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Zayn had a problem.
His problem didn’t consist of something as trivial as missing a doctor’s appointment or forgetting to brush his teeth, nor did it have anything to do with him getting a girl pregnant or having cancer either. No.
He was in love with his best friend.
And before you say that it’s nothing; that people fall in love with their best friend all the time, you haven’t heard Zayn’s story.
He was in love with someone he probably should never have fallen for. Out of all the seven billion people in the world, he had to fall for this particular person. His best friend was in the band, the band that he sung and hung out with on a daily basis. He, yes it was a he, was none other than the unattainable Liam Payne.
Zayn had tried everything. Nothing could smother these feelings, not even the warmth of a beautiful girl by his side. Perrie had been merely a distraction, nothing more. Someone to get his mind off his best friend, someone to pass the time when Liam would finally hit his head and realize that he too was completely in love with Zayn and they could happily skip hand in hand into the sunset.
He had nothing against Perrie; she was a good person, but he didn’t feel a thing for her. Every time she’d whisper those three words in his ear, he would cringe and bile would lurch up his throat. He hated using her, but there was no way around it. Liam had Danielle; and while that seemed to be going brilliantly, Zayn needed something to ease his aching heart.
This had been going on a couple of months now. Zayn would pine for Liam secretly, wishing that Liam’s touches would linger just a little bit longer so he’d know that the boy felt the same about him. They would cuddle during movies and sleep in the same bed when they shared a hotel room. But none of that was beyond normal for them. The whole band was touchy, they needed physical contact to survive, and apparently Liam and Zayn were no different.
It wasn’t like he hated Danielle, he just hated that it wasn’t him who made Liam happy. And he bet he could, if he was just given a chance. He had contemplated telling Liam the truth, but he was sure that things wouldn’t go smoothly. He knew Liam enough to know that he wasn’t the cheating kind either. Even if he did like someone other than her, he’d never betray Danielle like that; at least not while they were dating.
So Zayn was stuck pining for Liam from afar, or rather, most of the time, right beside him, pressed against his comforting form. Curse Liam Payne and these feelings. He was sure that even the other boys knew about his infatuation with the boy. He had caught Louis’ knowing smirk and Harry’s simple shake of head when they’d caught his eyes lingering on a certain brunette a little too long. Everyone seemed to know exactly how he felt about Liam, but Liam. It was frustrating to say the very least.
At the moment, he was surprised that the Wolverhampton couldn’t feel his eye boring holes in the side of his face. But Liam seemed to be oblivious to the fact that Zayn was paying any attention to him, let alone in the same room.
Liam’s eyes were doing that crinkling into half-moons that happens whenever his laughter is genuine. And while Liam’s laughter should be lighting up the room, Zayn’s fist is clinching tightly, causing his knuckles to turn white. If he didn’t have his sharpie gripped properly, he was sure that it would have broken by now.
It has been exactly ten minutes since Adam has introduced himself to the band and stopped in front of Liam to get him to sign a poster or cd or something, Zayn isn’t quite sure at this point. He has insisted that Liam is his favorite in the band and that he just loves how Liam sings, like it’s only to him. Zayn had to roll his eyes at this comment, for in fact, Zayn thought he should be the only one Liam sung to.
A sharp nudge to his ribs broke his concentration on the pair. His head whiped around, his hazel eyes meeting blue. Louis is giving him a stern look and leans over to whisper in his ear. “Give it a rest. Quit acting like a jealous ex-boyfriend. Everyone in the room is noticing.”
At the news, Zayn’s eyes scan the room, then he shook his head as if he didn’t agree with Louis’ statement. No one was really paying attention to him at the moment, but he does relax his death grip on the black sharpie. He lets himself be distracted by a pretty brunette as he signs her cd, and make small talk about his dancing. Once she’s gone his eyes glances over to Liam, where Adam is still hovering near, apparently in deep conversation.
What could they possibly be talking about for this long? He cheered victoriously when management told the boy to keep moving. That was short lived, however, when he just simply moved to side to continue the conversation while Liam began to sign other fan’s merchandise and such. This was beginning to urk Zayn beyond belief. This person couldn’t be this interesting, could he?
Zayn had stopped paying attention to anything else but the two boys. He only signed things whenever Louis or Niall would nudge him in the side to get his attention. Sometimes, Niall would just slide the thing the fan wanted to sign in front of him, skipping Zayn completely. He was beyond excuses now for staring at Liam in such a way, he just hoped whatever reasons Niall and Louis came up with to tell the fans made sense. But if anyone with half a sense could see, they’d know what, or who rather, had Zayn’s full attention.
Just then Adam reaches over and rests his hand on Liam’s shoulder and squeezes it and that’s it, Zayn is seeing red. He slams the sharpie down on the table with a loud ‘thud’ and pushes his chair out. “What are you doing?” Louis hissed at him, but Zayn barely heard it.
He walked, or more like stomped, over to Liam’s side of the table. Liam looked up at him in surprised when he saw who it was, and Adam removed his hand off of Liam’s shoulders, much to Zayn’s satisfaction.
“Z-Zayn, what’s wrong? Why are y-“ Liam began, but Zayn cut him off abruptly.
“Uh, sorry to bother you, but Liam, I need to see you. Alone.” He emphasized the last word while eyeing Adam. He seemed to have gotten the hint and smiled at Liam.
“Well it was very nice meeting you Liam, keep up the good work, look forward to the new stuff.” He nodded, grabbing his long forgotten poster and scampered off. Hopefully to die Zayn thought bitterly.
“See ya,” was all Liam could say before Zayn was taking his hand and yanking him backstage, down the corridor of the building that they had set up for the signing.
“Zayn? What’s is gotten into you?” asked a confused Liam when he was steered down to the dressing room they had been assigned to.
Zayn didn’t say a word. He had to think of a great explanation why he was acting like a crazed maniac without letting Liam know what was actually going on. How the hell was he going to be able to explain his behavior to Liam? Let alone to the rest of the band, management, and to the fans? A smooth move Malik, realsmooth.
Once they were in the privacy of the dressing room, Zayn let go of his grip on Liam’s hand, and started pacing.
Liam seemed to be frozen in place, watching him as he tried to figure out what could possibly explain his actions and why he had pulled Liam away from a signing with their fans.
“Jealousy suits you.” Liam supplied up after what seemed like hours of silence. Zayn stopped in place and turned to look him straight in the eyes, a smirk forming on the younger boys features. It was like he knew. Like he knew this whole time.