~One Direction Oneshots & Short Stories~BoyxBoys~

Glitch In the Matrix

Liam closed his laptop and yawned. He has just finished writing another chapter to his sequel of one of his top selling books "The Matrix Game' about a boy protagonist who was born with a gift to make ripples and glitches in the matrix of the universe. He was a successful and well-respected sci-fi writer and this book had given him a pretty sizable fan base. 'The Matrix Game' is his top selling book and was actually nominated for a Nebula Award last year. It sits up there with books like Ender's Game and Fahrenheit 451. So yes, he has it made for himself.

Liam got up from the chair and slid into bed next to his husband of five years, Louis Tomlinson. The two met at one of Liam's own book signings for another series six years ago. Liam stayed away from confronting his love life for almost to two years after high school after regrettably breaking up with his first true love, Zayn Malik. This boy was the most flawless person in the school, was the most popular, had the best personality and planned to stay with Liam after high school. Liam truly was lucky and had no idea how he got someone so out of his league. But a month before graduation, Liam broke up with Zayn after he gave into rumors that Zayn was hooking up with a girl behind his back though Zayn persistently denied it. Liam soon thought he was telling the truth all along, but it was already done. The two stopped talking and Liam never forgave himself.

But this hiatus inadvertently pushed him and helped him focus on writing and publishing. And once he laid his eyes on Louis who was looking at him with awe in his face, holding Liam's own book waiting for him to take it and sign it, Liam knew that it was time to confront his love life. He took Louis' book and scribbled his signature on the back of the floppy cover, then flipped to the very back on the last, blank, white page and scribbled something else. His number. This was the first time he's ever explored since graduating high school. And it was one of the best decisions in his life.

Now, he laid thinking about his life and how fast it had changed from uncertain teen to a successful writer living in New York and laying next to his perfect, loving husband. He couldn't think of it being any other way.

Except, he was. He was starting to think back to high school more and more frequently. More specifically, Zayn Malik. Liam couldn't explain why, and he kept it from Louis, but he couldn't stop thinking about Zayn for the past two months. He was starting to feel that familiar pit of regret he had felt for the two years after high school after breaking up with Zayn. It has been mounting and mounting for some time, and is even affecting his writing and love life. He's been caught in thought many times by Louis who would ask what he was thinking about so intently. But Liam would never tell. He wouldn't want to upset Louis in anyway and to tell him he's been thinking about another man for over a month obviously would not go down well at all. Liam felt he was being unfaithful, but he wasn't doing a single thing wrong on purpose.

"Babe, you've been acting so weirdly lately. And see, you're doing it again!" Louis confronted Liam, rising out of his sleepy voice as he realized Liam was staring into space again.

Liam snapped out of his thoughts and looked to his husband, whose eyes were big and worried behind his square glasses.

"What's the matter? I'm like worried over here." Liam could hear the hurt in Louis' voice. It was already happening.

"Nothing's the matter babe. I've just been thinking hard on this sequel and plot stuff that's all. Really. That's it." Liam lied. But he couldn't bare to see Louis more hurt than he already was.

"You've never acted like this before. Not even when you wrote your other books. I think... I think you need to take some time off of writing. You look like your stressing your brains out!" Louis laid his hand on Liam's wrist.

"No babe, that's the last thing I need to do. I've been on a role with this sequel and stopping now would completely derail me. I need you to trust me and believe me. I'm fine. This book... It's just a lot of pressure on me to make it as good as the first, that's all. I wouldn't want to ruin the first book with a bland sequel, you know?"