Red vs. Black

Chapter 21

According to Zayn, the body's internal clock sucks. Most notably on the weekends, when he should be sleeping in way past seven, not tossing and turning like his brain's making him do. His only options are to cave in and get up or risk putting himself into a worse mood than he's already in.

Yeah, fuck that.

Since he's only going across the street, he doesn't change out of the shorts he fell asleep in. But he does need a top. Anything will do, as long as it's not the shirt Liam had left over. Zayn's since washed it and assigned it a hanger, but other than that, it's stayed untouched. A month and he can't bring himself to move it. Or worse, toss it.

He grabs the tee nearest to where he's standing in front of his clothing rack and throws it on.

Since most people are still sleeping, trudging down the building stairwell is a silent march. Zayn wishes his mind would take notes because it's been as loud as ever since he dropped Liam off after their massive blowout.

It didn't have to end there, their love story. Not in Zayn's eyes, but Liam made himself loud and clear when he never returned any of Zayn's calls or texts: he didn't want to hear from the older man ever again.

So, Zayn's gone to work, kept his head down, and tried his hardest not to dwell on the fact that he brought this on himself after taking a week to get over how he too had been deceived. Oftentimes, he finds himself wondering if Liam thinks about him, even as the good guy. He isn't looking for pity, but it'd be interesting to know if Liam feels at all bad for acting the way he did now that he's had the time to think about Zayn's real reason for becoming a villain.

But it's useless to drive himself in circles, nothing will come of it. He's single, and unless he sees Liam on TV as Red Valor, he probably won't ever see him again; London's way too large, the odds are highly, highly stacked against him.

Before he crosses the street, he looks both ways, but it's a wasted precaution because when he sees his favourite Italian speaking with his favourite superhero, he halts at the center line.

The elderly man says something that makes Liam laugh, the kind that gets his eyes to crinkle, and the pang of being able to see such a sight in person and not in his dreams, feels a lot better than Zayn thinks it should.

"Ah, you're in luck Liam!" Mr. Abramo proclaims gaily when he sees Zayn's figure slide between the two cars parallel parked outside his newsstand. "He's awake before noon."

It'd be a blessing if his nightmares ever let him sleep in that late, but Zayn's far too caught up in the stare he and Liam are stuck in to voice any version of that thought.

Standing in the presence of someone you once loved so dearly shouldn't feel this unnatural. Zayn can feel his nerves pick up alongside his heartbeat that's going at a speed he doesn't recognize. In the distance, he hears the old man add, "Or he hasn't gone to sleep yet. It's hard to tell with you, Zayn."

Liam smiles at that, meaning so does Zayn because that's become an intrinsic reaction for him; it always would've been if Liam had chosen to stay in his life.

"Hi," Liam says coolly, their eyes still glued to one another's like they're in their own little world.

"Hi," Zayn practically whispers back.

"I'm glad I've finally been able to put a face to the name who's been stealing away my best customer."

Zayn's surprised Mr. Abramo would still say that when he hasn't woken up on the other side of the city in weeks.

"Sorry about that," Liam replies, easily turning his eyes away from Zayn's to direct his answer at the person he's apologizing to. "Twice a week's better than the whole thing though, no?"