Ziam one shots

Zayn and the Grim Reaper

This has 2 parts
Ao3
By: anecdotalist
Summary: Zayn's son demands a bedtime story on Halloween so Zayn tells him the story of how he and Liam really met.

This started off as an attempt to write a spooky campfire story but since it's Ziam, it turned out all fluffy anyway.

"Baba! Tell me a bedtime story!" Sahir exclaimed, running into the dining room.

Zayn chuckled, bending down to scoop up the eight-year-old boy. Beside him, Liam continued sorting through their stash of Halloween candy but Zayn could see him smiling out of the corner of his eye. Sahir's enthusiasm was, as always, infectious. "Did you brush your teeth, beta?"

"Uh-huh. Can I have my story now? You promised!"

"That's right. I did, didn't I? I guess I better make good on that then." He adjusted his grip on Sahir and turned to Liam. "Babe, you wanna come?"

"Yes!" Sahir answered for him.

At that, Liam looked over at them, grinning widely enough that his eyes crinkled up in the corners. Zayn felt his heartbeat speed up at the sight; God, he loved that man. "Guess that's my answer." He reached over and ruffled Sahir's soft black hair, making the child beam up at him.

With Sahir chanting "Story! Story! Story!" and Liam holding Zayn's hips and making choo-choo noises, they made their way to Sahir's room. Zayn rolled his eyes fondly. He was living with two children, really, not one. But he swiveled his hips a little teasingly anyway.

"Woo-hoo!" Liam said behind him. Zayn could practically hear the leer in his voice. Luckily, Sahir was too distracted by the possibility of a story to notice. Zayn set him down and he ran over to his bed, jumping in and pulling the covers up to just under his chin.

"I want something scary, baba. It's Halloween," Sahir said solemnly.

"Hm, something scary," Zayn said, pretending to think while he pulled over the child-sized chair from the child-sized round table in the middle of the room and sat down. In reality, he'd been preparing for this moment for years, trying to think of the best time to tell his son this story. "How about when I met Liam?"

Sahir scoffed. "That's not scary! You met in a coffee shop. I was there!"

"Ah, but that wasn't the first time I had seen him."

"It wasn't?"

Liam came up behind him and gave his shoulders an encouraging squeeze but all he said was, "This is gonna be a long story, so I'd better get comfy." His hands left Zayn's shoulders and then he came around from behind him and sat down cross-legged at the foot of the bed, leaning against the wall.

Zayn gathered himself and started. "Alright, so first of all...."

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I was a very different person when I was younger, beta. Not this boring, responsible waiter in our family restaurant."

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"You're not boring, baba!" Sahir protested.

"Hush, beta. Let me tell the story, okay?"

Sahir reluctantly settled back but he maintained a thunderous pout.

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I was a very different person when I was younger. Not this charming, funny, handsome, responsible but not boring waiter in our family restaurant."

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Zayn quirked a brow at his son who smiled and nodded in approval. Liam muffled a laugh and Zayn shot him a mild glare. He was never going to get through the story at this rate. But he didn't want to derail it further so he continued on instead of chiding his partner.