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Liam was in the middle of their living room when Zayn got home. He couldn’t blame him for the way he froze in the doorway, mouth agape, as he stared at Liam and their dogs. He really couldn’t; their living room was in chaos. There was stuffing strewn about, pieces of shredded toys mixed in with the mess, some of the furniture was askew, and the dogs were all running about. They were practically vibrating with energy, pouncing on one another before doing a lap around a piece of furniture and coming back to play.
Liam would deny it later, but he was, without a doubt, the instigator of the mess and the dogs’ behavior. He couldn’t help himself, though. Playing with them was fun, and it wasn’t like it was his fault they were destructive by nature. It’s not like he was the one who tore into the toys then shook them around, effectively spreading stuffing all over their living room. He just…sort of encouraged it by playing tug-o-war with them. But really, was it his fault they were so cute and so willing to play? Liam didn’t think so.
The furniture’s state, however, couldn’t be blamed entirely on the dogs. Liam had bumped into it just as much as they had while chasing and wrestling with them. That was the position Zayn caught him in when he got home—Liam was on the bottom of a puppy pile, giggling as he tried to pin at least one of their four dogs down. It wasn’t working out well for him considering they were all tag teaming him, but man was it fun to at least try.
“Liam,” Zayn began. “What is going on in here?” Five sets of eyes all darted to Zayn, halting all movement for a fraction of a second. Once the dogs realized one of their dads were home, though, they went even more nuts. They ran towards Zayn, all but tackling him to the ground in their excitement. They were jumping and whining, sniffing Zayn to take in all the new smells on him while getting reacquainted with the smell that was uniquely Zayn. They were all obviously trying to get Zayn to focus on one over the other. Zayn took it all with a practiced ease, petting each dog for a couple seconds before moving onto the other while telling them all how much he loved and missed them. Once they were appeased, they ran back to Liam hopeful to continue their rough housing. And Liam was more than happy to do so—after he gave Zayn his own greeting.
“Zaynie!” Liam exclaimed. He practically ran over to Zayn, his body shaking with excitement at seeing his boyfriend after he’d been gone for a week. He really missed this boy. He wrapped Zayn in his arms, nuzzling into his neck and breathing him in. Yeah, he really fucking missed Zayn. “God, don’t ever leave me again. I was so lonely without you. I love you.”
Zayn giggled by Liam’s ear, bringing one of his hands up to smooth over the back of Liam’s head. “Yeah, seems like you were a real mess without me.” Zayn let out another string of giggles at his obvious pun, and Liam couldn’t help but join him. What a dork.
“We were,” Liam agreed. He pushed himself more firmly into Zayn embrace, rubbing his nose against Zayn’s neck. Zayn was radiating a warmth that Liam had ached for over the last week. He really did hate it when he was gone.
“Liam, geeze. I don’t think you can get any closer to me, love. I’m suffocatin’.” Liam’s response was to squeeze a little tighter.
“You ‘ave to deal with it. ‘M your boyfriend and I missed you a whole lot.”
Zayn let out a soft sigh, more fond than anything else. “You’re not even a boyfriend, you’re kind of like a dog. You’re worse than the dogs. At least they have some sense of personal space.” Liam let out a loud snort against the column of Zayn’s throat because no, their dogs had no respect for personal space. That word wasn’t in their vocabulary, actually.
“Your fault,” Liam mumbled. “You’re the one who left me with them by m’self for a week. It only follows that I start acting like ‘em.”
Zayn let out a couple more chuckles, squeezing Liam tightly for a couple seconds. “That’s okay, Liam. I love you no matter what—puppy or human you’re still mine.”
Liam grinned against Zayn’s neck, content to stay just where he was for as long as Zayn would let him.