“Well you know,” Zayn begins, “Sometimes when you tell me you love me and I am like I love you too, I just don’t mean it because it is not true you see-”
“Well, if that is what you wanted to tell me, you’d rather just grab that knife and-”
“Oh my god Liam, shut up,” Zayn smacks his head with the back of his hand and Liam just moves back a little to avoid it, grabbing Zayn’s wrist and pulling him close again. He cannot help himself.
“We can talk like this,” he says, once Zayn is settled on his lap, in an almost straddling position, his arms going around Liam’s neck.
“Okay, you are such a snob by the way. Anyway so where was I?”
“The tragic part where you didn’t love me.”
“Liam.”
“Okay okay, sorry, continue.”
“I don’t mean when I say that I love you too because I don’t just love you, I more than love you and you know I just cannot describe really. Like nobody has more than loved anybody as much as I do. So there should be a word you know, a word that tells exactly how much you mean to me. And we need to find it like right now.”
“Half of what you just said doesn’t make sense,” Liam begins, his arms around Zayn’s waist and eyes crinkling at the corners as he looks at him adoringly, “But you already do have a word for it. A phrase actually.”
“What? No I don’t. I do?”
“Yeah, ‘more than love’. You can just say that and I will understand. Or we could abbreviate it, MTL. I MTL you, Zayn. You MTL me too. The likes.”
Zayn cocks an eyebrow at him, “Tell me you are not serious.”
“Does it look like I am not?” Liam asks, pulling Zayn in by his waist.
“But that is so lame, and nerdy. And lame,” Zayn says.
“We are lame, and nerdy. And lame.”
“MTL?”
Liam laughs, “Yeah.”
Zayn ponders for a moment, contemplating with his tongue between his teeth, “It sounds funny. But okay I guess, it will do until I think of something cooler.”
“Now can we do some kissing, or would you like to write your own dictionary until the boys come back?”
Zayn smiles down at him, before pressing his lips to Liam. “But we will write our own dictionary, one day,” he mumbles against Liam’s lips and Liam nods, too busy to talk.
About four minutes later when they hear Louis’ loud voice coming from a distance, Zayn reluctantly disentangles himself from Liam’s limbs and creates distance between them, moving further into the other side of the couch, concealing his painful hard-on with a cushion. Meanwhile, Liam straightens his shirt, and tries to make his disheveled hair look presentable but then just gives up when Louis comes trotting in, his hair wet and clothes damp.
“What are you two jerks doing inside?” he asks, jumping on the cushion that lies on the floor. Not seeming to notice anything out of place.
“Why are you wet?” Zayn asks. At the same time Liam answers Louis, “Zayn didn’t want to come swim so I was keeping him company.”
“Because like Liam here said, we were swimming and if you knew that and didn’t want to come, your question-“
“I meant, didn’t you have a towel back there? Drying yourself and then coming here wouldn’t have killed you.”
“Zayn, why are you talking shit?” Louis asks, reaching up to check Zayn’s pulse rate, “Are you okay?”
Zayn smacks his hand away, he is just annoyed because he was kissing Liam, and he doesn’t get to do that a lot since his friends are always around, and then Louis had to come in and interrupt.
“Liam, is he okay?” Louis asks, “Are you tired babe?” He is concerned, Zayn realizes.
That is so Louis actually. Noticing little changes in their behaviors, making sure they are fine. And since Louis knows how Zayn just came back from New York where he had been sent to meet his girlfriend (according to the world, but never according to him), Perrie, he must be thinking that Zayn is dead tired. Louis had guessed that Zayn didn’t actually like Perrie, the same way he had told Harry to let Taylor go. He knows these forced, planned dates are nothing to Zayn, Zayn despises them and now he thinks that Zayn is angry at him and at the world generally, for being so tired. For when he is tired, he is the sulkiest being on this planet. Everybody knows that.
“I am okay Louis,” Zayn smiles down at him, “I was just kidding.”
“Well, then you have a very bad sense of humor bro,” Louis says, smacking his left knee, just when Niall and Harry come in, wearing troubled expressions.
“Oh thank god you are here,” Niall says, once his eyes land on Louis, “Me and Harry thought you had drowned.”
“I knew he hadn’t though, I could feel it here,” Harry points to his heart with a solemn expression on his face and obviously, Niall bursts out laughing. Zayn will never understand those sudden laughter explosions.
“Why didn’t you guys come along?” Harry asks, plopping down beside Louis.
“Don’t ask, Zayn is snappy today,” Louis whispers to him, loud enough for everybody to hear.
Zayn snorts, leaning to his side a bit, leans until his shoulder touches Liam’s. This is okay behavior. If Harry can sit on Louis’ lap, Zayn can just lean in a bit yeah.
“He has been, since he came back,” Niall says, he is headed towards the kitchen.
“I think this is because of lack of sex, isn’t Perrie doing like anything?” Harry asks. Harry always makes these jokes that only he thinks are funny.
Zayn opens his mouth to snap at him but there is an arm going around his shoulder and he stops. Liam speaks instead, “Guys, give him a break. He is just tired.”
“But all I’m saying is, I know you don’t like being with her and I’m not saying that you should, it’s just that if you have a key to a locker full of money, you fucking open the damn locker!” Harry says.
“Huh?” Zayn and Liam chorus, Louis slaps Harry’s stomach.
“He means you should do her while you can,” Louis explains, “And he is right actually. She is pretty fit.”
“Then why don’t you do her instead, huh Harry?” Liam says, not giving Zayn a chance to respond.
“Wow, now you are going to unreasonably snap at us too?” Louis asks, hand on his chest like he is really offended or something, “What is wrong with this world?”
“Oh for fuck’s sake Louis, he just came back this morning, let him get some rest,” Liam gets up and tugs at Zayn’s arm signaling him to get up too, “Come on, you need to rest.”
Zayn obeys, and stands up immediately. Avoiding the cushion Louis throws at him.
“But why do you need to go with him, Liam?” Louis asks.
“Let him, he is as moody as he is today anyway,” Harry says, pulling a face when Liam kicks him in the shins lightly.
“No, I’ll just take a nap too,” Liam says. “We have a full working day tomorrow and I promised Niall I’d go out with him tonight, he needs a wingman. I don’t see why that is necessary, but he said he does.”
“But I am Niall’s wingman,” Harry says, shocked.
“I didn’t ask for it bro, it was all Niall,” Liam says, taking Zayn by the arm and walking away.
“Bloody ditcher, I am absolutely never doing another interview with him or talking to him,” Zayn hears Harry say before Liam takes him out of the living room, and up to their own.
—-
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