Kick, Push

Competition Day: +14

For the past twenty four hours, practically everything Zayn had heard come out of Louis' mouth was about Harry. As soon as he had gotten back from his morning session the day before, the two were already in the dining hall of the building with Niall, waiting for him.

The guy seemed as nice as he looked, charming just like Zayn had picked up on the first day, but the more time they spent together, the more he realized that he wasn't sure the charisma was something Harry turned on and off on purpose. It might not even be something he's aware he has in the first place. Nevertheless, the chemistry that he and Louis have with one another was more than apparent.

The two shared a lengthy conversation about the city when Louis went off to the venue on his own yesterday afternoon, Zayn sticking to what he had told Liam earlier in the day about not being up to it yet. Turns out Harry's parents got divorced when he was a child, leaving him to spend the school year in England and summers with his Father in Tokyo, where the man had relocated after the split. Post university, he moved to the city permanently to work for his Dad's ad agency company.

Zayn has to give it to him. For someone so young, he's accomplished quite a lot, and the headstrong attitude, alongside his gregarious nature, has Zayn understanding why Louis would be so caught up with the man.

Even so, he can't blame Niall for getting sick of hearing the other skater continue to go on about Harry that morning.

Sparing them both, Zayn agreed to finally go and check out the official skatepark after they ate. The team had been given the design of the course nearly six months prior, but like any competition and its layout, you couldn't fully understand what you were in for until you were able to see the dimensions in person.

Standing on the tallest grindbox, Zayn examined the park, liking what he saw, but still having to do his best to shove down the nerves that were begging to take over his system now that he was physically surrounded by the taunting stage. After almost four hours of straight practice and nearly blowing out his earphones from doing his best to stifle his negative thoughts, Zayn could see himself start to fall in love with the park's plan. It was beautifully crafted, he just wished that he was skating it under less pressured circumstances.

Now, he was knocking on Liam's door, hoping that the physio was inside since he hadn't bothered to text and make sure on the way over from the venue.

"Hi," Liam greets from beside the open door, Zayn immediately feeling relieved at the familiar face and its friendly smile. "You alright?"

"Do you have any epsom salt?" Zayn's question hangs in the air as the two take in each other's appearance, sunlight from the room's opened curtains framing Liam's outline and making him seem powerful.

"Uh, yeah, one second," the man replies, disrupting the shadow and stepping back, pulling the door with him. "Come in." Zayn doesn't hesitate to step forward. "It's for you, yeah?"

The further he walks into the room, the more Zayn realizes that his theory on hotel rooms and housing places like this is true: location rarely ever matters, they all look the same. "Yeah," he finally responds to Liam's question. "I just got back from the park. I usually soak in some after a long practice."

Rather than joining Zayn in the living area of the unit, Liam turns into the small kitchen nook. "Ice or hot?"

Zayn takes a seat on the bed that looks to be Liam's, the dress laid out on the opposite one giving away Kristin's sleeping arrangements. "Hot, I don't fuck with the cold."

"So no snakes or freezing temperatures," Liam notes as he rummages through the cabinets to the left of the fridge. "Got it."

The sounds are what grab Zayn's attention initially, but when he looks over, the way Liam's shoulder muscles move under his shirt as he reaches for the shelf's contents becomes his new target of interest