a name,” Zayn said slightly ticked off that Liam made Niall so sad so quickly.