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Zayn knew it was probably strange that a British Prince was going to be on Ellen Degeneres, but he wouldn't want to make his 'big' announcement anywhere else.
He loved Ellen. She was extremely generous, kind and thoughtful. Almost everything she said made him at least crack a small smile. Zayn respected her a great amount, and he was pleased to find out she was excited to have him on her show to share his news.
Despite being a Prince, Zayn was a pretty regular guy. He didn't walk around in stuffy suits all day, or piss in a gold toilet. He didn't have servants waiting on him hand and foot, and even if his parents did let him, he wouldn't want it.
Zayn doesn't think higher of himself than any other person, and the only reason he had a body guard was because his parents insisted. And because Martin has also become his best friend.
So, yeah, he's pretty normal. Other than the 'Prince' tacked onto the beginning of his name, the body guards, the stares and whispers, and the fact that he lives in what can only be described as a mansion.
- x -
"So, I've been told you have a big announcement for us?" Ellen asks, smiling kindly and shifting towards him more.
Zayn chuckles nervously, a bit. "Um, I mean, it's not really as big as it seems, it's just, I'm - um - I'm gay?" It comes out like a question, which makes him cringe a bit, but it'll have to do.
The crowd cheers and claps and he assumes more than half the people here don't know who he is or even care, but they all look so supportive anyway. Zayn absolutely beams and hopes his blush isn't showing up on camera.
Ellen giggles a bit, "You don't sound like you're very sure," she jokes.
Zayn laughs a bit nodding. "I'm definitely sure," he replies, chuckling.
"Well good on you for coming out. I know it's hard and it must be a lot to deal with, since you're Royalty and people are just starting to really accept homosexuality." She smiles kindly, understandingly, and Zayn feels like a weight has been lifted off his shoulders. "How did your parents react when you told them? Are they supportive of you coming out?"
"Definitely," Zayn nods, "they weren't all that shocked when I told them. I never really showed an interest in girls, or even pretended to as a cover up, I just didn't say anything about it. They're extremely supportive of me coming out. Obviously they were a bit hesitant at first, but once I told them that I love our people, and thought they deserved to know - not that it's really a big deal - they were completely on board."
Ellen smiles, nodding along. "So, are you seeing anyone?"
Zayn huffs out a surprised laugh, shaking his head. "No, definitely not. It's sort of hard to get to know anyone when you're a closeted Prince, yeah?" Ellen and the crowd laugh, making him smile. "I barely have any friends. I have my body guard, big ole Martin, that's about it. He's my very best friend."
"That's lovely!" Ellen says, "It's good you get along with your security or they might just let you get mobbed to death." Zayn laughs, nodding, and beside Andy, Ellens producer, he sees Martin smiling and laughing fondly.
"So, you're not seeing anyone, do you have a celebrity crush or anything?" Ellen has this look, like she's trying not to laugh because she knows this is making him feel awkward, and it makes him laugh a bit, the reason he loves her most. She's always making him laugh.
"I do," he answers, hoping that will be the end of it. But then he sees Martin again, looking so incredibly smug, and that can't be good.
"Yeah?" Ellen says, doing that strange laugh where it sounds like she's trying not to cry, "well, who is it?" she pries.
Zayn smiles, trying to hold back his laugh, he doesn't really know why he finds this funny, maybe it's panic, he thinks. "No," he shakes his head, giggling a bit, "I'm not saying."
It's really not a big deal, he should just say it. But he's only just come out, and now he has to tell the whole world who his celebrity crush is. Which is fine, it's just a celebrity crush right? But he's much more - invested, you could say, in his celebrity crush, than most people. Other than fangirls, fanboys, and the like.
"Well, I don't want to force it out of you, but I will if I have to." Ellen says, smirking.
"Fine," Zayn huffs, still giggling a bit, "I quite like One Direction."
"Is there a specific member? Just all of One Direction or, do you like one of them more?"
Zayn nods. "Liam." He blushes a bit, still hoping it's not showing up on camera, that nobody can see just how much he likes Liam.
"Well I talked to Martin, your body guard, a while ago when we were making plans for you to come on the show, so I already knew that." Ellen says smiling, "We got you a gift, these aren't out yet. So you have the first ones!" She leans over her chair, grabbing a blue Ellen bag before turning back to Zayn and handing it to him.
He pulls out the first thing, which is a grey onesie with blue, red and white hand prints all over it. "That one has all the guys from One Direction's hand prints on it," she says while he chuckles and pulls out the next one, a navy one with a single white hand print, "and that one is Liams!" she says excitedly.
Zayn laughs, shaking his head fondly. "Thank you!" he says.
"Of course. We figured if you wanted to see their show or something, you could handle that on your own, surely. So this was the next best thing." She's grinning brightly, and really Zayn kind of wants to squeal, just a bit, because he was going to buy these when they came out in a month, and as much as he comes off as cool and calm in the press, he's quite the flailing fangirl when it comes to One Direction.
"This is great. Really. Thank you so much!" He has to laugh, because he's a Prince, and he's sitting here getting onesies from Ellen Degeneres, talking about how much he loves a boyband.
"Well I loved having you here, Zayn! Come back any time, seriously. You're great, we'd love to have you again." Ellen says, smiling, before turning to the camera. "Melissa McCarthy will be here with us after the break!"
- x -
When the show airs 'Prince Zayn Malik' trends. A lot of the tweets are something supportive about him coming out, some of them are homophobic slurs, but he doesn't care much.
- x -
He's just finished styling his hair, fussing over it in the mirror making sure it's perfect, when Martin knocks on the door of the bathroom in his room.
Zayn turns the handle quickly, pulling just enough that it opens a sliver. Martin peeks his head in, holding Zayns phone against his chest. "Zayn, Liam Payne is on the phone for you." Martin tells him, looking confused and a little shocked.
Zayn wants to think he's joking, playing a trick on him, but he looks absolutely sincere, and Martins not one for jokes like that. "Um, okay." Zayn says, taking the phone. "Thanks, Marty!" he calls to Martins back.
"Um, hello?" Zayn answers hesitantly after taking a deep breath.
"Hi!" comes Liam's voice, bright and cheery, "How are you, Prince Malik?"
"Oh God," Zayn groans, "please just call me Zayn." he says chuckling a bit.
"Alright, how are you, Zayn?" Liam replies happily.
"I'm good, thank you. And yourself?"
"I'm great! I actually just saw you on Ellen! Are you enjoying your onesies?"
Zayn smiles, biting his lip and toeing at the door frame. "I am, thanks. Very comfy."
Liam chuckles. "Aren't they? I love them!"
Zayn hears someone, Louis, he thinks, say something like 'bloody hell, Liam, just do it!' followed by a loud thump.
"Um, Liam? You alright?" Zayn asks after a few seconds of silence.
"Yes! Sorry!" Liam replies, "Louis just fell off the couch. He's a bit of an idiot."
Zayn laughs at Louis' obvious squawk of protest.
"Um, so, like - we're going to be in the area for a couple shows and photo shoots next week," Liam continues. He sounds nervous, it's quite cute. "and I was um, wondering if you wanted to get coffee? Or tea, maybe?"
Zayn chomps down on his lip, keeping himself from giggling like a 12 year old girl, and winces at the pain. "Um, yes. Yeah! Definitely, um. You can text me, or call me again, if you want. We can figure something out."
He can almost hear Liams smile when he says 'alright, I will!' and he definitely can hear whooping and clapping from what he thinks is Niall.
They stay on the phone for a while. Well, two hours to be exact. Zayn blushes when Liam brings up the interview, saying how funny it was that he looked so embarrassed. They talk about little things, like favorite foods, music, and stories from their childhood, about crazy One Direction fans, and about what it's like to be a Prince.
- x -
They continue to text quite a bit during the week. It's not always full on conversations, since Liam's pretty busy with shows and interviews and photo shoots, but whenever he has a minute he'll text Zayn something like 'this interviewer kept hitting on niall you should have seen his face it was bright red!' or 'harry put ice down the back of my trousers:(' or 'one of the fans just asked me about you:)'
Once, Liam texted Zayn saying 'baby you can call me nemo, cause I’m never afraid to touch the butt' which caused him to spit out his orange juice all over his lap before he started cackling until his stomach hurt. It was just so Liam.
Eventually, though, on Thursday, Liam texts him at arse o'clock in the morning saying 'just landed:) coffee tomorrow? xx'
Zayn grumbles sleepily, even though he's extremely pleased. He buries himself under the blankets, curled in a ball. 'definitely. i know a good place? there's not many people, so i don't think we'll get stopped by fans much. i can send you directions tomorrow? :) x' he replies.
- x -
Zayns nervous. He can't stop wondering if this is a date or just friends hanging out, if his hair is too big or too flat, if his 'cool kids don't dance' and black hoodie are too casual.
What if Liam dressed up, at least a little? What if he makes an arse of himself? What if Liam hates him in person?
He's digging the toe of his white converse into the gravel on the path, a nervous habit he's had ever since he can remember, sitting on a wooden bench (they've decided to meet at a park a block away from the cafe) when he hears a cheerful 'hey!' making his head snap up.
Liams walking towards him, and all Zayn can think is holy shit how is it possible to be so gorgeous? Because really, he's wearing light wash skinny jeans, aviators and a long sleeved white Henley, rolled up below his elbows, with the top button undone, showing off his collar bones. Henley's are Zayns weakness. It's not fair.
"Hi!" Zayn grins. He doesn't really know what to do. It's kind of awkward, and it's not helping that Martin is standing a foot away, probably internally laughing at what an idiot he's being.
He stands to greet Liam, who pulls him in for a hug instantly. Zayns surprised, wasn't really expecting Liam to, well, do that, really. Zayn hesitantly wraps his arms around Liams waist, smiling when he squeezes tighter at his shoulders and buries his face in Zayns neck.
Liam chuckles a bit, rumbling against Zayns chest. "You look good," he says, right in Zayns ear.
"Thanks," Zayn mumbles, slightly muffled by Liams shoulder, "you do to."
Liam pulls back grinning brightly, he can see that it's making his eyes crinkle the way Zayn loves, since he's now taken off his aviators.
Zayn asks how Liams flight was while they walk, trying to make small talk. It's a little surreal, walking around with Liam Payne, being able to touch him and smell him (he's not creepy, he swears) when just two weeks ago they were pretty much strangers.
Just as they get in the shop, Liams phone rings. He frowns down at it, eyebrows pulling together in the cutest way. "I'm sorry," Liam says, answering the phone, "It's Harry, it'll just be a minute. Get whatever you think I'd like and I'll grab a table?" he looks guilty, but Zayn really doesn't mind. Just waves him off, smiling and assuring him its fine.
When Zayn gets to the table with two tea's (he figured that was the safest bet) Liam is off the phone. He smiles up at Zayn, quietly saying thank you.
"Everything alright?" Zayn asks, taking the lid off his tea, placing them both down on the small round table and taking the seat across from Liam.
"Yeah, everything's fine. Harry's just...stupid, really." Liam laughs. "He lost his room key, figured I'd have it, for some reason."
Zayn laughs, sticking his hands in his pockets. "You're here for a few days, yea?"
"Yeah." Liam smiles, sipping his tea appreciatively. "We have some interviews and a photo shoot, for...something. I don't remember, to be honest." he chuckles lightly, and Zayn smiles at the sound of it.
"Well, when you have some free time, you and the lads can come see the, um, mansion, if you want?"
"Really?" Liam asks eagerly, "You wouldn't mind?"
"Not at all," Zayn says, now resting his elbows on the table, "they seem like good lads, and I don't really have anything else to do, so."
"That'd be great!" Liam says. He leans forward, resting his elbows on the table, too, and slides their fingers together, brushing his thumb over the knuckle of Zayns pointer finger. He grins at Zayn, and Zayns eyes flicker from his face to their hands, then smiles also, squeezing Liams fingers a bit. "I think we have a free day on Saturday, I'll talk to the boys."
Zayn beams, nodding. He hears a camera go off, and turns his head to see Martin one table over with his phone in his hand and a smug smile on his face. Zayn glares at him.
- x -
While they walk back to the park an hour later, since that's where both of their cars are coming to pick them up, Liam holds his hand the whole way.
Half way there, he hears 'oh my God that's Prince Zayn Malik and Liam Payne! they're holding hands!' and turns to see two girls, probably sixteen or seventeen staring wide eyed at them.
He smiles at them, while Liam politely says "Hello girls, how are you?"
"Are you guys together!?" One of the girls, the blonde one, blurts as a reply.
Liam chuckles, shaking his head. "Just the first date, love. Wouldn't exactly say we're 'together' quite yet." he replies easily. Zayn's very glad, he honestly had no idea what to say.
Liam kisses his cheek when his car comes, and Zayns face heats up so much he thinks he could burst into flames.
- x -
"Excuse me, Mr.Malik?"
"Yes, Gloria. What is it, love?" Zayn says into the phone. Gloria's one of the very few people that work at the mansion (Zayn hates the word 'palace') and Zayn loves her, she's wonderful and sweet. Sometimes he calls her 'Auntie Gloria' but he finds it weird to call her that when she's working.
"You have guests! Mister Payne, Horan, Tomlinson and Styles."
"Oh! Thank you, I'll be down in just a minute!"
Zayn throws his phone on the large king sized bed, and practically bolts out of the room.
He almost rolls down the first flight of stairs, but catches himself just in time. He goes slower on the second flight so he doesn't look too eager, he's a very paranoid person, sometimes.
When he finally gets to the foyer, the boys are sitting in the white and black chairs he's pretty fond of. They look uncomfortable, but they feel like sitting on a cloud. It feels sort of strange, though. Like he has a waiting room, or something.
"Hey, you alright guys?" Zayn says as he approaches them, unnoticed so far.
Liams up in an instant, saying "I missed you!" and wrapping Zayn up in a hug. Zayns not really a hugger, unless it's Gloria or his mum or sometimes Martin, but he loves Liams hugs.
"Missed you, too." Zayn replies shyly, because he has. It's sort of upsetting. They've spent a total of two hours together, the other day, what is it going to be like when Liam goes back to London or America?
The other boys hug him, too. It's different, though, because it's faster and they do the weird patting of the back that Zayns never quite understood. They all introduce themselves even though they know Zayn knows who they are, but Zayn doesn't mind.
"So, um, do you wanna check it out a bit or just go up to my room?" Zayn asks.
"Would you mind showing us around a bit?" Louis says.
"Not at all!" Zayn grins brightly. "We could start with uh, the library I guess? Then there's a cinema, and The Garden. That's really all that's interesting here."
Harrys eyes widen a bit. "You have your own cinema?"
"Harry he's a fucking Prince what do you expect?" Niall says through a laugh, and Harry blushes a bit.
"Okay, well then. Um, this way." Zayn says, jerking his head back a bit.
Liam holds his hand again while they walk through the long, wide hallway. The white walls are full of large photos of his family, he thinks it's kind of arrogant and stuffy, but his mother insisted.
"That's a lovely picture," Harry says from beside him, "she looks amazing."
Zayn follows Harrys gaze to a picture two ahead of them, and smiles. "Thank you, that's my Great Grandmother."
"Is that you?" Louis asks, pointing to one of him as a two year old a space behind them.
"Unfortunately." Zayn replies, laughing. "I kind of hate walking through this hallway, gives me the creeps."
"I think it's great," Liam says, smiling wide. "You look wonderful in all of them."
Zayn blushes as the three other boys 'aww' and make kissing noises. Liam laughs and swats at Louis beside him.
They come to two large wooden doors. Zayn opens them easily, bringing them into a huge room with rows and rows and rows of books on every wall, lined almost all the way to the ceiling.
"Wow." Liam says, awe clear in his voice.
"So, there's like, classics, and random books, and there's like Family History books, records of shit, all that."
"Oh! Hello, Zayn." A voice says from the far end of the room.
Zayn turns to see his father sitting at one of the large tables with his assistant, Tony, and smiles. "Hi Dad." he says, "Um, this is Liam," He says, swinging their hands a bit, "and these are his friends, or band mates, rather. Niall, Louis and Harry."
"Hello, boys!" Yaser greets kindly, "Getting a tour are you?"
"Uh, yeah." Niall squeaks.
Zayns never seem them look so terrified. He laughs brightly, and his father starts chuckling also. "Relax boys! I don't bite." Yaser jokes. "I've heard great things about you lads. Especially you, Liam."
"Thank you, Sir." Liam says sweetly, blushing.
They seem to unstiffen a bit, and Zayn shows them his favorite books and where he used to hide when he was six and didn't want a bath or a nap.
When the boys are strolling about the room, his dad catches his eye, and wiggles his eyebrows a little, looking pointedly at the back of Liams head then back to Zayn.
Zayn widens his eyes, making a face that clearly says 'embarrass me and I will kill you in your sleep' and Tony laughs at him. Zayn expected this to be happening, just not when he was 19.
"So, we good here?" Zayn asks, getting four nods. He blinks slowly for a second, it's sort of strange when they do that. "Uh, alright. Cinema next? Or we could stop at the kitchen, if you like? My fathers having a guest tonight, and Richard, the Chef we hire when we have guests, always makes extra, so."
"To the kitchen!" Niall declares excitedly.
Zayn laughs, shaking his head as he leads him down the hallway they came in, and to a different, shorter one without pictures staring at you from every angle.
Harry flops an arm down over his shoulders, pushes Liam away and tells him to "go walk with the boys, I want to talk to Zayn." After a confused look, Liam listens, falling back a few steps.
"So, how do you like our Liam?" Harry asks.
"Um, he's great. Really great." Zayn nods, blushing a bit.
"Do you think your going to start a relationship?"
"I dont know?" Zayn says, "I mean, I wouldn't mind. But, I'm just seeing how everything works out, I guess."
"I think he quite likes you." Harry says thoughtfully, "He's always talking about you, ooh guess what Zayn said, Zayn told me the funniest story today, did you see Zayn in the paper today? He's so gorgeous! It's quite nauseating."
Zayn beams, laughing a bit. "I think Martins pretty tired about hearing me talk about Liam, also."
"Well, I just wanted to say, Prince or not, if you hurt him I will rip your balls off and feed them to you." Harry says, looking frighteningly sincere.
"Um, I don't plan on it?" Zayn says, slightly worried. "He's wonderful, I wouldn't want to hurt him."
"Good!" Harry says, brightening up right away. "We'll get on beautifully then!"
Zayn nods, just as they get the kitchen. He smiles and says hello to Richard, asking him how his baby's doing.
"Would you and your guests like some of my chocolate fudge pudding?" Richard asks.
"Definitely!" Zayn says, "Richard makes the best pudding." he explains to the boys.
Richard gives them each a small clear bowl with a strawberry on the rim of each one, and they sit around the black kitchen table off to the side while they eat. Niall almost moans when he tastes it, and everyone laughs.
"This is amazing!" Louis says.
Richard looks extremely pleased.
Liam hooks their ankles together under the table, smiling softly at Zayn, who can't keep his own grin off his face.
- x -
Zayn shows them the cinema next. It's got about six rows of theater seats, they're much more comfortable than the ones at actual cinemas though. There's also a popcorn machine that looks like the ones at carnivals, a shelf of different candy, a pop machine, a mini fridge and a large screen at the front of the room.
"They got this made when I was like, ten and had no friends so all I did was watch films." Zayn says.
"This is so cool," Liam says, "It's like a proper cinema."
They end up watching The Dark Knight and Friends With Benefits, but half way through Friends With Benefits Zayn excuses himself and Liam, telling the boys they'll be back before the films over.
"Where are we going?" Liam asks.
"The Garden, it's my favorite place, other than my bedroom." Zayn says, leading them out the large glass doors.
The Garden is huge, with about 20 different pathways, and a big fountain in the middle of it all.
Zayn takes Liam through his favorite path. It's not the shortest one, but it's also not the longest. It's got tall hedges, and many different flowers and vines poking around. The pathway is a pretty, dark stone, and it's got a couple benches along the way.
They sit on his favorite bench, the one with his name scratched on the back so no one will see it. He did it when he was 13, thinking he was some sort of bad ass.
Liam puts his arm around him, and Zayn sighs happily.
"Thank you for inviting us, Zayn." Liam says softly. "They really like you."
"I really like them." Zayn says, snuggling deeper into Liams side, resting his head on his shoulder. "And it's no problem."
"I'm leaving Tuesday." Liam says sadly. "I was wondering if you'd like to stay with me at my hotel Monday night? I don't expect anything to like, happen. I just, kind of want you to be the last thing I see here, if that's not weird." Liam says, huffing out a nervous laugh.
Zayn grins up at him, feels him relax right away. "I'd love to. Martin will probably have to talk to your security, but I don't think it'd be a big problem."
"Great! Do you like Friends? We could stay up all night and pretend to pay attention to it." Liam says eagerly, laughing. "I'm a cuddler, by the way."
"Me too. Atleast, I think I am." Zayn smiles, trying to stop the fluttering in his stomach. "And I love Friends."
Liam smiles wide, eyes crinkling shut. "Am I going to get arrested or something if I kiss you now?"
"You'll get arrested if you don't." Zayn jokes, grinning cheekily.
Liam dips his head down, pressing his lips to Zayns softly. Liam pecks his lips two more times, before kissing him more deeply.
Zayns hands come from his lap to the short hair at the back of Liams head, trying not to mess up the other boys quiff. He's a considerate kisser, Zayn is.
They snog for a while, giggling into each others mouths and sharing soft smiles, until Zayn decides they should probably get back to the other boys.
When they get back the film is just ending, and they start up another one, Clueless. Liam pulls Zayn into his lap on the way to his seat, and they end up stayed curled together, sharing popcorn and small kisses while Niall and Louis goof around, and Harry's eyes stay glued to the screen.
- x -
"Hey, babe!" Liam says excitedly.
"Hi," Zayn chuckles, "I'm almost at the hotel, be there in five."
"Alright, can't wait to see you. Paul will be waiting!"
"Okay. Bye, Li." Zayn says, ignoring Martin staring at his soft, giddy smile.
When they get to the hotel, they decide it's fine to go in the front instead of the back. There's only a small group of fans outside, maybe 20.
Liam and Paul are outside, Liam signing autographs and taking pictures, and all the girls are pretty calm. So Martin walks him to Liam, checking with Paul that everything is fine before leaving with a 'behave, kid.'
"Missed you, baby." Liam says into his ear when they hug. He does that a lot, Zayn realizes. He's not complaining, though.
"Missed you too, Li." Zayn says softly.
When they pull back, Liam gives him a small kiss, and there's camera flashes, Zayn can tell, but he doesn't care. He came out for a reason, and he's glad Liam doesn't want to hide anything, either. He says there's no point in it anymore, since he had came out as Bisexual a year ago.
"Alright, thank you girls. Stay safe, yeah?" Liam says sweetly to the fans, putting a hand on the small of Zayns back, ready to head into the Hotel.
"Wait!" A small voice comes. He looks around a bit, before seeing a little girl in a One Direction shirt. "Can I please get a picture with both of you? Please?" she asks shyly.
"Sorry, love -" Liam starts, "Of course, sweetie!" Zayn cuts him off.
"Are you sure?" Liam asks, "I know you don't really like this kind of stuff."
"S'alright." Zayn says, smiling. "She's adorable, I really don't mind."
Zayn holds her on his hip, between he and Liam, who wraps an arm around both of them while the girls mum takes the photo.
"Liam?" the girl says, "Is Zayn your Prince Charming like in Cinderella?"
Liam laughs, beaming. "He just might be."
The girl whips her head around to Zayn, her pigtails nearly smacking him in the face, eyes sparkling and mouth hung open.
"Alright, love, let's let the boys go now, yeah?" The girls mother cuts in, looking apologetic.
Zayn hands her off to her mum, smiling kindly. "Goodbye, love." he says.
"Bye Prince Zayn!" she exclaims before turning to Liam, "Bye Princess Liam!"
Zayn laughs loudly as they walk into the hotel, along with Paul who is chuckling at Liams blush also.
When they get to Liams room, he thanks Paul, who nods and says 'Goodnight Zayn, Goodnight Princess Liam," smirking.
"I'm not a girl." Liam grumbles as he shuts the door in Pauls face.
"You'd make a lovely girl, Princess." Zayn teases, flopping down on the double bed, sinking into the fluffy white duvet.
"Shut up," Liam laughs, "Are you hungry? Do you want to get something to eat before we settle in?"
"No, I'm fine." Zayn says, yawning a bit, "I ate Richards leftovers half an hour ago."
"Alright, do you - uh, I sleep in my boxers, but I can wear shorts or sweats if you want?" Liam asks nervously.
"Don't worry about it, Li." Zayn says, smiling fondly, "I don't care, I do it too."
"Oh, alright then." Liam says, grinning.
They strip down to their boxers, before snuggling into the bed. Liam holds him close, and Zayn rests his head on his collar bone so he can still see the TV, linking their fingers on Liams stomach.
During the first episode Liam goes through his twitter feed behind Zayns head. He tells Zayn it's full of pictures of them kissing or hugging, and there's tweets from one of the girls telling everyone about the little girl calling him Princess Liam.
Liam starts laughing madly a moment later, startling Zayn slightly. "What's so funny?" Zayn asks.
"PrinceZaynAndPrincessLiam is trending." Liam wheezes.
"Good. Now everybody knows who wears the pants here." Zayn says giggling.
Zayn and Liam go through all the pictures of them, which is quite easy thanks the the 'Ziam' tag on tumblr, and Liam saves all their favorites to his phone and sends them to Zayn.
- x -
Zayn goes with Liam to say goodbye at the airport, and they spend ten minutes hugging, much to Harrys amusement.
Zayns sort of sad, he's liked having Liam around. But, it's only a week, then Liams staying with him for four days.
He'll be fine.
- x -
He is. Fine, that is. Liam leaves for a week, texts him in his free time and calls him for at least five minutes every night.
They spend two days holed up in Zayns bedroom or cinema when he comes back, cuddling and kissing and goofing around, then they go out on actual dates the last two days. To the coffee shop or fancy restaurants for dinner.
Liams got three months off, then he's going on tour in America, so they visit each other a lot. They go on a date to a carnival, and Liam wins him the biggest stuffed puppy he's ever seen. They go to an Ed Sheeran concert and sing the lyrics to each other back stage, then hangout with Ed for a bit, who Zayn learns rally is as cool as he seems.
They do small things like find new music they like, hangout at Liams flat, go out clubbing with Harry and Niall and Louis.
He texts all the other boys often, also, and calls them sometimes. They're all best friends, and Zayns happier than he's been in a long time.
- x -
When Liam leaves, Zayn tries not to show how sad he is, but it's not really working with Liam giving him the saddest puppy eyes he's ever seen at the airport.
"It's fine, Liam." Zayn says softly, "I'll come visit you sometime, alright? And we'll call each other and face time and Skype and text and it'll be fine, yeah?"
"I know," Liam says sadly, "I'm just going to miss your stupid face a lot."
Zayn grins. "I'll miss your stupid face too, babe."
"And I'll miss both of your stupid faces when I end up killing you." Louis mutters, "Stop being so cute, it's disgusting." Everyone but himself laughs.
- x -
It's perfectly fine, for a while. The first month goes by pretty fast. He goes on a few 'business' trips with his father, helps his mum redecorate his parents bedroom, and Liam calls a lot, texts a lot and skypes a lot.
Half way through the second month, though, the boys are on Ellen this time.
He settles into his bed with his laptop, puts his ear buds in and presses play on the YouTube video Ellen - or her staff - uploaded titled 'One Direction talk about Prince Zayn Malik!'
"So I see my show played match maker!" Ellen says excitedly.
"I guess it did." Liam laughs. "I've always payed attention to Zayn in the media and such, so when we saw your interview with him the boys convinced me to give him a call and we went for tea the next week."
"And how did you even get the Prince's number?" Ellen asks, laughing. "It's gotta be hard to do, right?"
"We're just going to say that I can be very persuasive when I want to be." Louis says, smirking while Liam smiles and nods.
"So you're boyfriends yes? Have you done the whole meet the parents thing?" Ellen asks.
"Well, I mean, we've been seeing each other for almost five or six months, I think, but we haven't talked about it, really." Liam says. "But we've all met his parents, and he's met mine, yes."
"Well you're very cute together. I saw some photos," photos of Zayn and Liam walking around London holding hands appears on the screen, and Zayn smiles, "and it's very adorable. Do you guys get along with him too?"
"Yeah," Harry says, nodding, "A couple days after they had their first date Zayn invited all of us over and gave us a tour of their mansion and we hung out, watched some films."
"We all talk to him regularly," Niall says, "he's definitely one of our closer friends."
"Love him," Louis says, "He plays pranks on Liam with me."
Ellen laughs. "That's great. I'm glad thinks are working out for you two, Liam. You're both very good people and you're a great couple."
"Thank you. He really is a wonderful guy, I'm very happy I met him."
The video ends and Zayn just wants to cuddle with Liam and give him kisses all over his face the way that makes him giggle and scrunch up his nose.
He picks up his phone, hitting 3 on speed dial. It rings four times before Liam picks up, saying "hi babe!" brightly.
"Hi, Li." Zayn says, "How're you?"
"I'm good," Liam says, "I miss you though. Are you alright? You sound upset."
"I'm fine, I just miss you, is all. I just watched the Ellen interview, and that's kind of how this all started you know? So, yeah." He sinks deeper into his blankets. Somehow they still have a faint smell of Liam, and it helps, yet makes him sadder at the same time.
"I miss you too baby, so much. Come visit me soon, yeah?" Liam says softly.
"I was thinking about it. You want me to?"
"Of course!" Liam exclaims, "I love having you around, and I miss you loads. I think Harry's even getting a bit down, missing you as well."
Zayn laughs, flipping over onto his back. "I miss him, too. Martins stories aren't as boring and they don't take ten hours to get through." Liam laughs and it makes Zayn feel a little better, makes him smile so wide his cheeks hurt a bit. "I was thinking, of um, going out tomorrow? Is that too soon?"
"Not at all! Whenever you want, babe. And you can stay as long as you want. I can't wait to see you!"
"Yeah, okay. I'll wake up early and try to talk to dad about it, yeah?"
After talking for a bit, Zayn falls asleep to the sound of Liams voice.
- x -
When Zayn gets to the airport in a City in America he hasn't bothered to remember, Paul's waiting with a car for him. Paul explains Liam's feeling a bit ill, which is why he isn't there like he said he would be.
Zayn frowns, asks what's wrong but only gets a shrug in return. "He wouldn't say much, just said he wasn't feeling well."
He worries all the way to the venue the boys are at. He hopes Liam is okay, as far as he knows Liam's a pretty healthy guy.
Zayn all but runs to the bus when the car stops, slamming into the chest of a very sweaty Harry Styles.
"Ew, why are you sweating? Why would you hug me while you're sweating, dickhead." He laughs, shoving Harry playfully.
"It's how I show my love." Harry pouts. "I'm leaving my scent on you! It's charming!"
"It's not." Zayn says. "Where's my boy? Paul said he wasn't feeling well."
Harry looks nervous suddenly, which only worries Zayn more.
"He's in his bunk. Left side, on the bottom." Harry mumbles.
"Uh, alright. Thanks, Haz." Zayn says, confused.
He makes his way to the bus, saying hello to Niall as they pass each other. He looks a bit nervous, too. Which isn't really okay. Zayn just wants to know what the fuck is going on.
Zayn drops his duffle bag on the floor next to Liams bunk, and pulls back the curtain to see Liam in basketball shorts facing the wall. Zayn climbs in behind him, leaving the curtain open so he can see what he's doing, and snuggles in behind him wrapping an arm around his waist and nuzzling his nose into the back of Liams neck.
"Are you alright babe? Paul said you were feeling ill."
"I'll be fine, I think." Liam mumbles. "Are you going to leave me, Zayn?"
"What?" Zayn exclaims, turning Liam over to see his pale, worried face. "Why in the world would you think that?"
"Well, I mean the article - it's fake though. I swear it's fake I would never do that to you you, I was with the boys when they said it happened anyway you can talk to any of them but -" Liam rambles frantically.
"Liam!" Zayn interrupts, "Slow down. What article? What are you talking about?"
"You haven't seen it?" Liam asks, looking a little relieved.
"Seen what? I have no bloody idea what you're on about!"
"There was an article posted yesterday. This girl said I slept with her and I didn't. I would never ever do that to you Zayn, I wouldn't."
Zayn starts laughing then, and Liam looks a bit like a kicked puppy.
"I'm sorry babe." Zayn says, still laughing. "It's just, I know you wouldn't do that. And like, why the fuck would I fly all the way to America just to leave you without even asking you about it first?"
"Oh." Liam says. "I mean, I just - fuck. I was so fucking scared. Jesus."
Liam's laughing a bit himself now, and there's a definite blush on his cheeks that makes Zayn laugh even harder.
"You great idiot!" Zayn laughs. "The look on your face, God, I love you."
Zayn freezes as soon as the words leave his mouth. He means it, but he wasn't planning to say it for a while. He doesn't want to scare Liam off.
But Liam just chuckles a bit, saying "I love you too, babe." easily before rolling over almost completely on top of him and kissing him so deeply Zayns toes curl.
"No sex on the bus, it's a rule." Niall says from somewhere around them. Liam pulls back, eyes shining, beaming down at Zayn who smiles lovingly back. "So you're good then?" Niall asks.
"Yes. Liam's a paranoid idiot, but I think I'll keep him anyway." Zayn says, running his hand down the middle of Liams face, his palm almost covering it completely.
Liam licks his hand, making Zayn yelp in protest. "I thought I was going to lose you, I was scared." he whines.
"I told you it was nothing to worry about." Louis voice comes from absolutely nowhere.
"Where are you?" Zayn says, looking around. "Where is he? Were you in here the whole time?"
"Yes, now if you could please shut the fuck up so I can sleep, that'd be lovely." Louis grumbles, amused.The curtain moves on the bunk on the right side, above Liams, so Zayn chucks an empty water bottle at it, and hears Louis' very unmanly shriek. "Get out!" he shouts, "I swear to God I would kill you right now if I didn't love you so much."
"Aw, Lou!" Zayn says dramatically, "I love you, too!"
Liam laughs, shaking his head. "C'mon babe, lets go dump cold water down Harrys back."
"Okay!" Zayn replies excitedly, hopping out of the bunk.
- x -
Zayn watches their show that night unable to keep the smile off his face. He knows Liam's the most attractive person he's ever seen, but when he's on stage there's an indescribable beauty to him. You can tell he gives it his all and loves what he's doing.
Liam smiles over at Zayn or blows him kisses or sings the lyrics right to him once in a while, and Zayn is just a little in awe that he gets to call Liam his.
They have a quick snog backstage after, until it's Liam's turn to shower, then Zayn goes to wait for him on the bus with Harry.
As soon as Zayn sits on the couch, Harry flops down resting his head on Zayns lap, demanding Zayn plays with his hair. He sighs happily and snuggles deeper into the couch when Zayn does so.
"So, I'm guessing after today it's safe to call you boyfriends?"
Zayn chuckles, nodding lightly. "I guess you could have much earlier, the tabloids definitely did, we just never talked about it."
"I'm happy for you guys," Harry says, playing with the string of Zayns hoodie, "you're so cute together and it makes me sick, but I've never seen Liam so happy, and you're a good guy."
"Thanks, Haz." Zayn says gratefully, "Liam means a lot to me, I'm happy I make him happy. And I made three additional best friends out of it."
Harry smiles up at Zayn. "Love you, man."
Zayns replying with "love you too, Harry." when the rest of the boys walk in. He looks up to see Liam pouting exaggeratedly.
"Are you stealing my boyfriend, Harry?" Liam whines. Zayn can tell he's trying not to smile, though. "No, get off, I'm having none of this." He says, pushing Harry off the couch, who yelps and whines 'hey!'
Liam laughs then, shaking his head as he helps Harry up onto Nialls lap.
"I think I'm gonna go lye down," Liam announces, turning to Zayn, "are you coming?"
Zayn nods, smiling happily and taking Liams hand. Liam stops them infront of his bunk, hugs Zayn tight and mumbles 'mine' and 'i love you' into Zayns neck.
Zayn giggles, kissing Liams temple before tapping his sides. "C'mon, babe."
He helps Liam out of his shirt and sweats, and Liam helps him out of his jeans, hoodie and tank top. The boys whistle at them, but they ignore it.
Liam grins brightly at him before saying "teamwork!" excitedly and Zayn doesn't know why he finds everything this boy does so damn endearing.
Once settled into Liams bunk, with Zayn lying completely on top of him, Liam kisses him sweetly, running his hands down his back, using his nails in a way that makes goosebumps appear and makes Zayn shiver.
Zayn stuffs his face in the crook of Liams neck, pressing soft kisses into the skin until they're both lulled to sleep by the distant sound of the boys at the other end of the bus cheering about their video games.
Zayn thinks he could get used to that.