i'll show you

eleven

when zayn wakes up, he's in liam's bed. but liam is nowhere to be found. it takes a bit for zayn to figure out where liam might be but then it hits him: unlike zayn, liam has a full time job.

he sits up from the bed and looks around the room. it looks so much bigger when he's the only one it in. zayn's eyes land on the side table next to him. laying there is his phone, ibuprofen, and a glass of water. zayn picks up his phone and presses the home button. waiting for him is a message from liam.

liam: good morning sleepyhead. you drank a little much last night, so i left some ibuprofen and water next to your phone. if you think you're gonna get sick, you know where the bathroom is. please don't get anything on my carpet. i'd kill you.

liam: i also put your phone on airplane mode so you wouldn't see any other messages but mine lol. feel free to stay there until i get home. explore all you want. when i get home, i need to talk you. i should be home around six!

zayn doesn't pay the 'i need to talk you' part any mind and clears the message. he slept in until one so he still has a while until liam comes back.

he takes his phone off of airplane mode and is immediately bombarded with messages from perrie. shit. he didn't tell her that he was sleeping over at liam's. hell, even he didn't know he was sleeping over at liam's.

"let's get this over with." zayn says to himself as he holds the phone up to his ear.

perrie answers on the second ring. "zayn malik, you better have a really good explanation for all of this."

"i'm so sorry babe. i was at louis' last night and accidentally fell asleep!"

"hm." she hums, unconvinced. "and why didn't you answer any of my messages from this morning?"

"i put my phone on airplane mode to save my battery because i left my charger at home."

perrie sighs and zayn knows he's convinced her. when did he get so good at lying? "alright. well, can you come home? i've been worried sick and i need to see you."

"i can't."

"and why not?" perrie huffs.

"because louis' family is in town and they want to see me."

"when are you coming home?"

"i don't know yet."

"alright." perrie's pissed. zayn can tell by the tone of her voice.

"i love you." zayn tries.

"okay. bye." she says and hangs up the phone. zayn places his phone down and rubs his hands down his face. he has a big storm coming when he gets home.

he finally gets out of the bed and goes to the bathroom. zayn looks at himself in the mirror and that's when he realizes that he's not wearing his own clothes. when did he change into these?

there's a toothbrush with a post-it-note that says 'zayn (:' on it. zayn chuckles. he loves this man.

after zayn does his business in the bathroom, he heads downstairs to the kitchen. he's starving. zayn rummages through liam's kitchen and eventually decides on making a grilled cheese sandwich.

it takes him a while to find all the proper kitchenware and he curses liam for having such a big house. zayn makes himself two sandwiches before grabbing a plate and starts to walk around the house.

zayn stumbles upon a hallway that he's never seen before. the walls were covered in pictures. one wall, though, is dedicated to one person. there are many photos of liam and some other person. they're in chronological order, starting from being children to what looks recent. must be niall, zayn thinks.

a few hours feel like a few days. zayn is bored as hell. he ends up doing what liam does and sits on the couch until liam comes back.

it's nearing seven when liam finally comes home. "hey." liam smiles and places his bag on the couch.

"hey." zayn says and sits up on the couch.

"come to the dining room with me. i need to talk to you." liam pats zayn's knee and walks past him. zayn furrows his eyebrows and slowly stands up from the couch. he follows liam to the dining room and liam tells him to sit.

"what did you need to talk about?" zayn asks and clasps his hands on the table.

"i don't know if you remember, but last night you said some things..."

"what did i say?" zayn doesn't remember much from last night, but if he said something stupid, he sure he wouldn't of forgot.

liam shifts in his seat and sighs. "well first off you kissed me." he chuckles awkwardly. "and then you said you loved me."

zayn wants to throw up. he's probably scared liam away now. liam probably never wants to see him again after this. "liam," he starts slowly, "i am so sorry. please forgive me. i didn't mean- god this is so embarrassing. i'll just leave-"

"zayn. calm down." liam chuckles and reaches over to rub zayn's hands. "it's okay."

"no it's not!"

"if i said it's okay, then it is." liam says. "besides, i had a feeling you had feelings for me for a while now."

zayn's face heats up and he covers his face with his hands. he can't even look at liam right now. "i feel so stupid."

"zayn look at me." liam says. "look at me." he repeats when zayn doesn't remove his hands. zayn slowly drops his hands from his face and winces. he wants to cry so bad. "it's okay." liam stresses. "you can't help who you fall for."

"and you're okay with this? you're okay knowing that i love you?"

liam shrugs. "things happen. but zayn, you have a girlfriend. a beautiful girlfriend who loves you so much. don't let these feelings ruin what you guys have."

zayn runs his hand through his hair. "how are you so good at this?"

"it's the third time i've done this." liam chuckles.

"third?"

"first with niall, second with dylan, and  now you." liam smiles and grabs zayn's hands again. "are we okay?" zayn nods weakly and liam's smile grows. "good. how about i cook us some dinner? i feel like we've been eating out too much." liam gets up from his chair and walks to the kitchen.

zayn doesn't reply to that. he just grabs his phone and tells perrie he's on his way home. he doesn't tell liam that he's leaving. he simply slips on his shoes and walks out of the house.