electric youth - ziam au

s e v e n

"That's Niall Horan..." Louis pointed at the table the three boys were standing around. "He's got a girlfriend called Tresslia. She's honestly his follower." He pointed out a girl not too far away, talking with a group of girls. "He's a lot better than Zayn actually, I heard he didn't drink once before his eighteenth birthday... too bad he's hooked now." Louis laughed, taking a bite of his sandwich before pointing to the other boy next to Zayn. He was smoking a cigarette, sharing it with the only boy Liam knew. "That is Harry Styles. He's a drug dealer next to Zayn. They are even closer than Niall to either of them, but Harry is so much more civilized than them both. He does drugs and smokes, but he doesn't drink, and does not sleep around with people. I quite like him..."

"You like him?" Liam smiled, looking over to Louis.

"Well, I mean, yeah, he's sweet..." Louis blushed, "oh wow, yeah... I do like him. A lot." He smiled, getting a cheer from Liam before excusing himself to the bathroom.

Liam took a break himself, walking outside to maybe get some fresh air in before his history class. He walked out to the parking lot, playing some music out his car door and sitting on the hood. He picked at his bandages while sitting there, and he didn't notice Zayn climb on the hood next to him until smoke was filling his view.

"Why are you here, Zayn?" He moaned, leaning back on his windshield. He pulled his sleeves over his bandages, praying they weren't visible.

"To protect this beautiful car from dents on the hood." He stroked the top of the car before crushing his cigarette right onto it.

It had been three weeks since the first day Zayn showed up at the hospital, and the encounter in the hallway the day after. He had come to the hospital for the next two Wednesdays after that. His father began to work there as a 'motivational speaker' and there was no doubt that Zayn came just to piss Liam off, although neither of them spoke about that Friday.

Zayn suddenly grabbed Liam's wrist, pulling up his sleeve and grasping the bandage. Liam watched his face as he examined the wrap, and it was almost as if his entire body softened. It was like he began to glow, and Liam almost rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn't imagining this, and that Zayn was not really just sitting there yelling in his face.

"Liam?" Zayn spoke, his voice quieter than Liam would ever imagine possible.

"Yeah?" He almost wanted to curl up and scream.

"This isn't why you were put into that hospital, was it?" He looked up, meeting Liam's eyes. Liam's arms began to shake violently. It had never happened like that before.

Liam's eyes widened and he didn't seem to know what to do. He kept staring at Zayn, whose eyes were also wide as he began to hold Liam's hands still. Suddenly, as if it were meant to happen here, Liam's mind called him back to that day, and Zayn's voice was echoing in his head. Maybe, maybe Liam was gay. I mean, he never would've figured it about Louis, so he may have just missed it in himself as well. The way Zayn looked sitting there, cigarette gone and a light face on. Something clicked, and this last full month of fighting and screaming in each other's faces was pieced together, and Zayn's mind was almost in the same exact place.

"I'm going to do this," Zayn reached over holding Liam's cheek, "And it's going to be weird for both of us, and I don't know what on earth this means, but we both need it so, so, bad."

Liam nodded, his breathing heavy.

Their lips hit in a sweet breath, and neither of them had any idea it would feel that good. Liam was almost instantly lying on the hood with Zayn on top of him. Their legs were tangled together, and Liam's hands were in Zayn's hair, as Zayn's were supporting them both on the car. Liam's bandage was still out, and Zayn even once reached up to hold it protectively.

And of course, the bell rang out to the schoolyard, and the two nearly toppled off the car.

"Shit. Wow, shit." Zayn got off of Liam as well as the car, and pulled out a cigarette. "Oh, wow." He lit it on the way back into the school, not turning back to see Liam again. He was back to full on Zayn Malik.

Liam stayed where he was, grabbing the crushed fag Zayn had left on the hood and reaching in the car window for his own lighter. He lit what was left of it, putting it to his lips and breathing deeply. He quickly went into a coughing fit, holding his chest and closing his eyes. He put a hand to his cheek before shaking his head. He let out a defeated laugh and sucked in another breath of smoke.

Zayn had grabbed Harry during the passing period, leading him out to the courtyard and handing him a smoke.

"We are skipping the rest of the day. Im not giving another moment to that place." Zayn decided under his breath.

"Look, Zayn, some of us actually have to work to graduate." Harry sighed, accepting the cigarette anyway.

"Two periods isn't going to kill 'ya, you prick." And they made their way to the closest food court, joining the workers during their smoke break. [and of course, Zayn snuck away from Harry to shag the hot cashier with the electric cigarette]

Liam crushed the fag onto his skin, wincing at the feeling. His sighed. It had been so long. So, so, long.

He stood up and got into the car, and drove four hours to his field, siting with his earbuds in and his hands working at picking flowers. He sat down, and just as he began to fold the flowers onto each other, he started to cry.