Liam asked him last week, when he was drunk and feeling brave, how he knew about Harry, and Zayn was drunk and feeling brave, too, so he told him he didn’t know, that’s the point. There was no crash, no bang, no chase through an airport. It was more quiet than that. Zayn didn’t even feel it, how, from the moment he and Harry met, the space between them got smaller and smaller until there wasn’t any at all.

"The best things in life are free." In which two people find themselves together on an unlikely vacation. © charismatize [2016]

It's the morning of the X Factor auditions in Manchester. It's raining and Zayn Malik is stuck in front of a guy dressed as Britney Spears. He's ready to peace out but Harry Styles can't wait to go in. He's not being smug, but he knows he can sing, so when the judges say no, he's devastated. Zayn finds him crying in the toilets before his audition and realises that he doesn't want it that bad. Four years later and Zayn's living in East London and about to graduate from Central Saint Martins while Harry's in a band and living in Camden. Their lives couldn't be more different, but when their paths cross again will they get what they want this time?

We’re just friends. Zayn needs to get that tattooed somewhere so he never forgets.

The truth is: if they weren’t in a band together, Zayn wouldn’t be friends with someone like Louis.

For Lauren, her life is utterly perfect. Well, not entirely flawless, but she's still grateful. She has a job that she loves with all her heart, friends who never fail to keep her sane, and her own apartment which is just a piece of heaven on earth for her. On top of that, she has her watercolors, brushes, and a new cat! Until the universe decided to shake her world a little bit. Enter Zayn Malik, a loud and overconfident aspiring rock star. The first time she met him, it was already clear to her that he's the walking definition of an asshole slash player. Everything just went downhill for her when he came into the picture. Her patience, her sanity, absolutely everything. She has to stay away from him or she will lose her mind very soon. But fate wouldn't make it easy for her.

Zayn Malik is an award-winning pop star with a knack for getting himself into trouble, and Liam Payne is the bodyguard he doesn’t want to hire. What happens when both seem to have a problem with staying strictly professional... Sub pairings - Larry & Nosh *all credit for this story goes to scottmcniceass on AO3*

It's the summer before Zayn's final year at uni and he's got it all sussed. Or so he thinks until he meets 17-year old Harry and realises that he doesn't know a thing.

The one where Harry is the boy next door and Zayn doesn't stand a chance.

Believe none of what you hear and only half of what you see. That’s what his father always tells him with that smile of his, the one that says, I’ll tell you that much, but the rest will cost you. Harry never knew what he meant, but he gets it now that he’s sitting in the dim bar of another hotel he won’t sleep in, the ice melting in his £18 gin and tonic. He doesn’t even like gin and tonic, but it’s all part of the game. And it is a game. It has to be, because if it isn’t that means he doesn’t enjoy it and he does.