Chapter Text
The day the album dropped Zayn was freaking out, his hands were constantly shaking and his feet were always tapping. You would think that he would be ecstatic that the process was finally over, and that maybe he would even go out and party his obvious success but he just couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was going to happen. Or at least something unexpected was going to occur, it was just a feeling he couldn't shake.
Liam, on the other hand, was over the moon and grinning with pride, his boyfriend's album was a hit and the video that dropped at midnight already had over a million views. Liam wasn't oblivious to Zayn's discomfort, though, he saw the way his sub shook like a leaf in a storm but he couldn't say anything about it yet. After all, they were currently, well Zayn was currently getting interviewed by a radio host, Liam was just in the room holding his hand as support.
The host was kind and gentle but still asked questions that were rather rude and harsh. It wasn't the first time the two had dealt with hosts like this, in the past they went through hundreds of sneaky interviewers but this one seemed different. It was as if he was taunting his prey with every smile and personal question, he was trying to get Zayn to admit something, but what?
"So Zayn lately you've been wearing this, collar, no wait, choker, a lot. There have been some rumors going around since you started wearing it more often, especially when Liam came back into your life, can you tell the listeners what it means?" The interviewer asked calmly with another smile.
Liam tensed up a bit before releasing a breath and holding Zayn's hand a little tighter, it was supposed to be comforting but they both knew that they couldn't even think of relaxing in this situation. Sure a couple magazines pointed out the collar on occasion, some thought it was just a fashion statement while fans thought it was something more.
Zayn's eyes quickly darted towards Liam before he opened his mouth and said the words that no one was expecting.
"It actually is a collar and it’s something I like to wear and I honestly don't understand why it's a concern of yours or anybodys for the matter. Yes, it means something to me, but I'm not going to be pressured into telling thousands of people why it is. I hope you all understand, now can we please move on to the next question " Zayn said, his voice shaking every so often. It was a way of telling the truth but also keeping things private and respectable. Those who assumed the truth would either be shocked or appalled and Zayn honestly didn't give a fuck.
The interviewers smile dropped but he quickly covered it up and continued on with the other questions, the rest of the interview went smoothly with a couple questions from the listeners.
Liam kept on whispering cute things into Zayn's ears that made him blush from time to time, but before the interviewer could question them they would both glare at the man.
"I hate that guy so much" Liam grumbled under his breath after they walked out of the radio hosts office with fake smiles and farewells. As he spoke little puffs of air swarmed up into the sky and Zayn watched in awe, he always loved the sight despite how much he actually hated the cold. It was just amusing for him to see the "smoke" move around in the sky.
"I hate him too, I'll ask to have him blacklisted from my interviewer list for a while. He really pissed me off with every single prying question he had, he threw in questions that we hadn't discussed prior too" Zayn ranted angrily as he reached up to run his fingers across the cool metal of his collar.
The fact that he was even wearing his collar in public was a major thing for Liam and Zayn, they had talked about it for hours with a few minor fights and tears. He was embarrassed at first but after the boys, all called him and told him that he looked good he was overwhelmed with happiness.
That was actually another relatively new occurrence, the boys were talking again, sure it wasn't exactly how it used to be but they were slowly getting there. Liam was the one who decided to facetime them all so they could discuss everything out like sensible adults instead of getting into random twitter fights. Liam felt like he was living a double life between the band and Zayn and him honestly just couldn’t take it anymore. Plus as Zayn's dom he decided that the sub shouldn't have so much negativity in his life, Liam couldn’t stand seeing Zayn look longingly at Liam's phone whenever all the boys decided to call him. It was silly that the boys who still talked to him always had to sneak around to call Zayn, it was childish and rude.
So when they all facetime Liam put his foot down and demanded that they talk their feelings out, things got better after that despite the fact they kept on having to reconnect since one of them would always hang up out of frustration and anger. When the sorry's were exchanged Harry, of course, had to change the topic of discussion to Zayn and Liam's relationship, which then led to Niall pointing out the collar sitting delicately on Zayn's neck. Since he refused to talk Zayn let Liam handle that embarrassing conversation while he himself hid behind Liam and blushed at every dirty joke the boys threw at them.
But coming back to present time the boys were getting into their driver's cars and were getting touched randomly by the fans who had jumped over the gate. Of course, they didn’t mind the fans touching them and jumping the gates on occasion, but there was still a gate set up for a reason, so it got a bit annoying when every time there is a gate set up the fans pretend as if it’s not there.
Once they closed the door the driver pulled out of the circle and began driving towards Zayn's apartment, all Zayn wanted to do was take a nap and maybe watch a movie later on. He didn’t feel like going out and he still felt like something bad was going to happen later on, or at least something out of the ordinary was. He didn’t like the feeling but he didn’t want to voice his concerns to Liam, the man had just stopped looking at him with his usual concerned look and he didn’t want to bring it back. Not that he didn’t appreciate the bulky man's concern, it was just stressful and nerve wracking.
Once the car stopped the two thanked the driver who simply nodded at them before running up to their apartment, the elevator ride up felt like it was taking 10 hours for Zayn but in reality, it was just under a minute. He just wanted to see his bed and go to sleep for once, if not he honestly thought that he would end up crying. Over the past week, his sleeping schedule had been thrown off with more late nights at the studio and excessive planning along with interviews and performances.
When the elevator doors finally opened up on their floor Zayn practically dashed towards the door and started fiddling with the lock and code. Liam watched in amusement and pity, it was different for him since the band was on break so he got to sleep in, but Zayn didn’t have the luxury of taking such a long break. When he left the band and started his solo career only two of those months were actually spent relaxing, the rest were filled with private meetings and signings. No one but his crew knew, of course, no one wanted to hear about a sleep deprived pop star anyway.
As soon as the door swung open Zayn ran to the bedroom and dashed over to the bed before jumping on it. Liam simply shook his head with a faint smile on his lips, he couldn't help but think how cute it was that even when Zayn wasn't in his puppy headspace some of his antics were still puppy like. Liam locked the door behind himself and dropped his jacket on one of the chairs lying around, he looked around the minimalistic apartment and thought about all the memories that he had already formed within its walls. Releasing a breath and stretching his arms towards the sky till he heard a faint pop, Liam walked over to the fridge in hopes of finding something edible to feed Zayn.
He wasn't shocked to see that he was limited in his options, for as long as Liam knew Zayn he had noticed that the darker man always waited till the last possible second to go grocery shopping. The same old excuse of "but it's so boring" was always mumbled by the man whenever the others would question his reasoning for rarely shopping for food.
Liam stood back up after he searched the bottom drawer of the fridge, there was nothing here to make a meal and by the looks of it, Zayn wasn't leaving the apartment for anything. So he did what any other person would do, he ordered take out and waited for its arrival. It took about twenty minutes to show up but once he smelt the tantalizing aromas he knew that the wait was worth. Placing the steaming food on the marble placing that sat on the table Liam contemplated if he should wake Zayn up to eat, he knew the man needed to eat but he was also sleep deprived.
After a couple of minutes in deep thought, he decided that it would be best to bring the food to Zayn in bed, that way he could relax but still eat. Liam pulled out a plate from one of the cupboards and started arranging the food neatly on the plate, next he pulled on one of the glasses from the dishwasher that ran overnight and poured some water into it. Zayn had said that he was going to avoid soda for a while since he was trying to cut down on sugar, so obviously Liam couldn't give him the soda that came along with the food.
He placed the two meals and drinks on one of the serving tray's that Zayn kept on top of the fridge for safe keeping. After arranging the tray to the best of his capabilities, he took it within both of his hands and walked over to their shared bedroom. At first, he knocked gently at the door but was met with no response, so he balanced the tray in one hand and gripped the doorknob and slowly opened the door.
In front of him was Zayn cuddled up in multiple blankets; Liam laughed once he saw the Adventure time blanket around Zayn, it was one of the blankets that Zayn used to keep on his pet bed when he wasn't allowed to sleep on the bed.
Liam walked over to his nightstand and gently placed the tray of food on it, making sure it was centered properly so it wouldn't tip over. He then slipped under the covers next to bed after taking off his boots, "baby, you have to wake up" Liam whispered into Zayn's ear. The darker man didn't move a muscle, Liam rubbed soothing circles into Zayn's hips and continued to whisper into his ear.
Eventually, Zayn woke up with a groan and a whimper. "Li Li, I'm sleepy, just let me sleep" Zayn muttered out, sleep still thick in his voice.
"No can do, sweet cheeks. Now get up, I ordered Chinese for us, I promise after that after you eat you can go back to sleep" Liam persuaded, he kissed Zayn's cheek once he noticed that the man was slowly shifting himself upwards.
"Feed me" With that Liam only rolled his eyes and picked up the man's fork and placed it into his mouth.
******
After they finished eating they settled into a warm cuddle; Zayn raised the heat up from his phone, while Liam wrapped the blankets around their bodies even tighter. Liam's hand was gently tugging at the ring that was attached to Zayn's collar, it was a simple gesture that caused Zayn's heart to flutter.
"You know, you haven't fully gone into your headspace yet," Liam noted, his breath fanning the back of Zayn's neck where tiny hairs were beginning to rise. The man hummed a response and attempted to move his body even deeper into Liam's warmth, causing another laugh to escape his mouth.
"Do you think you would want to pup out?" Liam questioned after a couple beats of silence, he looked down at Zayn who's eyes were still closed.
"Of course I want to, I've been waiting to pup out for a while I just didn't know how to ask" Zayn admitted, it wasn't something that he could even fit into his busy schedule either. He was always kept on a tight leash my his management, who refused to let him have a break in between shows.
"How about you strip down to your boxers while I get you mittens and ears?" Liam volunteered, he was already halfway out of the bed before Zayn even got a chance to lift up this head. Zayn wasn't complaining, though, he always liked pupping out and watching Liam slip into handler mode.
Zayn slowly rolled out of the big and messy bed, once his feet touched the cold floor he stretched for a minute and began to strip his clothes off. First came his shirt, then pants, and socks, he glanced into the mirror behind him he smiled once he saw the little bones and "bow wow's" one his boxers. Even if he wasn't always in his headspace he still liked to have some parts of the play on or around him at all times.
Zayn slowly eased himself onto the floor and positioned himself into the resting position that he was first taught; knees and legs apart, palms open, and hands placed on top of his highs. He waited patiently for Liam to come back, it didn't take for Liam to walk back into the room, he was now shirtless and had small crate filled with items in his hand.
"aww look at that, you even got into resting position for me. You're such a good boy!" Liam praised while placing the crate down on the floor, the praise caused Zayn's eyes to light up with pride and joy. He didn't move or make a sound, he had rules that he had to abide by.
The first thing that Liam pulled out of the tiny black crate were kneepads, which he quickly strapped onto Zayn's knees. Next, he pulled out soft padded leather mittens that had dog paw imprints on them, Liam shot Zayn a quick look which made Zayn lift his hands up to Liam, Liam places the mittens on Zayn and made sure they weren't too tight on his wrists. Then, Liam sets out two types of puppy tails and two types of headgear, Liam motioned for Zayn to choose which one's he wanted. Zayn looked at the gear that was laid out before him and placed a paw on one of each, it looked like Zayn didn't want anything sexual today by his choices. Finally, Liam gave him a soft smile and placed the headband that held the puppy ears on top of Zayn's head, then wrapped the strap that held the puppy tail around Zayn's waist.
"You look so cute like this, Z" Liam gushed out, he reached out his hand and placed it under Zayn's nose. The human pup sniffed at the hand for a second before letting out an excited and small bark and moving is head into Liam's hand.
****
After roughly two hours of playing around, Zayn finally tired out and settled down for a nap by Liam's feet. Liam grinned at the sight and reached down to pet the tired man, he needed this and so did Zayn.
"I love you, pup. "