Work Text:
Sunday
Seven am at the begining of winter wasn't pretty.
The tip of Zayn's nose was cold and his skin raised in goosebumps as he reached out to grab his phone to switch the alarm off. He groaned shuffling back under the covers to the warmth slumber had created, but it was no use. The bubble of a night spent in one position was burst now and left nothing but cool sheets and the dream of comfort left behind. He yawned and scrolled through his emails, checked his twitter feed and laughed at a few links that Louis had sent him the previous day.
It was quiet in the flat. A morning bird broke its song outside somewhere - by the sound of it, somewhere in that great tree that was directly across from Zayn's window in the park sat opposite. A few cars passed, maybe a truck with that extra rumble to the engine and then nothing. Zayn lay there, relishing the quiet, eventually hearing their horrid fridge turn over and hum until it was near half seven and he really needed to be getting out of bed.
Today was important after all.
Today was grocery day.
He slid out of bed, crossing the carpet into the hall, scratching at his belly under the thin long sleeve shirt he always wore to bed. It was near threadbare but it kept his chest warm at night and his mother was always at him about keeping colds at bay in winter. If you just stopped smoking, darling. You wouldn't end up here like this. She was right. He hated spending those two weeks last winter in hospital with pneumonia, but smoking was a habit and he found it hard to resist. Maybe after finals. Maybe once he got his life sorted for what he was actually going to do after Uni. Maybe once everything actually settled down.
There were a lot of maybes.
The shower was blessedly hot for that time of day and Zayn made the most of it. He knew Louis was out and by the time he rolled in it would be the afternoon at the very earliest so there wasn't much of a possibility of complaint if he used every last drop of warmth. He scrubbed at his body and washed his hair, he'd been too tired after coming in late from the library the night before to do much else but strip off and slide beneath the covers. And set his alarm. Grocery delivery day was important. He couldn't very well open the front door all sleep rumpled in his pjs now could he?
Not with who was going to be knocking on said door anytime between eight and eleven. Zayn really did need to get a move on.
By the time Zayn'd picked through several shirts, layered ontop of the long sleeve he wore at night (just because it kept him warm) and added a hoodie that was either his or Louis', it was nearing eight. He picked at his hair a bit after fluffing it dry with a towel but didn't want to look like he made too much of an effort so he didn't bother with the array of product he kept in the top drawer. He slipped on two pairs of socks because their bloody radiator was constantly playing up and headed into the kitchen to turn the kettle on before booting up his old laptop that he and Louis kept attached to the tv just to watch whatever show tickled their fancy and could be streamed or downloaded. They barely covered the basics with what Lou earned down at the bookstore, Zayn at the coffee shop and the odd bit he made on the side from inking his mates skin with the tattoo gun Ant had bought him for his last birthday. Paying for movies or a boxset wasn't really in the cards - stealing their neighbours wifi through a little bit of innocent (or not so) flirting from Louis however, was.
He was on his third mug of tea and second episode of Elementary when he heard a knock at the door. He smiled, checking his hair in the reflection from a photo of him, Ant and Danny last Christmas that he spent back in Bradford. He looked ridiculous in the Santa hat then, but he'd give anything for a beanie close by now to cover the utterly fluffy wreck that his hair was. He lifted up the cushions on the sofa and apart from a few condoms and what was possibly a half used pack of lube that didn't warrant thinking about - he came up with nothing. Zayn was sorely tempted to run back to his room to find one but there was another knock at the door followed by his name being called out in a familiar irish brogue that Zayn wouldn't dare keep waiting.
He pushed his fringe up once more and let out a huff before opening the door wide.
"Hiya mate," the voice came from somewhere under a bunch of celery or maybe it was fennel? Zayn had been ordering fresh vege from this particular shop for the past three months and he still had no idea what half of it was.
"Need a hand?" he said after shifting further to the side, Niall knocking loose a plastic pack of what looked like some sort of sprouts to the floor.
"Fuck, yeah, can you just?" Niall started, proping the box in his arms up a bit further. Zayn couldn't help the chuckle that left his lips when he moved the bag of apples and possibly a pumpkin from the top revealing a puff of blond hair poking out from under backwards snapback. Another bag of onions and Niall's blue eyes were revealed along with a cheeky smile that had Zayn grinning in return.
"Thanks," Niall said, sweeping into the room, heading toward the kitchen and Zayn followed after like he did every week when Niall dropped his fruit and vege off.
Zayn most certainly did not stare at the way Niall's arms flexed as he put the box down onto the small round table. He definitely wasn't looking at the tiny rivulet of sweat making its way down from the back of Niall's neck into the torn neckline of the vest he was wearing. A vest, in the beginings of winter.
"I know, and I am cold it's just - you do realise you live up five flights of stairs, right? Love coming to yours, means I have an excuse to avoid the gym!" Niall said, turning around while dusting his hands off on his trousers.
Apparently, Zayn was thinking out loud which - a problem - but more so because now he had thoughts of a sweat shiny covered Niall doing pushups and squats and weights and whatever else it was people did at the gym. Liam had offered to take him once - free lessons for beginners and staff discount if he wanted to join. Zayn had politely declined. He wasn't ever one for enjoying PE lessons at school and apart from the odd jog to catch a bus, he wasn't one for anything like exercise now.
"Right, um glad to be of service?" he finally stuttered out but Niall had already turned back to the box, pulling out a colourful array of things Zayn had no idea what to call. His brow was furrowed until he let out a hum of approval, pulling out a jar at the same time.
He stepped closer to Zayn who stood stock still, biting at his bottom lip because Niall looked determined and he was holding the jar full of what looked like liquid gold in his hands like it was precious. "What's that?"
Niall's smile was soft as he looked up at Zayn, blinking with lashes that shouldn't have been as dark and as long considering how blond his hair was. It often made Zayn wonder why he bleached his hair - the dark roots that he'd seen on show a few times were warm and reminded Zayn of the cups of Bonox his Dad would drink when he was feeling poorly. Not that it worried Zayn either way - he still found his fingertips itching to touch, to curl his fingers into hair that looked soft and maybe press his nose behind Niall's ear to see what shampoo he used would smell like up close.
Zayn was so gone for Niall he was embaressed for himself.
"This," Niall said, taking a step closer and Zayn had to fight not to step backward, he could feel heat rushing to his cheeks and Niall hadn't even said that much yet. "This is from my own private stash. There's magic in this jar,"
Zayn laughed nervously, this short titter of a thing as Niall locked his eyes with Zayn's. Christ, he was so close that Zayn could see the darker bits of blue - near black - that speckled over the ocean hue that Zayn sometimes woke up dreaming of. "Magic?"
"Yeah, pretty special this," Niall said, holding the jar up between them and licking over his lips making the pink shine. Zayn willed his dick not to notice because this was the closest he'd been to Niall and Niall sort of stank of sweat and lingering traces of some sort of spicy deoderant and was he actually stepping closer still?
Niall twisted open the blue lid and as soon as he did, Zayn realised what it was, "Got a hive on the top of my flats. Well - got a few actually around the place but this, this one's something I only give out to people I deem worthy,"
Zayn swallowed hard, chewed at his lip some more as Niall put a finger into the honey, twirling it a little as he pulled it out so the golden syrup eventually stopped oozing its way back down. "Got a mate who lives near the Chelsea flower show, he let me setup a hive there a few years back and most of the time, the honey's nice, got a good clover flavor but right around the flower show - that/s when greatness occurs."
Zayn opened his mouth to say something - anything - but found he couldn't get a word out. Well - it was a bit hard when Niall didn't really give him the opportunity, just stuck his finger in and smiled with a, "you can taste the roses can't ya?"
Zayn's heart rate spiked till it was the only thing he could hear in his ear. All he knew was Niall's finger was in his mouth and it was sweet, yeah - because honey - but it was also Niall's fucking finger in his mouth.
"Am I interupting something, love?"
Niall's face was as red as the tomatos he'd brought up and a thin line of honey broke from his finger, sticking to Zayn's chin as he near jumped backward. Zayn could only blink as Louis threw an arm around his shoulder, and a wet kiss to the side of his heated cheek.
"No, just, honey. I'm. Fuck, I'm running late. I'll just. Let me know if you want more, I mean - of the honey? I'll. I'm. Bye!" Niall stuttered out his reply, knocking the eggs from the table to the floor with another loud curse before he was rushing past Louis and Zayn and out the front door.
"That was some seriously kinky shit with the honey, honey," Louis said after a moment of silence where Zayn tried to find his breath. Lou wiped his finger over Zayn's chin, sucking the remains of the honey away, leaving Zayn's skin sticky. Zayn shoved him off and sat on the chair Niall had ran into on his way out. He put his head in his hands and groaned because that was a moment and after three months where he'd done nothing but think about the cute delivery boy and spent far too much of his wages on fresh vege that he didn't know how to cook or eat he was finally working his way toward asking Niall out and then. Louis.
"What are you even doing here?" he asked, not looking up because he could hear Louis pottering around with the kettle and getting out an extra mug.
"Stopped home late last night. You were dead to the world, didn't even hear me knock that horrible vase Aiden made for you onto the floor. Tea or coffee?"
"Tea," Zayn answered. Usually he was a coffee man after his first morning cup but on days when Niall came he always made sure to have just put the kettle on. Niall never said no to a cup and he professed to hating the smell of coffee once, when they were talking about beetroots of all things. "He probably thinks we're fucking,? Zayn whined, groaning into the palms of his hands as he dragged them over his face again and again.
"What? Just because of what I said? I don't think so mate," Louis said with humor in his tone, the ringing of a spoon against the sides of a mug tinkling like the laughter Zayn could guess Louis was holding back. Louis never could take anything seriously. Especially when it came to Zayn and his "ridiculously cute crush on the vege man."
"You put your arm around me, Lou, and kissed me. Pretty sure you're the reason why he left so soon."
Louis raised a brow as he set the cup down in front of Zayn, dropping himself onto Zayn's lap without further notice. "Zayn, if anything, I did you a favor."
Zayn rolled his eyes and leaned back, Louis shuffling a bit until Zayn put a hand on his back, their chairs werent that solid and he wasn't altogether sure that one day they'd both be on the floor from sitting like this. Bloody touchy Louis and his affectionate way with friends. It drove Liam mad from what Zayn had noticed. Then again, Zayn had a feeling Louis liked that it did. Harry, however, never seemed to bat an eye unless Liam said something first. It was strange is what it was. Zayn knew there was something going on there with the three of them, but he didn't have the energy to suss it out. He had enough on his plate trying to figure out if Niall would possibly be amenable to his affections. . . if Zayn could ever work up the courage to ask.
Not that it mattered now. He'd probably get someone else to send over the grocery pack. Maybe that short troll of a workmate that did the other run who Zayn had met once when Niall had been down to London for two weeks. Josh just wasn't Niall. No friendly smile or quick joke or story to tell about something that had gone on that day or the one before. No endless blue eyes or perfect smile that he told Zayn once that braces had straightened out. It was why he was in the fruit and vege game - or at least why he loved his job. His Ma and Da had been strict on the food he was allowed to eat when he had them. Niall'd always been a big food lover so the obvious step was to immerse himself in the foods he could eat and so while he was at Uni doing some biology degree or some such, he worked at the local grocers who delivered to all and sundry around the Manchester campus.
He was kind and he was lovely and he made Zayn smile a lot more than he had done in a long time.
Zayn would probably never see Niall again.
"What favour could you possibly have done me, Lou?" Zayn said with a sigh, plucking Lou's cup out of his hands much to his annoyance, and taking a sip. No sugar and no milk - bitter as Zayn felt right about now.
Louis took the cup back with a quick flick to Zayn's ear, hitting the silver stud making Zayn wince. "Well, at least now you know he's interested. Nobody turns that red and gets that awkward unless they think they're overstepping someones bounds. Cutting someone elses grass, you know," he nudged his bony shoulder into Zayn's chest.
"What does that even mean?"
Louis hummed, sipping at his tea,"Your boy was throwing daggers my way, babe. If looks could kill, I'd be bleeding out on the floor right now."
Zayn shrugged, even if what Louis was saying was true - and it did have a bubble of warmth flare in his stomach for a moment - it didn't matter anymore. Niall was gone and Zayn's mouth was still sticky with the sweet taste of honey like blossoms on his tongue, a summer gone that Zayn had never had the pleasure of basking in. And never would.