Floating in The Water

Chapter 18

Zayn is, unsurprisingly, floating on his back and smiling serenely. If he was being honest, this is possible Liam's favourite place to see Zayn. It gives him a chance to admire every exposed part of Zayn's body, to appreciate how calm and relaxed he looks, and the dark spots of ink on his body. His legs are spread a bit, and he can just see a strip of the tattoo between his thighs, and he promises himself to pay attention to it this time so he can figure out what it is.

Without warning, Liam dives into the pool, jumping in as ungracefully as he can so he creates a bigger splash. When he surfaces, Zayn is treading water a few feet from him, glaring.

"That wasn't funny," Zayn tells him, flicking water at Liam's face. "I was relaxing."

"You weren't paying enough attention to me," Liam informs him.

"Oh, really?" Zayn asks, moving towards. He stops just in front of Liam, and Liam can feel the way Zayn's kicking legs disturb the water close to his.

Without warning, Zayn wraps a hand around the back of Liam's neck and brings their lips together. It's wet, and Liam's trying to focus on keeping himself above the water, so he can't exactly touch Zayn the way he wants to. Zayn, on the other hand, wraps his arm around Liam's shoulders to keep himself up, and he controls the kiss completely, pushing his tongue into Liam's mouth, guiding the way their tongues move together.

After a moment Zayn's free hand moves down Liam's side under the water. He trails a finger over Liam's stomach before gripping him through the material of his swimsuit. Liam's head goes under the water.

When Liam breaks the surface again, Zayn is far away from him, laughing so hard it looks almost painful. "I wanted-- to see-- if that would work," Zayn gets out.

Liam glares at him.

"Sorry," Zayn says, coming back over to him. He brushes his thumb over Liam's lower lip. "Just wanted to see what it would take to get you to lose control for a minute, Wonderboy."

"Remember that time I told you that you weren't funny?" Liam asks, raising an eyebrow.

"I might have some recollection of that," Zayn admits, still grinning.

"Yeah. It's still true."

Zayn snorts but then falls onto his back, eyes fluttering closed. "Can we do that thing again?" he asks as Liam watches him. "Where we hold hands and just float or whatever?"

"You have a floating obsession," Liam tells him, but he gets onto his back, too, and then cracks his eyes open just long enough to grab Zayn's hand before closing them again. "What do you want to talk about this time?"

They talk about a lot. Liam's not sure how much time passes, but they talk about school, and the fact that Liam's University is in the same town as Zayn's art school (which makes Zayn sit up and kiss him hard again, though Liam doesn't know why). They talk about the last book Zayn read (some horror book that had apparently been made into a movie a few years ago, one that Zayn promised he'd get a hold of so Liam could watch it) and Zayn promises to take Liam to see one of his paintings some time. Liam tells Zayn about nearly failing English and not graduating with Harry, to which Zayn replied with, "Too bad you weren't my boyfriend last year. I'm actually great at English."

"Boyfriend," Liam repeats softly.

"Boyfriend, Wonderboy," Zayn says. "I'm a fan of pet names. Get used to it."

Liam smiles to himself. He doesn't mind the nickname so much anymore, now that it doesn't sound like an insult but instead comes out as a compliment. Eventually Liam suggests they get out of the water. His fingers are getting wrinkly and it's been at least an hour. Zayn reluctantly agrees.