EAT » [ziam]

twenty-four

 [My boy builds coffins for better or worse. Some say it’s a blessing, some say it’s a curse]

Like most teenagers, Zayn saw Memorial Day as just another day off from school instead of the true meaning behind the holiday. Throughout his life, he hasn’t lost any loved ones – at least, ones that matter or that he remembers, in his case. All he wanted was to lay in bed all day while cuddling with Liam and complain about the homework he should do, instead of actually doing it. Liam on the other hand had different things planned for this extra Monday they had off.

The taller, built boy walks into his room with nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist. He looks down at Zayn, who’s still lounging around in Liam’s bed, with a look of disapproval. His arms cross, his biceps protruding, and he sighs. “Zayn, you need to take a shower, babe. We have Niall’s barbecue to go to, remember?”

Zayn rolls out of bed, the layers of blankets sliding off his slim body as he sits up and yawns. “Do we have to? I wanna cuddle.” His lip pouts at the end of his sentence, a last ditch effort to get Liam to cave in.

“Love, I promised Niall we would go. It’ll be loads of fun, I’m certain. It’s not gonna be a lot of people, don’t worry. Just a few close friends s’all.” Liam sits down next to Zayn and starts rubbing his shoulders for comfort.

Zayn sighs loudly, shrugging Liam’s arms off himself. “Fine, but only if I get to stay another night at your house.”

Over the course of the weekend, Zayn had spent everyday at Liam’s house. His parents were fighting more than usual, keeping him up from their yelling. Every argument would end in Yaser sleeping on the couch and binging on alcohol. Safaa’s crying from all the ruckus would irritate him as well. He just wanted some peace and quiet, and that’s what Liam’s house offered.

“Absolutely,” says Liam before he pecks Zayn on the lips.

He stands up first and offers Zayn his hand to get up as well. Now both on two feet, Liam walks over and picks out some clothes from the batch Zayn brought over to stay the entire weekend. He hands Zayn the articles of clothing and a towel like the responsible lad he is. “Now go take a shower. I’ll be downstairs if you need me.”

With his boyfriend heading out the door, Zayn clings the items in his hands to his chest and closes his eyes. He could do this. It was just a simple barbecue. If he can manage to drink lots of water to stay full and ignore all the grilled, fattening food, he should be fine. He takes a deep breath and walks out the door, taking a turn down the hall and into the bathroom.

He strips down and takes a quick shower, cleaning off the grime from yesterday that would only recollect by tomorrow. Zayn liked showers. It was one of the few places no one could see his body. It was also when he would critique himself the most, spending too much time looking at his bare body in the mirror or counting his ribs as he rubbed his body with a bar of soap.

Now clean, Zayn dries off and changes before heading downstairs. He sees Liam seated at the table with a glass of apple juice beside him. Karen is lying on the living room couch, a bottle of Pepto-Bismol on the counter next to her. Grunts are fleeing her mouth as reruns of Friends plays on the television.

“Hi, Karen,” Zayn greets her while taking a seat next to his boyfriend.

All he gets is a sloppy wave in return. He looks over at Liam who just rolls his eyes. “Don’t mind her, she’s just hungover. She was over at a friend’s house and got shitfaced, as usual.” He was used to explaining the aftermath of his mother’s drinking problem.

Zayn leans his head against Liam’s shoulder and wraps both his arms around a single arm of Liam’s. It took both of Zayn’s frail arms to fit around Liam’s built one. “What time does the barbecue start?”