Longing after you (Ziam) ~English version

Chapter 2

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Even though you'll hit some things along the way down,

The fall will never the less continue downwards,

And when you think you've reached the bottom, and you're convinced that this's finally the end,

There's always a few meters left to fall

~

When the concert's over, their final bow is made, and Harry's screamed his "Thank you San Diego, you've been amazing!" They all emerge backstage. Each and every one dealing with the constant buzz of pure energy, the consuming adrenalin from being on stage, differently. The buzz that leaves them longing to mess around, burn the overpowering energy that threatens to consume their bodies. But at the same time, leaves them exhausted, on the brink of sleep, where the only thing that matters is a warm bed to curl up in, preferably they all together in a comfortably curled up lump of bodies. Cuddling and sleeping until they're once again forced upon their feet by their full schedules. A schedule that leaves barely no time for them to rest properly, that leaves them with nothing but exhaustion.

Louis is like a fire bolt, filled with sparkling energy. His legs are a jiggling mess, and he seems capable to run up from the couch at a seconds notice. Restless, with eyes never focusing on one point long enough to really see it, instead racing across the room, sees everything and nothing at the same time. His voice is a constant mess of jokes, laughs, and silly things that happened during the concert. Makes fun of everything and everyone, including himself. It's as if a flaming light surrounds him, a burning bright aura, in blazing reds and flashing streaks of yellows, and he is present with his every being, every nerve in his body throbbing with energy.

On the same couch, there's also Harry. With his dreamy, not-really-at-all present, smile, and if Louis is a fire bolt, then Harry is his absolutely opposite, like the soft waves of ocean, dependent and constant. He's comfortably leaning against the back of the soft couch, pressed to Louis side. His large hand lying comforting on the elder's leg, as if to keep him grounded, and with his hand, glues him to earth. Harry is all sly smiles, and his gaze is fixed on nothing at all, with a dreamy expression covering his face.

The two of them perfectly balances each other out, keeps each other grounded until both of them are as one, a whole thing instead of two lost pieces. Because that is what they do, the two of them. Together, they creates something whole.

Once in a while, a loud booming laugh can be heard from the other side of the room, where Niall is sitting up-flown on a table, a beer in hand and near access to the mini fridge, talking loudly with Josh, a conversation apparently filled with lots of large gestures with both hands and body. Their jokes can be heard where the rest of them sit by the couches, and whenever Niall's laugh reaches their ears, all of their lips raises a bit in amused smiles. It's a sound that sweeps like bright colours of gold and yellow, lightens the room with its cheerfulness.

But then, what about Zayn? The answer to that is that he's seated in the couch across from where Harry and Louis are. Comfortably leaning his back against Liam's broad chest, Liam's warmth seeping through the thin material of his shirt, and warming every part of his back, small chills emerges through his spine whenever Liam's warm breath touches the bare skin of his neck. One of Liam's arms is slung around his slightly smaller shoulders, securely holding Zayn in place. Every breath he inhales through his nostrils has the distinct smell of Liam, a smell he knows way better than his own.

Liam is like a cocoon of warmth and safety surrounding him, covering him, protecting him from the world outside, a world that Zayn soon forgets. Forgets it, because how would he remember anything when Liam's warmth surrounds him completely and his smell invades Zayn's every being, drags him under in that now too familiar way, a way Zayn's both longing for, and is afraid of getting used to.