Kick, Push

Competition Day: +4

Zayn couldn't sleep. It was as simple as that.

Somehow, that's translated to a 5AM gym session.

Being up so early does have the perk of being alone, however. Regardless of whether or not Niall needed more gym footage, he would never get up this early to work, and Louis wasn't due to show up for a new change of clothes for a few hours still.

A downside to the isolation, was that Zayn's stuck doing cardio since he doesn't have anyone to spot weights for him. And there was no way he was going to ask a random goer to watch him struggle with beginner weights, even on the off chance that they did know English. Cardio's probably what he should be focusing on anyway, what with the benefits of endurance build up and the ability to work in some sort of intervals that could semi-replicate what his skate routine was like.

So, he's stuck to the elliptical. His first choice would've been the treadmill, but Liam nearly had his head when he told him about one of his workouts, launching into a lecture on why he needed to stay away from as much high impact training as possible for the sake of his knee.

Instead of his usual sifting through playlists, Zayn's mind busies itself with reading the subtitles of a Japanese morning show that's on the mini-tv attached to the work out machine. There's so much theatrics, that it's just the humour he needs this early, but when he looks up for a second, he sees in the mirror that he's being watched. Almost at once, Zayn's shutting down the machine and wiping down the handles.

Walking over to where Liam's leaning up against the back wall, he takes out his earphones. "Can I help you?"

The man's sunkissed from the first rays of the day's sun, red from running no doubt. He's got a pair of thin, green athletic shorts on, along with a white tank that's got leftover signs of just how hard Liam pushed himself.

"I wasn't aware you owned the gym," the boy appeals, arms crossed over his chest comfortably.

Zayn does is best not to stare at the veins that are standing out from the previous exertion and now bunch up of biceps. "Didn't your parents teach you staring wasn't polite?" He counters, hands on his hips.

Without hesitation, Liam's features light up as he laughs, "That's rich, coming from you."

There's no telling if Liam's referring to a specific instance when he's caught Zayn trying to be inconspicuous, or if he means in general, because the older man knows he doesn't mean right now. His eyes have been locked with Liam's brown ones since he walked over to avoid this sort of call out.

"I came in from my run to find someone to start the cryo machine for me," Liam continues, eyes testing Zayn's to see if he'll give in to what he's thinking.

At the mention of the therapy method, Zayn loses all interest to flirt. "You mean the ice dungeon?"

"I mean the cryo machine." Liam tilts his chin in the direction of the machines, "Are you done?"

He wasn't, but there was no way he was going to let this opportunity slip through his fingers. "I am if it means I get to be responsible for putting you through what you put me through. I'm gonna practice later anyway."

Pushing himself off the wall, Liam starts to walk towards the corner of the room. "Why are you up so early?"

"Couldn't sleep," Zayn replies as he falls into step with the other. "How far'd you run?"

"About a 10K."

"Holy shit," Zayn says in amazement, walking into the changing room corridor when Liam opens the door for him. "How long did that take you?"