#just wanted an opportunity to write desi!zayn

[ohthathurt]

Oh, Darling Bride!

Inspired by https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVnbojCYPxU and my sister who sat on the ‘mayoon’ chair and literally received a proposal in the next few months.

Summary: Liam attends a typical South Asian wedding function with his boyfriend, when suddenly things take a turn for wtf-ville. (Read on AO3)

Also, just want to say a big thank you to all those who read/reblogged my prev fic. The amazing responses spurred me on to write some more :)

"Aaye laariye ni tera sehreya wala wyaanwan ayaa"

Laughter surrounded Liam; rich, hefty belly laughs and delicate, feminine giggles reached his ears as he turned around to face the party that was in full swing at the moment.

A soft drink in his hand and clad in a slightly stiff, but beautifully embroidered sherwani-

("Thank you, Trisha, I mean I can't believe you gave me-" "Oh quiet, babe, you'll look perfect in this anyway and it doesn't even fit Zayn...")

-Liam adjusted the vibrant yellow scarf around his neck when he felt warm, supple fingers meet his hand. He stood still, a smile sneaking its way onto his flushed face, as Zayn adjusted his scarf for him, gentle and slow, taking his time to make it lay perfect around him.

"Thanks, babe, I never know how to wear this," Liam muttered, turning to face his boyfriend. Ah, his boyfriend. The best gift given to him. He had even taken the time to thank Trisha once, fully enjoying her delightful laughter as Zayn stood behind her scowling prettily at him. Right now, he looked divine in a charcoal black kameez, as Zayn had called it, and a yellow scarf matching the one Liam wore. His hair, grown out and curling slightly behind his ears, was swept back carelessly; a fact Liam appreciated terribly as he was blessed with the view of Zayn running his long, delicate fingers through his hair every few minutes to adjust it.

God, he was awfully pretty. And had the most gentle and sensitive soul. How was he so lucky to deserve him?

His train of thought screeched to a stop with a gentle nudge from Zayn who was looking at him with inquisitive eyes, tongue curling around a small smile directed at him.

"You okay, babe?" he inquired gently, silently worried that this party was proving too much for Liam. Maybe he wasn't comfortable with Zayn's family?

Liam shrugged his worry off quickly, he was being a literal party pooper, standing in the corner of the Maliks' living room, making eyes at their son and being contemplative on a day of celebration.

It was Zayn's cousin's wedding. Or rather one of the several functions to follow before the actual wedding day. "Asians" Zayn had remarked at Liam when asked, and apparently that was answer enough.

"Asians, specifically South Asians, tend to have really big families, love, we tend to show our love and celebration through parties and ceremonies such as these. Worry not, you'll fit right in," Trisha had filled him in with the necessary information after he had huffed at Zayn for the lack thereof. He had nodded knowingly, though still quite confused, but determined to stick through it.

And here he was. A Pakistani folk song played through the speakers set up at the back of the room, which was decked out in yellows and golds and gentle greens ("Colours usually associated with mayoon," a cousin of Zayn's had informed him). There was a circle of little girls, dressed in beautiful yellow and green dresses, dancing around and giggling uncontrollably. The adults around them were spurring them on with enthusiastic, rhythmic clapping. It was a beautiful scene, one Liam wouldn't forget any time soon.

He turned back to Zayn," I was just wondering, though, you never told me why everyone, including us, is wearing yellow? Even your cousin, the bride is? What's the deal with that?"

"Well, that's what mayoon is, really, it's just this ceremony where the bride is supposed to wear yellow and have her hands covered in mehendi and her family will sit around her and sing songs and just be festive, I guess," Zayn shrugged as he talked, hoping to inculcate more of his culture into Liam. He moved in closer to Liam and touched his lips to his ear. Liam shivered and leaned in to hear.

"C'mon, I wanna do something fun, follow me," he whispered in his ear and held out his hand. Liam raised his eyebrows at him. This was not the time for that.

Zayn rolled his eyes at him. "Don't be a pervert, babe, I didn't mean it like that, just come with me, c'mon now," he dragged Liam towards the busy party, people flocking about on the dance floor, a pair of cushioned armchairs set up festively, draped in soft yellow and gold tulle. The bride and groom were off their thrones for the moment, busy socializing and talking to all their guests.

Zayn dropped heavily onto one of the two chairs, limbs askew and rested his head on the padded back. He signaled Liam to do the same who was a bit cautious, looking around to locate the bride and groom, checking to see if maybe he was being rude taking their seats? Slowly, when no one turned around to glare at him, he lowered himself onto the armchair with a quiet sigh, although judging by Zayn's answering grin, he may have been too loud. Oh well, he was tired, standing around for so long would do that to you.

He was so relaxed that he never noticed Zayn's sister, Doniya, sneaking up on the two of them, and it wasn't long before she stood towering over them, eye lashes fluttering prettily as she grinned at Liam. "You comfortable, then?" she asked Liam, a mischievous grin etched on her familiar features.

Liam stiffened slightly, preparing his body to get up quickly off the armchair, oh great you've gone and done something wrong you knob, before Zayn was pushing him back down with his hand. "No, meri jaan, keep sitting, it's no problem, Doni's being a dick," he pushed Liam down so he was perched precariously once again on the chair, this time a lot more aware of the people starting to taking note around him.

"Yeah, meri jaan, keep sitting," Doniya giggled at the pair. Liam flushed at the use of endearment in such a sarcastic tone that he missed Zayn's glare at his sister.

She rolled her eyes,"Ya Allah, Zayn's jaan I mean," Liam felt like he should maybe melt into a liquid that could escape through the tiled floor below his feet. Zayn, the bastard, grinned satisfactorily up at her.

Doniya turned to leave, shaking her head exasperatedly at Zayn, singing along with the song playing "Oh, Jeeja!", a line that apparently shocks a reaction out of her brother, who practically breaks his neck to frown at her. She giggles and speed walks away, leaving Liam thoroughly confused at his boyfriend's reaction.

Across the room, Yaser turned around and noticed the two of them sat there. A deep, resounding laughter came from him as he noticed his son and his boyfriend, and nudged his wife and his friends who took notice too.

Giggles and snickers were heard all around, as the group made their way towards them, Zayn's father leading the way.

Liam's eyes widened at the sight of the fast approaching group and shoved an elbow into Zayn's side, perhaps a little too forcefully, if the hiss and groan from his boyfriend was to be heard. Liam didn't care, oh no, he very much would like to get the shite out of there. This can't be good, he thought as Yaser opened his mouth to talk.

"Ah, beta, sab theek thaak?", he directed his question in Urdu at his son, a wide grin on his face. Zayn stared up stonily at his father, a careful mask of expression on his face, before replying with,"Han, kyun nai? sab theek hai," ending his sentence with a careless shrug.

Liam narrowed his eyes at him, his boyfriend was acting suspicious, not to mention speaking in Urdu, a fact that he avoids doing so since Liam always feels left out.

Then, came a sentence that he never expected to hear out of his boyfriend's father's mouth,"Didn't know you were in such a hurry to be married, beta, that's all."

Liam whipped his head towards Zayn, who had suddenly taken a great interest in his nail beds, yeah right.

All around him, people burst out laughing at his boyfriend which left Liam even more confused than when Yaser started speaking. He noticed Liam's predicament and decided to explain,"In mayoon, those who sit on the chairs of the bride or groom, tend to get proposals within the year. Call it an old wives' tale, but we do it for fun sometimes."

He ended his explanation and turned to his son, who was still immersed in the absolute inconceivable science that was the structure of his nails. Yaser's lips twitched at his son's behaviour, ullu ko kuch nai sikhaya maine, before turning back to his party and leading them away from his boys, they needed the privacy for the conversation that followed.

Liam sat in silent shock, mouth agape and staring at his boyfriend of 6 years. Zayn wanted to be proposed to? Zayn wanted to get married?

A huff escaped him and he caught Zayn's sheepish and embarrassed expression, eyes flickering up to meet his then abruptly flitting away. Liam reached out to take his hand, a warm clasp and a gentle squeeze coaxed those beautiful eyes to meet his. A tentative smile from Liam and his boyfriend gave in, rolling his eyes at his idiotic behaviour and the act he pulled, as he explain to his boyfriend.

"I didn't know how to tell you, honestly, I sorta thought you might do it sometime soon, you know, but it's just- I saw Kainat getting proposed to and accepting it and planning her wedding and all that, and I just- I dunno, I guess I wanted that for myself too..." he trailed off mumbling and mincing his words, but Liam got the message loud and clear.

"All you had to do was say, babe. I thought you weren't ready and I didn't wanna push you but I guess..." Liam silenced his rambling, focusing instead on keeping eye contact with his boyfriend.

"I love you, babe, I do," he murmured assertively, squeezing his boyfriend's hand," and there is nothing in this world that is going to stop me from marrying your petulant arse."

"You love this arse," Zayn mumbled childishly, though a smile was already on his face. Liam only wiggled his eyebrows knowingly at him, getting a melodic giggle from his boyfriend. Before he could lean in to kiss the stupid smile off his face, Liam was suddenly assaulted with a gaggle of Zayn's cousins, all shouting in shrill voices "Liam, Liam, Liam, listen to me!"

Zayn silently turned to glare at them and widened his eyes at them and the eldest of them all shrunk back at the ferocity of it with a small 'oh'.

Aimen, Liam thinks her name is, turns back to him and repeats her plea, this time adding something at the end. "Liam Bhai, listen to us, please!"

Something short-circuited inside his brain, momentarily causing him to lose focus on everything around him. All that was ringing in his ears was the shrill, childish voice calling him 'bhai', a name Walihya sometimes calls her brother when she tackles him in a hug when they visit, a fond 'bhai' from the mouth of Safaa when Zayn eats sloppily at the dinner table, Trisha giggling silently at the disgust her daughter shows for her son's horrible eating habits.

Slightly emotional, and maybe a little love-drunk, Liam turns to Aimen, directing his entire attention to her. "What is it, love?" he asks her, ignoring Zayn who is sporting the biggest, goofiest and most douche-y grin his boyfriend has ever seen on him.

He looked smug. Yeah, yeah, thought Liam as he let Aimen pull him away from the 'magic' chair and into the swarm of family members all huddled on the dance floor.

Translations: Aaye laariye ni tera sehreya wala wyaanwan ayaa" (O darling bride, your handsome bridegroom has come to wed you)

Mayoon is a Pakistani pre-wedding custom during which the bride dresses in yellow and sits in seclusion before her wedding day. Nowadays, mayoon is a festive ceremony, sometimes with the groom as well, where people dress up in yellow or green, gather in a congregation and have something to eat, dance and sing all night long.

Jeeja means brother-in-law

sab theek thaak means is everything alright? han kyun nai? sab theek means yeah why not? its all good ullo ko kuch nai sikhaya maine means I haven't taught this idiot anything

Bhai means brother (used to refer to brothers older than you).