Ziam one shots

Bandages

By: iwillpaintasongforlou
Summary: In a world where everyone wakes up on their sixteenth birthday with a tattoo on their forearm of the name of their soulmate, trust-fund baby turned fireman Liam Payne keeps his tattoo bandaged up so even he doesn't know his soulmate's name. Zayn is an art student and volunteer EMT who kind of just wants to be all Liam needs regardless of whether they're meant to be.

(Basically, Liam says 'fuck you' to the soulmate system and Zayn pretends he doesn't know the truth.)
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Zayn definitely isn't here to gawk at the firemen. He absolutely isn't. He's a volunteer EMT and he's trained in first aid and his purpose here is to help people involved in the fire to be healthy and recover from any injuries suffered. That's his job here and he loves its purpose. He is truly, completely, one hundred percent not just here so he can stare at the men emerging from the flames of this residence with a gaze hot enough to give them third degree burns.

It is a nice perk though.

They haven't even needed Zayn yet, anyways. He's sat on the bumper of one of the three ambulances assembled at the scene, watching the relatively tame house fire burn away across the street. One man has already been led from the home and wrapped up in blankets before he's shuffled off to another paramedic. A couple of firefighters are hovering on the lawn, appearing locked in conversation about something Zayn's far too distant to hear, but if the wild gestures they're making are anything to go by they aren't exactly agreeing.

Suddenly there's the deafening sound of every window exploding into shards at once and a tidal wave of heat as the formerly diminutive fire begins to rage. "Holy shit!" Zayn chokes out as he startles from his perch and a few steps back, despite being well away from danger. There are shouts about a gas line and now Zayn has to shield his eyes with his hand in order to watch the fire burn. He waits for everyone do as he has, staggering back out of danger, especially those on the lawn close enough to feel the flames licking at their protective gear.

And most of them do. It's only one who doesn't move, who flinches in surprise but keeps his feet rooted in place seemingly by sheer force of will. Then, before anyone can react to this development, the resolute firefighter is dashing forward, into the flames instead of away, disappearing into the house like he was just waiting for the danger to increase before he made his move.

Now the other firemen are shouting in earnest, a man who appears to be the captain spiking his helmet angrily at the ground and shouting into the radio on his shoulder until he's red in the face. Everyone on the scene is suspended for a moment,  watching in mixed horror and fascination as the fireman disappears into smoke and flame, tendrils of orange licking up into the sky like innumerable tongues of some horrid beast that's swallowed the poor soul alive. Zayn feels his heart drop into his stomach. He's never watched anyone die before.

But then, inexplicably, there's a figure emerging from the flames, the lone fireman who was brave enough to enter the inferno coming forth once more with his arms cradled around a puppy of all things. The man who'd been rescued from the house before surged forward to gather up the pug and smother it in kisses, and when the firefighter removes his helmet there's a beaming smile on his sweat-shiny face. It drops right off though as the sight of man and pug reunited is replaced in his field of vision by his angry captain. There's a finger wagging sternly in his face and in an abrupt turn of tables, the hero now looks like he's the one who needs saving.

Zayn's feet are moving him across the lawn before he even registers, and he takes the fireman by one warm glove before he has time to think better of it. "Need to check him out, standard procedure, back in a jiff," he says quickly over his shoulder to the captain as he starts dragging the fireman back towards his ambulance. He catches a glimpse of the captain's angry face and thinks for a moment that his rescue attempt is about to be derailed by a lack of authority, but there are other men still fighting the flames and that provides just enough distraction for Zayn to push through the crowd with his fireman in tow.