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He hears him before he sees him, the laugh echoing across the pavement and ringing in his ears long after it’s ended. Zayn notices two unfamiliar faces entering through the gates and knows they’re novices instantly, can tell by the awkward way they carry their boards and the lack of purple green bruises covering their knees and elbows.
Louis stops practicing his caspers long enough to look back at Zayn and raise his eyebrows in amusement at the newcomers, and Zayn just smirks in response. Nothing like a bunch of idiot teenagers whose parents bought them a skateboard because they thought it would make them look cool to make the real skaters feel better about their own skills.
Zayn sits down on the bench across the skate park, rolling his board back and forth under his feet, and watches as the two boys put on their pads. One’s big and broad, looking over the park with a mix of uncertainty and determination, and the other’s lankier, a tank top hanging obscenely low on his chest and a shock of blond hair peeking out beneath his helmet. Zayn makes a bet with himself on how long it will take before the two of them realize skating is no joke and pack up their bags and go home, but instead he ends up captivated.
He knows he’s supposed to be watching and helping Louis on his form, but he can’t seem to tear his eyes away from the two boys in the corner. They start off simply trying to balance on the board with two feet, going around in circles and grabbing onto one another whenever they lose stability. Every time Zayn manages to tear his eyes away and tries to focus on Louis, he’ll hear a spark of laughter erupt and he’ll instantly go back to watching the blond one cackle as his friend tumbles to the ground.
It takes a half hour for the friend to give up, shaking his head and pulling off his helmet as he sits down on the bench, but the blonde keeps going. He’s not good, in fact he’s fairly terrible, attempting and failing at tricks it took Zayn only a few hours to master. But instead of getting frustrated or embarrassed, he just laughs and tries again. He has an unflagging enthusiasm about the whole thing that Zayn remembers he had when he first started out too, when he finally got a skateboard for Christmas after months of begging and cleaning dishes and being extra nice to his sisters. The first time he had skated, up and down his driveway for hours, he had tried to memorize the way it felt to have the wind rushing by, whipping at his cheeks and burning at his eyes, the way the colors of the world melded together until the only thing that was in focus was his body on the board. He could sense the adrenaline coursing through his veins and every breath he took into his lungs was a reminder that he was alive. He didn’t think he could feel that way about anything ever again.
Until he laid eyes on this kid.
He doesn’t know how long he watches, but it must be too obvious because all of a sudden the kid looks up at him and with a smile raises his hand and waves at him. Zayn just gives him a small nod, and then becomes spectacularly interested in the deck of his board, hiding the flush of embarrassment creeping over his face.
“You know him?” Louis asks as he bumps Zayn’s shoulder with his own as he joins him on the bench.
“No,” Zayn answers with a shrug. Not yet, he thinks.
-
Two weeks after the blonde kid and his friend first showed up at the park, they pass by Zayn and Louis while exiting the gates.
“Hi,” the boy grins and Zayn watches as his friend’s eyebrows scrunch up in confusion.
“Hey,” Zayn mumbles, pulling the brim on his cap lower on his face to hide how awkward he feels.
“You think if you stare at him long enough you’ll develop ESP and be able to ask him out without even speaking to him?” Louis asks with an eye roll after they’re out of earshot.
“You mean develop telepathy,” Zayn corrects, and Louis huffs in response.
-
It’s a drizzly Saturday and Zayn is trying to get in as much practice as he can in the empty skate park before it really starts raining and it's covered in puddles. He’s working on a 50-50 saran wrap when he accidentally hooks his foot behind his own ankle and goes collapsing to the ground. He lets out a string of curses as he hurls himself up to a sitting position, can already feel the blood pooling on his knee beneath his jeans.
“You okay?” someone asks, and he sees it’s the blonde kid standing at the gate. Zayn’s head goes a little bit wonky, but he blames it on the injury.
“I’m fine,” Zayn mumbles under his breath as he gets off the ground, brushing himself off. He’s not sure what it is about this kid that makes it impossible for him to speak in a normal voice level.
“You were really close that time,” he tells him as he walks closer.
“That time?”
“I may have been watching you for, uh, a little while. You’re really good,” the kid offers sheepishly, and Zayn is about to smile in response when they hear a crack of thunder.
Zayn curses again when he notices how dark the clouds have gotten before hopping on his board and skating over to his bag.
“Where are you going?”
“Gotta get home before it starts pouring,” Zayn calls back as he kneels down to pack up his stuff.
“Do you usually skate here?”
“Nah Lou – well, my friend – usually drives me but he’s watching his sisters today and – fuck,” he exclaims when he feels a raindrop hit.
“Do you want a lift?”
Zayn holds his breath for a second before responding. “Seriously?”
The kid is twirling his keys around his fingers with a wicked grin and Zayn bites his lip. “I mean, if you don’t mind?”
“Not at all.”
Zayn follows him out of the park to an old beat up car in the parking lot across the street. He realizes this is the only second time he’s ever spoken to him in his life and this could be really awkward. Actually, with his track record in situations where he’s forced to make small talk with strangers (especially cute ones), Zayn knows this is going to be awkward.
He throws his stuff in the trunk and then opens the passenger side door to see the seat covered in old food wrappers and receipts.
“Shit, sorry, uh, just a sec,” the kid says as he shoves the pile to the floor. “There you go!”
Zayn laughs a bit as he climbs in, noticing the stench of weed seemingly coming off of every surface. “You smoke?”
The boy laughs with a nod. “Yeah, you want some?”
Zayn’s eyes widen but then he shrugs. Getting high would certainly make this less weird, right? “Okay.”
“It’s in the glove compartment.”
Zayn opens it to discover it’s only got a packet of weed and a condom in it, and hands it to him with a snort. “You have anything to smoke it with?”
The kid’s features cloud for a second before he’s reaching behind the drivers seat into the even bigger mess in the back. After a few seconds, he pulls up an empty soda can. “Yeah?”
Zayn laughs. “I have a lighter,” he offers, and he arches off the seat for a moment to dig it out of his pocket, pretending he doesn’t notice the way the boy is staring at his hips. “Here,” he says and he hands it over.
They share the soda can back and forth as it starts to rain, the car silent except for the splatter of drops on the windshield. Zayn would feel bad for being such a shitty smoking buddy but every time he looks over at the kid, he smiles so bright at him that Zayn feels a little dizzy, which now he’ll blame on the combination of smoke and blood loss.
“You don’t talk much, do you?”
“Don’t have much to say,” he answers honestly and the boy just smiles again, making Zayn’s skin feel like it’s on fire.
“Can I turn on the radio?”
Zayn nods, and leans back against the chair while he hears a song he’d pretty sure he’d recognize if he wasn’t so focused on trying to conceptualize the fact that he’s sitting in a car getting high with…with…
All of a sudden he bursts out laughing. He opens his eyes and sees the boy looking at him with confusion.
“I don’t even know your name.”
The kid starts laughing too, the loud laugh where he throws his head back that Zayn heard the first day he met him, and he almost can’t believe he’s witnessing it up close.
“I’m Niall,” he finally says and Zayn repeats it, likes the way it feels on his tongue, like he can taste it.
“I’m Zayn.”
“Well Zayn, you’re a wicked skateboarder. Like when you do that one trick. You know. The one with the, ah, you know. That one…” Niall’s gesturing wildly.
“Yeah, yeah,” Zayn answers while closing his eyes, like he knows exactly what Niall’s talking about. “You’re kind of shit, though.”
He opens his eyes, realizing how awful that sounds but Niall just starts laughing. “I am really shit. Like, total shit. Liam reckons I should just give up but it’s kind of fun, you know?”
“Is Liam your boyfriend?” Zayn asks suddenly. It seems incredibly important he know the answer.
“Nah, we’re just friends. He loves working out and I hate the gym because it’s boring so he’s been trying to find activities we can do together and this was the only one that stuck. Kind of. He fucking hates it, I think.”
Zayn laughs, remembering how often he sees Liam get exasperated as he watches Niall try and fail a trick for what seems like the 300th time.
“Is Lou your boyfriend?” Niall asks quietly.
“I gave him a blowjob in freshman year,” Zayn admits and they collapse into laughter at how blunt Zayn’s answer was. He thinks maybe he shouldn’t be telling his life secrets to some stranger, but he doesn’t feel like Niall’s a stranger anymore. “But, no, he’s my best mate, known one another since we were, like, in the womb or something. He’s a year older than me, though so, wait, actually…” Zayn loses his train of thought.
Niall nods before settling back into his seat and closing his eyes, but Zayn stays focused on him.
“I could teach you, you know.”
“What?” Niall asks as he opens one eye.
“To skate. I could teach you.” Zayn’s never taught anyone how to skate in his life.
“Yeah?”
Zayn nods enthusiastically and Niall grins back. “What’s in it for you?” he asks.
Zayn raises an eyebrow. “I’m sure we can think of something.”
This is apparently the only signal Niall needed, because next thing Zayn knows he’s leaning over the armrest to kiss him. He feels sideways and giddy and he leans in further, bringing his hand up to the back of Niall’s neck until his hip is digging into the gear shift and Niall’s murmuring, “Do you want to go into the back?” and Zayn’s licking “yes” into Niall’s mouth and he’s pretty sure he’s never had a time where he’s gotten high from a soda can that ended this well.
When Niall drops him off at his house later, Zayn leans in through the driver’s side window and kisses Niall on the cheek. “See you bright and early tomorrow,” he grins, and the color drains from Niall’s face.
“What time do you want me there?”
“How does 2 sound?” Zayn asks with a smirk, and Niall snorts before answering
“Perfect.”
The next day Niall’s already fooling around on his board when Zayn skates up to the park.
“I could’ve picked you up,” Niall offers, but Zayn shrugs him off.
“It’s a good warm up. Anyway, why don’t you show me what you do know how to do, and we can go from there.”
Niall nods and starts skating around a bit, attempting the few tricks he knows, and after a few minutes, Zayn stops him.
“Your problem is you’re afraid of the board. You don’t know what it’s going to do, and you’re scared. You’re letting it control you. You have to realize that you’re the boss of it, that it’s only going to let it do whatever you tell it to.”
Niall nods in a way that makes Zayn think he has no idea what he’s talking about and Zayn sighs before standing up and walking over to Niall.
“Here, stand up on the board,” he orders and then takes a hold of Niall’s shoulders, pushing him back and forth. He tries not to focus on the way Niall’s skin feels beneath his fingertips, how easily his hands slide over the slight definition of his arms.
“I’m in control right now, yeah?” Zayn asks, and when he looks up Niall’s staring at him with a lethal look in his eyes and his breath hitches for a moment.
Zayn pulls back his arms and turns to walk back to the bench. “Let’s work on your ollies, they’re the fundamental of, like, every trick.” Maybe this will go better if he doesn’t have to stand in close proximity to Niall.
Zayn makes him practice his ollies over and over again until eventually Niall collapses to the ground in annoyance.
“That last one was pretty good, c’mon,” he argues, not moving from the pavement.
“Yeah, but don’t you want it to be perfect?” Zayn calls from the bench.
“No.”
Zayn rolls his eyes and walks over to where Niall’s lying.
“Can’t we just skip to the part where I pay you back now?”
“Yeah, okay,” Zayn says after a moment of consideration.
Niall’s head pops up off the ground. “Wait, seriously?”
“Yeah, let’s go, where’s your car?”
Niall jumps up and grabs Zayn’s arm before dragging him towards the parking lot.
-
The first time they fuck is after a long day in the sun, where they’re both covered in sweat, their hair matted to their foreheads. Niall spent all day trying to do a 180 and when he finally accomplished it, he’d knocked Zayn backwards off the bench with the force of his hug.
So they find themselves in the familiar position in the back of Niall’s car, only this time Zayn’s head is hitting the door handle and there’s a seatbelt digging into the back of his hip but Niall’s there, practically glowing from his achievements, and when he asks “Hey, do you wanna…” Zayn’s not sure if any human could turn down such an offer.
And when Niall drives him home that night, he walks Zayn to the front door and kisses him hard before running his thumb down his lip and whispering, “Next time it’s my turn,” before hurrying down the steps.
-
Zayn runs over to him, but Niall’s just laying at the bottom of the pipe. “I’m so bad at this, Zayn.”
Zayn laughs and offers him his hand. “Hey, c’mere, get up,” but instead of pulling himself up, Niall pulls Zayn down with him into a pile of limbs.
Zayn rolls to the side and undoes Niall’s helmet. “It’s okay, we’re done for the day. You’re getting better, though.”
“Thank you for doing this, I know you’d rather be skating yourself,” Niall says, and he kisses Zayn’s cheek.
“Yeah, but then who’d suck me off?” Zayn jokes and something flashes in Niall’s eyes that Zayn doesn’t recognize, until he hears a “Zayn?” and looks up to see Louis standing at the top of the pipe.
“Louis, hey!” He scrambles up and jogs over to where he’s standing. “How was your grandma’s?”
“Fine,” Louis answers quickly. His arms are crossed. “Seems like I missed a lot.”
Zayn scratches at the back of his head. “I’m teaching him to skate?” Zayn offers lamely and Louis doesn’t even have to say anything before Zayn breaks down. “We’re just fucking around, it’s not a big deal.”
“You never just fuck around, Zayn. Not with one consistent person.”
“How do you know it’s been consistent?” Zayn tries to protest, but before the sentence has even left his mouth, Niall’s calling after him.
“Zazza, come help me up!”
“Zazza?” Louis asks incredulously.
“He must have a concussion or something,” Zayn mutters, before heading back towards Niall.
“C’mon, Niall, let’s go meet Louis,” he says as he lifts Niall up and gives him a piggyback ride back over to the edge of the park.
They make their introductions and Louis looks over Niall suspiciously and Zayn tries to pretend he doesn’t notice, but then Niall is going on and on about what a great skater Louis is, and he can see the warmth grow into Louis’ eyes, his demeanor softening as Niall rambles on.
“…even Liam, who knows jack shit about skating, said to me how good you were and-“
“Liam?” Louis asks, saying the name like it was a delicious dinner he couldn’t wait to devour later. “He mentioned me?”
“We’re leaving, bye,” Zayn announces as he puts his arm around Niall’s neck and drags him over to the bench.
-
But maybe he and Niall never talk about what they’re actually doing and Zayn thinks about how easy it would be to just ask and he spends half the time when he’s watching Niall attempt tricks trying to figure out how he can attempt to actually ask Niall out and the whole thing leaves Zayn feeling like an idiot.
So on a day when he’s not supposed to meet Niall, he goes over to the park by himself. Skating usually was the easiest way to clear his head, and he hadn’t done it by himself in a while and he couldn’t think of anything better than hearing the scratch of wheels against metal and the flip in his stomach every time he got air to help him figure out what to do.
But as he walks up to the park, he hears a familiar laugh and he looks over the fence to see Niall and someone he doesn’t recognize skating around. The other person is completely uncoordinated, can barely even seem to stand up straight when he’s not moving, and Niall finds it hilarious to try to coax him up onto the board just to see how far he can get before he’s sputtering out of control. The whole scene is just so familiar it makes Zayn ill.
Zayn had always just assumed skating was their thing, and then hates himself for even assuming they had a thing in the first place. It’s not even like Zayn really cares who that person is, could be Niall’s brother or cousin or something for all he knows, but he suddenly realizes that he was in way too deep over his head to be getting upset over something as simple as someone skateboarding with Niall who didn’t happen to be named Zayn Malik. Teaching some kid how to skateboard and making out with him on the side shouldn’t have turned into this, and he’s pretty sure he’s more mad at himself than anything for even being upset in the first place.
He skates home, weaving in and out of cars and speeding past street signs, afraid if he slows down, his heart might catch up with him.
-
He avoids the park for three days before Louis finds him practicing in his backyard.
“What happened?” he asks as he walks down the driveway.
“What do you mean?” Zayn asks, still attempting his 50-50 saran wrap. He still can't get it, and he's starting to think the problem isn't physical as much as mental.
“C’mon, Zayn. This is the longest time you’ve stayed away from the park since you started skating, except for that time you sprained your wrist and that was only because your mom hid your board at my house.”
“Nothing happened, I just don’t feel like going, that’s all.” Zayn answers with a shrug, fiddling with one of the wheels on his board.
“Look, I talked to Liam and he said you hadn’t returned any of Niall's texts and he’s not sure –“
“This isn’t about anyone else, okay? It’s about me, it’s not his fault or whatever. Also, I can’t believe Liam is willing to speak to you.”
Louis smirks and sits down next to him on the driveway in silence, and they stay like that for a while, Zayn still pretending his wheel is the problem with not being able to complete the trick.
“Look, I know talking isn’t like, your thing and you’d rather jump into a bowl of acid than, God forbid, discuss your feelings with someone, but I just want you to know it’s okay, alright? Like how you feel is how you feel and that’s okay and you shouldn’t be embarrassed by it and maybe opening up to someone wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.”
Zayn nods before he actually lets the words sink in. Maybe it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.
Louis gets up and brushes the dirt off his pants. “Also, just to let you know, Niall is an even shittier skater when you’re not around. He really needs your help, mate.”
It elicits the first smile out of Zayn in three days and Louis offers him his hand to pull him up and they walk towards Louis’ car.
“Oh man, you missed their friend Harry, too. Total fucking weirdo, tried learning to skate but couldn’t stay on the board for more than a second before he was on the ground. You would’ve loved it. And by the way, just for the record, Liam is more than willing to speak to me, and that is not the only thing he is willing –“
“Get out of my driveway, I don’t want to hear this,” Zayn groans and skates back up to the house.
“I’ll pick you up tomorrow, yeah?” Louis calls from the out the window.
Zayn pauses at his door and considers it for a moment. “Yeah. Tomorrow.”
-
Louis keeps looking over at him sympathetically, which makes Zayn sink lower in the seat and hide his head under his hat until they arrive at the park and Louis practically drags him out of the car.
Zayn does an impressive job staring at his feet until he enters the park and sees Niall sitting on a bench, glumly listening to Liam ramble. Louis gives him a small push and he sighs, places his board on the ground and skates over to where they’re sitting.
“Zayn!” Liam greets him enthusiastically. Niall looks up excited, but then seems to remember the fact Zayn’s been ignoring for the past three days so he tries to cover up by coughing and frowning, eyebrows furrowed. “Louis told us you were sick, feeling better?”
“What? Oh. Yeah, feeling a lot better, thanks, Liam. Um, Niall, do you think I could talk to you for a second?”
Niall nods, and turns to Liam, who looks confused for a few minutes before springing up. “Oh. Oh! You two talk here, while I go elsewhere. Yes. Goodbye.”
Zayn takes his place on the bench and looks out towards the skate park because he figures looking at Niall might be too much.
“I’m sorry, this is all my fault,” Niall starts, which is exactly the opposite direction Zayn thought this conversation was going to go. “I know we were just screwing around but I really started to like you and I guess I was pretty obvious about it and so I don’t blame you for running away, I mean I would too if I were you, I mean you were just trying to be nice and give me skating lessons and maybe get some on the side and I know it didn’t have to mean anything but it did and –“
Niall stops talking to look over at Zayn, who realizes he’s staring very intently at him. He needs to stop doing that.
“Is your car here?” Zayn asks.
“Uh, yeah? Why?”
“Because I want to show you what I do when it means something.”
Niall’s confusion remains only for a moment before he breaks out in a wide grin, and he tips his head back and laughs, "Let’s get out of here,” he agrees, and Zayn bends down to allow Niall to get on his back and carry him out of the park.
“Wow, if only I had known it would be that easy,” Niall whispers in his ear as they wave goodbye to Louis, who is currently trying to get a helmet on Liam’s head without messing up his hair, “I wouldn’t have spent all that time preparing an amazing rendition of “Sk8er Boi” to win you over.”
Zayn groans and he lets Niall down next to the car, and Niall wastes no time pushing him against the door and pressing their lips together. Zayn grins against the kiss, putting his hands on Niall’s hips and pulling him closer until he can feel Niall’s heat seeping through every inch of his body. Zayn moves away from Niall’s lips and starts mouthing at his jaw, eliciting a noise from Niall that Zayn does his best to try and memorize.
“So, I was thinking…” Niall murmurs as Zayn moves towards his neck, his hands resting on Niall’s lower back. “Might need skate lessons for a while, since I’m so bad and all…”
Zayn pulls back. “Really? That’s interesting, because my price just increased.”
“Oh yeah? Random blow jobs in the backs of cars aren’t enough anymore?”
“Nah, I’m gonna need a bit more. Romantic dinners, chocolates, flowers, you know, all the good stuff.”
Niall’s playing with the strings on Zayn’s hoodie as he pretends to contemplate it. “Hmm, you drive a hard bargain, Malik. But I think we’ve got ourselves a deal.” He offers out his hand and they shake on it, and Niall moves to open the door to the backseat. “Care to make it official?”
Zayn smiles as he climbs in the back, resting his back against the door and leaving enough room between his legs for Niall to dive in between them.
“Yeah, I like the sound of that.”