jaan//ziam

१०.

'Salaam maa [greetings mother]' Zayn says into the telephone mouthpiece, smiles when he hears the Rani respond the same.

'Zain you haven't got hurt, right?'

'No Maa, both Liam and I are fine. Sab kheriyat [everything's fine]'

She hums across the line and stays silent for a moment.
Zayn is just about to hang up when he hears her speak up again.

'Liam is not faithful, isn't he?'

Zayn's heart sinks a little bit and he shakes his head, tries to sound as convincing as possible when he disagrees.

Silence.

'Beta would you like me to break this engagement? I can always-'

'Maa he's faithful, sach mei [truly]-'

'Zain', she interrupts sternly, 'I know when you're not being truthful'

Zayn doesn't reply.
The Rani sighs, 'Zain if you don't take any action soon, I will do something myself-'

'No' Zayn interrupts frantically, 'No- i-it's fine. I'll talk to him'

Because although he knows exactly what Liam is doing behind his back; he doesn't want to let him go.

‡

He gets back and as promised, Liam is lying on the bed, his full lips red and bitten, a pair of lacy, baby pink panties adorning his ass.
And as much as Zayn wants to rip them off him- they need to talk.

The Emir looks away before he gives into temptation and coughs into his hand, hoping Liam gets the message.

Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Liam frown, confused, as he sits up and pulls the chhaddar [blanket] over himself.

Zayn sighs in relief and turns back, before taking a seat opposite Liam.
He plucks at the thin black thread around his hand and opens his mouth to speak before Liam's already cutting him off.

'Zay-Emir, I have something to tell you. Actually, both Harry and I'

Zayn raises an eyebrow and barely starts saying what before Harry's walking out of the bathroom, wiping his hands.

On noticing the Emir, Harry just smirks before taking a seat.

Beside Liam, the Emir notes sourly.

'How did he get in?' the Emir asks pointedly, just as Liam is about to talk.

Liam looks sheepish as he says 'I let him in'

'What?' Zayn sighs, raising his hand to his forehead and massaging his temples, 'The guards let him in without any identity confirmation?'

'I said he was your friend' Liam mumbles and Zayn sighs, pulling his hand away from his forehead.

("An Emir should never look worried" his tutor said when he started classes)

'Whatever' Zayn hums, irritably, 'Are you guys still in touch?'

Liam probably picks up on the bitterness in his tone, because he's reaching forward and grabbing Zayn's fingers, squeezing gently.

And in that one moment, Zayn can't help but hope that Liam was in fact faithful to him.

Harry frowns at the action and clicks his tongue, 'Of course we're still in touch - I love him'

Zayn is about to retort about how he sounds like a fucking animated, cliché Disney character when Liam interrupts them both with a loud "wait"