Zalien Invazion

46

Later that night, Liam collects all the clothes that needed to be washed and puts them all in a large white basket. He walks into the lounge and sees Zayn sitting. By the window looking outside at the dark clouds in sky.
     "Hey Zaynie. I'm gonna do laundry now," Liam says before walking out the door.
     "I'm staying here," Zayn says determinedly.
       "Okay. I won't be gone too long," Liam says with a grin as he opens the front Door.
      "Oh, Hey, zee, remember that duckling you brought home a while ago?" Liam starts and suddenly Zayn's eyes grow wide.
     "What ever happened to it?" Liam wonders.
     "The last time I saw her, she was in the bath tub....." Zayn starts guiltily. "And that was like a week ago..." He adds as he scratches the back of his neck nervously.
     "You lost your pet?!" Liam asks sadly.
     "I didn't lose her!" Zayn claims worriedly. "She just..... Wanted to be on her own for a little bit. But she'll come back one day and when she does, I'll accept her with open arms," he explains with a smile.
      "Oh I see. Independent woman. They grow up so fast....," Liam replies with a grin.
     "I do miss her though," Zayn nods with a sad expression as he looks back out the window longingly like a scene from a sad movie.
     "You forgot she even existed until I brought her up!" Liam reminds him.
    "Yeah but now that I remember, I feel bad and I miss her. She was always so nice to me. I do hope she's okay. Wherever she is," Zayn says with genuine concern.
     "Aw, I'm sure she misses you a lot, too baby. She's probably having a lot of fun wherever she is though so don't worry too much," Liam assures him as he smiles over at Zayn.
     "Yeah," Zayn says with a smile.
      "All right, I'm leaving for real now," Liam says as he turns and walks outside. He Walks down the road to the main building to wash his and Zayn's dirty clothes.
    After sorting through and finding the similar colors, Liam picks up the pile of Zayn's dirty clothes to put in the washer. He pauses when he notices something was still hidden in one of the pockets of Zayn's black jeans. He decides to take it out and give it back to Zayn so it won't get wet and ruined.
Liam is shocked and almost doesn't believe what he sees. Out of the pocket, Liam pulls a half-smoked joint and stares at it.
There was no way it could be Zayn's.
When he finished putting all the clothes in to the washing machine, Liam walks back down the street to his apartment.
He finds Zayn sitting on the kitchen table, eating from a box of crackers and talking to Watson.
"Zayn. We need to talk," Liam says as he stands next to the table. Normally, he would have told Zayn to get off his table, but he had more important things bothering him right now.
"Yeah, what's up Lima Bean?" Zayn asks.
"Look up at me," Liam commands quietly. Zayn smiles and looks up at Liam expectantly.
"What-what is this?" Liam asks hesitantly. He holds the joint up for Zayn to see and he just shrugs.
"I dunno ," he mutters.
"You don't know?" Liam repeats doubtfully.
"Nope," Zayn confirms.
"Then what was it doing in your jeans??" Liam asks, trying to be patient. Zayn just shrugs slowly.
"Zayn.... I'm not asking these questions just to ask them. You need to answer me," Liam says sternly. Zayn smirks and rolls his eyes slightly.
"Where did you even find this??" Liam asks.
"I don't know. I just found it somewhere," Zayn mutters.
"So you were just walking down the street one day and you just so happened to find a full joint of marijuana, Just chillin there waiting just for you to come find it?" Liam says sarcastically.
     "Yeah I guess," Zayn shrugs, avoiding eye contact.
     "Zayn, Who gave it to you?" Liam asks. "Zayn. Who gave this To you?" Liam repeats slowly, demanding Zayn's attention.
"Louis. Louis gave it to," Zayn finally says, clearly frustrated and annoyed.
Liam laughs and shakes his head, resting his hands on his hips.
"Louis... I should've known.... That fucking, no good, dirty druggie..... When I see him again...." Liam trails off.
"Oh yeah. What are you gonna do? Yell at him too?" Zayn asks sarcastically.
"No! I'm going to give him a good piece of my mind," Liam explains as he turns to walk away.
"What, and try to control his life too?" Zayn mutters under his breath. Liam stops and looks back at him with a confused face.
"I'm not trying to control anybody," Liam tells him. Zayn scoffs and shakes his head.
"You think I'm controlling your life?? Do you have any clue what these will do to you?? They'll make you a slave where that's all you want is your next high and you'll do anything to get one more and then you'll just turn to harder, stronger drugs that will destroy your brain, your thoughts, your body, and make you sacrifice all your time relationships and dreams just so you can get one of these tiny little pills. And one day you'll end up all alone with no one to love you, sitting on a fucking street corner in the rain and snow, begging because you need money to get drugs and then you'll just die of heroin overdose if the meth doesn't kill you first!!" Liam informs Zayn frustratedly.
    "Dude, what the fuck?? Ztop," Zayn mutters. He really didn't want to hear it.
     "No!! don't tell me to stop!" Liam replies.
      "It's Not fun having someone Tell you what to do, now, is it?" Zayn asks.
     "I don't ask much of you. I let you live in my house for practically nothing. I let you eat my food. I clean up after you. I let you do practically whatever you want. I let you bring a fucking duck in my house!! I put up with a lot. But this... This is where I draw the line," Liam states.
     "Dude You zeriously need to chill," Zayn mutters with a smirk.
    "It's my house. My rules," Liam says as he turns to walk away.
"Hey. Can I have that back mate?" Zayn calls after Liam.
"No!" Liam insists.
"That's mine. Give it back. You can't just take my shit!!," Zayn commands sternly as he jumps off the table to follow Liam.
"No. I'm not having you smoking weed," Liam tells Zayn.
"Who are you to say that??" Zayn challenges but Liam ignores him and keeps walking.
"Hey! I'm fucking talking to you bitch!! The least you could do is actually listen to me for once!" Zayn demands frustratedly. Liam stops suddenly and turns sharply to face Zayn.
"What? What do you have to say that's gonna sound any different from what you've already said?" Liam asks as he crosses his arms across his chest angrily, trying to mask his hurt.
"Why do you always do this to me? Why do you always have to tell me what to do?? Why can't I ever decide for myself for once?!" Zayn demands frustratedly.
"Zayn you don't know what you're saying," Liam dismisses.
"No! This is zomething I actually want to do and I like it! I like how it feels. I like what it does. Why do you have to take it away from me just because you don't like it??" Zayn insists.
      "Can you ever fucking think of someone beside yourself?? For once??"
"Zayn... I'm doing this because I love you. This is a really bad habit... And I don't... I'm just worried that you could lose control of it because so many bad things can happen to you. Trust me," Liam explains.
"Liam. I'm fine. I actually can take care of myself. I know you don't think I can, but I can. Just leave me alone and let me do my thing," Zayn says as he reaches out and takes the joint back from Liam and sticks it between his teeth. .
"Okay," Liam nods calmly. "Yeah. You know what. You're right. You don't need me. You're a big boy. You can take care of yourself. You're absolutely right," Liam agrees as he holds his hands up as if to surrender. "Good luck," Liam adds.
"Are you kicking me out?" Zayn asks in surprise.
"You don't need me obviously So I won't hold you back any more. If you wanna leave, go ahead. Go live your fucking life," Liam trails off dramatically. Zayn laughs doubtfully. I'm
"What's stopping you Zaynie? Scared to face the world alone now? Little proud arrogant cocky alien. Scary now, isn't it?" Liam taunts.
"You know what. Fine. I will leave," Zayn says frustratedly as he stands up.
"Bye," Liam mutters in disinterest as Zayn storms past him to the front door.
As a final effort, Watson stands tall in front of the door, a sad look on his droopy face. It was almost as if he was begging Zayn to stay.
"Move Watson," Zayn mumbles gruffly as he pushes past the giant dog. Watson whimpers  unhappily as Zayn yanks the door open and leaves, slamming it shut behind him.
Watson sits down in front of the door, staring at the handle, whimpering sadly, waiting for Zayn to come back.
"I don't know what you're waiting for. You heard him yourself. He doesn't need us," Liam tells Watson.
An hour later, Liam walks outside to go get his laundry. He almost laughs when he sees Zayn sitting on the steps outside his home. Without saying a word, Liam walks past Zayn down the stairs to the main building where he retrieves his laundry and walks back home. He tosses Zayn's clothes onto the floor next to him then pulls out his keys to unlock his front door.
    When the door opens, Watson notices Zayn sitting outside and happily runs out to stand next to him and lick his face.
     "Watson, come inside," Liam calls indifferently. Watson whines, but obeys and Liam closes the door behind him.