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"Liam?" Perrie calls from the kitchen, "You want me to make you some tea?"
It's their third day together in Perrie's flat and she's still unsure of what to make of it. Sometimes she's not sure of what to make of Liam in general now that he's passed the realm of friend to boyfriend. There's guilt that flickers in her head sometimes as though she's breaking some sort of code by dating Zayn's former bandmate but she doesn't care. Jesy's always telling her that she shouldn't be paying Zayn any mind any more but it's a work in process. Liam helps with that. It isn't quite as hard anymore; the nights aren't quite as lonely as they used to be. Even when they're apart, her phone will buzz with some silly Snapchat from him and she can't help but laugh.
And it's been better than she expected, having a boy around the place. Her flat's a lot smaller than the old house was but sometimes, after the girls have left and she's the only one there, it feels bigger than any stadium in the world. Liam fills the space--but in a good way, not like some sort of bare minimum replacement. She likes to think that, if Sophia left a hole in him, she's filling that too in just the same way.
"Er, sure, that'd be great, Pez. Thanks," Liam calls from the living room. She hums, putting a kettle on and tugging the sleeves of Liam's sweatshirt over her hands. She was too lazy this morning to do much and it's not like they're going anywhere today anyway. Liam's the only one who's going to see her with her blonde hair in a messy, half-done bun on the top of her head with a little bit of last night's eyeliner smudged around her eyelashes. And she knows that he won't care anyway. She shuffles through the kitchen, grabbing her best two matching tea cups and even the matching saucers. She knows that Liam doesn't care what cups she uses but she likes the pair.
The kettle whistles too soon. Perrie hustles to get it off the oven in case it disturbs him too much, "You want some sugar? Milk?"
"Sure, both," he replies. The same thirty seconds of music is looping over and over with only a slight rhythm change here and there. He'd decided to do a remix album of Made in the A.M., something to act as a little send off for the fans in March, but Perrie guesses that it has more to do with keeping himself busy.
"Alright, here we are!" she brings the cups into the living room, being careful to not trip over the jackets they shed last night after coming in from the club. Just the memory makes her blush.
"Thanks," he mumbles, starting the loop over again. Perrie sets the cup down next to him and curls up in her oversized armchair. Her sister had helped her decorate the place when she got it; Perrie's fairly certain that the chair was more for her sister's occasional use than anything else but it is quite comfy. On a day like today, when slushy snow falls from the grey sky to coat the streets, it makes her feel cozy. She turns her eyes from the iced window back to Liam. His tea is still untouched and she'd mention it to him if it wasn't for the way he's so focused on the screen, his chin in his hand.
He frowns at his keyboard; the loop changes again to something with a heavier bass. "I like that," she comments. He hums, bobbing his head along to the beat. Perrie smiles into her tea, feeling the steam spread her face as she takes a long sip. She'd reach for the remote but it's nice to have this silence--or at least close to silence. Once tour starts up for them, nothing will be quiet anymore. It'll just be a rush of noise and people and places and Perrie knows that she'll miss the calm. Maybe it's good that she soaks it up now while she can.
Liam still hasn't taken a single sip of his tea by the time she finishes hers. She gets to her feet again, padding across the lush cream carpet to take his tea cup. "What are you--oh," a rosy pink rises high in his cheeks, "It's gone cold, hasn't it?"
"Probably," she admits, dipping her pinky finger in, "Definitely."
"God, I'm sorry, Pez. I know I said I wasn't gonna work while I was here and now I've gone and wasted some of your tea," Perrie rolls her eyes.
"Liam, it's tea, you don't have to apologize. I'll make you another cup, yeah?" he nods, still blushing. She brings their cups back into the kitchen, dumping his tea down the sink and putting the kettle on again, "How's the remix coming? It sounds good to me so far."
"Yeah, I guess," she smiles down at the slightly rusted kettle.
"Your perfectionist is showing, Li."
Liam groans, "I know, I know. But this is for the fans so it needs to be good. I mean, we still haven't decided on how long the hiatus will be--and with Louis and Briana having a baby and Harry and Niall being…well, you know, I want to give the fans something really good to hold on to while they wait. Hopefully they won't think that this is just to fill some sort of record responsibility and that it's not actually a hiatus, but--"
She turns around and raises her eyebrow, "I'll let you get a pass on doing the remix but you're not getting a pass on hiatus talk. That's too much work and we're on holiday."
"Sorry, sorry, I'll shut up," Liam stretches; the hem of his flannel shirt lifts up just high enough to let her see a glimpse of his stomach.
"You don't have to shut up, just don't talk about all that stuff. This is a stress-free zone," she says in her most zen accent, waving her arms around just enough to make him smile.
"Alright, alright, fine," Liam gets up and walks into the kitchen. He leans against the door frame, mussing with his hair until it's no longer the perfectly style quiff it is on the red carpet. Perrie yawns, scratching the back of her neck. "Erm, what d'you want to get up to today, if anything?" Liam asks.
Perrie snorts, "If you don't finish that remix, neither of us will be getting much of anything done so you'd best do that first." Liam blushes again.
"I'm not making this much of a holiday, am I?" he mutters to his socked feet. Perrie hums, walking over to flick his nose.
"Well, not with that attitude, you aren't," Liam grins.
"It's almost uncanny how well you've got me figured out, Pez," he slides his arm around her waist.
"As much as I'd like to say otherwise, you're not hard to read if I'm paying attention."
"Then why couldn't you read me before?"
Perrie bites her lip, "Well, because--I wasn't paying attention." She looks down at her pink socked feet to avoid his face.
"Oh, ah, that would make sense," the shrill whistle of the kettle saves them both from that awkward conversation.
"Now I propose that we drink tea and you can finish the remix. Maybe I will help you if I think you're worthy of it," she turns her nose up as she pours tea into the same two cups.
"Princess Perrie, would you please help me with the remix?" he teases, deepening his voice.
Perrie smirks, handing him his tea. "Well, fair knight, I suppose I could try," she trills. Liam laughs, that warm chuckle that makes her feel safe, and they walk back into the living room. This time Perrie curls up against Liam's side, her legs pressed to her chest and her head on his shoulder. She has to keep nudging him towards the tea--she will be a bit peeved if he doesn't drink this cup either--but otherwise she watches him work. Occasionally she chimes in, singing a melody for him to mimic, but mostly she drinks her tea and traces the lines of his tattoos with her fingertip. Goosebumps raise on his skin and she sees him blushing out of the corner of her eye.
"Well, that's it then," Liam says as he clicks "save" on his computer. Perrie hums, watching him type.
"Wait, what's Big Peyno?"
"Um, the e is for you, obviously. You helped," Perrie sputters, feeling her fact go hot. Liam grins, wrapping his arm around her shoulders to pull her in. "See, look. You were the one that suggested that melody change here, and right here you--erm, alright, you were just tapping your fingers but I liked the rhythm so I might have been sneaking that one in. You helped though, Pez, so it's only right that you get some credit," he kisses her temple which does nothing to help her blush.
"Thank you, Liam," she eventually stutters. She pushes her messy hair back behind her ear, "Sorry it's just that…well, I'm not exactly used to being involved with my boyfriend's musical stuff."
Liam scoffs, kissing her cheek now, "Well, you're involved with me so it's different. You were my working partner for this."
"Involved?" Perrie asks, raising her eyebrow, "Working partner? What are we, a bloody business merger?"
"Wha--No! Of course not!" Liam squawks. Perrie scowls. It's bad enough that tabloids had pinned that on them when they went semi-public, claiming that once again, she was using One Direction for promo. They tacked on some bogus story from a "source" on how Zayn considered it the "ultimate betrayal." That issue of The Sun had required a lot of wine and chocolate to cry through. It's the only time she's ever questioned whether being with Liam was right.
The fact that he'd called--without even her prompting--to tell her that it was all a load of shit that she shouldn't worry about had taken those fears away. They'd ended up snapchatting for the rest of the night (though Liam's phone was hijacked for about fifteen minutes by a very drunk Harry and Niall, who'd spoken over each other in their slurred attempts at making her feel better) and eventually things weren't so bad. The fact that her girls had spent the night showing her the best defensive tweets from fans helped too. "Pez, hey," Liam squeezes her hand, breaking her out of her thoughts, "I didn't mean it like that. Look, you know me, you said so yourself. I'm just so used to being the, erm," he swallows, searching for the word, "composed one, y'know? The one giving all the straight answers. Sometimes it bleeds over where it shouldn't. You are my partner, just not like that."
Perrie sighs, "No, no, I know what you meant. I'm just being an idiot, that's all. I'm happy to be involved with you no matter what that means, Li." She squeezes his hand back and smiles. Hopefully her lip doesn't wobble too much.
"Yeah?" she nods. She should've expected what comes next, "Just how involved with me would you like to be, Miss Edwards?"
It's something about how he says it, whether it's the waggling eyebrows or the overly sultry voice, but instead of feeling woozy Perrie bursts into near hysterical laughter. Liam's blush turns into a pout when her laugh gets higher instead of dwindling down like he probably wants. He stands up, already in a sulk, and Perrie almost has to lunge for his hand to pull him back, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, that's just--the way you said it, Li!" Liam's still pouting so she does her best to stifle the laughter, "Look, look, it was a solid attempt, yeah? We'll work on it."
'I just know that he was probably better at…that sort of thing," Liam mumbles, rubbing his nose like he's trying to hide the way his face is burning. Perrie hums, that same subdued, almost reluctant sound she always makes when Zayn comes up.
"That doesn't matter so much to me, really. You're different, Li, and that's what matters. If I wanted someone like him, I would've found him again," she tugs at a stray navy thread on the sleeve. The sweatshirt smells like Liam's cologne, a soft musk with that hint of vanilla that he'd never admit to anyone else. Perrie's pretty sure that nobody could appreciate it like she does either.
"I just want to be good for you, Pez. Good to you, too. You deserve that," his voice softens and they stare at each other for a moment. He hasn't shaved since the weekend when they went out with Niall and Harry to that dive bar but Perrie likes it. It takes away some of his shine, leaves him looking human almost, and it helps her feel a little more human too. Being who they are and doing what they do, sometimes feeling human is a rare moment.
"Well, y-you're succeeding," she murmurs, nudging his knee with hers. Three months of dating and sometimes they're still not over these silly little things, like teens embarrassed to admit a crush. Maybe it's the lingering effects of the holes Zayn left in both of them that ended up making them two perfect puzzle pieces. Either way, Perrie isn't quite sure she wants this giddy rush of excited hesitance to ever fade. She puts her tea cup down on the teak coffee table, "And because you asked, Mr. Payne, this Miss Edwards very much likes being involved with you in a lot of ways." She takes his cup too, placing it carefully next to hers before crawling into his lap.
"We were very involved last night, weren't we?" he asks, almost a purr that makes her toes curl. She hums, dragging her nose across his. His warm hands rest on her sides and then inch up under the hem to press against her skin.
"I do suppose we were."
"Maybe we should get involved again," she can tell that he's trying, that that was a second attempt thrown out hesitantly, but this time laughter is nowhere on her mind.
She kisses the corner of his mouth and then his jaw, feeling the scratch of his stubble as her lips dance across his skin, "See, that's more like it."