Once Upon A Twisted Tale (Ziam AU)

Chapter 15: I Didn't Know ||

15. I Didn’t Know

[Zayn’s POV]

I was awaken when I heard the dungeon door creak open. I thought it was Harry or Louis coming to check up on me, but it was neither. I should’ve seen it coming, but I was still shocked to see who it was.

“Hi there! You must be Zayn! I’ve heard so much about you! Aren’t you a brave lad? Taking the place for your father. Bless your soul. If I ever have children, I hope they are as kind as you. But where are my manners! The name’s Niall or, if you prefer, you can call me Mr. Horan,” he said as he hopped in front of my cell door. I was at a loss for words. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing in front of me. It was Niall alright, but he was a teapot. A freakin’ teapot.

“Um, hi Niall,” I said, my eyes still wide at the sight.

“Would you like a cuppa?” He asked, still cheery as ever. He was obviously oblivious to my stunned expression.

“Uh, nah I’m good.” Honestly, that means I’d be drinking the inside of Niall, which was highly creepy and I didn’t want to do that. I mean, come on, he’s Harry’s boyfriend for Christ sakes. I shivered at the thought and looked down at Niall who was chattering away.

“So I was telling the master how you were probably cold and lonely down here, and then he wanted to get a temper with me. But you know what I said? Well obviously you don’t know what I said because you weren’t there! Silly me. Well I told him to watch his tongue because that is no way to talk to someone.

“So naturally he huffed and puffed about it until I badgered him enough to let me down here. Louis and Harry were going to come too, but I said no. I put my foot, well my metaphorical foot, down and told them that they had caused enough problems for one day. Don’t you think so?”

“Well I mean the-”

“So I let them be on their way to cause trouble elsewhere,” Niall spouted on without taking so much as a breath. “And I scurried down here as fast as I possibly could. I knew you had to be lonely, but turns out I was wrong! You were just sleeping. I’m guessing that book put you to sleep? I give you props though. I can barely read without getting distracted. It’s a bad habit.”

“That’s your bad habit?” I asked with a smirk as I raised an eyebrow. Niall’s company did make me feel a bit better, even if he was talking a mile a minute.

“Why yes. I mean everyone has one. For Master, it’s his temper.”

“Is it really that bad?”

“MR. HORAN!” The Beast roared from outside the door.

“I’ll let that be the answer for ya, yeah?” Niall said with a subtle grin. A moment later, the Beast came storming in a furious rage.

“Mr. Horan, I called for you and you weren’t there,” the Beast pouted.

“I’m aware I wasn’t love. As you can see, I was keeping Zayn here company. The poor lad is down here all alone! Now why would you do that?”

“Well he-”

“None of your excuses mister!” Niall scolded. The Beast looked down abashedly. It was kind of adorable really. The more I looked at the Beast, he looked, well in this moment, more like a puppy than a terrifying monster.

“But-” But the Beast was cut off again by Niall.

“None of it! Now, you let this nice young man out of this cage and into a proper room. He is a young man and not some animal. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go and set some of these hooligans straight.” Niall huffed and hopped off. We were both silent until we heard the clunking of the teapot out of earshot.