Just Me, You, And This Box of Matches

Chapter 7: Soap Wars

Louis' frantic sprint back to the kitchen is marred somewhat by him tripping over the trashcan and crashing to the ground in the doorway.

Zayn turns to face him, looking down to where he is sprawled on the tile. "Where's the fire?" he asks, and then laughs like pyromaniac jokes are still amusing even in this time of crisis.

Louis forgoes answering in favor of scrambling to his feet and staring at him. "Zayn."

Zayn's smirk slips a little, and he slowly places the pot he's holding back on the counter. "...Louis? You look like you've seen a ghost or something."

"Zayn," says Louis. "You slept with Liam."

Zayn stares at him. "...is that his name?"

Oh, this is bad. This is very, very bad. This is horrifically, terrifyingly, unbelievably bad. "Yes, that's his name."

"I don't get it. Do you know the dude?" Zayn still looks lost.

"Do I- of course I know him, we've been dating for weeks and- that's not the point, that's not the point."

Zayn blanches. "What do you mean, that's not the point? That seems very much like it would be the point. I accidentally picked up the guy you've been seeing?"

"Well," says Louis. "Not seeing, exactly. More like. Squinting at. That was a terrible metaphor. We should talk about the part where you picked him up."

Zayn looks unreasonably pale under his feathered raven locks. "Louis, I didn't mean to-"

"How did you even meet him?"

"It was in a club! I don't know. He asked me for a dance and bought me drinks and I offered to bring him back to mine. It was just a one night thing, God, Lou, I swear I had no idea-"

"Stop apologizing to me! I don't care that you slept with him, I care that you don't want to get married to him!"

Zayn stares. "I'm...completely lost. Wait a second." He cranes his neck like he's trying to see over Louis and into the hallway. "Where is the guy, anyway?"

"Liam," corrects Louis, and then, "I locked him in the bathroom."

It's possible that Louis has broken Zayn and that his slack jaw is never going to snap shut ever again. "You...you locked him in the bathroom. You locked my one night stand, who is actually your boyfriend, in our bathroom...why?"

"I panicked, okay?"

"Louis."

"Maybe you should go check on him!"

"Should I even apologize for making him cheat on you? Aren't you already cheating on him with Harry?"

"I'm not- well, okay, maybe a little. But we're not actually dating, so it's all good." There's a thump from the bathroom. "That's him now. You should go rescue him! He's shirtless and he's lookin' mighty fine, if I do say so myself."

There's another thump. "I don't understand anything that's going on," says Zayn, "but I'm going to go let the poor sod go."

"You do that," says Louis. "If you feel the need to jump his bones while you're at it, go right ahead. Don't mind me."

Zayn just shakes his head a little before leaving. Louis leans against the wall and listens to the pad of his soft footsteps down the hallway, then the click of the door being unlocked.