Unseen

Chapter 7

Liam opened his eyes. The bright light made him squint as his eyes adjusted. He had a banging headache. When his eyes had adjusted to the morning sunlight he found he was laying in his bed. He turned over and found the bed empty where Zayn usually was. Strange, he thought to himself, he was always the first to wake up, having to spend ages trying to shove Zayn's lazy ass out of the bed.

Liam stood up out of bed and stretched. Rubbing his eyes he made his way downstairs and found Zayn watching television in the living room.

"Morning babe. What made you get up before me this morning?" Liam laughed. Zayn ignored him.

"Hey, since when is this TV that interesting that you have to ignore me?" Liam joked, but there was no reaction from Zayn.

"Alright, you're funny..." Liam said, swiping his hand at his hair because he knew how much it annoyed him... but Liam's hand went straight through his hair.

Liam jumped back and stared down at his hands, a look of shock on his face. Did his hands just...? No, they couldn't have done. Slowly Liam walked forward to Zayn.

"Zayn?" Liam whispered, waving his hand in front of his eyes. Nothing. Cautiously Liam stretched out his hand and tapped Zayn's shoulder, but there was no contact. His hand simply went through him.

Liam shot back, memories now suddenly flooding back to him. The wedding. The car ride. The crash...

"I'm... I'm dead..." Liam whispered, staring down at this hands and then staring at Zayn, "I'm dead, and you can't see me." Liam sat down on the floor in front of Zayn, finding it hard to stay standing up. He stared at his hands. This couldn't be happening... or could it?

"I'm a... ghost..." Liam breathed, looking up at Zayn. Zayn looked awfully thin, his cheekbones sucked in, dark circles around his red eyes. He looked like he'd recently been crying.

"Oh my god, Zayn I'm so sorry..." Liam said, reaching out to put his shaking hand on top of Zayn's, forgetting he couldn't actually touch him. He kept his hands to himself, continuing to look at Zayn. Liam had never seen him look so rough. There was one time though where Zayn had got the flu really badly, so Liam spent the weekend making him hot soups and cuddling with him to stop his shivering. Of course that led to Liam getting the flu too, but he didn't mind because it meant him and Zayn could still cuddle together.

Liam sat thinking. Zayn couldn't see him, but could anyone else? How did he get here? Why was he here? How long ago had the crash been? He stood up and went to the kitchen, wobbling slightly as he walked as he tried to control his confusion and emotions.

'2nd February, 2023' was the date on the digital clock they kept on the kitchen counter. February.  2023. The wedding had been in October, 2022.

"I've been dead for 4 months?" Liam whispered. His eyes caught site of a crumpled photo on the floor. He went to pick up, but his fingers simply swiped through it. He cursed under his breath and crouched down to see the photo. It was the wedding day. Obvious tear stains and ripped corners showed that Zayn had looked at this photo a lot, and he wasn't happy about it.

Liam went back into the living room. He stared at Zayn, heart break obvious.

"I'm sorry for leaving you Zayn," Liam said, kneeling in front of Zayn, "but I'm here now, and I'll always be here. I'll never leave your side, even if you maybe can't see me. Forever and always, remember? Forever and always..."

Zayn then stood up and Liam went to scramble out the way but Zayn walked right through him. God knows when Liam was going to get used to that.

Zayn went up to the bedroom and laid down on Liam's side of the bed. Liam watched from the doorway, still cautious even if he was invisible. Zayn ran his hands over the pillow, singing to himself. Liam recognised the song, both a favourite of theirs. Liam proceeded to lay gently beside Zayn, and he sang too.

"When I close my eyes, all the stars align, and you are by my side..." Zayn's tears fell and stained the pillow, and Liam wished with all his might that he could only hold him and comfort him and let him know he was there.

"I'm a ghost..." Liam repeatedly whispered, staring at Zayn. Zayn had now fallen back asleep, obviously having trouble sleeping earlier. Liam found himself just sitting down beside Zayn and watching as he breathed in and out slowly. He looked so peaceful, like nothing in the world could harm him. Liam knew better though and that as soon as Zayn woke up his living nightmare would only start again.