Work Text:
It had been three weeks since Zayn had pulled Liam away from that signing. Three weeks of utter torture. Not only did he have to deal with management, the fans, and the rest of the boys, he had to explain himself to Liam, which had not gone according to plan, at all.
********
“W-what?” it was now Zayn’s turn to stutter on his words. He couldn’t believe what he had just heard come out of those prefect lips. He hardly could register that sinful smirk that had formed, let alone comprehend the meaning of those three words. So sue him if needed Liam to clarify.
“I said,” Liam firmly stated, “Jealousy suits you.” It was like those were the most sensible words to be said in a moment like this.
“Yeah, I got that. Now, what does it mean?” Zayn managed to choke out, trying very hard to stay calm. It was hard task to manage when he knew that his face was betraying him. And if anyone could read him, it was Liam; after all, it was the reason why they were best friends.
Liam took a step towards him, and Zayn’s eyes widened a bit. What was he doing? “Zayn, it means that I think it’s cute when your jealous, you wanker.” If it was even possible, Zayn’s eyes widened fully, his heart stopping at that exact moment ‘cute’ escaped Liam’s lips.
Did he just refer to Zayn as cute? Yes, I believe he did. All the anger and torment he had been going through the last twenty minutes seemed to have dissolved at that one word. All his worries that he had to somehow tell Liam about his feelings without actually telling him had pretty much jumped ship.
“Well?” Liam broke his thoughts, looking at him expectedly, like he was waiting for him to confess something, or at least say something about it.
That was when he noticed Liam fiddling with the hem of his jumper and fidgeting in place. Zayn knew he only did this when he was nervous about something.
“Liam, its just-“ he stops, trying to form the right words. “It’s just that I don’t like when people touch you.”
Liam nodded, urging him to continue, as he edged closer to the boy.
By the time Zayn is about to speak again, Liam is only a few feet away, his chocolate brown eyes locking with his golden honey ones. “He was just all over you…” he trailed off, unsure about what to say next.
“Z, he was hardly all over me. It was just a hand on my shoulder. The lads have done much worse.” These words have Zayn backpedaling, because well, it’s the truth. The boys have all slept in the same bed, crawled over each other, cuddled in each other’s laps, and don’t get him started on the crotch and arse grabs.
“I know, but they’re- they’re different.” And it’s as simple as that. And it seems that Liam is happy with that response because he’s stepping forward once again.
“Danielle and I broke up.” He piped up when Zayn didn’t speak again. He said this so nonchalantly that Zayn wasn’t sure if was supposed to be a joke or if he was telling him to make a point.
When Zayn didn’t speak, Liam continued his path to his best friend, unaware of how fast Zayn’s heart was beating. He figured by the time that Liam actually made it to him, he’d die of a heart.
Liam was so close now; Zayn could feel his hot breathe fanning over his face. Zayn swallowed, hopefully not as loudly as his brain thought he had. He didn’t want to scare him away, not when he finally had the brunette so close; close enough to kiss.
And with that thought, his eyes raked down Liam’s face, resting on those plump lips of his. As if on cue, and as much to Zayn’s failing self-control, Liam licked them - darting that tongue of his out across those perfect lips.
Just as Liam was leaning in, his own eyes zeroing in on Zayn’s lips, the door to the dressing burst open, completely ruining the moment. And the thoughts of kissing vanished as Liam quickly jumped back away from him and the sound of Louis’ annoyed voice filled the room.
********
It had been three whole weeks. Zayn and Liam had not talked about it since. In fact, things seemed to have gone back to normal with the duo. And why, might you ask, had Zayn not confronted Liam about the almost kiss? Well, for starters, Zayn was too chicken shit to ask. No, that wasn’t true in all sense of the words. He just didn’t know exactly what had happened and he didn’t want to fuck up anything else.
Management had been keeping an eye on him since his little stunt back at the signing. It was frowned upon, apparently, to scare a fan away and then drag another band mate god knows where to do god knows what. But the thing was, that nothing happened; nothing, all because of Louis. He seriously had bad timing. If it weren’t for him, Zayn would probably be safely tucked in Liam’s arms, kissing away those worried expressions he had when things were going exactly according to plan in the studio.
And of course Louis had tried to talk to Zayn about it. He couldn’t leave it alone. But Zayn couldn’t talk about it because he didn’t even know what it was. So, Zayn, being Zayn, let out his frustrations in his usual way: cigarettes, Pierre, and a little bit too much alcohol. And it seemed to be drowning out the constant babbling in his head, almost.
Louis and Niall had managed to drag out all the boys to a bar on one of their nights off, yes, even Liam was there. Not that he was drinking, but it didn’t matter, they always had a good time alcohol or not. But Zayn couldn’t get through his night without it. Not when he was watching the most atrocious sight unfold before his eyes in his nineteen years of existence.
His hand had a death grip on his glass of whatever drink Louis had ordered for him a few moments before he noticed Liam wasn’t anywhere he could see. Now he could see him quite perfectly though, so perfectly that he could see him pressed up tightly against a – what was the equivalent of a slut in male terms? Well whatever it was, that was what Liam was pressed up against, dancing. Actually, Zayn didn’t know Liam could dance, at least like that. Of course he had been giving Zayn dance lessons, but he didn’t know that Liam could be so – so provocative- when he was dancing. It would have been sexy if he wasn’t rutting against some stranger. So much sexier if that person was Zayn.
Zayn had to shift at that thought, his pants become unbelievably tight. Niall, who had been staring at him, gave him an awkward cough. “Louis told me what he walked in on. Why haven’t you went over and shoved that guy off him?”
Niall said this as-matter-of-factly, like it had been the most obvious answer in the world to fix Zayn’s problems. But Zayn wasn’t so sure. He wasn’t even sure if Liam even liked him that way. At this point, he had probably imagined everything between him and Liam. He probably had imagined the look in those chocolate eyes when he was leaning forward; likewise, probably imagined disappoint in them when he jumped back.
His eyes looked back over at Liam and said he-slut. Clearly, he was desperate for Liam’s touch, he was pressing into him when Liam would move away from him slightly to do a certain dance move. Rage swelled up in Zayn’s chest. Liam might not be his boyfriend, but he felt a certain protection over him. Some would call it possessiveness, but hey, who’s keeping track? Except that everyone else in the band was.
Just as the boy leaned in and traced a fingertip over those lips, Zayn’s mind yelled mineminemine. What was probably the worst feeling in the world was that Liam hadn’t brushed him away, no, in fact he had let them linger there, his lips curling up into a smirk. Mineminemine. This was probably not healthy, but Zayn couldn’t seem to tame that monster that lived inside of him when it came to Liam.
Downing the contents of his drink, he slammed the glass down, causing all three of the boys who were sitting with him to jump. “I’ll be back.” He muttered, and scooted out of the booth in the direction of the he-slut and his perfect angel whom he only wanted himself to be that close to.
“Don’t do anything stupid” Niall called out, his words lost in the loud music surrounding them. Zayn had about enough of the scene unraveling in front of his eyes. That he-slut didn’t deserve someone like Liam, hedeserved Liam.
Zayn shoved people aside, too busy keeping an eye on the couple before him to excuse himself properly.Couple. Ugh, even the word sounded bad in his mind. They were no way involved like that, he knew. He knew Liam would want romance, not a one night stand. So he shouldn’t have been so worked up, but fuck, that washis Liam, and no one else could have him, ever. Mineminemine.
Once he got to them, Liam, who had locked eyes with him moments before, smirked at Zayn, as if he knew what was coming. Zayn, however, was done being nice. He pulled the he-slut off of his Liam, roughly, not caring if he was a tad bit more forcefully then he’d liked to have been. But it just pissed him off to no end.
“Fuck off.” Zayn muttered, before turning his attention to Liam, but before he could get out his next sentence the he-slut responded, obviously not taking the tone of Zayn’s voice as a hint not to mess with him.
“Hey! Excuse me, but we were dancing, there are plenty of people in this place, go find someone else.” The he-slut exclaimed, pushing his way back to Liam. Zayn had about enough of this guy, and without another word or hesitation, he reared back his closed fist and let it make contact with the guys jaw.
“Let’s go.” He said firmly, as he grabbed Liam by the shoulder and pulled him away from the dance floor. He didn’t stop to look behind him at Liam until they were both out of the bar and the cool air hitting his hot skin.
Once they were away from prying eyes, Zayn whirled around with an angry expression ready to yell at Liam for making himself look like a- he didn’t know what, but he wanted to say a tease. He didn’t know what to expect to see, but he definitely didn’t expect to see Liam laughing, actually laughing. Did he think this was funny? Zayn sure as hell didn’t.
“What the hell are you laughing about? Are you crazy, dancing with that he-slut?” Zayn was seeing red again, and he wasn’t thinking about his words, he just knew he had to get them out before he exploded.
Liam immediately froze, his eyes taking in the boy in front of him. Maybe laughing at this situation wasn’t the best thing to do at the moment, but he couldn’t help how incredibly ridiculous this whole thing was.
“He-slut?” Liam questioned, and with that Zayn’s features immediately softened. It was pretty funny hearing his nickname for the male out loud like that.
“Yeah, he-slut. It was what he was.” Zayn said peering up at Liam through his eyelashes. “Damnit Li, why do you have to do this to me?” he felt like punching something, a pillow, a wall, that guys face again, didn’t matter, just something.
“Do what Z? Dancing? Or Dancing with guy that isn’t you?” he pushed, his eyes trained on Zayn’s.
He took a noticeable swallow at that one, and Liam continued. “You know, I don’t get you Zayn. First you pull me away from Adam, basically admitting your feelings towards me, that I somehow return, and you don’t even fucking make a move. Three fucking weeks and you don’t even make a move. What are you, fucking stupid?”
The site of Liam cursing is fucking hot, Zayn’s not gonna lie, but it also makes him wince, because he’s the one that is causing him to do so.
With that Zayn inches over to Liam, sliding a hand over to his hip, pulling him flush against his chest. His head leans forward, his eyes closing as he crashes their lips together for the first time, well for their first real kiss. It’s not rushed, nor is it unbearably slow. It’s just perfect; as their lips slot together flawlessly and Zayn can’t believe he hasn’t done this before. Mineminemine
Moments seem like hours before they both part for air, breathing heavily at the kiss that they just shared. Liam’s lips turn up into a smile. “You’re so unbelievably hot when you’re jealous.”
And all Zayn can think is mineminemine.