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Liam wasn’t scared.
He wasn’t.
The haunted house was just really well done this year.
The lights and the fog, even the sound effects seemed way too realistic for a haunted house run by students.
Liam, attempting to avoid looking behind him, was walking behind Niall and Zayn, who were way too relaxed. He straggled in the back, trying not to third wheel and also not to scream.
That’s when, of course, a bloody chainsaw murderer had to jump straight out of the wall.
“Hello love!”
Niall, jumping into Zayn’s surprised arms, stared dumbfoundedly as a loud swear tore through the room. The space where Liam had been standing was now empty, the door swinging open, a hand clutched in Liam's grasp.
Liam didn’t stop until they were out of the house.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to hold your hand there,” Liam said, breathing heavily.
The responding silence had Liam turning around to find neither Niall nor Zayn, but a zombie smirking at him.
“Boo?”
“Sorry!” A series of rushed apologies and the cute zombie had a full-blown grin stretched across his face.
“Ticket?” A little gobsmacked, Liam handed his ticket over and the zombie pulled a marker out from one of his many pockets. A few flicks of his pen and he hands back the ticket with a wink before disappearing into the slightly less haunted house.
A little gobsmacked, he looks down to find a phone number with a name written in the corner, the dot on the ‘i’ replaced with a heart.
. . .
“Mate, just text him. It can’t be that hard.”
The blood was rushing to Liam’s head. Lying upside down on the couch did that to you. In response to Niall’s annoyance, Liam let his body fall onto the floor, feet still resting on the couch.
“Here,” Pulling the phone from Liam and throwing it into Zayn’s waiting hands, Niall gave Liam a quick shove, reuniting his body with the floor.
“Alright, here goes. Ahem. ‘Look mate, your arse is cute. Wanna take mine out?’ How’s that then?” The sentence was more than enough to get Liam scrambling off the floor.
“No! I’ve got this! I’ll write the message!”
. . .
“Your arse is cute. Wanna take mine out?” Louis smiling was most definitely playful. That didn’t stop the blush spreading from Liam’s cheeks to his neck. Covering his neck with his hands, he slumped his forehead onto the table where they were seated. The knight costume he was wearing wasn’t helping his embarrassment.
“My friend thought he was being helpful.”
“And I think it was,” Liam peeked up at him from the table top, and Louis’s face melted into a sly grin, “Helpful to know you think my arse is cute, that is.”
“Ughhhhhh.” Liam slumped once again. “Alright, let’s get to it! Didn’t bring you to a party to moan in the corner. We’ve got games to win and liquor to drink.”
“Game plan?”
“Get drunk, and have my noble knight rescue me with his warm smile?”
. . .
“Liam gets that point ‘cause he’s damn sexy! And strong, and n-noble and perfect and warm!” A cackling Louis was practically falling against the wall at this point as Liam bounced another ping pong ball off the table.
“Alright, alright, I think that’s enough for one night!” Liam called out to the other lads, who looked more than ready to start stacking for another round.
“C’mon my boy!” Louis grabbed his hand, dragging him outside.
“Hey, hey, hey! I think that’s my job!” Liam pulled Louis to a halt outside the door, stopping him before Louis could drag them off the porch.
“The brave knight, ready to protect those in danger, hold the hand of those in peril, and cuddle those in dire need!” Louis’s theatrics has them collapsing in stitches on the porch hammock. Time seemed to freeze as they stared into each other’s eyes, their breath fogging in the cold. “Who’s gonna cuddle a zombie though?”
“You’ve got me to cuddle, don’t worry.”