I Know Places - Ziam AU

6. California - Meeting Parents

After they had spent five days in Georgia, they decided to continue their trip to California, which was their main reason to start with United States. Liam hadn't taken Zayn to his parents after the accident, so he thought it'd be nice to visit them. It was like starting their relationship all over again to him.

The flight from Georgia to California took four hours straight. They rented a car then drove to Liam's parents' house. Zayn was nervous, even though they had actually met before—actually Zayn and Liam's parents were really close and good together—it felt like the first time again. Zayn didn't remember any single memories they shared.

Liam opened the car door for him and knocked his parents' door. His mum, Karen, was the first to opened the door, she was very excited seeing Zayn. Though Zayn could see there was a slight sadness in her eyes. She hugged him and told him that they really missed him. Both Zayn and Liam were smiling a big smile at her.

"Come in, come in. I'll tell Geoff to come downstairs." She said, stepped in and went upstairs. Liam sat himself on the big leather sofa in the middle of their living room. He pulled Zayn to sit next to him. "Who's Geoff?" Zayn asked, biting his bottom lip and half whispering. He didn't want to be rude.

Liam chuckled, "my dad."

And there his parents came downstairs, joining them in the room. Geoff was as excited as Karen to see Zayn. They really did miss him.

"We're so sorry for your lose, Zayn. Your mum has told us but I was so busy doing my business lately that I couldn't come and visit you." Geoff apologized, and there was a pain in his voice. "I was actually planning to go there to London by the end of this month but, here you are." Zayn nodded, understanding of how busy is the world of business. "It's okay, I wouldn't be here without Liam though."

Karen and Geoff had to exchange their expressions by Zayn's words. Zayn bit his lip at the awkward situation, he didn't know what was the wrong thing he had done. But then, Karen was the first to clear her throat and change the topic. She was a true icebreaker, just like Liam.

She excused herself a moment later to grab the drinks and the snacks for everyone. Meanwhile Geoff was trying to distract Zayn by talking about his weekend and daily routine. Zayn learnt that Liam's dad loves to go fishing every Saturday whenever he's got free time, and also reading the latest newspaper every early morning. Just a typical father life.

Karen came back into the room, she brought some snacks and drinks. She knew that Zayn must be tired after four hours flight from Georgia. Zayn thanked her and took bites from the snacks. He fed Liam as well. They continued to talk about anything that crossed their minds until the clock hit 3.40pm.

Liam and Zayn decided to find an another place to stay instead of his parents' house. They didn't want to bother them, beside they were really tired and wanted to take a real long rest, of course they didn't want to look like a slacker couple in front of Liam's parents. They thanked Liam's parents for having them, promised them that they would love to visit again on another chance. They got into their rented car and drove away.

Zayn was very silence most of the time, but Liam knew he was only still confused and tired. It didn't bother him at all though.

"I still own an apartment around here." Liam broke the silence. "I used to live there when I was in the university, I didn't live with my parents." Zayn turned his head to look at his husband. "And when I graduated, I decided to buy it instead of paying for the rent per month. We stayed there a lot. I took you there most of the time." He finished explaining just right when they arrived.

They got out and got their luggage out of the car. Liam had his arm around Zayn's back with his other hand carrying the luggage. They got into Liam's room and turned on all of the lights those revealed every corner of the room.

The walls were plain white, filled by their photographs, just like their house in London. The interior of Liam's apartment just as same as their house, only it's got a bit smaller spaces. When they got into the bedroom, Liam did a playful bow down to his lover.

"Welcome, beautiful."

Zayn looked at him fondly, and his cheeks were blushing red. Liam smirked a little when he knew that he did change his husband's mood into a better one. He straighten up himself and put his slight bulky arms around the tinier man. He kissed his head several time and let go when Zayn let out a yawn.

They changed their clothes into t-shirt and sweats for Liam and a pair of pyjamas for Zayn. They got into the king sized bed and pulled the fluffy blanket up to their chin together. Liam once again had his arms around Zayn, holding him tight from behind.

Zayn was actually debating himself all night, more and more thoughts crossing his poor mind. When he knew he wouldn't, and couldn't sleep with blurry mind, he gave up himself and decided to wake his husband. "Li?" He rubbed a circle on Liam's knuckle that pressed into his chest. "Hm?"

"Are your parents and I okay?" He asked unsurely. "'Course, why?" Liam mumbled. Zayn remembered their changing expressions and how they avoided topics about Liam. Zayn bit his lip, an usual thing he would do whenever he was nervous. "Do they really like me?"

His question made Liam's heart ache. He had to kiss the back of Zayn's head and turned his husband's body to face him. "We've been together for years.. What makes you say like that?"

Zayn stared at him for seconds until he shook his head slowly, "nothing." He then closed his eyes and tried so hard to ease any thoughts off his mind. Liam was tightening his hold around him, just to made him feel secure.

But Zayn still didn't sleep alright.