The Way We Do (Ziam)

Chapter 6

Hotter than a jet stream burning up...

Zayn was shirtless with a head full of feathers the next time he saw Liam. In general, this might have seemed an unreasonable state to be in during the month of November, but their thermostat was broken, causing the temperature inside the apartment to fluctuate wildly, chilly days always seeming to give way to stuffy nights. This explained the lack of a shirt, at least. The feathers were a bit more difficult to explain, but as was usually the case when Zayn found himself doing something embarrassing, it was all Safaa's fault. Her wish was Zayn's command, and if she wanted a pillow fight right before bedtime, who was he to argue?

Safaa's giggles were infectious, and he found himself matching them with laughter of his own as she beat him repeatedly about the head with her fluffiest pillow. He was still laughing when he went to answer the door, but when he caught sight of Liam standing in the doorway he was shocked into silence. He followed Liam's gaze as he took in the feathers littering the living room before his eyes landed back on Zayn. Zayn hadn't meant for them to destroy so many pillows; Doniya would be horrified to see the state of the house when she got home from work. And he especially hadn't meant for Liam to see him like this.

He opened his mouth to speak, but Safaa beat him to it. "Hit him, Zayn! Get 'em with your pillow!"

Zayn looked down to see that he was still, in fact, holding the pillow. Liam was just standing there with his mouth hanging open, and Zayn couldn't help but want to wipe that dumb look off of his face. So he did. He grabbed a hold of the pillow with both hands and smacked Liam with it. Liam looked even dumber after he'd been hit, and Zayn noted with dismay that his hair still looked annoyingly perfect. So he hit him again, and again.

He heard Liam bark out a laugh as he pushed inside the apartment, the door closing behind him as he grabbed for Zayn's waist, putting Zayn on the defensive. Zayn yelped as Liam's cold hands made contact with his bare skin, and then he was scrambling away from him. He scooted towards the sofa where Safaa was jumping up and down, waiting for her turn. She got it, bopping Liam on the head with her pillow when Zayn pushed him onto the couch.

Liam grabbed both of Zayn's wrists, pulling him down on top of him. Safaa screamed with glee, both Liam and Zayn now close enough for her to swat. Zayn barely noticed the soft hits or the fresh feathers fluttering down around them, too focused on Liam. The dumbstruck look was gone from his face, wide brown eyes gone dark and narrow as his thumbs rubbed circles into the soft skin of Zayn's inner wrists, Zayn's thighs squeezing involuntarily where they were pressed to Liam's hips.

"Hit 'em, Zayn!" Safaa called again. "Hit Mr. Liam!"

Zayn cleared his throat as he pulled his wrists free easily, a little disappointed that Liam hadn't put up more of a fight. "It's not polite to hit guests, Saf, especially when they don't have a pillow to fight back with," he told her as he climbed off of Liam, holding his own pillow carefully in front of his white basketball shorts.

"Does that mean I win?" she asked as she hopped off of the sofa and went to stand next to Zayn.

"Sure does, sweets."

She smiled brightly, turning her attention to Liam. "Do you want to meet Bensamin? Bensamin!" Safaa shouted towards her and Waliyha's bedroom. "Come meet Mr. Liam!"

Liam stood up, smoothing feathers off of his shirt. "Who's Bensamin?" he asked Zayn.

Zayn took a step closer to ensure that Safaa couldn't hear them. "Benjamin is our dog. Imaginary," he added in a whisper.

To Liam's credit he committed to it without blinking an eye, squatting down and patting his knees as Safaa introduced him to Benjamin, laughing as he pretended that the dog was licking his face.