stronger ↣ ziam

十二

However Liam had expected the fight to go, he never would've expected it to begin the way it did. The loud cheering from the crowd, thousands of camera flashes nearly blinding him as he walked to the ring, Niall constantly shaking him as he chattered excitedly; these were all normal.

Zayn squeezed his hand tightly before he entered the ring, and Liam was still smiling at that point. It was only when he turned around and looked at the opposite corner that the blood immediately drained from his face and his smile turned into a frown.

It had nothing to do with his opponent, Louis, but rather the man standing next to him. His trainer. Harry.

Liam tried to recover, but his skin felt like it was on fire and he wanted nothing more than to cross the ring and beat the living shit out of Harry instead of Louis. He nearly jumped a foot in the air when Zayn laid a hand on his arm.

"You're going to be fantastic," he said loud enough for Liam to hear him over the crowd. Liam forced himself to smile back at Zayn, even though he kind of wanted to punch him as well.

Liam forced himself to remain calm as the referee called both he and Louis forward to begin the match. He tried not to glare at Louis, for none of this was his fault, but he knew when their gloves touched that he'd put a bit too much force behind his own.

Sorry mate, but I'm about to make you wish you'd never been born, Liam thought to himself as he and Louis looked at each other. He felt bad about the fact that he was about to take his anger at Zayn out on Louis, but there wasn't much else he could do about it.

The rounds seemed to flash by in the blink of an eye, at least for Liam. Both Zayn and Niall were on the edge of their seats, figuratively of course for both were as close to the ring as allowed, praying for the best but preparing for the worst.

After the fourth round, Zayn grabbed Liam's arm the second he sat down and looked at him worriedly.

"You need to take it easy or you're going to tire yourself out too quickly," he said into Liam's ear. Liam knew he was right, but his adrenaline was pumping far too much for him to pay much attention to his words. His eyes were fixed on Harry across the way, who was busy attending to Louis.

Liam had to admit that he hadn't expected Louis to put up such a fight, but even his brawler tactics weren't enough to overpower Liam in the end.

Louis went down hard several times, occasionally so hard that Liam wasn't sure if he would be able to get back up. He tried not to let it get to him, though he always felt a bit guilty after hitting someone so hard they actually couldn't get back up on their own.

He picked himself back up before the referee counted to ten, but Liam could see in Louis' eyes that he was fighting a losing battle. They retreated to their corners, Zayn immediately giving him water and gingerly wiping his wounds with a towel.

"What he lacks in size he makes up for in power," Liam chuckled, wincing as his lip split open again and began to bleed.

"Don't laugh, you git," Niall huffed. "You're making it worse."

"You're brilliant," Zayn whispered in his ear. "He won't last much longer."

Liam eyed Louis across the ring. He was breathing heavily, talking to Harry and shaking his head repeatedly. If he hadn't been staring directly at them, he might've missed it, but Liam swore he saw Harry press a kiss to the side of Louis' head.

Somehow, Liam knew as soon as he stood up that the tenth round was going to be the last.

Louis' swings were slower, and Liam took the open opportunity to make his move. When he knocked Louis down again, this time he didn't get back up.

What happened immediately after the end of the fight was a blur for Liam. It felt like his world was spinning around him so fast that he couldn't focus on anything until he was alone.

He had won. He'd been training for so long and now it was all over, and he'd won. He'd kept his promise to Isaac; he'd won a title.

Liam was so overcome with the feeling of actually winning that all previous thoughts of Harry and Zayn had disappeared. It was as if none of it had happened, as if Liam was just another fighter who was eager to celebrate a victory.

After he was cleaned up and his wounds dressed, a small press conference was held outside of the hall. Liam answered questions about the match, said polite things about Louis and couldn't help but smile during the whole thing.

Zayn and Niall stood off to the side, both beaming proudly. Liam tried to keep his eyes off Zayn and answer the questions being posed, but he couldn't help it. Unfortunately, he was staring at Zayn when Harry appeared by his side.

Liam's smile slowly faded and his shoulders tensed when Zayn's eyes were drawn away from him as Harry spoke into his ear. But then a reporter asked Liam, "What do you intend to do next?"

"I dunno," Liam answered, barely thinking about anything other than getting Zayn's attention back on him. "Maybe I'll retire."

Whatever the reporter had expected him to say in reply, that was most certainly not it. Nobody had expected that, and the entire room fell silent. Liam's eyes quickly darted to Zayn, who was staring at him open-mouthed. Niall immediately strode over to him and said the conference was over, quickly pulling Liam away from the flashes of cameras and hundreds of questions that were now pouring in from all the other reporters.

"Are you mad? You don't just casually say you're going to retire!" Niall yelled once they were away from the media.

"Why not?" Liam replied, his head swimming with residual anger from seeing Harry again. "It's not a half bad idea."

"Half bad i-" Niall groaned loudly. "It's a shit idea!"

"Why?" Liam asked again.

"Be-Because you're too good, Liam! It'd be a waste!"

"For who? For me, or for you?" Niall opened his mouth to argue, but shut it again and started shaking his head.

"No, no, we are not having this conversation. That is not what this is about."

"Then what is it?" Niall threw his arms up in frustration and huffed loudly.

"You tell me! You're the one who started this!"

"I don't know, all right? Maybe I just need some peace and quiet!"

"So then tell me! Don't announce to the bloody world that you're going to retire!"

"I didn't-" Liam groaned, feeling even more stupid than he had before. It was quite possible that he'd just managed to overshadow his victory because he was jealous of man he'd never even spoken to. "It just came out, all right? I didn't mean it."

"Right," Niall replied with a heavy sigh. "Look, I'll handle this. Just, go spend some time with Zayn and try not to ruin your career anymore, yeah?"

"Yeah," Liam answered. Niall stepped forward and embraced Liam, holding him tightly for a moment.

"I'm proud of you, you stupid git. Don't ever forget that." Liam laughed hoarsely as Niall pulled away.

"Never."

Zayn was waiting outside the door for Liam after Niall left, staying silent as Liam slowly walked towards him. Normally after a match Liam wouldn't want to do anything except go home and go to bed, holding Zayn close to him as they fell asleep.
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word: 1336
im going to make the chapter longer bc i want to finish this story, and move on to my next one ! 
          - brianna [ the author]