We're Okay

Chapter 12

Liam

Liam laid flat on Zayn’s floor, head in Zayn’s lap, as the cool summer air drifted through the open window. It rained yesterday, but today the sky was a clear, blinding blue, and the sunlight that filtered in through the open window warmed his bare legs almost as much as Zayn’s hand on his chest did.

“Babe,” Zayn said softly.

Liam blinked open his eyes and frowned up at him. “Why did you stop reading?”

“Thought you fell asleep,” Zayn admitted, putting the book down. He ran his hands over Liam’s hair, which was already longer than he thought it would be. He doesn’t think he’ll grow it out again, like it had been before, though. It was cooler shorter. Kept his hair from getting all sweaty during his runs.

Liam yawned and pushes himself up a bit. “I wasn’t,” he promised. “Just enjoying the moment.”

Zayn grinned and ducked his head to press a kiss to Liam’s temples. The thing about Zayn that surprised Liam the most was how affectionate he was, once Liam was let it. It was like, now that he’d allowed himself to, he refused to stop touching Liam whenever the opportunity arose. If they were out in public, Zayn’s hand was possessively on his back, or in his own, or there was an arm slung around his shoulder. He was fairly jealous, too, glaring daggers at anyone who looked at Liam in a way that was even hinting at suggestive. And there was a part of Liam that wondered if he should be a bit annoyed at this, but he really wasn’t, to be fully honest. He sort of loved it, and he sort of did the exact same thing right back.

“I’ve been thinking,” Zayn said suddenly, and Liam took that as his cue to sit all the way up. There was something in Zayn’s voice that required eye contact. “About that school you talked to me about.”

Liam couldn’t help the grin that spread over his face at that. “Really?”

Zayn nodded. “But there’s an issue,” he said quietly. “I need certain pieces of my I.D., and I don’t have them. I could reapply for them, but by the time they came in I’d of missed the sign up time and I’d have to wait until next semester, which means another year before I can come join you at whatever University you’ve decided on.”

Liam chewed his lip, dropping his eyes. It felt like all he talked about for the last two months was school. Not so much with Zayn, but it still came up quite often, even with him. The issue was that Liam didn’t want to go to the school his dad chose for him. And he only had until the end of the month to chose. His father seemed to think that it was already decided; there was a small article in the paper the week of his graduation, stating that Liam was going to the school he’d picked out, and that he was apparently the most promising athlete to come from their town in over fifteen years. But no pressure, right?

“So then what are we going to do?” Liam asked, pulling himself from his own thoughts because this, right now, was about Zayn; not him.

Zayn sighed and pushed a hand through his hair. The new tattoo on his arm was still a bit red, and Liam had to resist the urge to run his fingers over it. “My mum has them,” he said softly. “I know she does.”