Let Lips Do What Hands Do 6/10
Title: Let Lips Do What Hands Do
Chapter: 6/10
Pairing: Liam/Zayn
Word Count: 4,840
Rating: PG-13 (this chapter)
Warning: Just some drunk teenagers but otherwise nothing of note.
Disclaimer: Not mine, oh, but how I wish they were.
Summary: You're not supposed to fall in love with students, it's unethical or something.
Chapter Six
“You know, you’re going to come home one day to find all your stuff has been nicked and I'm going to have zero sympathy for you. You need to start locking your fucking door.” Zayn locked Louis’ front door and made his way to the living room.
“And one day, people are going to start thinking you have a serious thing for locks,” Louis called out from where he lay on the sofa.
Zayn rounded the corner, took one look at Louis and rolled his eyes. “When you called me to come over and watch the footy, I wasn’t expecting to find you in nothing but your pants, Lou.”
Louis dug his heels into the sofa cushion and arched back so he was balanced on his head and looking at Zayn, “El’s away. She doesn’t get back ‘til Wednesday.” He flopped back down, pouting.
Crossing his arms, Zayn moved towards the arm of the sofa to look down at Louis. “So you’re moping on the settee in your pants?” Zayn arched an eyebrow. He’d known Louis for two years now; he really should be used to this sort of behaviour.
“My right hand is getting boring.” Louis paused and held his hand up in the air, inspecting his palm before tipping his head back again to look up at Zayn. “I think it’s starting to chafe too. Come cuddle.”
Zayn pulled a face. “Yeah, after you’ve just told me that? I think I’ll go sit in the armchair.” He pointed across the room to the matching armchair, but Louis just flailed dramatically, kicking his heels into the cushion.
“Zayn,” he whined, dragging out Zayn’s name. “Come cuddle!”
Zayn huffed out a sigh and rolled his eyes again before pushing at Louis’ shoulder. “Budge up then.” Louis sat up and as soon as Zayn was seated Louis lay back down, resting his head in Zayn’s lap. “I am not your surrogate girlfriend, Tomlinson. Christ, you get so fucking clingy when Eleanor’s away. Clingy and little bit gay - well, more gay,” he corrected, because there really was no denying it; Louis was rather camp a lot of the time.
Louis shuffled about until he was comfortable and Zayn automatically brought a hand up to card gently through Louis’ hair. He watched as Louis flicked lazily through the channels, stopping for a few moments on a panel show. “S’alright though, because you’re a bit gay too. Speaking of- ”
Zayn froze; Louis hadn’t brought up Liam in a few weeks. He was sort of expecting it, honestly. Term started back up again on Monday and it meant Zayn would once again be back with Liam. Perhaps Louis thought now was a good time to mention that he still thought Zayn was being reckless. But Louis didn’t say anything about Liam.
“-gets back on Wednesday right? Well she was thinking that you and her friend Rebecca would really hit it off, and she wants us all to go for drinks on Saturday night.” Louis looked up at him expectantly.
“Sorry, what?” Zayn didn’t quite understand what was happening.
Rolling his eyes, Louis began to repeat himself, “Eleanor’s friend Rebecca, she thinks you’d-”
“Yeah, no, I know what she thinks, I heard you,” Zayn interrupted. “I'm just trying to work out how me being a bit gay and Eleanor’s friend are related. Because, unless she has a penis, that’s not ‘speaking of’, Lou.”
Louis shrugged in his lap, digging his shoulders slightly into Zayn’s thighs. “I needed a lead in; I didn’t want to bring it up out of the blue.”
“You might as well have, that was a shit lead in.” He frowned down at Louis. “Are you also forgetting the part where I'm ‘a bit gay’ at the moment?”
Louis sat up properly and turned to face Zayn, his expression serious. “Yeah, well, of course I know that. But El doesn’t, and I'm certainly not going to tell her about the little ‘problem’ you have right now. So just come for drinks on Saturday and humour her. Humour me. Please.”
He stared at the television, but out the corner of his eye he could see Louis still looking at him. Zayn sighed. So obviously Louis wasn’t going to bring up Liam directly. Maybe he was just hoping Zayn’s feelings would burn themselves out? Either way, Zayn knew what he had to do. “What time on Saturday?”
***
The aim of the first week back after break was to study for the upcoming exams. It had apparently been realised by the faculty, finally, that a week off from school did not mean a week of studying, no matter how close an exam loomed.
Zayn was marking holiday homework from some of his younger students while his Year 13’s quietly went over some last minute prep. His phone buzzed, rattling against the bottom of the drawer he had it sitting in. He pulled open the drawer to check it. It was a message from Liam.
Zayn’s head shot up and he quickly surveyed the class. For the most part, they were ignoring him; talking quietly in twos or threes, hopefully about their coursework, or they were acting as Niall was. Zayn watched the boy bob his head along to the music he was listening to through his earphones as he wrote notes, stopping to perform a drum solo in the air with his pens before continuing on with his notes like nothing had happened. Zayn’s eyes glanced over to Liam, but the boy had his head down, bent over his work.
The phone lit up again and buzzed in his hand, a reminder for the waiting text message. He and Liam had been texting a bit during the break, just little things like asking how each other’s day was going or discussing the merits of fruit toast over normal toast. Sometimes, Zayn would find pictures waiting for him. Generally they were showing the progress of study notes or a cat he assumed belonged to Liam’s family. But once, at about 10:30 in the evening as he sat in bed reading, he got a picture of Liam.
He’d opened the message, expecting to see a picture of the tail-end of Whiskers the cat, with Buzz or Woody perched precariously on her back. Instead, he was greeted with the image of Liam’s face. The picture was slightly grainy and the flash on Liam’s phone had washed out the colour, but there he was, lying in bed, his half-curls fanning out around his head on the pillow. There was a soft, sleepy smile on Liam’s face and his eyelids were hooded in a way that had made Zayn want to kiss them.
Up in the top corner, Zayn could see the feet of Buzz and Woody, propped up beside Liam’s pillow - he’d smiled at that. But it was what he could see in the bottom of the frame that made his breath hitch and his grip on the phone tighten.
The bruise Zayn had sucked onto his collarbone was brought into stark relief thanks to the flash on Liam’s phone. Zayn had stared at it, flooded with memories of putting it there, his mouth against Liam’s warm skin. How Liam clutched at him as they rutted together.
Zayn was snapped out of his reverie by his message alert. It was a second message from Liam. Zayn’s eyes flicked up to Liam again, but he was still hunched over his desk, orange highlighter cap between his teeth. Taking a quick, fortifying breath, Zayn opened the first message he’d received.
New Message!
From: L.P.
Message: I had a dream about you last nite…
He could feel his heart start to pound a little in his chest. Liam should not be sending him messages like this during class. Zayn stared at the screen a bit longer before closing it. He hesitated slightly about opening the second message. What if it was worse?
New Message!
From: L.P.
Message: it was like last week. The end was a bit diff tho. I think id like to suck u off
“Jesus,” Zayn breathed and quickly exited out of the message, glancing furtively around himself as if someone was watching. Liam definitely shouldn’t be sending him messages like this in class, especially while he’s in them. He should delete it, he should delete everything. What if someone found his phone? If Louis found his phone… his ideas of personal space were a bit lax at the best of times, going through Zayn’s phone would be nothing new. Everything on there was incriminating enough without having Liam tell him he wanted to give him a blow job. Zayn slipped his phone into his pocket. It wasn’t going to leave his sight until he got home.
A glance at the clock told him that the lesson was almost over. Zayn clapped his hands, pulling his student's attention towards him.
“Alright, we’ve got about five minutes, you can go if you want.” Some of his students made small sounds of delight as everyone started to pack up and file out of the room. As usual, Harry, Niall, and Liam were the last leaving. Zayn stood up and walked over to the door, placing a hand on the handle. “Liam, a word please? He can catch up, Niall, he won’t be long.”
Niall shrugged and pulled Harry along by his shirtsleeve, pushing his friend away as they headed down different hallways. Zayn shut the door after scanning the area for anyone who could possible overhear.
“You wanted to speak to me, Sir?” With a cheeky grin on his face, Liam moved towards Zayn, already tilting his head to the side gently in preparation for a kiss.
Zayn stepped back and frowned. The change in Liam’s demeanour was immediate. His face fell and he shifted back, clearly uncomfortable. “Are you finishing with me?” Liam brought a hand up to rub along his collarbone, over the spot Zayn had marked.
“No, I-” Zayn reached a hand out, trying to grasp the one hanging at Liam’s side but the boy pulled it away.
Liam looked down at his shoes. “If you want to, just tell me. I'm not going to say anything, I promise. You’re a good teacher. I couldn’t do that to you. Besides, I was the one who-”
“Liam.” Zayn’s tone was forceful and it tore Liam’s gaze away from his shoes to look up at Zayn. His eyes looked a bit wet and Zayn’s heart broke slightly. He took a step towards Liam, reaching his hand up again, this time without Liam pulling away. “I'm not ending things.”
He watched the light come back into Liam’s eyes and felt the boy’s warm fingers curl around his. “You’re not?”
“No,” Zayn whispered, a smile picking at the corners of his mouth. Liam smiled too, biting gently on the edge of his lip. “But, you can’t kiss me in school. And this, us,” he gestured between the two of them absently with his hand, “I think we should pause it, for want of a better word, just until your exams are over. I won’t have you being distracted by me and messing up your chances of getting into a good uni.”
Liam pulled a face like he wanted to disagree, but ended up nodding and squeezing Zayn’s hand. “That’s nearly two weeks, that’s quite a while. Do I get some sort of incentive?” His cheeky smirk was back.
Zayn rolled his eyes. “Yes, you do. An A is your incentive.”
“Fine,” Liam sighed.
All in all, Zayn thought Liam was taking the sudden embargo on their relationship rather well. Relationship; the thought made something in Zayn’s stomach tighten. Were they even in a relationship? Surely not, everything was still too new. They hadn’t discussed anything; they hadn’t even mentioned the word ‘boyfriend’.
“Boyfriend?” Liam was staring at him wide-eyed. Zayn frowned at him, and Liam clarified when he realised Zayn was confused. “You just said ‘boyfriend’ really, really quietly. Was I not meant to hear that?”
He could feel his face getting warm. Liam definitely wasn’t supposed to hear that. Zayn wasn’t even supposed to have said it aloud, no matter how quietly. “Sorry.” Zayn brought the hand that wasn’t holding Liam’s to rub at the back of his neck. “I was just thinking. I didn’t mean to freak you out.”
But Liam didn’t look freaked out. Instead, he was grinning widely, the corners of his eyes crinkling. “Well, I suppose it’s better than ‘illicit paramour’. And, it means you’re not planning on chucking me aside anytime soon, that’s a nice bit of confidence.”
“You’re alright with that?” Zayn asked as he searched Liam’s face. Liam nodded. “Okay, good. I think we can discuss that more in two weeks though. I'm definitely not wanting to get rid you, I don’t think I could even if I tried. But there is something.”
Liam’s smile dropped a bit, turning more curious. “Something like what?” he asked and Zayn took a breath.
He stroked his thumb over the back of Liam’s hand. “I'm going out on Saturday. Louis’ girlfriend thinks I’d like her friend, so we’re going on a double date.” Liam was frowning at him now, looking a bit hurt and possibly slightly jealous. “I'm sorry, I have to do it. El knows nothing about any of this, she thinks I'm straight. And I'm treading some slightly dangerous water with Louis at the moment. Nothing’s going to happen, I can promise you that, but I do have to go.”
Liam looked away from him, sucking in a few deep breaths and looking like he was working something out in his head. “Is that why you want to wait two weeks?”
“No. That, Liam, that is about your exams.” He stepped closer to Liam, hands still tangled together and their chests almost flush. “I want you. Just you,” he whispered in Liam’s ear, then pressed a soft kiss to his neck. Liam sighed, and Zayn could see the tension leave his body.
“Okay.” There was no resignation colouring his tone; he seemed to be truly okay with it. “But I do hope you realise you just broke your ‘no kissing in school’ rule.”
Zayn groaned. He pulled away from Liam and pressed his hands to his face. “I know. Which is why you are going to go to class, so I don’t do it again.”
Liam gave him a small smile and flicked his eyes to the clock. “I'm going to need a note then, Sir.”
***
He arrived at the bar fifteen minutes after he was supposed to. Louis had texted him five minutes ago telling him he was late, but it wasn’t Zayn’s fault his mum had called him.
“Sorry, I couldn’t get Mum off the phone,” Zayn pressed a kiss to Eleanor’s cheek before sitting down beside the woman he assumed would be Rebecca. “She’s starting to freak out about becoming a grandmother, doesn’t think she’s old enough yet or something.”
Eleanor smiled and took a sip of her wine. “She says that now, but when the baby’s born, it’ll be the best thing that’s ever happened. Zayn, this is Rebecca.” She pointed to the woman Zayn had just sat down beside.
Zayn turned to her and held out a hand, shaking it politely when Rebecca brought her hand to meet his. “Hi. Zayn, but you know that. So, you work with El?”
She smiled and took her hand back to take a sip of her drink, leaving red lipstick around the rim. “Yeah, sometimes, we were just away together. She said you teach at the same school as Louis?”
Zayn raised his eyebrows quickly in confirmation. “I teach English Lit. Um, I should go and get a drink. I'm only going to have a couple, driving. So, I’ll be back in a second.”
As he waited to be served, Zayn watched Rebecca and his friends talk. She was pretty. Her dark hair was loose around her shoulders and the dark tone of her skin contrasted nicely with the sheer white blouse she was wearing. If he wasn’t off the market, he might have gone there.
After he returned with his beer, the four of them chatted amiably for a couple of hours. Eventually, Eleanor pulled Louis away to dance, saying something about leaving Zayn and Rebecca to get to know each other better. Zayn watched them walk away before he turned back to Rebecca.
“Do you want another one? My shout.” She pointed to the empty glass Zayn was fiddling with.
Zayn shook his head. “I shouldn’t. I’ve already had three.”
Rebecca nodded, “Oh yeah, you’re driving. Do you want to dance then?” The coloured lights in the bar shone off her hair, streaking it green and blue.
“Not really much of a dancer. Sorry.”
They sat in a slightly awkward silence for a few minutes. It seemed that without Eleanor and Louis the conversation between them didn’t flow very freely. A part of that, Zayn thought, was that he didn’t want to give Rebecca the wrong idea. He toyed with his empty glass again, tipping it on its edge and watching the dregs of beer on the bottom move around.
“I'm wasting my time, aren’t I?”
Zayn looked up. “What?” he blinked at her.
She sighed and set her hands on the table, pulling them back quickly when she realised it was a bit sticky. “This isn’t going anywhere, is it?”
He grimaced and set his glass down on the table properly. “Sorry. It’s not like - you’re lovely, pretty, and normally I’d jump at the chance but-”
“But you have a secret girlfriend or something?” She didn’t sound put out, there was mostly just curiosity in her tone.
Zayn ran his fingers through the short hair on the side of his head. “Yeah,” His hand dropped to his ear and he spun his earring between his fingers. “Something like that.”
She looked at him thoughtfully for a moment, head tilted to the side as she chewed on the inside of her lip. “A secret boyfriend?” she asked finally, eyebrows raised in question.
“That’s more like it.” Zayn couldn’t help them small smile that formed on his face at the thought of Liam. Only a week left now.
Rebecca stood then, pulling her handbag strap onto her shoulder. “I’ll just go and tell the lovebirds we’re leaving. No use hanging around if we’re just going to be some two-person third-wheel.” Zayn nodded and she started making her way towards the dance floor where Louis and Eleanor were kissing and dancing a bit too slow for the beat of the music.
They parted ways outside the bar. Zayn considered offering her a ride home, but Rebecca was already off down the footpath, phone stuck to her ear as she headed for a waiting taxi.
***
The whole following week Zayn barely saw Liam, understandable due to Liam having exams. He’d sent texts wishing Liam luck and received a confident ‘thank you :D’ every time except for the picture of his harried looking face Zayn got before Liam’s chemistry exam.
Liam didn’t text him at all on Friday. And, if Zayn was being honest, he went to bed that night feeling a little put out.
The shrill ringing of his mobile woke him. Zayn groaned and briefly considered chucking the offending device across the room before his head cleared and he thought it might be Anthony calling because his sister had gone into labour.
He picked up his phone and pushed the answer key, barely looking at the name flashing on the screen. “Hello?” he slurred out, his speech still a bit sleep addled.
“Zayn! Look, I'm really sorry for calling so late, but could you come pick us up?”
The voice on the phone sounded slightly panicked. Zayn shook his head to clear the last of his sleepiness. “Liam? What? Pick you up, what’s wrong?”
“We were at a party - Harry, sit up. Everyone was really drunk and there was a fight, so we ran. But in the wrong direction and now Niall’s close to passing out and Harry has a bloody nose. And I didn’t know who to ring, because I can’t ring my parents, and it doesn’t matter how cool Harry’s mum is about things, I doubt she’d appreciate picking up her drunken son and his friends at three in the morning.” Liam paused to suck in a breath. “So I called you. Please, can you pick us up?”
Zayn was halfway out of bed and into his sweatpants before he answered. “Where are you? Does Harry need anything for his nose?”
Liam breathed a sigh of relief down the phone. Zayn could imagine him standing, eyes closed with the heel of his hand pressed to his furrowed brow. “Harry should be okay, his t-shirt is doubling as a tissue. We’re just past the train station.”
“Okay, I'm on my way. Stay where you are, keep your phone in your hand. I’ll call when I'm closer.” Zayn locked his front door behind him and headed for the stairs.
“Thank you,” Liam whispered and hung up.
Zayn called him back just before he reached the train station, he slowed the car as he held the phone to his ear and peered out the windows into the darkness.
“Hi.” Liam sounded calmer now. “I can see head lights. Is that you?”
He drove forward more and spotted Liam standing in the pool of light given off by a street lamp. “Yeah, I can see you, hold on.”
They didn’t say anything else, Zayn just listened to Liam breathe, finally hanging up when he pulled up beside the boys. He left the car running and got out. He moved quickly around the car to Liam, who was now crouched beside a mostly unconscious Niall.
Liam looked up at him, “Can you help me get him into the car?”
“Of course,” He bent down and threaded an arm under Niall’s as Liam did the same. “On three. One. Two. Three and up.”
Niall groaned and stumbled when they pulled him up. It took him a second to get his legs under him but he ended up helping Zayn and Liam walk him to the car. They tucked him carefully into the back seat and Liam leant over to do up the seat belt for him.
“I don’t think he’s going to be sick,” Liam said, looking at Niall a touch warily, “but perhaps we should roll down the window?”
Zayn did so as Liam went over to Harry before making his way over himself. Harry was propped up against the street lamp, his t-shirt rucked up around his chest and the end of it pressed to his face.
“Still bleeding then?” Zayn crouched down and placed a hand on Harry’s shoulder. The boy looked at him glassy eyed and slightly confused.
“Sir?” The word was slurred and muffled by his bloody t-shirt.
Zayn winced. He could already see the purple of bruising under Harry’s eyes. He must have taken the punch straight on to end up with two black-eyes. “Hiya, Harry. Let’s get you up, yeah, and we’ll take you back…” Zayn looked over to Liam. “Where are we going?”
Liam was pulling Harry up, steadying him with and arm around his waist. “Niall’s. I should be able to deal with them by myself once we get there, and Harry is more sober than Niall. If I do need help, he can do it.”
He guided Harry to the car and helped him into the seat next to Niall. Harry managed to do his own seatbelt, tucking the chest strap awkwardly under his arms so he could still hold his ruined t-shirt to his face. Liam shut the door and went to his own. He stopped, fingers resting on the handle.
“I'm sorry,” he whispered, head hanging down like he was ashamed.
Zayn wanted to wrap his arms around Liam’s waist, pull the boy tightly against him, and whisper back reassurances. But the two boys sitting in the back seat of his car put a stop to that. Instead, he put a hand on Liam’s shoulder, letting his fingertips dip into the collar of his shirt. “It’s fine, Liam. You did the right thing. They’re going to get home safely and that’s what matters.” Zayn gave Liam’s shoulder a squeeze before pulling his hand away and moving around the car to the driver’s side. “But you are going to tell me how Harry ended up in the state he’s in.”
Liam turned around in his seat a few times to fuss over either of the boys when they groaned or murmured something, but he didn’t say anything to Zayn again until they had been driving for a few minutes. He righted himself in his seat and picked at his thumbnail before glancing across at Zayn.
“Right, so Harry.”
Looking at Liam quickly then back to the road, Zayn said quietly, “Yes, Harry. What happened?”
Liam paused, seeming like he was deciding how best to go about telling his story. “We were at Cher’s party, everything was going okay. Niall was having a bit of liquid courage to ask her to dance. I think he fancies her a bit.” He shrugged and picked at his jeans. “But anyway, Harry’s friend Ed showed up, and he wanted us to go to a different party. We didn’t know them, Ed did, and Harry thought he did. So we went; it wasn’t too far to walk.
“It was a bit weird, because we didn’t know anyone. So Niall and I just sat on the sofa for ages. Harry had disappeared somewhere with Ed, and then, all of sudden, there was yelling and stuff being broken. I don’t know, so I got up to check it out, maybe find Harry and leave. I found him in the kitchen, on the floor, having just been punched in the nose. I thought it was because he’d been caught snogging the guy’s girlfriend. It wasn’t his girlfriend. It was his mum.”
Zayn choked out a shocked laugh. He looked at Liam, eyes wide. “His mum? Harry snogged this guy’s mum?”
“Yeah, I know.” A reluctant smile crept onto Liam’s face. He tried to force it down but ended up chuckling along with Zayn. “So we ran. We got as far as the train station before I realised we’d gone the wrong way, and that was about when these two just became useless. Then I called you, and here we are.”
“Yes, we are. This is Niall’s house right?” Zayn slowed the car to a stop when Liam nodded. “You sure you don’t need help getting them inside?”
Liam looked at him carefully for a moment before shaking his head. “Best not, probably.” He glanced into the backseat and lowered his voice. “But wait here, I’ll come back out.”
Zayn did help Liam get Niall out of the car and over to where Harry was waiting on the footpath. He watched as the three boys staggered up to the front door, Liam fumbling with Niall’s keys slightly then going inside. Zayn got back in his car and waited. He scrubbed a hand over his face then looked at the time on his phone. He narrowed his eyes against the bright light from the screen and groaned miserably when he saw the time read 3:52. Tipping his head back against the head rest, he closed his eyes, opening them once again when the passenger side door opened.
Sighing, Liam slid into the seat and twisted to face Zayn. He still looked a bit embarrassed. Zayn brought a hand up to rub a thumb across the boy’s cheekbone as Liam started to speak. “I'm really sorry, again.”
“Liam, stop apologising. I'm just happy you’re okay. If you need me, you call me, that’s how this works.”
Liam pressed his face further into Zayn’s hand then smiled softly at him. “Speaking of ‘this’, my exams are done.”
Slipping his hand further back, Zayn slid his fingers into Liam’s hair and gently pulled him forward. A smile of his own was turning up the corners of his mouth. “They are. How do you think you went?”
“Well, I wasn’t distracted while I was studying so I think they went rather well.” Liam had a hand on the side of Zayn’s seat now, keeping him balanced as he leant towards Zayn. He placed his other hand on Zayn’s thigh, fingertips digging in lightly. “Can I see you tomorrow?”
Zayn swallowed then surged forward, catching Liam’s lips with his own. God, he’d missed this, and they’d only done it on one other occasion. Liam’s mouth parted under his and Zayn traced along the edges of Liam’s teeth with his tongue before pulling back. “Yeah,” he breathed and rested his forehead against Liam’s.
One last, chaste kiss and Liam was slipping out of Zayn’s grasp and the car, waving when he got to the front door before disappearing inside.
***
A/N: Well! This is a lot longer than intended, and it's also up a week earlier than I thought it would be. I know, I know, there were no couch make-outs but hey, you got porn last week (granted it was a different fic but still). You know the drill, any mistakes are mine and not my love beta's, mostly because I'm a bit lazy going over the edit, if you see anything let me know? Also questions, comments, et cetera are welcome and encouraged.
I think I might set up a masterpost. I have two other fics in the works (both Ziam, with a bit of Lourry on the side), I think one will be in a couple of parts and the other is quite possibly another chaptered monstrosity. Both AUs of course.
See you next time, Sarah, xox.
Chapter: 6/10
Pairing: Liam/Zayn
Word Count: 4,840
Rating: PG-13 (this chapter)
Warning: Just some drunk teenagers but otherwise nothing of note.
Disclaimer: Not mine, oh, but how I wish they were.
Summary: You're not supposed to fall in love with students, it's unethical or something.
Chapter Six
“You know, you’re going to come home one day to find all your stuff has been nicked and I'm going to have zero sympathy for you. You need to start locking your fucking door.” Zayn locked Louis’ front door and made his way to the living room.
“And one day, people are going to start thinking you have a serious thing for locks,” Louis called out from where he lay on the sofa.
Zayn rounded the corner, took one look at Louis and rolled his eyes. “When you called me to come over and watch the footy, I wasn’t expecting to find you in nothing but your pants, Lou.”
Louis dug his heels into the sofa cushion and arched back so he was balanced on his head and looking at Zayn, “El’s away. She doesn’t get back ‘til Wednesday.” He flopped back down, pouting.
Crossing his arms, Zayn moved towards the arm of the sofa to look down at Louis. “So you’re moping on the settee in your pants?” Zayn arched an eyebrow. He’d known Louis for two years now; he really should be used to this sort of behaviour.
“My right hand is getting boring.” Louis paused and held his hand up in the air, inspecting his palm before tipping his head back again to look up at Zayn. “I think it’s starting to chafe too. Come cuddle.”
Zayn pulled a face. “Yeah, after you’ve just told me that? I think I’ll go sit in the armchair.” He pointed across the room to the matching armchair, but Louis just flailed dramatically, kicking his heels into the cushion.
“Zayn,” he whined, dragging out Zayn’s name. “Come cuddle!”
Zayn huffed out a sigh and rolled his eyes again before pushing at Louis’ shoulder. “Budge up then.” Louis sat up and as soon as Zayn was seated Louis lay back down, resting his head in Zayn’s lap. “I am not your surrogate girlfriend, Tomlinson. Christ, you get so fucking clingy when Eleanor’s away. Clingy and little bit gay - well, more gay,” he corrected, because there really was no denying it; Louis was rather camp a lot of the time.
Louis shuffled about until he was comfortable and Zayn automatically brought a hand up to card gently through Louis’ hair. He watched as Louis flicked lazily through the channels, stopping for a few moments on a panel show. “S’alright though, because you’re a bit gay too. Speaking of- ”
Zayn froze; Louis hadn’t brought up Liam in a few weeks. He was sort of expecting it, honestly. Term started back up again on Monday and it meant Zayn would once again be back with Liam. Perhaps Louis thought now was a good time to mention that he still thought Zayn was being reckless. But Louis didn’t say anything about Liam.
“-gets back on Wednesday right? Well she was thinking that you and her friend Rebecca would really hit it off, and she wants us all to go for drinks on Saturday night.” Louis looked up at him expectantly.
“Sorry, what?” Zayn didn’t quite understand what was happening.
Rolling his eyes, Louis began to repeat himself, “Eleanor’s friend Rebecca, she thinks you’d-”
“Yeah, no, I know what she thinks, I heard you,” Zayn interrupted. “I'm just trying to work out how me being a bit gay and Eleanor’s friend are related. Because, unless she has a penis, that’s not ‘speaking of’, Lou.”
Louis shrugged in his lap, digging his shoulders slightly into Zayn’s thighs. “I needed a lead in; I didn’t want to bring it up out of the blue.”
“You might as well have, that was a shit lead in.” He frowned down at Louis. “Are you also forgetting the part where I'm ‘a bit gay’ at the moment?”
Louis sat up properly and turned to face Zayn, his expression serious. “Yeah, well, of course I know that. But El doesn’t, and I'm certainly not going to tell her about the little ‘problem’ you have right now. So just come for drinks on Saturday and humour her. Humour me. Please.”
He stared at the television, but out the corner of his eye he could see Louis still looking at him. Zayn sighed. So obviously Louis wasn’t going to bring up Liam directly. Maybe he was just hoping Zayn’s feelings would burn themselves out? Either way, Zayn knew what he had to do. “What time on Saturday?”
***
The aim of the first week back after break was to study for the upcoming exams. It had apparently been realised by the faculty, finally, that a week off from school did not mean a week of studying, no matter how close an exam loomed.
Zayn was marking holiday homework from some of his younger students while his Year 13’s quietly went over some last minute prep. His phone buzzed, rattling against the bottom of the drawer he had it sitting in. He pulled open the drawer to check it. It was a message from Liam.
Zayn’s head shot up and he quickly surveyed the class. For the most part, they were ignoring him; talking quietly in twos or threes, hopefully about their coursework, or they were acting as Niall was. Zayn watched the boy bob his head along to the music he was listening to through his earphones as he wrote notes, stopping to perform a drum solo in the air with his pens before continuing on with his notes like nothing had happened. Zayn’s eyes glanced over to Liam, but the boy had his head down, bent over his work.
The phone lit up again and buzzed in his hand, a reminder for the waiting text message. He and Liam had been texting a bit during the break, just little things like asking how each other’s day was going or discussing the merits of fruit toast over normal toast. Sometimes, Zayn would find pictures waiting for him. Generally they were showing the progress of study notes or a cat he assumed belonged to Liam’s family. But once, at about 10:30 in the evening as he sat in bed reading, he got a picture of Liam.
He’d opened the message, expecting to see a picture of the tail-end of Whiskers the cat, with Buzz or Woody perched precariously on her back. Instead, he was greeted with the image of Liam’s face. The picture was slightly grainy and the flash on Liam’s phone had washed out the colour, but there he was, lying in bed, his half-curls fanning out around his head on the pillow. There was a soft, sleepy smile on Liam’s face and his eyelids were hooded in a way that had made Zayn want to kiss them.
Up in the top corner, Zayn could see the feet of Buzz and Woody, propped up beside Liam’s pillow - he’d smiled at that. But it was what he could see in the bottom of the frame that made his breath hitch and his grip on the phone tighten.
The bruise Zayn had sucked onto his collarbone was brought into stark relief thanks to the flash on Liam’s phone. Zayn had stared at it, flooded with memories of putting it there, his mouth against Liam’s warm skin. How Liam clutched at him as they rutted together.
Zayn was snapped out of his reverie by his message alert. It was a second message from Liam. Zayn’s eyes flicked up to Liam again, but he was still hunched over his desk, orange highlighter cap between his teeth. Taking a quick, fortifying breath, Zayn opened the first message he’d received.
New Message!
From: L.P.
Message: I had a dream about you last nite…
He could feel his heart start to pound a little in his chest. Liam should not be sending him messages like this during class. Zayn stared at the screen a bit longer before closing it. He hesitated slightly about opening the second message. What if it was worse?
New Message!
From: L.P.
Message: it was like last week. The end was a bit diff tho. I think id like to suck u off
“Jesus,” Zayn breathed and quickly exited out of the message, glancing furtively around himself as if someone was watching. Liam definitely shouldn’t be sending him messages like this in class, especially while he’s in them. He should delete it, he should delete everything. What if someone found his phone? If Louis found his phone… his ideas of personal space were a bit lax at the best of times, going through Zayn’s phone would be nothing new. Everything on there was incriminating enough without having Liam tell him he wanted to give him a blow job. Zayn slipped his phone into his pocket. It wasn’t going to leave his sight until he got home.
A glance at the clock told him that the lesson was almost over. Zayn clapped his hands, pulling his student's attention towards him.
“Alright, we’ve got about five minutes, you can go if you want.” Some of his students made small sounds of delight as everyone started to pack up and file out of the room. As usual, Harry, Niall, and Liam were the last leaving. Zayn stood up and walked over to the door, placing a hand on the handle. “Liam, a word please? He can catch up, Niall, he won’t be long.”
Niall shrugged and pulled Harry along by his shirtsleeve, pushing his friend away as they headed down different hallways. Zayn shut the door after scanning the area for anyone who could possible overhear.
“You wanted to speak to me, Sir?” With a cheeky grin on his face, Liam moved towards Zayn, already tilting his head to the side gently in preparation for a kiss.
Zayn stepped back and frowned. The change in Liam’s demeanour was immediate. His face fell and he shifted back, clearly uncomfortable. “Are you finishing with me?” Liam brought a hand up to rub along his collarbone, over the spot Zayn had marked.
“No, I-” Zayn reached a hand out, trying to grasp the one hanging at Liam’s side but the boy pulled it away.
Liam looked down at his shoes. “If you want to, just tell me. I'm not going to say anything, I promise. You’re a good teacher. I couldn’t do that to you. Besides, I was the one who-”
“Liam.” Zayn’s tone was forceful and it tore Liam’s gaze away from his shoes to look up at Zayn. His eyes looked a bit wet and Zayn’s heart broke slightly. He took a step towards Liam, reaching his hand up again, this time without Liam pulling away. “I'm not ending things.”
He watched the light come back into Liam’s eyes and felt the boy’s warm fingers curl around his. “You’re not?”
“No,” Zayn whispered, a smile picking at the corners of his mouth. Liam smiled too, biting gently on the edge of his lip. “But, you can’t kiss me in school. And this, us,” he gestured between the two of them absently with his hand, “I think we should pause it, for want of a better word, just until your exams are over. I won’t have you being distracted by me and messing up your chances of getting into a good uni.”
Liam pulled a face like he wanted to disagree, but ended up nodding and squeezing Zayn’s hand. “That’s nearly two weeks, that’s quite a while. Do I get some sort of incentive?” His cheeky smirk was back.
Zayn rolled his eyes. “Yes, you do. An A is your incentive.”
“Fine,” Liam sighed.
All in all, Zayn thought Liam was taking the sudden embargo on their relationship rather well. Relationship; the thought made something in Zayn’s stomach tighten. Were they even in a relationship? Surely not, everything was still too new. They hadn’t discussed anything; they hadn’t even mentioned the word ‘boyfriend’.
“Boyfriend?” Liam was staring at him wide-eyed. Zayn frowned at him, and Liam clarified when he realised Zayn was confused. “You just said ‘boyfriend’ really, really quietly. Was I not meant to hear that?”
He could feel his face getting warm. Liam definitely wasn’t supposed to hear that. Zayn wasn’t even supposed to have said it aloud, no matter how quietly. “Sorry.” Zayn brought the hand that wasn’t holding Liam’s to rub at the back of his neck. “I was just thinking. I didn’t mean to freak you out.”
But Liam didn’t look freaked out. Instead, he was grinning widely, the corners of his eyes crinkling. “Well, I suppose it’s better than ‘illicit paramour’. And, it means you’re not planning on chucking me aside anytime soon, that’s a nice bit of confidence.”
“You’re alright with that?” Zayn asked as he searched Liam’s face. Liam nodded. “Okay, good. I think we can discuss that more in two weeks though. I'm definitely not wanting to get rid you, I don’t think I could even if I tried. But there is something.”
Liam’s smile dropped a bit, turning more curious. “Something like what?” he asked and Zayn took a breath.
He stroked his thumb over the back of Liam’s hand. “I'm going out on Saturday. Louis’ girlfriend thinks I’d like her friend, so we’re going on a double date.” Liam was frowning at him now, looking a bit hurt and possibly slightly jealous. “I'm sorry, I have to do it. El knows nothing about any of this, she thinks I'm straight. And I'm treading some slightly dangerous water with Louis at the moment. Nothing’s going to happen, I can promise you that, but I do have to go.”
Liam looked away from him, sucking in a few deep breaths and looking like he was working something out in his head. “Is that why you want to wait two weeks?”
“No. That, Liam, that is about your exams.” He stepped closer to Liam, hands still tangled together and their chests almost flush. “I want you. Just you,” he whispered in Liam’s ear, then pressed a soft kiss to his neck. Liam sighed, and Zayn could see the tension leave his body.
“Okay.” There was no resignation colouring his tone; he seemed to be truly okay with it. “But I do hope you realise you just broke your ‘no kissing in school’ rule.”
Zayn groaned. He pulled away from Liam and pressed his hands to his face. “I know. Which is why you are going to go to class, so I don’t do it again.”
Liam gave him a small smile and flicked his eyes to the clock. “I'm going to need a note then, Sir.”
***
He arrived at the bar fifteen minutes after he was supposed to. Louis had texted him five minutes ago telling him he was late, but it wasn’t Zayn’s fault his mum had called him.
“Sorry, I couldn’t get Mum off the phone,” Zayn pressed a kiss to Eleanor’s cheek before sitting down beside the woman he assumed would be Rebecca. “She’s starting to freak out about becoming a grandmother, doesn’t think she’s old enough yet or something.”
Eleanor smiled and took a sip of her wine. “She says that now, but when the baby’s born, it’ll be the best thing that’s ever happened. Zayn, this is Rebecca.” She pointed to the woman Zayn had just sat down beside.
Zayn turned to her and held out a hand, shaking it politely when Rebecca brought her hand to meet his. “Hi. Zayn, but you know that. So, you work with El?”
She smiled and took her hand back to take a sip of her drink, leaving red lipstick around the rim. “Yeah, sometimes, we were just away together. She said you teach at the same school as Louis?”
Zayn raised his eyebrows quickly in confirmation. “I teach English Lit. Um, I should go and get a drink. I'm only going to have a couple, driving. So, I’ll be back in a second.”
As he waited to be served, Zayn watched Rebecca and his friends talk. She was pretty. Her dark hair was loose around her shoulders and the dark tone of her skin contrasted nicely with the sheer white blouse she was wearing. If he wasn’t off the market, he might have gone there.
After he returned with his beer, the four of them chatted amiably for a couple of hours. Eventually, Eleanor pulled Louis away to dance, saying something about leaving Zayn and Rebecca to get to know each other better. Zayn watched them walk away before he turned back to Rebecca.
“Do you want another one? My shout.” She pointed to the empty glass Zayn was fiddling with.
Zayn shook his head. “I shouldn’t. I’ve already had three.”
Rebecca nodded, “Oh yeah, you’re driving. Do you want to dance then?” The coloured lights in the bar shone off her hair, streaking it green and blue.
“Not really much of a dancer. Sorry.”
They sat in a slightly awkward silence for a few minutes. It seemed that without Eleanor and Louis the conversation between them didn’t flow very freely. A part of that, Zayn thought, was that he didn’t want to give Rebecca the wrong idea. He toyed with his empty glass again, tipping it on its edge and watching the dregs of beer on the bottom move around.
“I'm wasting my time, aren’t I?”
Zayn looked up. “What?” he blinked at her.
She sighed and set her hands on the table, pulling them back quickly when she realised it was a bit sticky. “This isn’t going anywhere, is it?”
He grimaced and set his glass down on the table properly. “Sorry. It’s not like - you’re lovely, pretty, and normally I’d jump at the chance but-”
“But you have a secret girlfriend or something?” She didn’t sound put out, there was mostly just curiosity in her tone.
Zayn ran his fingers through the short hair on the side of his head. “Yeah,” His hand dropped to his ear and he spun his earring between his fingers. “Something like that.”
She looked at him thoughtfully for a moment, head tilted to the side as she chewed on the inside of her lip. “A secret boyfriend?” she asked finally, eyebrows raised in question.
“That’s more like it.” Zayn couldn’t help them small smile that formed on his face at the thought of Liam. Only a week left now.
Rebecca stood then, pulling her handbag strap onto her shoulder. “I’ll just go and tell the lovebirds we’re leaving. No use hanging around if we’re just going to be some two-person third-wheel.” Zayn nodded and she started making her way towards the dance floor where Louis and Eleanor were kissing and dancing a bit too slow for the beat of the music.
They parted ways outside the bar. Zayn considered offering her a ride home, but Rebecca was already off down the footpath, phone stuck to her ear as she headed for a waiting taxi.
***
The whole following week Zayn barely saw Liam, understandable due to Liam having exams. He’d sent texts wishing Liam luck and received a confident ‘thank you :D’ every time except for the picture of his harried looking face Zayn got before Liam’s chemistry exam.
Liam didn’t text him at all on Friday. And, if Zayn was being honest, he went to bed that night feeling a little put out.
The shrill ringing of his mobile woke him. Zayn groaned and briefly considered chucking the offending device across the room before his head cleared and he thought it might be Anthony calling because his sister had gone into labour.
He picked up his phone and pushed the answer key, barely looking at the name flashing on the screen. “Hello?” he slurred out, his speech still a bit sleep addled.
“Zayn! Look, I'm really sorry for calling so late, but could you come pick us up?”
The voice on the phone sounded slightly panicked. Zayn shook his head to clear the last of his sleepiness. “Liam? What? Pick you up, what’s wrong?”
“We were at a party - Harry, sit up. Everyone was really drunk and there was a fight, so we ran. But in the wrong direction and now Niall’s close to passing out and Harry has a bloody nose. And I didn’t know who to ring, because I can’t ring my parents, and it doesn’t matter how cool Harry’s mum is about things, I doubt she’d appreciate picking up her drunken son and his friends at three in the morning.” Liam paused to suck in a breath. “So I called you. Please, can you pick us up?”
Zayn was halfway out of bed and into his sweatpants before he answered. “Where are you? Does Harry need anything for his nose?”
Liam breathed a sigh of relief down the phone. Zayn could imagine him standing, eyes closed with the heel of his hand pressed to his furrowed brow. “Harry should be okay, his t-shirt is doubling as a tissue. We’re just past the train station.”
“Okay, I'm on my way. Stay where you are, keep your phone in your hand. I’ll call when I'm closer.” Zayn locked his front door behind him and headed for the stairs.
“Thank you,” Liam whispered and hung up.
Zayn called him back just before he reached the train station, he slowed the car as he held the phone to his ear and peered out the windows into the darkness.
“Hi.” Liam sounded calmer now. “I can see head lights. Is that you?”
He drove forward more and spotted Liam standing in the pool of light given off by a street lamp. “Yeah, I can see you, hold on.”
They didn’t say anything else, Zayn just listened to Liam breathe, finally hanging up when he pulled up beside the boys. He left the car running and got out. He moved quickly around the car to Liam, who was now crouched beside a mostly unconscious Niall.
Liam looked up at him, “Can you help me get him into the car?”
“Of course,” He bent down and threaded an arm under Niall’s as Liam did the same. “On three. One. Two. Three and up.”
Niall groaned and stumbled when they pulled him up. It took him a second to get his legs under him but he ended up helping Zayn and Liam walk him to the car. They tucked him carefully into the back seat and Liam leant over to do up the seat belt for him.
“I don’t think he’s going to be sick,” Liam said, looking at Niall a touch warily, “but perhaps we should roll down the window?”
Zayn did so as Liam went over to Harry before making his way over himself. Harry was propped up against the street lamp, his t-shirt rucked up around his chest and the end of it pressed to his face.
“Still bleeding then?” Zayn crouched down and placed a hand on Harry’s shoulder. The boy looked at him glassy eyed and slightly confused.
“Sir?” The word was slurred and muffled by his bloody t-shirt.
Zayn winced. He could already see the purple of bruising under Harry’s eyes. He must have taken the punch straight on to end up with two black-eyes. “Hiya, Harry. Let’s get you up, yeah, and we’ll take you back…” Zayn looked over to Liam. “Where are we going?”
Liam was pulling Harry up, steadying him with and arm around his waist. “Niall’s. I should be able to deal with them by myself once we get there, and Harry is more sober than Niall. If I do need help, he can do it.”
He guided Harry to the car and helped him into the seat next to Niall. Harry managed to do his own seatbelt, tucking the chest strap awkwardly under his arms so he could still hold his ruined t-shirt to his face. Liam shut the door and went to his own. He stopped, fingers resting on the handle.
“I'm sorry,” he whispered, head hanging down like he was ashamed.
Zayn wanted to wrap his arms around Liam’s waist, pull the boy tightly against him, and whisper back reassurances. But the two boys sitting in the back seat of his car put a stop to that. Instead, he put a hand on Liam’s shoulder, letting his fingertips dip into the collar of his shirt. “It’s fine, Liam. You did the right thing. They’re going to get home safely and that’s what matters.” Zayn gave Liam’s shoulder a squeeze before pulling his hand away and moving around the car to the driver’s side. “But you are going to tell me how Harry ended up in the state he’s in.”
Liam turned around in his seat a few times to fuss over either of the boys when they groaned or murmured something, but he didn’t say anything to Zayn again until they had been driving for a few minutes. He righted himself in his seat and picked at his thumbnail before glancing across at Zayn.
“Right, so Harry.”
Looking at Liam quickly then back to the road, Zayn said quietly, “Yes, Harry. What happened?”
Liam paused, seeming like he was deciding how best to go about telling his story. “We were at Cher’s party, everything was going okay. Niall was having a bit of liquid courage to ask her to dance. I think he fancies her a bit.” He shrugged and picked at his jeans. “But anyway, Harry’s friend Ed showed up, and he wanted us to go to a different party. We didn’t know them, Ed did, and Harry thought he did. So we went; it wasn’t too far to walk.
“It was a bit weird, because we didn’t know anyone. So Niall and I just sat on the sofa for ages. Harry had disappeared somewhere with Ed, and then, all of sudden, there was yelling and stuff being broken. I don’t know, so I got up to check it out, maybe find Harry and leave. I found him in the kitchen, on the floor, having just been punched in the nose. I thought it was because he’d been caught snogging the guy’s girlfriend. It wasn’t his girlfriend. It was his mum.”
Zayn choked out a shocked laugh. He looked at Liam, eyes wide. “His mum? Harry snogged this guy’s mum?”
“Yeah, I know.” A reluctant smile crept onto Liam’s face. He tried to force it down but ended up chuckling along with Zayn. “So we ran. We got as far as the train station before I realised we’d gone the wrong way, and that was about when these two just became useless. Then I called you, and here we are.”
“Yes, we are. This is Niall’s house right?” Zayn slowed the car to a stop when Liam nodded. “You sure you don’t need help getting them inside?”
Liam looked at him carefully for a moment before shaking his head. “Best not, probably.” He glanced into the backseat and lowered his voice. “But wait here, I’ll come back out.”
Zayn did help Liam get Niall out of the car and over to where Harry was waiting on the footpath. He watched as the three boys staggered up to the front door, Liam fumbling with Niall’s keys slightly then going inside. Zayn got back in his car and waited. He scrubbed a hand over his face then looked at the time on his phone. He narrowed his eyes against the bright light from the screen and groaned miserably when he saw the time read 3:52. Tipping his head back against the head rest, he closed his eyes, opening them once again when the passenger side door opened.
Sighing, Liam slid into the seat and twisted to face Zayn. He still looked a bit embarrassed. Zayn brought a hand up to rub a thumb across the boy’s cheekbone as Liam started to speak. “I'm really sorry, again.”
“Liam, stop apologising. I'm just happy you’re okay. If you need me, you call me, that’s how this works.”
Liam pressed his face further into Zayn’s hand then smiled softly at him. “Speaking of ‘this’, my exams are done.”
Slipping his hand further back, Zayn slid his fingers into Liam’s hair and gently pulled him forward. A smile of his own was turning up the corners of his mouth. “They are. How do you think you went?”
“Well, I wasn’t distracted while I was studying so I think they went rather well.” Liam had a hand on the side of Zayn’s seat now, keeping him balanced as he leant towards Zayn. He placed his other hand on Zayn’s thigh, fingertips digging in lightly. “Can I see you tomorrow?”
Zayn swallowed then surged forward, catching Liam’s lips with his own. God, he’d missed this, and they’d only done it on one other occasion. Liam’s mouth parted under his and Zayn traced along the edges of Liam’s teeth with his tongue before pulling back. “Yeah,” he breathed and rested his forehead against Liam’s.
One last, chaste kiss and Liam was slipping out of Zayn’s grasp and the car, waving when he got to the front door before disappearing inside.
***
A/N: Well! This is a lot longer than intended, and it's also up a week earlier than I thought it would be. I know, I know, there were no couch make-outs but hey, you got porn last week (granted it was a different fic but still). You know the drill, any mistakes are mine and not my love beta's, mostly because I'm a bit lazy going over the edit, if you see anything let me know? Also questions, comments, et cetera are welcome and encouraged.
I think I might set up a masterpost. I have two other fics in the works (both Ziam, with a bit of Lourry on the side), I think one will be in a couple of parts and the other is quite possibly another chaptered monstrosity. Both AUs of course.
See you next time, Sarah, xox.