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samprestonbigbadabruce · 7 years ago

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NXT Takeover: New Orleans - Thoughts and Review...

Sunday 8th April has been a very difficult day, due to my having to avoid any and all spoilers for this show. Normally, I’ll either watch the event live, or watch it at a later date knowing the results. But for a show like this, one that could legitimately be one of the best of the year, I wanted to immerse myself fully into the show, not knowing any results at all. Oh, NXT, you have made me your bitch with ease.

Of course, we have Mauro Ranallo (the one and only legend), Nigel McGuinness (who has really grown into the role fantastically), and Percy Watson (who has demonstrated some good commentary when given the chance), who are probably the strongest 3 man team on the commentary booth. My predictions are at this link.

Ladder Match for the inaugural NXT North American Championship.

EC3 (Ethan Carter III) vs Killian Dain vs Adam Cole vs Velveteen Dream vs Lars Sullivan vs Ricochet

The audience already knows who Ricochet is, his name resonating around the arena, and he gets the first major pop with a tremendous Shooting Star Press to the outside on Dain and Lars. Ricochet is so crisp and beautiful to watch in the ring, he’s instantly fascinating. One of the sub-plots of the match was the build-up to Lars and Dain facing each other, bumping into each other a few times, before an awesome tope onto Lars early on. Watching Lars throw a ladder onto his five opponents was a great moment, he’s starting to convince me he may be more than just a big hoss. He took a great powerbomb from Ricochet, Dream and EC3 off the ladder.

I loved EC3 & Cole, the two snakes who will just as soon betray you as use you, getting along briefly, before EC3 stole Cole’s “bay bay” Schtick, and super kicking EVERYBODY’s face off. The next big moment was Dream’s beautiful Elbow off the ladder onto Lars, some tremendous elevation. Bringing the ladders in so quickly seemed like a better method as it allowed them to hit the ground running. Killian’s Vader Bomb with Cole on his back onto EC3 under a ladder was reminiscent of Rikishi flattening Val Venis off the top of a cage. Lars Sullivan and Killian Dain throwing Ricochet back and forth was akin to two T-Rexes fighting over a pork chop, I laughed, but Lars catching Killain was awe inspiring. And then Ricochet beat it with a moonsault off a falling ladder onto Cole & Dain, that’s Highlight Reel material. Ricochet is coming across very impressive in this match, as I expected.

Dream’s rolling Death Valley Driver on Ricochet onto a ladder was terrifying, but looked amazing, then Lars SMASHING EC3 onto Dream THROUGH a ladder, just raised the bar again, only for Dain to metaphorically go for “Hold My Beer” and put Cole & Ricochet through his own ladder! This is insanity and I love it. I love the subtlety of having the two hosses, Lars & Killain, on one ladder, then the two heels Cole & EC3 on another ladder, and then Dream opening up the third, each ladder representing a different style, culminating in Ricochet joining him. Cole took down EC3, Ricochet took down Dream, and STILL the two beasts were on the ladder. And just as Lars was near victory, Ricochet made the save, the competitors continuously nearing so close, then getting knocked off, before Adam Cole stole the title!

I love how the match allows each style to get their own moment in the sun, either Lars smashing people, Killian’s agile destructions, Ricochet & Dream’s high-flying antics and great bumping, Cole’s smarmy opportunist, or EC3’s arrogant smarts, none were underutilised. I was surprised at the choice for Cole to win, I thought EC3 would make more sense as a heel for the others to chase, but Cole has earned the title, he’ll be The Miz of NXT, elevating the second title. Cole won in character, but everybody looked tremendous. Loved this match.

Adam Cole wins the NXT North American Championship.

Ember Moon defends the NXT Women’s Championship versus Shayna Baszler

Okay, first of all, my favourite band Halestorm opened for Ember and it was awesome, such a rocking tune and great voice from Lzzy Hale. I found that a lot more interesting than Ronda Rousey being in the audience. If only Shayna wasn’t involved…I get that some people may like her, but I’ve found her generic and boring, a flat track bully. To be fair, her knee strikes were making ME feel sore, and it was something a little different, expanding her arsenal. Moon still comes across as the desperate champ struggling with the bully, including a dropkick to force Shayna into the ring steps. I have to admit, seeing Ember turn Shayna’s own elbow stamp onto Shayna was so gratifying.

Seeing Shayna trying to pop her shoulder back into place against the ring post was actually impressive, it feels like they are trying to create sympathy for Shayna, who has been a despicable bully so far. Ember’s finisher onto the outside was excellent, a great moment. Ember’s powerbomb on Shayna was even more impressive, I’ll admit, despite having no interest in this match, these two put in some great work to draw me in. And then, Shayna choked out Ember to win the title. I can’t say I’m surprised, and the match was better than I expected, but I do think it’s a mistake to give her the title so soon. I’m also curious about their decision to push Ronda as the babyface, only for her to be friends with despicable heel Shayna, lack of consistency.

Shayna Baszler wins the NXT Women’s Championship.

Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Final: The Undisputed Era (Adam Cole & Kyle O’Reilly) defend the NXT Tag Team Championship against The Authors Of Pain (Akam and Rezar with Paul Ellering) versus Pete Dunne & Roderick Strong

The Authors Of Pain have gone on strength to strength, improving every match, whilst Strong is consistent and tough, respected by the audience, Dunne is a tough nasty bastard, and The Undisputed Era are heat magnets…this match is such a great choice. The Authors Of Pain instantly come in and destroy the opposition, powerbombing Cole straight through the announce table. O’Reilly simultaneously holding an AOP & Strong in submissions was a great image and makes it believable for him to have to wrestle alone.

O’Reilly being German Suplexed, jumping up screaming, then falling out of the ring, was my favourite moment of the night so far. Dunne and O’Reilly are two hard hitters, and seeing them smash mouth each other was great. Dunne snapping an AOP’s fingers to avoid a move is one of those little character moments that add to a match, very in character. As the match continues, I’m starting to feel that Cole may stir from injury in time to steal the win?

Strong using AOP’s strength and speed against them, including into the steel steps, and then WHAT THE FUCK?! Roderick Strong turned on Pete Dunne and helped The Undisputed Era retain? What a twist, O’Reilly’s reactions are awesome. I remember Strong supposedly being a great heel on the Indie scene, I am legitimately shocked at this development, but it definitely makes things interesting. I assume until Fish heals, Strong and O’Reilly will defend the Tag Team titles?

The Undisputed Era win the Dusty Rhodes Classic and retain the NXT Tag Team titles.

Andrade ‘Cien’ Almas defends the NXT Championship versus Aleister Black.

Almas has already been so impressive as NXT Champion, really raising his game for the title. Black is awesome all round, and comes flying out of the blocks. A tremendous moment where Almas flipped out of a sunset powerbomb off the top rope, only to miss the knees, only to lead into a backsault off the top rope and another Moonsault onto Black, great flow to the match. Almas surprisingly matched Black with some great strikes, until Black kneed his face out of place. Almas has scouted Black tremendously, catching him out every time Black goes to his arsenal. And the few times Black did on top, Zelina spiked Black twice with hurricaranas, playing the ref like a fiddle. Third time should surely lead to Zelina getting Black Massed by Black,

When Black did hit the Black Mass, Zelina saved Almas, she does such an amazing job as a heel manager, saving Almas four times already! Several close shaves, including a tremendous Hammerlock DDT from Almas to Black that I thought would end it. But this leads into the perfect finish, as Zelina tried interfering again, Almas catching her, and turning into Black Mass!

Almas may have only had a brief title reign, but it was very impressive, a 5 Star Classic and a great victory, but Black was the right choice, he’d been on track for the title since he debuted, and he offers a different style to some of the previous Champions. Black has earned this victory, but Almas can take pride in his reign, and I cannot wait to see who Black faces first…maybe a returning Drew McIntyre?

Aleister Black wins the NXT Championship.

Unsanctioned Match: Tommaso Ciampia fights Johnny Gargano A story years in the making, two former friends and brothers, now hated rivals. Johnny Gargano placed his career on the line for the NXT Championship, and lost because of Ciampia. Now, in an unsanctioned match, one where you can only win by pinfall or submission, Johnny Wrestling gets the opportunity for revenge. If he wins, he is reinstated to NXT. If he loses...he’s gone. This won’t be a five star classic, it’ll be a fight.

The atmosphere is engulfing. The punches and kicks that started the match lead into Ciampia getting more vicious, slams against the guardrail, and threatening with an unprotected floor. Johnnny Wrestling, the nice guy, throwing Ciampia into the announce team, really helped sell how consumed by anger and hatred he was. They would tease with one act of violence (suplex on the unprotected floor, suplex on the table) and then subvert it with something just as violent (suplex OFF the announce table onto the mat), sprinkling little Chekhov Guns to come into play later. Seeing the top of the announce table used to be suplexed through was something I hadn’t seen before, these little unique moments really add to the match.

There was one uncomfortable bump where it looked like Gargano landed on his neck after he was Irish-whipped into the corner, flipping upside down and landing on his head. A great touch was when Johnny got to the ropes when Gargano had a submission on him, only for the ref to tell him “No rope breaks”, i loved that! Really adds to the authenticity of the unsanctioned fight. So far, the only element I disagree with is that to me, an Unsanctioned match works better if the wrestlers are in street clothes, but I digress.

So far, the weapons being used really tie back to the history of their rivalry, the announce table from when Ciampia first betrayed Gargano, then the crutches from the crowd tying into Ciampia’s injury and multiple attacks with the crutches. The unprotected mat came back in a vicious way, Johnny going for a slingshot DDT attempt, reversed into Ciampia’s finisher attempt, only for Johnny to slither out and powerbomb Ciampia onto the floor - I admit, I let out an involuntary noise at the sound of Tommaso’s back landing on the floor.

The tired tug of war over the crutch really amplified the war these two are going through, and the cathartic strikes on Ciampia by Gargano, who refused to let go of the crutch even when thrown out, leading to a sickening crack on the head. It was only after that and a slingshot DDT, that I think the first pinfall attempt was made, twenty plus minutes into the match, a great detail for such a volatile fight. The reverses keep on happening again and again, showing how well these two know each other, Johnny even willing to pull on Tommaso’s beard.

Gargano locked in his submission hold, and the rope breaks came into play again, almost reaching ironic glory, and then the roll back into the middle of the ring, ala Benoit/Triple-H at Wrestlemania XX, seemed poised for the ending, only for Tommaso to dig at Gargano’s eyes. The desperation of Tommaso was then intensified by using his wrist rope to try and strangle his opponent.such a brilliantly layered story. A low blow, crutch to the back, then powerbomb backbreaker had me convinced it was over, but Johnny Wrestling kicked out again. I have no idea who will win at this rate.

Johnny using Tommaso’s kneepad to drag himself toward Ciampia was such an iconic image, leading into the lawn dart into the unprotected turnbuckle, then two vicious low superkicks, the second eliciting another unexpected noise from me. I know I said this would be a fight, not a five star classic, but these two are pushing close. Ciampia did another powerbomb backbreaker onto his knees for a massive near fall, and the knee brace has taken damage, these two are going all out. And now the final callback, the removal of Ciampia’s kneepad, ala the Cruiserweight Classic, only for Johnny to smash the brace into Ciampia’s knee!

A brief moment with a callback to the sit down in the ring together, lead to an amazing STF on the knee with the knee brace pulling back on Ciampia’s neck, that looked diabolically painful! And Ciampia tapped, Gargano gets reinstated, Johnny Wrestling has done it! He’s beaten Ciampia, vanquished his demon, and he’s reinstated to NXT! What a brilliant match, such layers and story telling, reversals, hard hits, big moments, character moments, emotional and unforgiving, a rollercoaster ride, but the hero has defeated the psycho.

Johnny Gargano defeats Tommas Ciampia

Yet again, NXT Takeover does an excellent job, great matches, fantastic stories, and even my personal weakest match (the NXT Women’s Championship) is exactly that, a personal indifference, but still a solid match. In fact, I probably couldn’t call any of these a weak match. What a brilliant PPV, NXT just keeps getting better and better and better.

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doveziam · 7 years ago

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Wrong For Too Long - Chapter 3

Fanfic based on THIS PROMPT posted by @right-next-to-u. Thank you, sweetie! <3 Thanks @ziam-fanatic my love, for editing and helping me! x

Title: Wrong For Too Long (or read on AO3) By: doveziam Pairing: Zayn Malik/Liam Payne Rating: E Genre: Angst (if you feel insecure, read the tags) Chapters: 3/4 (56k) Summary:

While a lot of people spent years and years pining for someone they didn’t know, it was very easy for Liam to discover who his soulmate was. The most expected day to everybody he knew, came for him at a very young age. He was fifteen, and it was the first day of classes. He was distracted by his phone and bumped into his crush.

Unfortunately

CHAPTER 1 (AO3) | CHAPTER 2 (AO3) | CHAPTER 4 (AO3)

Chapter 3: Where I wanna be

It was Friday afternoon, and Zayn hadn’t heard from Liam since the previous day. He was frustrated about it, but he should learn to live with it. Liam needed time to process everything, and Zayn didn’t have the right to pressure him. Maybe, if he hadn’t been so anxious and hadn’t sprung everything onto Liam immediately, it would be better. Now it was too late to think of the ‘what ifs’.

Plus, Zayn hadn't told Louis, Ant and Danny about anything yet. First he would deal with Louis. He was prone to be the most difficult one, but once Zayn lets him know, the others would be easier.

That afternoon, he met with Louis at their favorite coffee place. Louis had drunk two cups of tea and Zayn still hadn’t worked up the nerve to tell him. It wasn’t that he doubted their friendship, not now, after so many years. It was his shame that was preventing him from telling. But Liam was his soulmate, and he would have to tell his friends sooner or later. And sooner was better than later. If Louis didn’t like it, he will damn well learn to accept it. Although, he’s not the asshole everyone think he is.

“So, Lou, I wanna tell you something,” Zayn said, ripping a paper napkin into small pieces.

“Finally! I thought you’d never tell me what was bothering you,” Louis said, giving Zayn his undivided attention.

If it was any other situation, Zayn would have kicked Louis under the table, but now wasn’t the time for jokes. Louis noticed the change in Zayn’s pattern and frowned.

“Yeah.” Zayn shrugged, hunching his shoulders a bit. “I found my soulmate,” he said, quietly, but with a small smile.

“No shit! Really?” Louis smiled and leaned over the table to squeeze Zayn’s arm. “I’m glad, lad. How is he?”

Zayn smile grew a bit more. “He’s awesome.” He swallowed hard, with a dreamy expression on his face.

“Oh, my god! Stop the gross thoughts you're thinking in front of me!” Louis kicked him under the table, making Zayn jump and kick him back. “When am I meeting the lad?”

“Well, ‘bout that…” Zayn cleared his throat. “You already know him. It’s Liam,” he said, looking at his hands.

“Liam? As in, Liam Payne?” Louis asked, bemused.

“Yeah.” Zayn nodded, still not looking at Louis.

“You mean, the same Liam that studied with us?”

“Yeah, that one.”

“The fireman?”

“Yes.”

“Shit.”

Zayn kept quiet. He couldn’t agree with that sentiment. If he was completely honest with himself, he wasn’t disappointed about it. His only disappointment was with himself, because when it came to Liam… He was ecstatic. Liam was gorgeous, brave, hot, cute… He was complete. Perfect.

“I fucked up, yeah,” Zayn said, his voice low, still not looking at Louis.

“Fuck, mate,” Louis said, sounding overwhelmed. “You’re not kidding.”

“I’m not.”

“Wow. This is… This is a lot,” Louis mumbled. “Shit, man. Like, Liam seems like a nice guy and everything, but…”

“He is a great guy,” Zayn defended him fiercely, snapping his head up and looking at Louis.

“Oi, calm the fuck down. I was trying to talk about his imprints in a nice way, okay?” Louis said, sharply.

“We’re still working on that,” Zayn mumbled, looking down.

“Yeah, tell me about it,” Louis rolled his eyes.

“Fuck off, Lou. The situation is shitty enough without you being an asshole,” Zayn grumbled.

“Did he try punch you when he found out?” Louis asked, teasing, but slightly worried. “Or does he not know yet?”

“He already knew. Since school,” Zayn said, picking another napkin to rip into tiny pieces.

“He what?” Louis blanched. “No shit! Why didn’t he tell you? Is he insane or something? Fuck!” Louis was shocked.

“He thought I wouldn’t believe him,” Zayn said, sadly.

“And would you? Believe him, I mean.”

“Of course I would! I had a crush on him through all of Sixth Form. I just forced myself not to think about him,” Zayn said, rolling the small pieces of paper between his fingers.

“But he didn’t tell you anyway,” Louis said. He sounded bemused still.

“Yeah. And he was going through a rough time at school too, with Percy and his friends. And then I didn’t do anything to help the situation, on the contrary.” Zayn shrugged. “But I still think he should have told me. I would have believed him.”

“How can you be so sure?” Louis asked. “He was pretty lame at the time.”

“He wasn’t lame. He was an easy target.” Zayn understood that now, but, at the time, he was too scared to be seen as a target to do anything different.

“Well, probably.” Louis shrugged. “But I think he should have told you too. We would have protected him, you know.”

“Would you?” Zayn asked, surprised.

“What? You think we’d let your soulmate get bullied the way he was if we knew?” Louis snorted. “Oh, yeah, now I can see you two are soulmates, alright. You’re as insane as him.” Louis kicked him under the table again and Zayn smiled, feeling too grateful for words.

If it was up to Zayn, he would spend all day sending messages to Liam. But he didn’t sound too enthusiastic in his answers, and it made Zayn insecure and anxious. He didn’t know if Liam was busy or if he just didn’t want to answer him. Or even if he didn’t like texting. It’s a possibility. Zayn just missed him so much…

It was such a weird feeling. He missed his soulmate since his first imprint appeared. He spent nights thinking about who he could be - because he was always sure it was a he. But he was so caught up in hiding his soft spot for Liam, that he forced himself not to pay attention to him. Besides saying shit about him, that was his biggest mistake. He was sure that, if he had paid attention to Liam, he would have noticed. Now he had to deal with the consequences.

The last message Liam sent him was a short ‘im not mad at u’ that did nothing to calm his anxiety. Zayn sent a ‘i miss you so much. when can i c u?’ that Liam didn’t even read. Zayn was frustrated and, on top of that, his father wasn’t talking to him. Shit.

Zayn had just arrived home after his classes. He was debating with himself if he should send Liam another message. I will send him as many messages as I want. He said I could, so I will. He thought, annoyed at himself.

“i just got home from my classes. how r u babe?” He sent and turned his laptop on.

Zayn started to browse through Liam’s social media. He wished he could like his pictures again and maybe catch his attention with it. Maybe I should comment on his pics? He thought, but didn't have the courage to do that. What would I comment? ‘You look hot’? Too forward. ‘Looking sharp’? Ugh, no. ‘I wanna lick your face’? That would be true, but inappropriate, though. It was too hard to comment on a picture from someone you’re not too familiar with. Which was awful, because Liam was his soulmate and he felt like he knew him already. But I don’t. And wasn’t that disheartening.

He decided to post something on his social media to pass the time. He picked up one of his sketchbooks and opened it up to a drawing of Liam’s eye. He put a good light over it and snapped a picture. He put a filter and added the caption “I saw your eyes in my soul even before I knew who you are. I love you. xx”. He wanted to tag Liam, but didn’t dare. After publishing it, he sent the link to Liam through a text message.

“i realized today that i used to draw u before i knew it was u”. He sent with the link of the picture attached. “tbh it was my mom that told me i use to drawn the same eyes and lips”.

After he sent the message, a lot of notifications started to pop up on his phone’s screen. He took a look at them, smiling with all the likes the drawing was receiving. There were some complimenting comments, some jokes lamenting he finding his soulmate. And, to his surprise, one of the comments was Niall’s: “take good care of him or i’ll beat you to death >:P”.

Zayn didn’t know how to react to that comment. The emoji made him think that maybe Niall was being friendly, but he doubted he was bluffing. Zayn liked the comment and answered it: “don’t worry. i’ll do best than my best’. As soon as he answered, Niall liked his comment, but didn’t answered back.

Zayn went to Niall’s profile and followed him. Niall followed him back and it was as good as any approval he could get.

He spent some time saving his favorites pictures from Liam’s profile - all of them, really - waiting for him to answer. Every time his phone vibrated, he looked at it, hoping it was Liam. It wasn’t.

It was almost 9pm when he turned off his laptop. He picked up his phone to read in bed, but he couldn’t concentrate. He was thinking, pondering if he should tell Liam that his parents knew about him. He sighed and decided to tell him.

“i told my parents bout u today. it went okay i guess. my dad is disappointed w me but i get him. i would b 2”. He sighed after he pushed the send button. “i told louis today too,” he added.

Zayn was looking at the thread of unread messages. He was trying to keep his hopes up, but he was sad. He started to type another message when the notification that Liam just read his messages came. He stopped, looking at it, waiting to see if the icon of Liam typing a message would appear. It didn’t. He sighed, ready to turn his phone off for the night, when it went off in his hand. He jumped with the sound and his heartbeat sped up when he saw who was calling him: Liam.

Zayn answered his phone quickly, a huge smile on his face.

“‘Lo,” he said, softly.

“Hey, Zayn. How are you?” Liam asked, with his voice a bit insecure.

Zayn sighed, closing his eyes to concentrate in Liam’s voice.

“I’m better now. How are you?” Zayn asked, the fond showing in his voice.

“I’m good,” Liam said. He kept quiet after that. Zayn didn’t know if he had something specific to say or if he called to just chat. He wanted to say so many things to Liam, but he decided it was better not to touch sensitive topics over the phone.

“I was looking at your pictures. You’re really photogenic,” Zayn said.

“Thanks,” Liam said, and Zayn could sense him smiling.

“I wanted to leave some comments, but I opted not to. I don’t want to make you feel uncomfortable.” And there was the ‘not touch sensitive topics over the phone’ going to hell.

“You can leave comments on my pics, Zayn,” Liam said, bemused.

“Not the way I want to, I think,” Zayn said, chuckling.

“How--? What did you want to comment?” Liam asked, laughing a bit too.

“Well, there was some pictures that I was too tempted to comment that you’re fucking hot.” He heard Liam huff a breath after that and went quiet. “And in others I wanted to say that you’re too cute for your sake. But I thought it would be too sudden for the people who follow you.”

“You didn’t think about that when you told Sophia about us,” Liam said, his voice reprimanding, but Zayn could sense he was just bantering.

“Yeah, I didn’t. My bad. I was scared she would hit on me,” Zayn said, laughing. He wasn’t scared, he was just uncomfortable under her attention and he wanted to keep her away.

“You could’ve just said no,” Liam said.

“Okay, I wanted her to know that you’re out of her reach too,” Zayn admitted.

“I can’t believe you,” Liam chuckled.

Zayn smiled, sighing. “I love the sound of your laugh,” he said. Liam stopped chuckling, but Zayn felt he was still smiling. He heard Liam take a deep intake of breath. “You okay, babe?”

“Yeah, it’s just…” Liam started to said and stopped.

“What?” Zayn asked, worried.

“It’s just… I’m not used to the feeling of those imprints. Since we started to talk my hand felt warm twice, and a new one appeared just now,” Liam admitted.

“Oh…” Zayn bit his lip, not knowing what to say to keep the tone light. “Did you see the link I sent you?” he asked instead.

“Not yet,” Liam answered. “I called because I wanted to know if you’re free tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?” Zayn repeated, his heart fluttering in his chest. “I’m free, yeah. Why?”

“I wanna know if you want to go out with me. Have lunch or summat,” Liam said, clearly nervous.

“You mean, like a date?” Zayn asked, his smile was huge.

“Well-- Yeah, like a date,” Liam confirmed.

“I would love to have lunch with you, babe,” Zayn said. “Or anything, really. Just hang out with you,” he felt the need to add.

“Okay,” Liam said, sounding relieved.

Zayn wanted to ask if Liam doubted he would go with him on a date, and if so, why, but he stopped himself. His mom told him to not pressure Liam, so he would try his best.

“Where will we meet?” Zayn asked.

“Oh. I was thinking of picking you up at your home? After all, I asked you out,” Liam answered. “Is that okay?”

“‘Course babe. What time?” Zayn asked.

“How about at noon?”

“Perfect,” Zayn said.

“Dress casual, I’m taking you on a picnic,” Liam said.

“Oh, really? Sounds like fun!” Zayn said, giddy.

“Yeah,” Liam agreed and went quiet again.

“Will you let me kiss you?” Zayn asked, flirty.

“You’re impossible,” Liam said, chuckling. Zayn felt his hand warm and smiled.

“That’s not a no,” Zayn teased.

“You can try,” Liam teased back.

“Ooh, you’re such a tease,” Zayn joked.

“See you tomorrow?” Liam averted the question and Zayn laughed.

“Sure, babe. I can’t wait to see you again,” Zayn said.

“Me neither,” Liam whispered. “Bye.”

“Bye. I love you!” Zayn said, when Liam was hanging up. He hoped he had heard it. He felt his hand warm over the ‘I love you too’ imprint and giggled.

Zayn sent the message “u’ll be the death of me”.

“and u’ll love every second of it :P”, was Liam’s quick answer.

“i will”, Zayn sent back.

He was the happiest he remembered being in all his life.

“what should i wear???” Zayn sent a message to Louis the next day, with four pictures attached. Two pairs of dark skinny pants and two shirts.

“where are you going?” Louis sent, without answering.

“a picnic date with Liam”, Zayn sent the answer with two more pictures, another pair of skinny pants and a t-shirt.

“none of them. you’re going to a park or something like that you need smth comfortable. put that batman tshirt you cut the sleeves off and turned into a tank top and put some not too tight pants with ripped knees”, Louis answered.

“k”, Zayn sent and put the clothes. He chose a pair of light wash jean pants. “boots?”

“sneakers. dont u know what comfortable means”, Louis answered.

“fuck you”, Zayn sent and picked up a pair of dark gray sneakers.

“u dont need 2 b edgy w him u need 2 b u”, Louis sent back.

“so insightful”, Zayn answered, smiling. He took a picture of himself in the mirror and sent Louis. “what bout the hair?” he asked, touching his undercut, thinking in maybe a top knot.

“let it loose to the side of ur face”, Louis answered.

“k im ready then”, Zayn sent after putting some rings on his fingers and a nose ring.

“did u put eyeliner?” Louis asked.

“werent u the one talking bout comfortable????” Zayn asked, laughing.

“i never said such thing”, Louis answered and proceeded to distract Zayn until the doorbell rung.

“hes here bye”, Zayn locked his phone and pocketed it, running down the stairs. He hoped to get there before his mom, or worse, one of his sisters.

He wasn’t so lucky. When he got there, his mom had already opened the door and was inviting Liam in.

“There’s no need for him to enter, mom. We’re leaving,” Zayn said, smiling when he saw Liam. Fuck, he looks good.

Liam was wearing a tank top too, but a white one, showing the hair on his chiseled chest. His pants were a light wash jean, hanging low on his hips. He was wearing red sneakers and a red and black snapback.

“Yeah, thank you, Mrs. Malik,” Liam said, politely, but he was blushing a little with his hands inside his pockets.

“Call me Tricia, love,” Zayn’s mom said, smiling kindly.

“Bye, mom,” Zayn said, kissing her cheek and pulling Liam by his arm. “Don’t look back. If you show fear they’ll eat you alive,” he mumbled like he was talking about wild dogs. Liam laughed out loud at that, making Zayn giggle.

“You look good,” Liam said, opening the passenger door for Zayn. He had covered his imprints with makeup, and Zayn planned to ask about that when they arrived at the park.

“You look good too, babe,” Zayn flirted. “Such a gentleman,” he said, entering the car.

Liam closed the door and entered the car from the driver’s side.

“I’m taking you to a park close to my old school,” Liam said, starting the car. “It’s a nice place with huge trees and a pond.”

“Sounds lovely, babe,” Zayn said, smiling.

“I want to ask you something first,” Liam said, leaving the front of Zayn’s house carefully.

“Anything, babe,” Zayn assured him, noticing how he tensed a bit.

“Let’s focus on knowing each other today, yeah?” Liam said, forcing a smile. “I mean, I don’t wanna talk about my imprints, if that’s okay.”

Zayn sighed, but nodded. “Sure, babe.”

“And I loved your shirt,” Liam said, smiling, and jumping to the next subject.

“So, you like Batman, huh?” Zayn joked, poking his bulging arm, just an excuse to touch him, really.

“You know that already. You stalked me!” Liam said, giggling.

“Yeah, I did. Sorry, not sorry. But I like Batman too. I love comic books, so.” Zayn shrugged.

Of course Liam knew that, but he wasn’t ready to admit his own stalking yet.

“You can put some music on,” Liam said, pointing to the glove compartment.

Zayn opened it and picked up a disc case from there. He smiled when he noticed that him and Liam had similar tastes in music. He’s really perfect. He chose a Drake album and started to bop his head to the rhythm of the music.

“Good choice,” Liam said, smiling. “What’s your favorite comic book character?” he asked, and they engaged in a conversation about that.

They made the rest of the way listening to the songs and talking about comic books and superhero movies. When they arrived at the park, Liam picked up a basket from the trunk and went with Zayn to a tree close to the pond. He spread a picnic blanket, took off his shoes and sat down. Zayn took off his shoes as well and sat by Liam’s side, looking at the pond. There were some families around, but not too close to them. The groups of families were closer to the dock on the other side of the pond.

“This place is really nice,” Zayn said, smiling.

“Yeah, it is,” Liam agreed.

“It’s a shame I can’t swim,” Zayn said, looking at the kids jumping in the water at the other side.

“I can teach you,” Liam offered, while he opened the basket and put the contents on the blanket.

“Maybe another day,” Zayn said, a bit worried that Liam would push the subject.

“Okay. I hope you drink beer,” Liam said, changing the subject. He knew Zayn drank beer, he had actually bought his favorite brand, but Zayn didn’t need to know that.

“I drink beer, yeah,” Zayn said, nodding. Liam opened a small cooler he had brought, and handed a beer to Zayn, getting another one for himself. “Thanks.” Zayn smiled at him, taking the beer.

“I made some chicken sandwiches. Nothing too fancy, though. I just wanted a chill time, you know?” Liam sounded nervous and Zayn caressed his shoulder.

“It’s perfect, babe. Don’t worry,” Zayn assured him, and smiled when Liam leaned into his touch. It was difficult to hold himself back and not touch Liam all the time. Zayn was happy Liam was allowing his touches at all, though.

“Are you hungry yet?” Liam asked, after taking a sip of his beer.

“Not yet. You?” Zayn asked, sipping his beer.

Liam smiled shyly, shaking his head, and took another sip of his beer. Zayn touched his hand, caressing it softly. Liam tensed for a second, and then relaxed.

“Does it bother you?” Zayn asked, entwining their fingers.

“Not at all. It was just unexpected,” Liam said, smiling. He had thought Zayn would rub the makeup on his hands, that’s why he tensed. When he realized it was only a caress, he relaxed.

“‘Kay.” Zayn smiled. From time to time he glanced at Liam’s chest. The smattering of hair over chiseled muscle was too enticing for him to keep his eyes away for too long.

“If you do anything that bothers me, I’ll tell you immediately,” Liam said.

“Good. I like that,” Zayn said, nodding and leaning on Liam’s side.

They sipped their beers quietly, until Liam broke the silence.

“What are you studying at Uni?” he already knew, but he wanted to talk to Zayn, and get to know the real Zayn, not the one from social media.

“I’m majoring in English,” he answered.

“Why am I not surprised?” Liam said, and Zayn giggled. It was a very cute sound and he looked amazing doing it. “Do you like it?”

“I do. I prefer art, but I love English too. And it’s easier to get a job, so.” Zayn shrugged.

“Yeah, I guess it is.” Liam nodded.

“Yeah. Fortunately, I got a scholarship, so I can focus solely on my studies. I wanna take my Masters after my graduation, so I’m building my academic resume since now,” Zayn said.

“That’s really smart of you,” Liam said, rubbing Zayn’s fingers with his thumb.

“It has its disadvantages.” Zayn shrugged.

“Yeah? How come?”

“I mean, basically, I have to build a good reputation with the professors. So, I’m tutoring in some disciplines, I have an internship at the Lit Department and I joined the Lit Club. And those are besides the classes.”

“Wow. That’s a lot,” Liam said, impressed. He knew Zayn spent a lot of time at Uni, but didn’t know he was involved in so many things.

“Yeah. I can’t have a job ‘cause of it. So I spend the summers working two or three part time jobs to raise money for transportation and other small things. Fortunately, my dad said he would support me until I finish my studies. At least I won’t be homeless or hungry,” Zayn said. “On the downside, I’m still living at my parents’ house.”

“But anyway, it’s nice your dad helping you,” Liam said and Zayn nodded. “And it’s pretty impressive what you do. I mean, all those things at Uni…”

“It’s impressive because I’m poor. If you only knew how many rich kids at Uni have the time of their lives doing nothing, while I burn my ass off.” Zayn laughed.

“I can imagine,” Liam said, smiling. “But you’re still lucky, ‘cause your parents support you. A lot of people out there don’t have something like that.”

“Yeah, that’s true. It’s not the most ideal situation, but it’s better than most, isn’t it?” Zayn said.

Liam nodded, finishing his beer. “I’m getting hungry,” he said.

“Let’s eat,” Zayn put the rest of his beer to the side and helped Liam to serve their food. “This is really good,” he said, his mouth full, after the first bite of his sandwich.

“It’s just a sandwich.” Liam chuckled.

“A really good sandwich,” Zayn said. And it was true. “Who made these, again?”

“I made them,” Liam said.

“Hmm, so you can cook…” Zayn said, winking.

“I suppose I can.”

“You’re truly a dream.”

Liam smiled, feeling his cheeks get hot while his hand got warm. He swallowed the piece of sandwich that was in his mouth and took a sip from a bottle of water he had opened.

“Hm, does it always feel warm when the soulmate says something that you already has imprinted? I mean… You just said I’m a dream, and I felt my hand get warm,” Liam said that with his cheeks dusted in pink.

“Oh.” Zayn looked at Liam’s hands. “It does, yeah.” He smiled.

“Okay,” Liam ducked his head, eating his sandwich silently.

After they ate the sandwiches and put everything back in the basket, Liam held Zayn’s hand. Zayn smiled at him and leaned his head on Liam’s shoulder. He sighed happily. Liam turned his head a bit and breathed in Zayn’s hair. It smelled really nice and clean.

After a few minutes, Liam noticed that Zayn was very relaxed.

“Do you wanna lay down, babe?” Liam asked, softly.

Zayn nodded and raised his head. Liam put the basket to the side and helped Zayn to lie down. Liam laid down by Zayn’s side, and Zayn cuddled close to him, nestling his head on his shoulder. Zayn was smiling softly, his face close to Liam’s neck, breathing him in. He bit his lips and rolled to his side, putting his head over Liam’s chest and his arm around Liam’s waist.

He heard Liam’s heart beating fast and closed his eyes, feeling Liam’s hair and skin on his face. After a moment, Liam’s arms enveloped him tentatively, and Zayn melted. He stole a quick kiss on Liam’s chest and sighed. Soon he was asleep in Liam’s arms.

Liam stayed wide awake through all of Zayn’s power nap. His mind was running in circles, trying to reconcile the awareness it was feeling towards Zayn with the need his body felt for him. It’s not just my body. Is my soul too. He closed his eyes and stroke Zayn’s hair and back lovingly, feeling his breath puff on his chest.

He was surprised by Zayn’s kiss on his chest, to say the least. But it was a good surprise, if he was being honest. Zayn’s cheek was terribly endearing. He hadn’t stopped thinking of Zayn asking if he could kiss him. His mind had run wild, creating scenarios in which that could happen. Of one thing he was sure, if Zayn didn’t kiss him today, he would.

Liam watched Zayn’s eyelashes fluttering when he was close to waking up. He saw a small smile stretching Zayn’s pretty lips, and he tightened his arms around Liam just before he opened his eyes and looked up at him.

“Hey,” Zayn said, softly.

“Hey, yourself. How do you like your pillow?” Liam asked, scratching Zayn’s scalp.

“Hmm…” Zayn closed his eyes, delighted. “Best pillow ever. Can I take it home with me?” he flirted, opening his eyes and looking at Liam through his eyelashes.

Liam chuckled, but didn’t answer, just squeezed Zayn in his arms. Zayn bit his lip and hid his face on Liam’s chest - only an excuse to rub his face on Liam, really. Liam didn’t complain, though, so Zayn left another kiss on his chest. He turned his head to the side, closing his eyes again.

“Are you capable of sleeping on me again?” Liam asked, chuckling. His voice rumbled in his chest sounding even deeper that close.

“Don’t doubt my sleeping skills,” Zayn joked, poking Liam’s abs. “Christ, is your belly made of steel?” he asked, poking it again.

“No, it tickles!” Liam laughed, holding Zayn’s hand.

“Oooh, so you’re ticklish,” Zayn said, raising his head and wiggling his eyebrows comically.

“Ticklish and stronger than you. Do you wanna fight me, Malik?” Liam challenged in a deep voice, joking.

Zayn blinked and swallowed hard with the deepness of Liam voice. Not now, Zayn. He reprimanded himself, changing the focus of his mind. He squinted at Liam in a mock offended way.

“How dare you doubt my strength?” Zayn said, raising his upper body to take matters into his own hands.

Liam prevented his action, holding his arms and rolling them, inverting the positions. He attacked Zayn’s ribs, poking and tickling, making him squirm and laugh hysterically. With some effort, Zayn held one of Liam’s hands. Liam was holding Zayn’s other hand, preventing him from any tickling. Both were giggling, like silly kids.

“Surrender!” Liam demanded, his arms bulging to keep Zayn down. Zayn was stronger than he looked, and Liam had to use more strength than he expected to hold him down.

“Never!” Zayn said, using his feet as a support to push his hips up and dislodge Liam.

Liam held his ground grunting slightly. His snapback had rolled off somewhere in the middle of the fight, but he didn’t look like he cared. Zayn looked at him with a mischievous face and leaned up, biting Liam’s chest. Liam whelped, jumping back a bit. Zayn took the opportunity to free his arms, clutching at Liam’s waist, making him bend backwards from laughter.

Liam was almost breathless, but he held Zayn’s wrists firmly, raising his hands and pinning them over his head. He didn’t thought, just acted on instinct, and bit Zayn’s neck, hard enough to leave a bruise.

Zayn went completely still under him, a shiver running through his body.

“You won,” he whispered and Liam raised his head, an eyebrow lifted.

“Oh, yeah?” Liam asked, cocky.

“Hell yeah,” Zayn breathed and Liam raised his upper body to get off of Zayn, when he felt why exactly he won.

“Oh.” Liam looked at Zayn, feeling his face warm.

“I regret nothing, babe.” Zayn winked.

Liam picked up a corner of the blanket and covered Zayn’s face with it.

“Pervert!” he said, giggling and jumping off Zayn’s body.

“You bit my neck and I’m the perverted one?” Zayn said, laughing and pushing the blanked off his face.

“You bit my chest!” Liam pointed to the bruise that formed where Zayn had bit him.

“It’s not my fault if you didn’t get the memo when I bit you.” Zayn stuck his tongue out, not even a little ashamed.

“And it’s not my fault you’re a pervert and I’m not,” Liam bantered back, throwing pieces of grass at Zayn.

They laughed and bantered back and forth for some time, until Zayn pulled Liam down and cuddled him again. They laid on their sides, chests pressed together and Zayn’s face in Liam’s neck. Liam caressed Zayn’s back and neck softly, his hand pressing slightly over his fantail tattoo.

“I love this tattoo. It’s pretty,” Liam said, softly.

Zayn raised his head to look at his eyes, smiling. “That was one of the things I was curious about you. I didn’t know if you liked tattoos, but then I couldn’t stop getting them.” He shrugged.

“I like the ones I saw until now,” Liam said, touching his cheekbones softly. Zayn fluttered his eyes closed with the touch, leaning on it.

“I like yours too,” Zayn whispered, his eyes still closed, feeling Liam’s touch soothe his soul.

Zayn was so pretty. Even more that way, with his eyes closed and his eyelashes created blurred shadows on his golden skin, his lips wet from his tongue licking them from time to time, his breath soft and comforting. Liam leaned down instinctively, kissing his lips gently.

Liam felt Zayn jump in his arms, but he kept his lips over Zayn’s, just touching softly, feeling the texture of his skin. Zayn released a trembling breath, kissing Liam back just as softly. They didn’t rush into anything, just exchanged small, slow pecks, loaded with care and affection. Their hands touched their faces lovingly, recognizing each other by touch. Liam rubbed Zayn’s stubble, thicker than his own at the time, feeling Zayn do the same at his five o’clock shadow.

When Liam leaned back, Zayn followed him, kissing his eyes, his nose, his cheeks, his forehead, covering every inch of his face with kisses. When he turned back to his mouth, Zayn covered Liam’s lips with his own, sucking softly, making the kiss wetter than before, but just as slow and sweet. Liam stayed there, enjoying Zayn’s attention on him, feeling his heart explode and reconstruct itself back together again inside his chest.

Before the kiss could get more heated, they heard a dog barking and remembered where they were. Zayn smiled against Liam’s lips, leaving a last, soft peck, before leaning back.

“You have the prettiest lips, you know that?” Zayn whispered, touching Liam’s lips. Liam felt his right hand warm, and smiled with a slight blush. “Hmm, was that another imprint appearing?” Zayn asked, teasing.

“I think it was,” Liam admitted.

Zayn’s expression changed, turning from teasing to endeared. “You’re too cute for my sake,” he said, making Liam giggle when his hand heated again.

“Stop it!” he complained, but he was loving it.

“Did I tell you your chest is fucking hot?” Zayn said, ignoring what Liam had said. “I love your chest hair,” he added, rubbing it with his fingers.

“Shut up!” Liam said, holding Zayn’s face and kissing him.

“I loved the way you shut me up,” Zayn mumbled in the middle of the kiss, making Liam laugh.

“Oh my god, you’re impossible!” Liam said, with Zayn trying to keep kissing him.

“You love me!” Zayn said, biting Liam’s chin.

“Yeah, that’s true,” Liam giggled, pinching Zayn’s waist.

“Hey, I’m delicate, stop it,” Zayn said, poking Liam’s waist.

“Are you looking for another tickle fight?” Liam asked, clamping his hands on Zayn’s waist.

“Nah, I just want another bite on my neck,” Zayn teased, and they rolled around again, tickling and laughing like fools.

Some time later, they had calmed down and were cuddling again on the blanket.

“I’m hungry,” Zayn said.

“Is it dinner time already?” Liam asked, looking at his watch. “Oh, wow. It’s past dinner time. I should get you home.”

“You could stay for dinner,” Zayn said, eager to spend more time with Liam.

“No, I couldn’t intrude,” Liam said, shaking his head.

“You won’t intrude. My mom will love to have you there,” he said, and it was true.

“No, I can’t,” Liam said. He would feel too impolite to intrude that way.

“I just want to be with you a bit more,” Zayn admitted, with his eyes downcast, caressing Liam’s arm slowly.

“Oh.” Liam smiled when he heard that. “I can take you to dinner, then.”

“But then, I’d be the one imposing on you. You’ve already made all this stuff for me,” Zayn said.

“No, I’d love to, Zayn. Really,” Liam assured him. “And it’s no problem at all. It’s less scary than meeting the in laws on our first date, don’t you think?”

“You’ve already met my parents.” Zayn huffed a breath.

“So, let’s go get dinner at my parents’, then,” Liam suggested, raising an eyebrow.

Zayn opened his mouth to reply, but stopped. “Okay, you have a point. Let’s go get dinner somewhere else,” he accepted.

Liam kissed his nose and got up to collect the basket, the blanket and his snapback.

“Do you have any suggestions of a place?” Liam asked, once they were inside the car.

“How about some pizza?” Zayn suggested.

“Sounds good to me,” Liam said, going to a pizzeria close to the park.

When they entered, they were greeted by a pleasant waiter who guided them to a table for two. The waiter handed them menus and sent a friendly smile at Liam - too friendly. He left them to pick up their drinks while they chose what they would eat.

When he came back, his smile was even sweeter. He poured Liam’s drink leaning a bit too much in his direction. He asked what they would eat and Zayn chose the first pizza with a chicken topping. Liam chose his and handed the menu back to the waiter. Zayn noticed that the waiter touched Liam’s hand subtly when he pick the menu up. Zayn handed his menu, frowning. The waiter left them and Zayn held Liam’s hand over the table, possessively.

The waiter noticed their hands from afar and, when he came back with the garlic bread, he had changed his behavior to a more professional one. Zayn wanted to kiss Liam right there, but decided that it would be too petty and childish.

“We talked earlier about my studies, but you didn’t tell me what you’re studying,” Zayn said, once the waiter left them.

“Oh, it’s a Fire & Rescue degree,” Liam answered, eating a piece of the garlic bread.

“Do you like it?” Zayn asked the same thing Liam asked when they were talking about his studies. He wanted to know if Liam was happy with his studies, too.

“To be honest, I like the job better. But it’ll help me do better at my job, that’s why I’m taking it,” Liam answered.

“Do you like being a fireman? Isn’t it too dangerous?”

“It has its dangerous moments, yeah, but it’s not everyday. Like, the most dangerous are big fires. Fortunately, they don’t happen too often,” Liam said.

“You think a medium fire isn’t too dangerous?” Zayn chuckled.

“I mean, they can be, yeah? But we’re trained to deal with it. We have equipment to be safe and such,” Liam said. “It’s good work. It makes me feel useful.”

“I’m glad you like it.” Zayn smiled.

“Yeah, thanks.” Liam smiled back. “It’s the job I chose. I’m happy about it. It wasn’t ‘cause of any pressure or anything. I just always liked firemen and thought they were awesome.”

“And now you’re awesome like all the other firemen,” Zayn said, caressing Liam’s hand softly.

Liam felt his hand warm and ducked his head. “You’re doing it again!”

“Oooh, am I?” Zayn winked and Liam pinched his arm. “Ouch,” Zayn pretended to be hurt, but Liam only pinched him again, making him laugh.

They kept chatting, but Zayn noticed that the waiter sent lingering gazes towards Liam from time to time. He didn’t like that, but he wouldn’t make an ass of himself because of it. When the waiter brought their pizza, still clad with a too friendly smile for Liam, Zayn swallowed his jealousy and decided to keep Liam’s attention solely on himself.

To achieve that, he used all the tools he had: his face, basically. Zayn wasn’t conceited, far from that, but he had a mirror at home and he knew the power of his facial expressions. So, he used them. From time to time, he blinked slowly at Liam, half-closing his eyes and fluttering his eyelashes while pouting softly. His plan was working, because every time he did that, he noticed Liam’s breathing change pattern.

“You’re a witch,” Liam said, out of nowhere, making Zayn laugh out loud.

“Why would you say that?” he asked, pressing his pulse to his forehead, sensing that he was caught.

“You’re bewitching me,” Liam said, shaking his head like he was annoyed.

“Is it working, babe?” Zayn flirted, waiting for Liam’s laugh.

“It’s worked quite a few years ago,” Liam said, seriously, making Zayn’s breath catch in his throat and his face warm some more. Liam picked Zayn’s hand up from the table and kissed it, winking at him.

“You idiot,” Zayn said, giggling and kicking him underneath the table. Liam felt his hand warm and he stopped with the fork in the air, blinking at Zayn. “What?” Zayn asked, noticing Liam’s face. And then, he understood, feeling a cold hand squeeze his heart. “Oh, babe… I’m so sorry,” he rushed to say. “I didn’t mean to--”

“Stop, Zayn,” Liam cut him off, shaking his head. “No, babe. Seriously. It was different, don’t worry.” And what a revelation it was, to feel the difference between an offence and some bantering on his skin.

“How can I not worry, Liam?” Zayn said, anxious, leaning over the table to get closer to him. “Babe, I… Shit.”

“Zayn.” Liam put his cutlery on the plate and held Zayn’s both hands. “Babe, seriously. It was different. You weren’t trying to offend me, we’re bantering. It was like…” He took a deep breath. “I don’t want to talk about that, but let me say this. The other ones,” he said and Zayn understood he was talking about the bad ones. “They burned my skin like I was being tattooed for real. These more recent ones felt warm and comfortable. That last one felt that way. You didn’t mean to offend me, and I’m not offended. I was just surprised.”

Zayn had his pretty eyes wide open and shining, looking at Liam while he explained that.

“Yeah, I didn’t mean to offend you,” Zayn said, squeezing Liam’s hands. He was happy Liam realized that too.

“My best mate calls me a cunt on a daily basis,” Liam said, making Zayn chuckle a bit, but he still looked worried. Liam sighed, wanting to change that. “I called you impossible, witch, pervert…” he said, looking at Zayn’s hands and finding those words in the midst of the others. “Did you feel them appearing?”

“Yeah, I did.” Zayn nodded.

“And they didn’t bother you.”

“They didn’t,” Zayn admitted.

“It’s the same for me,” Liam assured him.

“‘Kay,” Zayn said, with a smile so beautiful that Liam wanted to kiss it off his face. “Sorry.”

“No need to be sorry about that, love.” Liam kissed his hand again and let them go gently. “Now let’s eat, yeah?”

Zayn swallowed hard and nodded, turning back to his food. They kept quiet for some time, until Liam asked Zayn about his art and they engaged in easy conversation again.

When they left the pizzeria, the waiter said goodbye with a smile, telling them to come back soon. Zayn frowned and held Liam’s hand. After they left the parking lot, Zayn mumbled:

“He was hitting on you. I didn’t like that.”

“He wasn’t hitting on me,” Liam said, knowing Zayn was talking about the waiter. “He was getting ready to, before he realized we were on a date. It wasn’t in a malicious way.” He was finding Zayn’s jealousy very amusing.

“How didn’t he realize it as soon as we got in? I mean, we arrived together, asked for a table for two. Is he dumb?” Zayn said, annoyed, while Liam chuckled.

“He would never guess. Not with your hands covered in soulmate imprints and mine apparently clear,” Liam said, biting his lip, losing some of the humour.

Zayn hadn’t thought about that. It made sense, which was disheartening.

“Still. He shouldn’t assume anything. He should act like a professional. It’s what he was supposed to do, it’s what we’re paying him to do,” Zayn said, his annoyance blended with a bit of sadness. “And after he realized we were on a date, he kept staring at you.”

“Well, yeah. I guess you’re right,” Liam said, quietly.

Zayn licked his lips and took a deep breath. Since he first saw Liam at his home earlier, he wanted to ask why he was covering his imprints again. It was something that bothered him, because now he had good imprints on his hands. Zayn would dare say that, as of now, he had more cute imprints than ugly ones.

“I know you asked me not to talk about your imprints,” Zayn started to ask, and Liam’s grip on the wheel tensed. “I just-- I won’t ask about the past, exactly. I just wanna know why you covered them again.”

Liam sighed tiredly and wetted his lips. He glanced briefly at Zayn and turned his attention back to the road.

“I can’t show them because of my work,” he answered.

“But-- You showed them before, at your school and…” Zayn was confused.

“To be a part of the Fire Department, I needed to prove I was emotionally stable. Going there with a soulmate imprint saying ‘I hate you’ would be a guarantee of emotional instability,” Liam explained.

Zayn nodded, understanding. “But wouldn’t you be in trouble if they find out? I mean, they could find out from your teenage pictures, or from your mates? Or, dunno, the makeup could wear off…” he didn’t say ‘like it happened at school’, but Liam knew why he was saying that.

“Yeah, I would, but I’m always careful with the makeup. I perfected it with the years,” he said, sadly. “And my mates wouldn’t betray me. To be honest, they don’t even know I hide them because of my work. They think it’s just because I got ashamed and they pretend the imprints don’t exist,” Liam said.

Zayn nodded again, and kept quiet the rest of the way back home.

When they arrived at Zayn’s house, Liam got out of the car to walk Zayn to the door. Zayn smiled and held Liam’s hand.

“You’re such a gentleman…” he said and kissed Liam’s shoulder.

Liam giggled and let go of Zayn’s hand to put his arm over his shoulders. Zayn wrapped Liam’s waist with both his arms and they tumbled to the door, giggling. When they got there, Zayn hugged Liam, hiding his face on his neck. He kissed it softly and raised his head.

“Thanks for today,” he said, smiling.

“You’re welcome,” Liam said, smiling too. “I had a great time.”

“Me too,” Zayn said, leaning in and kissing Liam’s lips softly. “I don’t want you to go,” he said. He had this feeling in his chest that Liam would be cold towards him once they were apart.

“I don’t wanna leave you too, babe,” Liam said, kissing his forehead.

“You could come in,” Zayn said. “We could watch something in my bedroom and chill.”

Liam smiled. “Sounds lovely. How about another day?” he suggested, instead.

Zayn sighed. “Okay,” he said, ducking his head, a bit sad.

“Don’t be like that,” Liam said, touching Zayn’s chin and raising his face. “It’s not like I’m leaving town.”

Zayn wanted to say that when they weren’t together, he missed Liam so much, but that would sound too clingy. He touched Liam’s jaw and caressed it softly, feeling the prickle of his five o’clock shadow, looking at his mouth.

“You’re doing that again,” Liam whispered, and Zayn looked up at his eyes. “Bewitching me.”

Zayn licked his lips, holding Liam’s gaze. “Is it working?”

Liam huffed a breath and covered Zayn’s mouth with his, in a heated kiss. Zayn held Liam’s head with both his hands, pushing Liam’s snapback onto the ground, forgetting where he was, lost in the kiss. Liam licked his bottom lip and Zayn parted them, sucking Liam’s tongue into his mouth hungrily, a soft moan leaving his throat. Liam pulled his tongue out from Zayn’s mouth slowly, making him whine quietly and close his fists in Liam’s hair to keep him close. Liam gasped at the unexpected - and delicious - pain, his body catching fire with the gesture. His arm around his waist pressed them together tightly, and one of his hands fisted Zayn’s hair while he devoured his mouth. He coaxed Zayn’s tongue into his mouth and tugged his hair, making his neck bend backwards a bit. Zayn moaned inside the kiss, a shiver coursing through his body. He felt weak in the knees, and his cock twitched inside his pants. When Liam noticed that, he leaned back, breaking the kiss.

“Fuck…” Zayn mumbled, his chest heaving, gasping breaths leaving his mouth. Liam tucked his head in Zayn’s neck, his breath heavy as well.

“We shouldn’t do that out here,” Liam mumbled, chuckling against Zayn’s skin.

“Yeah, you’re right. Come inside with me,” Zayn said, his breath still laboured.

Liam raised his head, chuckling. His lips were pinker than before, a soft blush dusting his face and chest. Zayn licked his lips instinctively.

“Stop doing that!” Liam said, laughing and let go of Zayn, taking a step back.

“Nooo, don’t!” Zayn complained, clinging onto Liam. “I’m not doing anything!”

“You are! You’re looking at me like you were taking my clothes off in your mind!” Liam giggled, but let Zayn hug him.

“Was not!” Zayn said, joking, but he was actually ripping Liam’s clothes off in his head. “It’s not my fault you’re this hot.” He bit Liam’s shoulder softly.

“Hey!” Liam reprimanded him, pulling his hair again to raise his head.

“See, it’s your fault! You’re the one doing things!” Zayn said, pretending he would bite Liam again. Liam held his hair firmly, but not enough to hurt. If Zayn wanted, he could free his head easily.

“You’re impossible,” Liam said, clicking his tongue.

“I love you,” Zayn said, his eyes softening.

“I love you too,” Liam said, caressing his scalp. He kissed Zayn’s lips softly, smiling when he leaned back. “It’s my time to go.”

“Okay.” Zayn sighed and stepped back.

“Goodnight, Zayn,” Liam smiled, picking his snapback up from the ground and turning to go.

“Wait!” Zayn said, holding his hand. “We didn’t take a picture.” He pulled his phone from his pocket.

Liam shook his head, exasperated but endeared at the same time. He let Zayn take some pictures of them in a lot of angles and poses.

“Great. Love them,” Zayn said, looking at the pictures fondly before pocketing his phone again. “Night, love,” he said and hugged Liam by the neck, kissing him slow and hot.

When they broke the kiss, Liam smiled, pecked his lips once more and turned to leave again. But he stopped and came back close to Zayn.

“I would prefer if you didn’t publish any of our pictures,” he said to Zayn.

Zayn frowned. “Why?”

“I prefer that we keep our relationship private for now,” he answered.

Zayn nodded, he wasn’t happy with that, but he accepted Liam’s decision. “Okay, babe. Anything you want.”

Liam waved and turned back, this time going home.

Zayn went to his bedroom and fell onto his bed. He stared at the ceiling, smiling like a loon.

“I guess it went well,” his mom said from the door, making him jump.

“You scared me, mom,” he said, frowning a bit, but smiling again quickly. “And yeah, it went pretty awesome, to be honest.”

“I'm glad for you, baby,” she said, entering and closing the door. She sat on Zayn’s bed, close to him, and touched his hair. “Even though I prefer if you two don’t make out in front of our door, I understand the sentiment.”

“Sorry about that,” Zayn said, feeling his face heat.

“That’s okay, love. Just try not to do that again. You might scandalize our neighbours. Such good and pure people, you know,” she said, sarcastically.

Zayn snorted a laugh, nodding. Their neighbours were the worst kind of gossips.

“It was so great, mom. I’m blissed out,” Zayn said, sighing.

“I can see it on your face, my love,” Trisha said, smiling.

“He didn’t want me to post our picture on social media, though,” he said.

“It’s understandable. He’s still working on trusting you.”

“Yeah. I guess I have to wait,” Zayn mumbled.

“Yeah.”

Zayn looked at the ceiling, thinking about his imprints. For the first time he was questioning why they were still on their hands. Weren’t they supposed to disappear once we found each other? He asked himself.

“Mom,” he called.

“Yeah?”

“Why do we still have the imprints? Weren’t they supposed to disappear once we met each other?” he asked.

“Not really, babe,” she said. “They’ll disappear once you two get together.”

“But… Aren’t we together already?”

“I don’t know, babe. Are you?” she asked.

“I am with him,” he said. “But he probably isn’t with me yet.”

When Liam got home, he took off the makeup from his hands, finding the new additions: ‘Prettiest lips’, ‘Hot chest’, ‘I love your chest hair’, ‘Gentleman’, ‘I love the way you shut me up’ and the ‘Idiot’. He smiled at the ‘Idiot’. Even the type of the letters were different from his firsts imprints. While the older ones were in bold capitals, this one was a soft cursive.

Liam smiled, wanting to take a picture of his new imprints and send to Zayn. He even picked up his phone, but decided not to. He would end up sending the bad ones too, and he didn’t know how Zayn would react. They needed to have that conversation face to face, yet.

He scrolled up the conversation and saw the link Zayn sent the other day. He could see it was a picture of a drawing of an eye, and by the caption he realized it was his eye. He hadn’t clicked on it before because he wasn’t feeling ready to see the comments. But now he thought he would be okay seeing it.

He clicked on the link and felt a bit shy staring at his own eye on the screen. He had drawn that before knowing it was me? He was impressed. He looked the comments and snorted when he saw Niall’s. He smiled when he saw Zayn’s answer to Niall’s comment. He debated with himself if he should leave a comment, and decided he could.

“it’s truly beautiful x” There. He thought. Nothing much, but he acknowledged the drawing.

Not even two seconds later, Zayn liked his comment and answered: “the real one is way more beautiful ;) xx”

Liam smiled and refreshed the page, and a new picture was posted. He clicked on it and there was a picture of Zayn’s hand with his new imprints.

“Today was our 1st date and he called me a pervert and a witch. I think it went really well. I’m blissed out. Miss you already. xx”

Under it Liam saw a comment made by Louis and liked by Zayn: “aww aren’t you two disgusting”.

Liam giggled and liked the picture. He decided it would be best not leave any comments.

He was getting ready for bed, when his phone vibrated with an incoming message.

“can i c u tomorrow?” attached was a picture of Zayn, with his lower lip stuck out, pouting.

Liam decided to play with him a bit, and snapped a selfie laying on his bed, shirtless, with his head on the pillow.

“sure babe. what time?” He put the caption on the picture and sent it.

“shiiiiiiit” Zayn sent as soon as he got the message. “fucking hell liam! u almost made me cum earlier with that kiss now u wanna kill me” Liam giggled with that message. “that’s not right” came quickly after.

“u love it ;-P” he sent. “how about i pick you up at 3ish?”

“thats tru i love it. i love you” Zayn sent. “3ish is good”.

“see you 2morrow. gnight. xx” Liam sent and turned his phone off.

The next day, it was Zayn who opened the door when Liam arrived at his house. He had a big smile on his face, looking even prettier, if that was possible.

“Hey, babe,” Zayn said, closing the door and leaning close to kiss his lips softly. “Where are we going?” he asked, holding Liam’s hand while they walked to the car.

“I was thinking of taking you to my place. We can watch some movies and chill. What do you think?” Liam asked.

“It sounds great.” Zayn smiled. He loved to stay at home and chill. It was his anti-social side speaking.

Liam nodded, smiling, and took Zayn to his flat.

When they got there, Niall was on the couch with a long haired man. They were watching the British Bake Off, and raised their heads when they noticed them at the door. Zayn tensed a bit, because he didn’t expect that there would be anyone beside Liam and Niall.

“Zayn, this is my mate Harry. Harry, this is Zayn,” Liam introduced them.

Harry got up from the couch to shake Zayn’s hand firmly.

“Nice to finally meet you, Zayn,” he said in a deep, slow draw. He looked friendly enough, and Zayn smiled a bit.

“Nice to meet you too,” he said, nodding. “And hi, Niall.” he greeted.

“Hey, Zayn.” Niall nodded at him, and turned back to the TV.

Harry went back to the couch with a last smile in Zayn’s direction.

Liam pulled Zayn to his bedroom, smiling. When he closed the door, Niall shouted: “Remember the walls are thin!”

“Fuck off, Nialler!” Liam said, laughing, with his face dusted in pink.

“And be safe, boys!” Harry shouted.

“Shut up, you two!” Liam shouted, shaking his head.

Zayn chuckled and hugged him. “You don’t need to be safe with me. I’m clean because I’m a virgin,” he said, wiggling his eyebrows.

Liam rolled his eyes. “Don’t be silly,” he said, kissing Zayn’s nose.

Zayn giggled, but didn’t insist on the subject. It was true that he was a virgin. He waited for Liam since his first imprint appeared, not interested in a meaningless fuck. But that wasn’t the best moment to talk about it. And he had to prepare himself for the possibility of Liam not being a virgin, too.

“What do you prefer, queueing something up on Netflix or a DVD?” Liam asked, guiding Zayn to his double bed.

“I’m fine with anything, babe. Really. I just wanna cuddle you, I doubt I’ll pay attention to anything besides you,” Zayn said, honestly, taking off his shoes and sitting on the bed.

“I’ll put some music on, then,” Liam said, smiling. He wasn’t interested in anything besides being close to Zayn too. He turned his laptop on and put the player on shuffle. “Let me just take these off. I’ll be right back,” he said raising his hands, and left the room.

Zayn understood what he was talking about immediately, and bit his lips. It would be the first time after the rugby game that Liam would show his imprints freely.

A few minutes later, Liam entered the room with his hands clean. He laid down on his bed and pulled Zayn to cuddle with him. Zayn breathed on Liam’s scent, closing his eyes and relaxing.

Liam wasn’t relaxed. He had spent a good part of the previous night thinking about talking with Zayn. He wasn’t ready to talk about the most traumatic phase of his life, but he wasn’t sure he would ever feel ready. His counselor asked him to access his feelings and decide how he would deal with everything, but advised him to not rush.

He accepted her advice, but, at the same time, he wanted to stay close to Zayn. Only the ‘get to know you without talking about my imprints’ deal wasn’t working for him, really. He wanted to know why Zayn had said those things in the first place, even though it would hurt. Even more, he wanted to know if Zayn had really changed his mind, or if he was acting that way because he was his soulmate and had accepted his fate.

“Zayn,” he called, softly.

“Yeah?” Zayn’s voice was sleepy.

“Do you wanna take a nap?” he asked instead, stalling.

“I’m comfortable, so, wanting or not, I’ll probably fall asleep,” he said, chuckling. “Unless you have something better in mind?” He raised his head, smirking.

“What I have in mind isn’t better exactly, but it’s necessary,” Liam said, his tone uncertain.

“Oh.” Zayn got one hundred percent alert when he heard that. “What do you wanna do, babe?”

“I--” Liam started to say, but cut himself off. He looked at Zayn and sighed. “Let’s sit?”

Zayn frowned, but went with it, sitting in front of Liam with his ankles crossed. He felt anxious with the sudden distance Liam was putting between them. So, he leaned close to Liam and held his hands. He wanted to say he was sorry, but Liam hadn’t said anything yet, so he waited.

“I wished I didn’t care about any of this, but…” Liam started to say, and ducked his head. “The truth is that I care and, even though I forgave you, I still think about it a lot and… I just want to know why.” He finally looked at Zayn’s face. “I mean, I never did anything to you, like, ever. I didn’t even talk to you. And in our first interaction you…” he shrugged, looking down again. “And like, you didn’t use to treat people bad. For some time I questioned myself if I ever did anything to you without noticing. So, why?”

Zayn listened him speak, his heart breaking for the way Liam was. He was slightly hunched in on himself, looking down, seeming ashamed, when the one who should be ashamed was Zayn. When he finished, Zayn took a deep breath.

“I was stupid and fucked up. I always saw the way you were treated, and feared to be treated the same way if I defended you. But then, I started to like you,” Liam frowned at that, but Zayn kept going on. “But I didn’t realize it at the time. I thought I just had a soft spot for you, because you were really cute. And when I noticed that, I got scared Percy would notice too and start to bully me as well. I feared to put myself in a position in which I could lose the support of my friends and--” Zayn cut himself.

“Be one of the losers,” Liam completed for him.

Zayn was ashamed, but nodded. “I was stupid. I shouldn’t do that. Even if you weren’t my soulmate. You didn’t deserve that. I should have grown a pair and told them it was stupid to say shit about someone who didn’t deserve it.”

“So, you said those things because you didn’t want to get bullied?” Liam asked.

“The firsts times, yeah.”

“Even when we bumped?” Liam frowned.

“That time I was angry about a lot of things going wrong that day, and Ant and Danny were teasing me. I reacted in the worst way possible. I didn’t think clearly, just blurted the first thing that came to my mouth. I wish I could say I had any reason to snap at you, but I didn’t. I was just plain stupid and awful. Just like any bully.” Zayn’s head was bowed. “At least I realized that when people started to laugh. I felt awful, but Ant and Danny spurred me on into being a bigger ass.”

Liam let go a long huff of air after that. “So, you were just an ass?”

“Yeah. And not only with you. With anyone my friends thought was a good laugh. But I felt awful every time I said anything bad about you. That’s what shows how stupid I was, because I felt like shit, but didn’t realize I felt that way because you are my soulmate.” Zayn sniffed, still not looking at Liam.

“That’s…” Liam didn’t know how to finish. “Fuck. You were only a stupid kid thinking it was okay being a brat to get rid of bad attention,” he concluded.

“I didn’t think it was okay, I just went with the flow. I knew it was wrong and kept doing it because everyone was doing the same. Which makes my behavior even worse.”

“Yeah, it does, indeed,” Liam said, gruffly.

Zayn raised his head and squeezed Liam’s hands, not allowing him to let go.

“But I changed, Liam,” he said, earnestly. “I changed. Even before we met at that fire. I changed and stopped being stupid that way. And I’m so sorry that my stupidity made you suffer so much.”

Liam sighed and bowed his head.

“It’s just-- It’s so hard for me to believe you said you hated me because you wanted to make your friends think you were cool,” Liam admitted, sounding defeated.

“That time wasn’t about that,” Zayn whispered, ashamed. He wished he never needed to expose that part of himself, but Liam deserved the truth.

Liam raised his head, frowning. “What was it about, then?”

Zayn swallowed hard. “I was angry at you,” he whispered.

“What did I do to you that day? It was the day of the rugby game at your school. I was polite to you, even though I wanted to run in the opposite direction,” Liam didn’t understand.

“That day I tried to find your social media. I wanted to stalk you a bit, because you were hot. I got frustrated, because I didn’t find any. And then, my dad came into my bedroom to ask if I knew you, saying you were a great kid… You are everything my father wanted in a son, and I’m the opposite. You like sports and do well on them, you even had a tryout to the Olympics…” Liam tensed more at that and Zayn looked at him. He hadn’t passed the tryouts. “Sorry for touching the subject.” he said, thinking Liam tensed because he didn’t like to talk about it. Then, he remembered that that was one of the occasions he said something bad about him. He felt a cold shiver run through his body while he looked at Liam’s stony face. He didn’t want to ask, but he needed to know. He had to know the extent of the consequences of his actions in Liam’s life. “It was because of me? You didn’t pass the tryouts because of me?” he whispered, anguished.

Liam pressed his lips together, trembling slightly. Zayn was looking at him expectantly, his pretty eyes shiny with unshed tears. Liam licked his lips, not knowing how to tell him.

“I-- It was-- I had an anxiety crisis that day. It was my first real anxiety crisis and I was in no condition to pass the tryouts the next day,” Liam said.

“You had an anxiety crisis that day,” Zayn whispered, horrified. “Your first. Was it because I said shit about you?” There was a knot in his throat, his heart beating fast.

Liam sniffed and shrugged. “I had spent a whole year without seeing you and without any imprints showing up. I thought you had forgot me. And then, I appeared on TV and you remembered me, I guess. I was shocked.” He didn’t want to say he was hoping Zayn would like seeing him on TV, but what had happened was the contrary. “I think it was the shock and the stress that made me react that way.”

“The shock?” Zayn gasped, letting Liam’s hands go. “It wasn’t any shock, Liam. You’re a fireman. You know how to deal with shocking situations,” Zayn said.

“I wasn’t a fireman at the time,” Liam mumbled.

“It doesn’t matter! You had it in you, the ability to deal with stressing situations. You had an anxiety crisis because it was me. Shit. I ruined one of the most important days of your life. Fucking hell.” Zayn put his elbows on his thighs and held his head with both hands. “Fuck… I’m so sorry. Sorry doesn’t even come close to how guilty I feel right now. And it doesn’t come even close to how bad you felt. Shit, shit, shit!”

Liam kept quiet, silent tears sliding down his face. Zayn was crying too, wiping his eyes from time to time, cursing in whispers.

“And then, the next year I said I hated you,” Zayn whispered, his head bowed in his hands, his eyes closed, ashamed. “Fucking hell. How did you deal with all this crap without going insane?” he asked, but wasn’t expecting an answer.

“I go to a counselor since I changed schools,” Liam said.

Zayn nodded. It makes sense. He thought. I made my soulmate go into an anxiety crisis. ”Fuck… I dunno how you can look at my face,” he mumbled.

“Because you’re my soulmate,” Liam whispered.

“In other words, you don’t have a choice,” Zayn said, sniffing.

“You don’t have any choice either,” Liam said, sadly.

“I don’t need to have any choice. You’re perfect,” Zayn said, raising his head.

“I’m not. You’re just feeling guilty,” Liam said, sadly. They weren’t perfect, but while Zayn felt that way, they wouldn’t be able to work things out. Liam had already noticed that Zayn tended to do anything he wanted to compensate for his mistakes, and that wasn’t good in the long run.

“I am guilty, Liam. That’s why I’m feeling guilty,” Zayn said, wiping the tears on his face roughly. “Did you keep having an anxiety crisis after that?” he asked, noticing Liam had said that it was his first anxiety crisis.

“Not frequently, no,” Liam answered.

“You had them in which frequency?”

“I had only one more,” Liam said.

“And when was that?” Zayn asked, with a dark suspicion in his mind.

Liam sighed quietly. He rubbed his face with his hands, his mind troubled. He knew Zayn was suspecting correctly. Zayn was waiting for Liam’s answer with bated breath.

“It was the day you said you hate me, yeah,” Liam said, sounding terribly sad, without looking up.

“You should have a choice to pick someone better than me,” Zayn blurted, with his voice trembling.

“You’re the right person for me, Zayn. That’s why we’re soulmates,” Liam said, touching his arms. Zayn was shaking his head, not accepting that he could be considered any good for Liam. “You have changed, you said it yourself. Even though you hurt me so much, I don’t want anyone but you.” Liam pulled Zayn to his lap, breathing a relieved puff of air when he went willingly. “We’re gonna work this out, babe. Me and you, together.”

It took some time for Zayn to calm down, but eventually he napped in Liam’s arms. He still felt guilty, but Liam knew they were taking the steps in the right direction.

CHAPTER 4 (AO3)

#WFTL #chapter 3 #Fic tags: Anxiety Attacks #Fic tags: Self-Harm Attempt #Fic Tag: Bullying #ziamfanfiction #Ziam fanfiction #my fics

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