s.o.s » ziam

chapter sixteen ➵

final chapter ➵ (zayn age 18, liam age 19)

it had been nearly two years since liam had heard from zayn.

he finished school with flying colors, but it wasn't the same without zayn there. the last years of school went by unbearably slow for liam, as he dropped out of football and although his grades were high, he had stopped caring.

before and even after liam had graduated, he often thought about zayn. he hoped he was somewhere safe, somewhere where he was loved and cared for. the thought that zayn was probably at rehab was sometimes comforting, as liam knew zayn was getting help. but then, liam thought of the cases where rehab centers held more horrors than zayn's life before and he was scared for his friend. liam wondered if zayn still remembered the good times they had, or if he only remembered the time he was betrayed by his so called best friend.

liam had tried to forget zayn.

after the first year of zayn being gone (and after liam quit football), he took up boxing and running. it worked for the first few minutes of his workout where he was so concentrated on burning calories that he didn't think about zayn. but then after a while his mind would wonder and it would always end up thinking about zayn.

every so often, on one of zayn's runs, he would end up crying. tears would blur his vision and he would get so upset he would have to stop to wipe his eyes and nose.

but the crying stopped. the obsessive exercising stopped. it all stopped after the second year of zayn being gone.

-

liam moved out, started taking college online, and got a job at as a half time personal trainer at the gym down the road from his apartment complex. he was happy. liam lived alone in a small, two bedroom flat but he was happy. he ate his meals alone and watched movies alone and went shopping alone, but hey, he was always alone now that zayn was gone, so it didn't affect him much.

unfortunately liam learned the hard way that working half time doesn't pay the bills (his electric shut off ((he was only two days late!)) while he was showering) so, liam got another job.

this time, he worked as a intern at a therapy office. it was a nice, easy job of sorting paperwork, signing in patients, and getting to meet new people. he worked with two old ladies at the front desk and the nice head doctor, sam. the office didn't have many people sometimes there were four or five patients a day (which was a lot for them) so it was quite the laid back job.

while working there liam met andy, who came in every tuesday and friday with his sister who had depression. andy was nice and attractive and was always flirting with liam. liam liked andy though, and the two started to hang out and do things together. he told andy about zayn and he cried a lot, but andy listened the whole time and said he felt bad for flirting so much because it was obvious liam liked zayn.

"what? i don't like zayn." liam said, the last part coming out softly.

andy snorted, "c'mon, liam."

liam shook his head, biting his lip and looking down.

"all you do is talk about him and you basically light up whenever his name is mentioned. im obviously okay with you being gay." andy said softly, "but i won't force this on you."

liam shrugged. "does it really seem like i like him?" he asked quietly and andy nodded.

liam thought for a minute, a silence falling between the two.
liam broke the silence with a small cough, "maybe i do." he whispered.

-

liam hadn't stopped thinking about his conversation with andy. it had been bugging him for nearly a week now, the thought of being in love with zayn was the only thing on his mind. the idea of not being straight had crossed his mind a few times (remember not ((completely?)) gay), but he often ignored it due to not having time, because of school and zayn, to focus on relationships.