i'll show you

thirty

*QUE THE EXPLANATION THAT NOBODY CARES ABOUT*

y'all i'm soooo sorry. i've been extremely busy with getting ready for college and whatnot. oh. ha. yeah, ya girl is also failing 1 out of the 2 classes that i need to graduate 🤪

i feel so bad for not updating but, you know, i gotta get my diploma next may so.... I'M SORRY.

also, this story /should/ be finished by the end of january¿¿¿ that is if i can get back into my updating schedule.

k bye thank you for putting up with me. here's a long overdue update:

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when zayn wakes up, it's because of the small but firm kisses on his lips. zayn refuses to open his eyes and groans, hearing liam laugh before kissing his parted lips.

"wake up," liam says and pokes zayn's cheek, "you lazy bum."

zayn opens his eyes to see liam grinning at him. he takes one look at the sun peeking through the blinds and groans again. "i don't want to."

"zayn, come on." liam says and straddles zayn's waist over the blanket. "i've gotten so much done already. i showered, i shaved–"

"shaved what? you still have a beard." instead of replying, liam smirks and gets off of zayn. zayn sits up in the bed and looks at liam who was now standing closer to the door. "you can't just do that shit and not expect me to react."

liam rolls his eyes and wraps his hand around the doorknob. "yeah, yeah. get up and get in the shower. i actually want to do something today. i'm gonna go make breakfast."

"what are you making?" zayn asks, followed by a yawn as he stretches his arms.

"don't know yet. it's gotta be something good because niall is still mad at me," liam opens the door, "i figured i could bribe my way back into his heart... or his stomach." zayn looks at him weirdly causing liam to stick his tongue out at him before closing the door.

it takes a while for zayn to get out of the bed. he doesn't know what time it is, but he's almost certain that he didn't get enough sleep due to the late time they actually fell asleep.

zayn walks in the bathroom, immediately feeling the humidity from liam's last shower. he scrummages through the cabinets and finds an unopened package of toothbrushes. he takes one out its place and brushes his teeth.

as he does so, his mind recalls the events from last night. the wedding rehearsal, liam's office party, dylan, running into harry-

dylan.

zayn nearly drops the toothbrush. he doesn't know what to think as he recalls the events. it was just... weird. he went a while without seeing dylan and all of a sudden they're laying in the same bed as dylan cries?

zayn decides not to think about it any longer. he's not going to go down that road again. zayn shuts the light off in the bathroom, completely forgetting about the shower, and leaves the room. he expects to hear, or even smell, breakfast cooking but he doesn't.

"you seriously can't be that mad at me. i'm starting to think you like harry more than you like me."

"i just don't support your decisions. if you continue to let that asshole off the hook, he's going to continue to walk all over you!"

"i'm not letting him off the hook. he knows we're taking it slow."

"oh? so allowing him to spend the night and laying in the same bed after leaving to be with dylan isn't letting him off the hook?" there's a short pause. "exactly."

"you piss me off."

"you're just mad because i'm right."

"fuck you."

zayn figures this is the last of the conversation so he decides to make his presence known. niall is pouring himself a glass of orange juice while leaning was leaning against the counter, mindlessly glaring at his best friend.

"hey," zayn says, "what happened to the big breakfast?"

liam breaks out in a smile and walks over to zayn. he wraps his arms around zayn's neck before kissing him. "well, niall said he wasn't hungry so–"

niall snorts. "no i didn't."

liam doesn't miss a beat. "so it's just you and me. anything you want in particular? pancakes, waffles, eggs?"

"i could go for a good waffle."

"cool. can you get the mix from the pantry then? liam asks him. zayn nods and heads over to the pantry, not before seeing liam push niall out of the way to get into the refrigerator.

as zayn searches the pantry, he feels his phone vibrate in his hand. he looks down at the notification, and after he does, he peeks over his shoulder to make sure the other two in the kitchen weren't paying attention.

dylan:
what time are you coming over?

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this felt wrong. he wasn't doing anything wrong; they were just going to talk but the fact that he had to lie to liam felt wrong.

"should i offer you a drink or is that too formal?"

zayn snickers. they were sitting on opposite sides of the couch and haven't said anything to each other for the last couple of minutes. it was awkward, which wasn't like dylan at all.

"too formal." zayn replies. "at least coming from you."

"and what's that supposed to mean?"

"it means that your never formal. except when you're at work." zayn elaborates. "but even then, you're not."

dylan doesn't even try to deny, simply just shrugs it off. "i am thirsty, though." zayn adds.

"then get yourself a damn drink. what do i look like? your maid?" dylan scoffs. zayn laughs.

he missed dylan, he'll admit. he wishes he didn't have to pick and choose. he wishes he could have both liam and dylan, but he can't.

it goes quiet after that but this time, it's more comfortable. zayn's glad that they can still joke around after all of the tension.

"can you believe i cried over you last night?" dylan asks.

"yeah, you weak bitch." zayn laughs.

"shut the fuck up." dylan says and scoots over to the other side of the couch to shove zayn's shoulder. "even the strongest men have their weak moments."

"strong?"

"shut the fuck up!" dylan yells this time, pushing at zayn who's laughing hysterically.

"i missed you." zayn blurts.

"yeah, i know." dylan smiles. "i missed you too."

"how have you been?" zayn asks.

"fine." dylan shrugs. "i've been hanging out with tyler more. i totally forgot i had friends until we 'broke up.'"

"i rekindled with louis. i missed him." zayn says.

"how's his mom?"

"i don't know. he doesn't tell me much. he doesn't want to bring me into it."

"how is he?"

"he's uh," zayn sighs, "he's definitely matured. you can tell this is hard for him, but he's definitely grown as a person."

"that's good." dylan hums. "you've matured too." he points out.

"so have you."

"maybe we needed this time apart."

"maybe."

dylan smiles. zayn half expects it, so he's not surprised when dylan forward and gives him a hug.

zayn rests his head on dylan's shoulder, completely relaxes as he smiles softly.