i'll show you

thirty seven

heyyyy

"so i was on instagram the other day and a picture of liam popped up on my explore page." doniya tells her brother. "i didn't know he had a boyfriend."

"yeah, well, he didn't have a boyfriend when i told you about him." zayn rolls his eyes. he didn't like how liam and harry were a "famous" instagram couple. he's a bit jealous, he'll admit, but he has every right to be. that should be him with liam.

"so what's the deal with all of this?" doniya asks and lays on her stomach. they were up in zayn's old room (doniya's current room), laying in bed. "you're cheating on perrie and he's cheating on his boyfriend?"

"i'm not cheating on perrie. at least not anymore. and liam isn't cheating on harry." zayn explains.

"so you two aren't speaking anymore?" zayn's sister guesses.

"no, we speak. we didn't for a while at first but now we're on good terms. we're friends."

"yeah right." doniya says sarcastically and scoffs. "you can't be just friends after what you guys went through." zayn agrees. liam may be just friends but not zayn. "have you met his boyfriend?"

"i see him every damn time i'm with liam." zayn doesn't try to hide his annoyance. he doesn't like them together and he's not afraid to make it known.

"so is he as perfect as he looks in the pictures?" doniya asks.

"doniya!"

"what? that boy is flawless." his sister chuckles. "he doesn't post much of himself though. it's more of liam." zayn gives her a weird look. "i did my stalking."

"can we stop talking about them? liam's mad at me anyway for leaving his house without telling him." zayn groans, covering his eyes with his forearm.

"why'd you do that?"

"because," zayn stresses, "they were doing things in the kitchen."

"they were doing things in the kitchen." doniya says slowly. she's not comprehending. now, zayn didn't necessarily see harry and liam do anything, but judging by the fact how they were in the kitchen for a while without making anything and niall's comment when he walked in, zayn has every right to assume. "zayn, i doubt they were having sex in the kitchen."

"well they were doing something!" zayn insists. "i'm done talking about this."

"but how do you-"

"i'm done."

"unless you were watching-"

"doniya!"

"fine." his sister decides to leave it alone. zayn misses their daily arguments. he misses living here with them.

it was only zayn and doniya at the house. at least for now. his dad was at work at his mom and sister went out shopping. rocky was laying by doniya's feet.

the doorbell rings several times causing doniya to sit up in the bed. "who's here?" she asks.

"louis." zayn says. "i invited him over." since perrie decided to stay at the girls' apartment for a few days, zayn hasn't been at home either. he hates staying at that house. it's not home to him.

"this is not your house anymore z." doniya chuckles. zayn just shrugs and gets up from the bed. he walks downstairs and to the door to let his best friend in.

"long time no see, fucker." is the first thing louis says as he walks in. zayn's been staying at louis' house for the past couple of nights. he would love to stay at liam's, but like he said before, liam is mad at him. "where's the fam at?"

"doniya's upstairs but the rest of them should be home soon." zayn says. louis is practically family to them. his sisters think he's hilarious and his parents can't stand him- but they love him anyway.

"where's the dog? i only came for the dog." just on time, rocky comes gliding down the stairs. louis squeals and meets the dog halfway to pick him up. "oh my god. i thought my baby sister was the cutest thing on the planet but i think you just broke the scale!"

louis heads up the stairs and zayn follow him. he thinks they both have forgotten that zayn doesn't live here anymore. louis walks into zayn's old bedroom and halts. he turns around and gives zayn a weird look.

"this is doniya's room now." zayn explains.

"oh. i was about to say," louis sits down on the bed, "this is really gay. even for you."

doniya comes out of the bathroom, groaning when she sees the two men on her bed. "again, not your house anymore."

"nice to see you too." louis says sarcastically. "although i must say, what you did to the room is terrible." he says, referring to the various posters of justin bieber.

"you will not talk about my baby like that." doniya says and crosses her arms. zayn rolls his eyes, zoning out as the two bicker. doniya and louis always argued. like brother and sister.

soon, zayn's mom and his sisters come home, yelling about how they'd brought home pizza. being louis' favorite food, louis comes running down the stairs with rocky still in his hands.

"louis!" safaa and waliyah yell simultaneously. they both run towards louis and attack him with a hug.

"hey girls." louis says, chuckling as they go on and on about how they missed him.

"louis' here? uh oh. i don't think i bought enough pizza." trisha teases. there were five pizza boxes which was more than enough.

louis playfully rolls his eyes and puts the dog down. "always nice to see you mama malik."

"i'm always happy when you come over. both of you. i miss my boys!" trisha says and hugs louis. she then walks over to zayn and hugs her son as well. "you guys can go ahead and eat. there's plenty for us all."

not short after, yaser comes home from work. all of them were eating in the living room and when he sees that zayn and louis are joining he says, "wow. just like the old days."

when zayn used to live with his parents, louis was there every day. especially back when they were in high school. the malik's quickly became used to seeing louis around.

that night was like a family night. they all played games, caught up with each other's lives, and played with the dog. zayn missed this. he wouldn't trade this for the world.

zayn ended up staying longer than he had planned. it was nearing take a.m, louis had already left, and everyone was asleep. zayn was sitting at the kitchen table by himself, thinking about everything going on in his life.

he feels a sense of nostalgia. he doesn't want to go back to his house. there it doesn't feel like home. he belongs here.

"what are you still doing here?" his mom asks, startling zayn as she walks into the kitchen. she walks over to the refrigerator and takes out a pitcher of water.

"i don't want to leave." zayn admits.

"why is that? did something happen at home?"

zayn suddenly feels emotional. he doesn't know why, but he feels like crying. there's so much going on in his life and there's so many emotions that he's kept bottled inside.

"mom, i need to tell you something."

and zayn does. he tells his mom about liam. he tells her about him cheating on perrie. he tells her about his regrets about moving out. he tells her about harry. he tells her everything.

even though that night ended with zayn crying onto his mom's shoulder while she comforted him, that's okay. zayn needed this.