𝐚 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐚 » 𝐳.𝐬.

𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐫

"you're taking care of your ex-wife's brother?"

"technically, she's still my wife," zayn exhaled, leaning back in his office chair as thick white smoked seeped from his lips.

liam watched him with curious brown eyes, chuckling softly. "i guess he's giving you a hard time. you look like shit."

zayn turned around to glare at him over another puff of smoke, eyebrows knitted so closely together that they were hidden beneath his red-framed glasses.

"shut the hell up," he snapped, tilting his head back so he could stare up at the ceiling. "he's a pain in my ass. all he does is talk about how he wants me to take responsibility and love him."

"that's kind of cute, zee," liam cooed, walking over so he could massage zayn's shoulders soothingly. "it's like you're his first love. you better be gentle with him, don't let him down too harshly."

zayn looked at his colleague from beneath his glasses, gulping.

"what?" liam asked, narrowing his eyes at zayn. "what did you do?"

"i kind of... already told him i never wanted anything to do with him," he admitted sheepishly, letting out a nervous chuckle. "and that i would never love him."

that earned him a smack to the side of his head from liam, who released his shoulders and crossed his arms over his toned chest disapprovingly. "now why would you say something like that, zayn?" he asked with a shake of his head, walking over to sit at his own desk across from the older man.

"you don't understand, li. he's weird. this kid doesn't understand basic human interactions. he sat in a cafe and told me he loved me over and over again until i literally had to run away!" he explained, his body melting into a heap of exhaustion against his own desk.

"and now he's manipulated his way into staying at my apartment for two weeks. who knows what this kid is going to try!"

liam watched his friend and colleague with sympathetic eyes as he gathered his papers for his next lecture. "don't you remember your first love, zee? how would you have felt if they told you they never wanted anything to do with you? he's just a kid, you need to be more careful with his feelings."

"liam... it's for the reason that he's a kid that i have to be firm about this. i can't let things get out of hand with him," he tried to explain, ashing his fourth cigarette of the day.

"still. you should consider his feelings too," liam said before standing up, holding a stack of white sheets against his chest. "i have to get going to my next class. don't smoke yourself to death in here," he chuckled, patting zayn's slumped shoulder before walking out of their shared office.

zayn rested his chin in his hands, staring out the window at the rest of the city.

why me? he thought.

he's a middle-aged man with no kids, getting divorced, and there's nothing particularly interesting or fascinating about him. there's absolutely no reason for harry to have any interest in him. it didn't make sense no matter which way he looked at it.

but there was on thing he knew for sure: this was going to be an eventful two weeks.

—

A/N: aw do we agree with liam? or zayn? lmk 🥺