sweater swap ➳ ziam au

five

"Hey!" Liam smiled as he leaned his stomach on the counter, his arms crossed beneath his chest for support as he gazed at Zayn, "Haven't talked to you in a while."

To say Zayn was having trouble breathing was an understatement. Liam was talking to him, a genuine chat that excluded his regular food order and Niall.

"H-Hi!" Zayn stammered, covering it up with a chuckle, Liam's smirk taunting him and telling him he had noticed, "Yeah..been kinda' busy, you know?"

As if it was possible, Liam leaned further in, his lower waist digging into the edge of the wooden counter, his smirk quirking into a smile, "Yeah, could've guessed. When does your shift get over?"

Zayn's eyebrows shot up to his hairline as he stared at Liam uneasily. Why was this handsome ass man, who he had a crush on for the longest time, so interested in his schedule? Was he interested? Fuck, was he going to invite him over to suck on his dick? He hadn't brushed his teeth in the afternoon, but he could--

Zayn was jerked out of his thoughts by two calloused fingers snapping in front of him, a smirk plastered on Liam's face again. Zayn's face flushed, a warm red spreading across his cheeks, cursing under his breath when this caused Liam to smirk wider.

"I-I uhm." Zayn cleared his throat, "I'll be off by 4:30, yeah?"

Liam leaned in more, and Zayn was honesty wondering if Liam had no spine judging by the way he was practically laid on top of the counter on his stomach. His nose brushed Zayn's for a fleeting moment, so quick and soft that Zayn was having second doubts about it actually happening. Before he could even blink, Liam had leaned back, completely off the counter as he straightened up and fixed his suit jacket.

"Yeah." Liam murmured softly before his voice acquired his normal tone, "Well, I have to go and pick Niall up from daycare. See you soon, Zayn." And with a small wink, Liam was out the doors and Zayn was quick to ask Harry to check his pulse rate.

--

It was nearing 4:30 and Zayn was excited to go home, have a shower- and a nice wank, his mind being invaded by a certain someone- curl up in bed, and watch repeats of Modern Family. That was, if this ignorant couple in front of him would stop making out and actually pay the bill.

"I'm sorry to interrupt."Zayn gritted through his teeth, "But I must ask you to clear the table for the next set of customers."

Even though the place was crowded, there were still many tables unoccupied, but Zayn needed to get his shift over with as soon as possible. The guy pulled away and gave Zayn an arrogant glare, paying the bill before dragging his girlfriend out of the small shop.

Zayn sighed with triumph, cleaning the table and depositing the cash into the cash register. Just as he was sure that he had served all the customers sitting in front of him, the bell dinged and Zayn groaned beneath his breath. That was, until his eyes fixated on Liam- dressed more casually now- and Niall on his hip, holding a piece of paper in his chubby hand.

"Hey, Zayn." Liam greeted with that fucking smirk.

"Hey again!" Zayn squeaked, mentally patting himself for not stammering, fixing his eyes on Niall, "Hi buddy!"

"Hi Zee!" Niall giggled, making grabby hands towards him, scrunching the piece of paper in his hand, squealing when Zayn took him from Liam's arms, "Zee, Ni-all bring somethin'!"

"Oh, really?" Zayn cooed, bouncing Niall in his arms, trying to ignore Liam's fond stare that was making his insides turn into mush, "For who?"

"For you! Silly Zee!" Niall giggled, giving Zayn the piece of paper. Just as he was about to unfold it, Liam interrupted, an urgent and helpless look in his eyes.

"Oh, look at the time! Don't wanna' keep you waiting, your shift is over! Catch you later, Zayn!" Liam chuckled nervously, taking Niall to carry him away.

"No, uh- I don't mind--" Before Zayn could even finish protesting, Liam and Niall were out of the door.

Zayn sighed. What the hell was up with Liam? First the teasing, the arrogant smirks, the noticeable hints, the suggestive eyes, the fond looks, the nervous chuckled, the fucking sexy piece of--

Zayn exhaled sharply and went into the back to grab his stuff and head home. He sat down on the bench, unfolding the paper, only for a fond smile to work up on his face.

Niall had drawn a small house, and three stick figures, a smaller one clinging onto the one with brown hair. The one with the black hair had his stick arm on Niall, the other two labelled as Dadee and Zen. Zayn had every intention to put this up on his fridge, and was just about to stash it into his duffel bag, until his eye caught something written on the corner of the sheet, obviously in Liam's neat and cursive handwriting. 'Would you go out on a date with Dadee, Zen? Aha x'.

--

~Harry