His heart dropped as the man walked away, looking so sorry and disappointed. Of course, it was five years and if it was something fast for Zayn, it could’ve been so slow and so painful that Liam needed to get away from everything that reminds him of his mistake.
Zayn walked away and saw the newspaper stand he recognized when Liam pointed to him about the place where he does his newspaper delivery but when he reached its door, a notice says that the lot was for sale and the only thing left there was an empty seat and a bouquet of flowers. When Zayn looked closely, he saw a small note at the end of the ribbon:
“Hope you finally see her there, Mr. Cowell.”
The note didn’t say anything but Zayn knew that it was Liam who wrote it. He glanced to the flowers and they still looked fresh. Zayn had his hopes up again, Liam’s still here, and he’s somewhere near this place. Zayn ran and looked at every direction, searching for that familiar face until he reached the main street. It was hard to recognize one person from another, but Zayn was decided he won’t sleep without seeing Liam.
Finally, he saw a familiar stature, briskly walking across the street – it was Liam. Zayn’s heart was hammering inside him, all the fear of what he’s going to say next to Liam faded away in an instant. Seeing him was the thing he wanted to be sure of. He ran his way through the crowds, squeezing himself and following Liam, he’d reach for his hand, he’d hug him tightly and he’ll promise to him that he would never run away again.
Zayn followed Liam few feet behind, wondering where he’d be going and where he’s living now. Liam stopped in front of a daycare center, and Zayn thought that might be the new place Liam’s working at – after all, he loved kids. It was then a matter of second when Zayn’s world suddenly stopped after what he saw.
A kid came out of the daycare, and ran towards Liam, arms open and waiting for a hug. He carried him with so much care and love, and that kid even gave him a kiss. They were both laughing when they walked out of the daycare, already engaged into the conversation they had of what the kid had done for the day.
This might’ve been the very same feeling Liam felt when he saw him inside his apartment, smiling like he didn’t forget something or didn’t leave someone behind. He could hear his heart breaking, al those things he imagined vanished, all those hopes, shattered. It has been five years, and Liam moved on. He was just a part of his life, and Liam had no intention of living in his memory.
One by one, tears run down to his cheeks, the pain was unbearable, and the guilt hitting him so hard. And even though Zayn’s aware that following Liam would hurt him even more, he still did. At least he wanted to know if he really was okay, and he’s living happily with someone. Zayn didn’t notice they were heading to the bookstore and all Zayn could think of was that he’s being punished.
All memories of them would come back at him all at once to shove in his face how he let this special person slip away from his life. He stopped at the bookstore’s window, eyes still following Liam and the kid as they sat on one of the couches, evidently waiting for someone. Zayn bitterly smiled at the sight, Liam was smiling again, and it brought both pain and happiness inside his chest. He was glad to know Liam’s fine, but it’s painful to know that he was happy without him.
A tall lady with curly hair entered the bookstore and Liam immediately stood up, smiling widely as the lady approached him and kissed him in his cheek and then the kid. They looked like a very happy family, Zayn thought and finally, he knew it was time for him to go. He can’t mess up Liam’s life anymore, he can’t tell him that their meeting was destiny again, and he can’t ask for another chance because there was nothing left for him to ask.
He tried to picture Liam this way – maybe they really weren’t meant to be, maybe he wasn’t really the one who’ll stay.
Zayn finally turned around and walked away with his heart broken. He pulled out his phone and was ready to go back to New York when a voice called out for him.
“Zayn?” The voice was too familiar Zayn wasn’t able to hold back his tears just by hearing Liam call out his name. He turned around and tried his best to smile back. “It’s – It’s really you…”
“Yeah,” Zayn said, “it’s me.” The door opened again and the kid went out to follow Liam. Please, I don’t want to hear it, Zayn was praying this is too much for him – he wanted to run as fast as he can so he wouldn’t be able to hear anything anymore.
Liam carried the little kid, and turned to face him again. “Keith, this is your Uncle Zayn,”
“Hey Keith –“
“You’re Uncle Zap!” Keith suddenly shouted, “He’s Uncle Zap! The one you always told me about, Uncle Liam!”
Uncle Liam. Zayn didn’t know what to say first, the fact that Keith addressed him Uncle Liam, the fact that Liam’s always been talking about him, or the way Liam’s looking at him the first time they meet. Zayn looked into his eyes, and Zayn knew this could be it.
They smiled to each other, feelings too much to put into words as they let their bodies touch once again, arms wrapped around, whispers of apology, of missing each other, of happiness, of ‘iloveyousomuch i can’t take it anymore’, and Liam’s saying ‘it’s okay, we’re okay,you’re here…‘and it still wouldn’t be enough because there’s still a lot to say and Zayn would keep on mumbling on his shoulders that he’ll never leave again, and he promises he’ll stay and it was everything Liam needed to hear.
“I always knew you’re the one who will stay, Zayn.”
Finding Someone To Stay (Sequel)
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