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Liam drug his feet up his front steps, wanting more than anything to dive face first into his bed. He was well and truly exhausted, and nothing sounded better than cuddling up with Zayn between their shared sheets and forgetting about the day. Zayn has a way of calming Liam down from even his worst moods, a trait he had been ever thankful for since the man first stumbled into his life.
Liam heaved a deep sigh as he unlocked the front door, beginning to feel most of the day’s tension wear off his shoulders. He walked through the front door, already prepared for Watson’s bumbling greeting and Zayn’s soft hello kiss. They had an almost routine now—both Watson and Zayn were used to the approximate time Liam arrived home and had taken to waiting for him, and it never failed to fill Liam with an overwhelming urge of love and security. He ached for the familiarity of it all—that calm that surged through Liam when he came home to his boys.
Which is why he felt more than a little off kilter when he entered the house and neither Zayn nor Watson were waiting for him. On days that Zayn was distracted, at least Watson heard him pull into the drive and waited excitedly at the door. Now, though, the front room of Liam’s house was eerily quiet; Liam wouldn’t even think Zayn was home if it hadn’t been for his keys still hanging on the hook by the door.
“Zayn?” Liam called, wandering further into the house. He wasn’t even sure where to begin looking for the man since there wasn’t a sound coming from anywhere. Almost as soon as Zayn’s name left his mouth, though, Liam heard a jumble of noise from what he thought was one of the spare rooms—noises that unquestionably contained more than one dog barking.
“Zayn?” Liam questioned again as he walked towards the noise because he knew, he just knew that what ever he was walking into was definitely not going to be the peaceful evening with Zayn he wanted.
Zayn practically fell out of the doorway in front of Liam, stumbling to a stop before righting himself and quickly shutting the door behind him.
“Liam,” he squeaked, which only helped to further confirm Liam’s suspicions. “You’re home early!”
Liam narrowed his eyes because, no, he really wasn’t. Which is why he said, “I’m not.” He glanced at the door Zayn now had his back pressed against before looking back to the man stood in front of him. “You’re hiding something.” It wasn’t a question, and Liam had an inkling of what it was already. Even if Zayn hadn’t been begging him for another dog—or three—for the past couple of months, Liam knew that Watson wasn’t capable of changing the pitch of his bark.
“W-what? I-I’m not hiding anything! That’s just, that’s ridiculous, Liam! What do I have to hide?” His rambling was followed by several excited barks behind the closed door. Liam felt his eyebrows raise as he fixed Zayn with a pointed look.
“Okay…promise not to get mad?” Zayn’s face transformed into a pout, his lower lip sticking out as he widened his eyes. Liam considered himself a pretty resolute man; he was determined and didn’t often let people sway him, but that stupid face Zayn was pulling was Liam’s weak spot and Zayn, the bastard, knew it, too. It’s the same face that he’s been giving Liam since their first date and Liam’s even weaker to it now than he was then; the same face he’s been faced with repeatedly these past few months as Zayn tried to talk Liam into adopting more dogs. The same face that Liam was more thank likely only a few days away from caving to in the first place. Liam had every confidence that Zayn knew that, too, which is why he undoubtably was hiding at least two newly adopted dogs in their spare room.
Zayn shifted in front of him, an obvious nervous tension running through him at the thought that Liam might actually be mad at him for his actions.
“Or, at least, to not stay mad?” Zayn pleaded, shifting once again as Liam continued to stare at him in silence.
And, okay, it’s not like Liam was ever really mad in the first place. He knew he was going to say yes to Zayn’s pleas soon, plus he liked the thought of getting another dog—just one, but he knew it was already too late for that. It’s just that getting a dog with Zayn scared the shit out of him. Getting a dog that was theirs as opposed to sharing a dog that belonged to one of them. They hadn’t been dating for that long, and as dumb as it might have sounded, getting a shared dog was a big fucking deal. Liam hated himself for even thinking about it, but what if they broke up? What if something happened between them and they decided that they just couldn’t be in a relationship anymore? What happened to the dog they got together? Liam knew that he would be too attached to it to let Zayn have it, and Zayn would be the same way. They’d have to work out some sort of joint-dog-custody, and on top of that they’d have to keep seeing each other in order to trade off custody. It’d be a mess. At least without a new dog thrown into the mix they both could walk away without the part of their hearts that loved those dogs broken.
Except that wasn’t necessarily true, was it? In the six months they’d been dating, Zayn had grown exceedingly attached to Watson, too. They’d be out shopping and Zayn would see a toy with a ‘long-lasting guarantee!’ or a slightly too big kid’s sweater and immediately reach for it, asking Liam if he thought Watson would like it. Never mind that Liam would point out it was a human sweater, Zayn thought it was cute and ‘Watson could totally rock this, Leeyum.’ Zayn always wanted to read in the backyard so he could watch Watson run around, or throw the ball for him on the rare occasion he decided to bring it back. Zayn always made Liam scoot closer to the arm of the couch so there was room for Watson to curl up next to him instead of Liam. He was insistent on taking walks with Watson when the weather was exceptionally beautiful. Sometimes Zayn was more willing to cuddle with Watson than he was with Liam—not that Liam was bitter about that one, really, he wasn’t.
Liam suddenly realized the one fear preventing him from allowing Zayn and himself to get another dog was pointless. Him and Zayn already shared Watson in every way they would a new puppy. It didn’t matter that he was originally Liam’s, he was Zayn’s now, too. Zayn was already so ingrained in his and Watson’s life that a break up would leave them both devastated. All those things Zayn did for Watson, Liam’s pride and joy, always made him giddy. It made him stupidly happy, and it wasn’t until now that Liam realized exactly why. It was because Zayn loved Watson in the same way, with the same vigor that Liam did. Liam knew in that moment that he was in love with Zayn.
“Liam?” Zayn’s voice came out as a shaky whisper, his thoughts no doubt on what Liam could be thinking—he had been quite for a long time while he was lost in his own thoughts. He hadn’t meant to leave Zayn hanging, to leave the boy to his own spiraling thoughts. It was just that, well—
Liam thought this moment was absolutely ridiculous; he was standing in front of an anxious looking Zayn with muffled barking sounding off from the closed door behind him and he was realizing he was in love with Zayn. It was absolutely mental, but, based on how they met, Liam really shouldn’t have expected anything different. In fact, Liam thought the moment was kind of perfect. Love surged through him all over again, causing a laugh to bubble up his throat and out of his mouth. Zayn’s eyes widened as an even more confused look took over his face.
“Liam? What—”
But Liam didn’t let him finish, instead he surged forward to capture Zayn’s jaw in his hands and press Zayn’s lips against his own. He felt Zayn draw in a breath, and Liam took advantage of his surprise by running his tongue over his parted lips, then licking into his mouth as Zayn melted against him. He felt Zayn’s hand come up to his sides, gripping his shirt in tight fists as he slotted himself against Liam’s front. It only encouraged Liam to deepen the kiss, tilting Zayn’s head until the slide of his lips against Zayn’s was almost effortless—spit slick and so fucking good that Liam was essentially breathless.
He pulled away after a moment, pecking one last kiss to Zayn’s shining lips before resting his forehead against Zayn’s as they both took gulping breaths.
“I love you,” Liam murmured, his lips lightly brushing Zayn’s as he spoke the words. He felt Zayn inhale a shaky breath as he met Liam’s eyes, an expression that looked an awful like hope and awe reflected in them.
“You…what?”
Liam let out a soft laugh, still stupidly drawn to the stunning brown of Zayn’s eyes. “I love you, Zayn. I really, really do.” He leaned forward to smooth his lips over Zayn’s for a second, unable to resist their pull. “This day has been completely mental. All I could think about was coming home to you and Watson and spending the night in bed, but instead I come home to you harboring multiple dogs in our spare room.”
“Hey,” Zayn started. “How do you know there’s multiple in there? It could just be Watson and one new dog!”
Liam pulled his head away from Zayn’s in order to raise an eyebrow. “Didn’t you just kind of give yourself away, there?”
Zayn still looked ready to argue, but then his expression shifted into something soft—something undeniably fond.
“I guess I kinda, did, huh?”
Liam laughed again, taking Zayn’s lips in for one last, lingering kiss, before pulling away from him completely.
“Alright, well introduce me to our new children, I guess.”
Liam watched as a wide grin spread across Zayn’s lips, his excitement practically radiating from every pore. “You’re gunna love them, Li. There’s three of them, and they all get along so well with Watson, c’mon.”
Zayn reached out for Liam’s hand, his other closing over the door knob and twisting to let the boys into the chaos that lies behind it.
A laugh slipped out of Liam when he walked into the room, the four dogs looking terribly contradicting. Watson was at least three times bigger than the other dogs in the room. Two of the other dogs were running—stumbling, really—around with him, tugging on a rope gripped between Watson’s teeth. It took both of the smaller dogs to get a grip on the rope in Watson’s mouth, but the giant was still able to pull them effortlessly around with it. Liam took a moment to admire the scene in front of him before a thought struck him.
“Didn’t you say there were three new dogs?” Liam turned to face Zayn, who was also watching the dogs play. He looked away from them, his eyes wandering around the room in search of the final dog.
“Yeah,” he murmured. “Pete. I’ve no idea where he wandered off to.” Zayn stepped further into the room, attempting to search for the lost pup. He only made it three steps before the other dogs noticed his presence and immediately abandoned their play in favor of ambushing him. He let out a loud peal of laughter as the dogs pounced on him, and Liam had to force his own laughter back. He didn’t want to alert the three to his presence—he was enjoying watching Zayn wrestle with them too much to interrupt. He felt that swell of emotion rise in him again, the same love and fondness that had over-taken him just outside the door.
A movement to his right caught his eye, and Liam immediately focused his attention to the corner of the room. His eyes landed on a small brown bundle that was curled up in the corner, snoozing away. Liam felt his heart stutter in his chest as he looked at the puppy resting in there. He was definitely the youngest of all the dogs Zayn had brought home, and Liam was instantly taken with him. He approached slowly, not wanting to draw the other dogs’ attention or startle this one. Once he got close enough, he squatted down, flopping down on his butt and crossing his legs. His movements must have woken the puppy because his eyes squinted open, his trusting gaze landing on Liam. As soon as the dog caught sight of Liam, his tail started wagging at a fast, but still sleep-sluggish pace. Liam let out a small laugh as the puppy wiggled its way over to Liam and plopped itself into the man’s lap to finish its nap. Liam reached down to pet him, his heart seeming to grow in his chest. God, this dog was cute, and Liam never wanted to let it go. The puppy nuzzled into Liam’s palm, a content sigh puffing out of its mouth as it fully relaxed into Liam’s legs. Liam didn’t think he’d ever fallen in love with a dog so fast.
He saw Zayn move towards him out of his peripherals, and he looked up in time to see the other three dogs dart out of the now open bedroom door.
“Y’know, they’re probably going to get up to no good out there without supervision,” Liam said.
“Yeah,” Zayn agreed as he took a sit next to Liam, his knees nudging into Liam’s thigh. “But I quite fancy the view from here for the moment.”
Liam smiled up at Zayn. “What? A dusty corner and ugly dresser? I’m really starting to question your aesthetic choices, mate.”
Zayn laughed, leaning forward to press his forehead against Liam’s.
“As beautiful as that sounds,” he began with an eyeroll, “I was rather referring to the man I love holding one of our newest family members.” Zayn’s voice went soft as he spoke, his sentence ending in an almost whisper.
Liam felt a grin split his lips as he looked into Zayn’s eyes, his heart beating faster at Zayn’s confession. “Ours, yeah?”
Liam watched Zayn’s lips lift into a smile of his own. “Yeah, ours,” he breathed, before leaning forward to capture Liam’s lips in a soft kiss.