𝐓𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐅𝐚𝐭𝐞 ⸙

2.34༊*·˚

"Maybe I should leave and let you look at this by yourself?"

Zayn lightly shoved Liam and he toppled from his crouching position. "Your eyes are my eyes."

Liam smiled to himself as Zayn unclasped the rusted buckle on the front of the book. He opened the first page carefully, like he expected bugs to crawl out. The first page was tinted yellow around the edges and in the middle of the page, there was smudged writing that said To Zayn Malik, my son.

Liam and Zayn looked at each other, and Zayn sat more comfortably on the floor, crossing his legs. He flicked to the next page, and in more smudged ink read Alpha Studies.

Zayn traced the ink with his fingers, trying to imagine his father sitting at his desk, pulling thoughtfully at the front of his hair and hovering a fountain pen over the page long enough for ink to drip. He flicked to the next page and there was another note; a long one covering the entire page. This time, he read aloud.

"He sounds like you," Liam chuckled.

Zayn scoffed and continued reading.

Zayn shook his head with the hint of a smile. He could hear his dad's deep voice within the words.

Liam had shuffled closer as Zayn spoke. He linked arms with him and held tightly onto his forearm.

Zayn took a deep breath and continued.

"Daniel," Liam smiled, happy at the thought of having one familiar face from Ethdellin Town that might socialise with him.

Zayn read, feeling a little emotional.

Liam grinned, wishing he had the chance to meet Zayn's father.

Zayn cleared his throat and glanced at his mate. He wished his father could have met Liam. He knew they would have gotten along well. Zayn put an arm around Liam's shoulders, pulling them even closer.

Zayn clenched his jaw when a lump formed in his throat. Liam was watching his reaction and Zayn wanted to turn around, so he could blink away his tears, but Liam cupped his face with a soft smile and caught Zayn's first tears with his thumbs.

"I'm glad you found this today," Liam whispered, pulling Zayn's head down to rest their foreheads together.

"That was a goodbye letter." Zayn closed the book and held it to his throbbing chest.

"Closure" Liam moved his hands to Zayn's broad shoulders to rub them. "No matter how I died, he said. Do you think he might've known he would die because of other packs?"

"Maybe," Zayn sniffed, scrunching his eyes closed to rid them of the last tears. "Maybe he wouldn't hate me after all if this was my fault."

Liam's chest ached from the weight of his sorrowful heart. He pulled Zayn's head to his shoulder and hugged him with all the strength he could muster.

"He could never hate you," he whispered. "What happened wasn't your fault. Your dad would have known that." Zayn nodded against him, finally starting to believe it.