Tunnel Vision » Ziam AU «

Chapter Twenty Four

He wakes up in the middle of the night, and he has no idea why. Liam's turned away from him, head buried under a pillow, and his entire front is pressed against Liam's back. He closes his eyes, breathes steadily, and tries to get back to sleep without waking Liam up. But his mouth is dry and he's fully awake, and he knows he's not getting back to sleep without a drink.

Quietly as he can, he climbs out of bed, making his way slowly across the room. He pulls open the door, slips out, and leaves it partially open behind himself so it doesn't make too much noise when he tries to close it.

The kitchen light is already on when he gets down there, and he finds his mum sitting at the coffee table, hair pulled up in a messy bun, yawning and sipping coffee while reading. She looks up when he walks in, rubbing at his eyes as he goes, and he waves sheepishly at her.

"Can't sleep?"

"Thirsty."

"Sit," she orders. "I'll get it for you. Coffee, juice, or water?"

He debates for a moment. He can smell her coffee, and that makes him want one, but he'd like to get back to bed with Liam soon, so he says, "Juice."

She pours it in a plastic cup and everything, like he's ten years old again and can't be trusted to use glass because he has a track record of always breaking them. He gulps half it down in one go, trying to quench his thirst, and ends up finishing the whole thing off in, like, seconds. His mum laughs at him before grabbing the whole carton from the fridge and placing it on the table.

"Liam still asleep?" she asks, as he pours himself a second glass.

Zayn smiles down at his glass. "Yeah. He's totally out. I think today took a lot out of him. He was pretty nervous."

"He shouldn't be," his mum says instantly.

"That's what I said."

She hums around her coffee cup, taking a long, slow sip. When she lowers it, she looks down for a while, a contemplative look on her face. One that Zayn's seen many times.

"Why are you even up?" he asks, realizing it's at least two in the morning.

"Oh, my friend Julie recently had a baby. She's completely lost over the whole thing. The baby sneezes and she's about ready to run it to the hospital. She called to ask me about something," she explains.

"Right."

She goes back to looking down at her coffee, and he goes back to sipping his juice and yawning periodically. He's tired, could go back to sleep, but he doesn't want to stand up just yet. Maybe in a minute. He needs to work himself up to actually moving.

"You're very in love with him, aren't you?" his mum asks, catching him off guard.

Zayn shifts in his seat a bit, eyes downcast. "Yeah."

His mum lays her hand on top of his own, giving it a squeeze. "I know. It's very obvious."

"Do you… do you approve? Like—"

She laughs, cutting him off. "Do I approve? He looks at you like you light up his entire world, Zayn. He could have four heads and I'd approve."

Zayn grins at her. "Good, because I don't know what I'd do if you said no. I'm in over my head already."

Her happy expression falls a bit. "Which is why I don't understand why you're hiding it."

Of course this is where this conversation was headed. He should have known. She's never approved of his job forcing him to be someone less than who he really is. And hiding his relationship with Liam does that. Because it's become such a big part of him even in this short period of time, that it's like he's holding back half of himself. "We have to," he says slowly. "His job—"