It's taking, it's taking all I got, yeah...
Zayn's chest hurt like a bitch as he sat on the steps leading to the back of the ambulance, watching as the crime scene techs took the vest that had saved his life into evidence. His uniform was unbuttoned, revealing the giant bruise that was forming just above his heart. He shivered as he looked down at it, not just from the chilly December air but also from how close he'd come to-
He shook his head. No fucking way was he going to sit there feeling sorry for himself. He focused on the scene surrounding him instead, a small sound of surprise bubbling out of him when he spotted Liam getting out of his annoyingly expensive car.
Liam ran between the cops and reporters milling about, searching frantically for something. His eyes went wide as they landed Zayn, the look of relief washing over his face apparent even from several yards away. He bounded towards Zayn like a giant fucking puppy dog, crashing excitedly into him and pulling him into a tight hug.
"Ow," Zayn groaned, and then immediately regretted it when Liam jumped away from him.
"Shit, sorry! God, Zayn, you have no idea how happy I am to see you. I heard Niall's distress call over the scanner, and I just...," He stopped himself from saying anything more, letting out a deep breath as he gathered Zayn into his arms again, more gently this time. "Don't ever scare me like that again."
Zayn smiled a little, his pain seeming to recede a bit when he was wrapped up in Liam's warm embrace. "I'm sorry, I...I won't. I'm okay," he assured him, patting his back awkwardly.
Liam pulled back, his eyes raking over Zayn's entire body like he needed to be sure that he really was okay. He lifted a hand to his bruise, softly skimming his fingers over the tender skin as his mouth formed a tight line. "I'll fucking kill him," he swore, dropping his hand and looking around.
"Alright, big fella. Calm down."
"Where is he, Zayn?" he demanded, his face and voice both thunderous.
"I shot the motherfucker," Zayn yelled, raising his voice so that he could be just as loud and ridiculous as Liam.
A smile tugged at the corner of Liam's frown. "You did?" he asked, his smile getting bigger when Zayn nodded. "Is he dead?"
"No, he's not dead," Zayn laughed. "I got him in the shoulder, and Niall tackled him."
Liam nodded knowingly. "I figured someone who looks like you had to be a terrible shot."
Zayn rolled his eyes. "Sorry I was too busy, you know, being shot to aim properly. I could kick your ass at the shooting range any day. Blindfolded," he tacked on at the end, just to get his point across.
Liam sat down next to him, throwing an arm over his shoulder and leaning into him. "That sounds a lot like a challenge, and you know I never turn down a challenge. Especially one that involves you being blindfolded."
"Fuck off," Zayn nudged him away with his shoulder, making sure that he didn't push him hard enough to actually make him move. Not because he liked the way Liam's arm felt wrapped around him, but because it was really cold out, and Liam was really fucking warm. A space heater would have done the job just as well, but Zayn didn't see any laying around, so Liam was just going to have to do.
"Listen. I'm taking you out this weekend, no arguments. We're gonna get shitfaced and celebrate you still being alive."
"I dunno if that's a good idea, Li-," he started.
"Hey, what did I say?" Liam asked, pressing a finger to Zayn's lips to cut him off. "No arguments. I've been meaning to go to the club Don works at anyway, and I think she's scheduled for Friday night, right?"
"She is," Zayn admitted, trying not to think about how many dark corners there'd be at the club for him to push Liam into, so that he could-
"Perfect! It's a date then," Liam declared, sending a flutter of excitement through Zayn at the word date. "Niall and Harry and whoever else you want to invite can come too."
So, not a date then. Which was totally fine with Zayn, it really was. Better than fine. The only way he'd want it, honestly.
Liam ran his hand up and down Zayn's back a few times before standing up. "I'm gonna call Don and let her know you're alright, and I'll see you Friday. Try not to put yourself in any life threatening situations before then, okay?"
"Okay, Dad," Zayn grumbled, though he was secretly pleased at how worried Liam seemed to be.
"Good boy," Liam praised him, and god fucking dammit why did Zayn like the sound of that? He ran a hand through his hair as Liam walked away, reminding himself that immediately following a trauma was not a good time to develop a new kink.
Fucking Liam.
***
By the time Friday night rolled around Zayn couldn't fucking wait to get out of the house. It'd been nice being on leave from work for the first day or two, especially with his sisters fawning over him, but Liam'd had to switch his shifts around in order to be able to go out tonight, meaning that they hadn't been able to hang out all week. Not that Zayn missed him or anything. He was just sick of being surrounded by women.
Women who were surrounding him at that very moment, all of them weighing in with their opinions on what he should wear. He ignored them all, having already decided on the black v-neck sweater that showed off his tattoos, and the upper edge of his bruise, which he figured made him look even tougher than normal. He grabbed a few rings from the box he kept shoved under the coffee table and sat back, pretty fucking confident that he looked downright irresistible. Not that he was planning to seduce anyone or anything. He just had a reputation to uphold.
He eyed Doniya, who was already dressed in the skimpy black dress her boss claimed was a uniform, a question occurring to him. "So Don, do you like, like anyone at the moment?"
She paused where she was flipping through Safaa's workbook to glance up at him. "Is this about Liam?" she asked with a sigh.
"Of course it's about Liam," Waliyha cut in. "Zayn talks about him constantly."
Zayn glared at her, unable to believe what he was hearing. "I do not," he scoffed.
"Oh, come off it, Zayn. Yesterday I mentioned that Calum's parents might get him a car for his birthday, and you were all like 'Liam's got a car, blah blah blah.'"
"Well, you were talking about cars and Liam does have a car so...I'm failing to see your point."
"My point is that you like him. Like, like him like him. Otherwise you wouldn't bring him up all the time, and you wouldn't have just spent an hour fixing your hair," Waliyha pointed out.
"It took me that long to fix it because someone used all of my gel and didn't tell me," he reminded her. "And anyways, none of that means anything."
"Okay, Zayn, keeping telling yourself that," she murmured dismissively.
"I like Mr. Liam," Safaa said as she climbed up onto the sofa to sit next to Zayn. "And he likes me best."
"I dunno, Saf, I think he might like me best," he told her gently, because it wasn't right for someone to go around spreading lies, no matter how young they were.
"Unh unh," she insisted, getting up on her knees so that she could glare at Zayn. "I'm his favorite."
He groaned, turning his attention back to Doniya before he got into an argument with a five year old over who Liam liked the most (it was obviously him though, he was almost positive). "So, are you going to answer the question, or..."
"Fine," she groaned. "I don't like Liam like that, and it wouldn't matter even if I did. Pretty sure I'm not his type," she said pointedly, and yeah, Zayn definitely didn't have to bite back a smile at that.
"Well, I was asking about Niall anyway," he said nonchalantly.
"Sure you were. And I can like Niall all I want, but that doesn't mean that it isn't a terrible idea for me to date another one of your cop buddies."
Zayn stayed silent, knowing that he couldn't argue with that, not after what had happened with Louis.
"Have you told him about Clark?" Doniya asked.
"Who, Liam?" he asked, earning an eye roll from her, like she couldn't have been talking about any number of people. "No, why would I? I'm barely friends with him; he doesn't need to know every detail of my romantic history."
"If it was actually history, then I'd agree with you, but we both know it's not. I think you should tell him about h-"
"I got shot like three point five seconds ago," Zayn whined, tossing his hands up in the air. "Can we please not talk about this right now?"
Doniya let the subject drop, but Zayn's mood had already soured. Waliyha pushed them out the door a few minutes later, reassuring them repeatedly that she was happy to watch Safaa if it meant that Zayn could have some fun.
"She's totally got a boy coming over, doesn't she?" Zayn asked as they headed for the stairs.
"For sure," Doniya agreed with a grimace.
They walked to the subway in companionable silence, having agreed to meet everyone else at the club. Niall was waiting for him at the bar as he stepped inside, drumming his fingers against his glass and looking bored, and Zayn gave Doniya a quick kiss on the cheek as she headed to the back room to clock in before joining him.
"You the first one here?"
"Nah. Your boyfriend's already tearing it up on the dance floor," he said, inclining his head towards the main section of the club. He turned to follow his gaze and spotted Liam right away. It was already getting crowded, but Liam must have gotten there early to secure a spot for himself. He was putting it to good use as he moved to the music, the slow grind of his hips making Zayn's mouth water.
"Asshole," he muttered, forcing himself to turn away. Niall pushed a drink in front of him and he took it gratefully, needing something to numb the filthy thoughts racing through his head.
"I thought you two were getting along better?"
"He's a fucking Disney prince come to life, Niall. It's awful."
"A prince doesn't sound all that bad, and it was nice of him to set this night up, you gotta admit that," Niall urged.
Zayn shrugged, not willing to admit anything. Niall looked back at Liam, pursing his lips like he was considering something. "I think I might ask him out."
"The fuck you will," was Zayn's immediate response, his brain to mouth filter suddenly failing him.
"Ha, I knew it! I fucking knew it!" Niall shouted, pointing at him happily. "You like him."
"Screw you, I do not," Zayn grumbled. "I just don't want my best friend going out with a complete twat."
"So you're not friends with him?"
"I don't know what the fuck we are," Zayn replied without thinking. Niall shot him a look, like he could read Zayn's mind and knew just how much time he spent thinking about what he and Liam were, and what they weren't. Zayn changed the subject quickly, before Niall could say anything else Liam-related. "Besides, we both know you'd go for me if you ever decided to swing that way."
"It's dem eyelashes, they do something to me," Niall agreed, stepping closer so that he could nose at Zayn's cheek. Zayn pushed him away with a laugh, turning around and raising his empty glass in Doniya's direction. "Hi Doniya," Niall cooed as she headed their way, propping his elbows on the bar as he leaned closer so that he didn't have to shout over the music. "You're looking as lovely as ever."
Zayn rolled his eyes, turning around and resting his arms back on the bar as he scanned the club, his eyes coming to rest on Liam after a cursory glance around the rest of the space. He was still dancing, his eyes closed as his hips moved in tandem with the steady thrum of the bass. He looked more like he was fucking the air than actually dancing, and Zayn felt his fingers tighten on his glass as he brought it to his cheek, needing to cool down.
"Quite the show off, isn't he?" a gravelly voice murmured, startling Zayn. He turned to the side to see Harry, his hair hanging loose around his shoulders, his shirt unbuttoned enough for Zayn to see the top of a tattoo on his stomach.
"Sorry?" he asked, since he apparently wasn't capable of listening while Liam was moving his body that way.
"Liam," Harry said, inclining his head towards him with a sly smile. "He dances every chance he gets. You should see him in the shower at work," he added, and no, just no. Liam naked and wet and moving his hips like was now? Zayn definitely did not need to see that.
"He- he dances like that in the shower? In front of you all?" Zayn managed to get out. He was only asking to make conversation, not because he needed more details so that he could picture it better.
Harry nodded, his eyes bright even in the dim lighting. "Sings too. Anything to get attention, really. Bastard was, let's say blessed in certain areas, and I think he likes to make sure everyone notices," he told him, his emphasis on the word certain telling Zayn exactly where Liam had been blessed, and fuck Zayn really did not need to be thinking of that right now, not with the alcohol starting to flow through him, muting his resolve and strengthening his impulses. Because right now his impulse was to drag Liam out of the club and into an alleyway so that he could see up close and personal exactly what Harry was talking about.
Harry appeared to be waiting for a response, but Zayn couldn't say anything, since he seemed to have swallowed his tongue. He downed the rest of his drink in two gulps, welcoming the burn of the liquor sliding down his throat as he looked at the dance floor once again, just in time to see two girls start to dance on either side of Liam, their hands on his chest and back and-
"Liam!" he yelled before he could stop himself. Liam's head popped up, a smile transforming his features as he spotted Zayn and stepped out from in between the girls. Zayn waved him over, a thrill of pleasure shooting through him as he watched how easily Liam left them, not bothering to look back even once, his focus entirely on Zayn.
"You just dance your little heart out, don't you, Payno?" Harry greeted him, his dimples getting deeper as Liam came to stand in front of them.
"Fuck off, Styles," Liam said with an easy smile before opening his arms so that Zayn could walk into them. Zayn made a face, because really? But he still took a small step forward, letting Liam envelop him in a big hug. "I'm so glad you're here. Everything okay?" he asked as he pulled back to look at Zayn. "You sounded pissed when you yelled for me."
"Everything's fine," Zayn insisted, his voice tight as he tried not to look at the front of Liam's jeans and failed miserably, Harry's revelation still fresh in his mind. "I just, uh. Just thought you were here to celebrate me being alive, and not to try to hook up with some random girls," he said, trying not to cringe when he heard how jealous he sounded. "Not that I give a fuck who you hook up with," he added quickly.
"Good to know," Liam laughed, stepping in between Zayn and Harry so that he could lean against the bar. "Let's get you another drink. Doniya, perfect timing. Some shots for my boy, please," he said, cupping a hand over the back of Zayn's neck, his pinkie finger sneaking underneath Zayn's sweater and sending chills down his spine.
"You trying to get me drunk?" Zayn asked, narrowing his eyes as Doniya lined up the shots in front of them.
Liam angled his body to the side, sliding a leg in between Zayn's. Zayn swallowed, a slow heat humming under his skin. The bar was starting to get crowded, sure, but there was no need for Liam to be this close, his thigh pressed to Zayn's front as his fingers danced across his back to settle on his hip, squeezing him gently to pull him even closer.
"How else am I supposed to take advantage of you?" he asked, low enough that no one else could hear him as he lifted the glass to his lips, his tongue darting out to lick at the sugar lining the rim, his eyes never leaving Zayn's. "To Zayn."
Zayn brought his shot glass up to clink against Liam's. "To me," he agreed, wondering why the sound of his name in Liam's mouth made him want to drop to his knees, just so he could make him say it again and again.
Liam straightened as a new song started playing, his whole face lighting up. "Come dance with me," he demanded, reaching for Zayn's hand as soon as he set his empty glass down.
Zayn shook his head, because the last thing he needed was to see the way Liam could move his body up close. It'd been painful enough from a safe distance. "You were doing a good job of looking like an idiot all by yourself."
"I think we'd look pretty good out there together," Liam pouted, cocking his head to the side and pushing his lower lip out.
"I'd bring your average up, that's for sure," Zayn said mildly.
Liam grinned, and Zayn had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from doing the same. "I'm not gonna argue with you, because a, that's definitely true, and b, you just got shot. But I'm also not taking no for an answer," he told him as he started backing up, grabbing a hold of Zayn's belt and pulling him with him. Zayn's hands went to Liam's biceps to steady himself, and then Liam was leading him to the far end of the crowded dance floor, his hands sliding around to rest on the swell of Zayn's ass, their noses only inches apart as his mouth quirked up in a half smile.
He's just a friend, Zayn reminded himself as they began to dance. Only the way Liam spun him around so that he could press against his back, and the proprietary hand he put on Zayn's abs, didn't feel very friendly. Neither did the hard length of Liam's body grinding into him, or the tickle of his breath at the nape of Zayn's neck.
Zayn closed his eyes. Arousal seeped into him slowly, like smoke, until all he could think about was Liam, and all of the things he wanted to do to him, none of which were things you were supposed to want to do with someone who was just a friend. But it was hard to care about that with Liam whispering into his ear, his words hot enough to make Zayn think that he and Liam might have very different definitions of the word friend.
"I requested this song just for us," he murmured, his breath warm against Zayn's skin as he started to sing. "Tell me why you wanna be bad...why you callin' me daddy..."
Zayn groaned as Liam slid a hand down Zayn's body, his fingers splaying out on the top of Zayn's thigh, his thumb tickling along the juncture where hip met leg. Zayn pushed back against him, wanting to be impossibly closer as he let Liam take complete control.
"Giving you the best you ever had, babe...make me feel like you ain't ever had it," Liam sang softly as he rolled his hips to the beat, his expert movements and sinful words making Zayn's head spin with possibilities. "Baby, tell me do you want it deeper...I'm gon' make you feel it..."
Lust curled around him as Liam pushed his hips into Zayn a little harder, leaving no doubt that Liam wanted Zayn just as badly as Zayn wanted him. He could feel Liam's lips at the shell of his ear as his words flowed through him, lighting him on fire as he tried and failed to think of one good reason why he shouldn't turn around and kiss him right then and there.
"It's going down, turn around," Liam sang, his words an echo of Zayn's thoughts as Liam stepped back just enough to spin Zayn around, one of his hands smoothing up Zayn's side and across his chest, his fingers trailing along the neckline of Zayn's sweater.
"Tell me, do you wanna be bad, babe..." he continued as he curled his fingers in, tugging Zayn's shirt lower to expose the bruise from when he'd been shot, it's deep purple stark against Zayn's skin when the lights flashed upon them.
Zayn's breath hitched as Liam leaned in, his lips parting automatically as Liam inched closer. But at the last second Liam turned his head, bending down farther, his mouth finding the bruise instead. He kissed it gently as Zayn's heart attempted to beat its way out of his chest. He was sure that Liam could feel it too, the evidence right under his lips.
He moved his hands into Liam's hair, tugging on it involuntarily as Liam wrapped his arms around Zayn's back and moved up his body, his lips searching for any bare skin they could find, kissing his way up the column of Zayn's throat and along his jaw until his mouth was hovering just over Zayn's, his breath coming out just as fast and hard as Zayn's was.
Liam leaned in, just a fraction and not nearly enough, his lips just barely grazing Zayn's as he spoke.
"My place?" he asked, his voice thick with desire.
Zayn knew that he should say no, but he couldn't bring himself to, not when Liam was right in front of him, wanting him. He'd almost died this week, and he would have been hella fucking pissed if he'd done so without ever kissing Liam. So he nodded, his hands sliding down Liam's back as his hips pulsed forward, needing friction.
"Your place," he agreed.
***
A/N: Lyrics included in this chapter are from Feel It by Jacquees - listen to it and imagine Ziam dancing together and die with me, please