Wingman ⇝ {Ziam}

Chapter 17: The Text

A/N: So this is a filler? Ish??? Idk, but it's mainly Louis's POV sort of. Im going to be switching it up for the upcoming chapters. Probably gonna go to Liam's POV as well.

Anyway, hope you enjoy nonetheless <3

It was almost midnight, and Louis was just about to head to bed until a knock at his front door had stopped him. He was surprised to see Zayn with two large boxes in his arms, struggling with them. And so he let him inside to set the boxes down; Zayn took a moment to take a seat on his couch, rubbing his hands against his face, and Louis was quiet because even though Zayn acted nonchalant towards him, Louis could sense every bit of anguish Zayn had been going through.

It wasn't until moments later did Zayn finally look up into Louis's eyes, seemingly read to spill every secret Louis wasn't aware of.

But all he did was shrug, and Louis understood. There was an explanation somewhere, Zayn just couldn't find it then, and maybe he didn't want to find it. And so Louis helped him bring up the rest of his things; he set the boxes down in the corner of his living room to be dealt with whenever Zayn was ready to accept living somewhere else as a reality. They ate a few pizza rolls before falling asleep on the couch.

Louis remembers holding him close because what had that man been through?

It's been a few days since Zayn moved into Louis's apartment. Zayn's been on autopilot, as far as Louis can tell; all he does is eat, sleep, and work. And Louis has yet to hear an explanation, but he doesn't dare push it. As ridiculous as it sounds, Louis's come to realize the 23-year-old runs away from all sorts of confrontation, trying to avoid it as many times as possible.

He's set the table with two plastic plates, a recently-ordered pizza placed in the center. The front door is opening and Zayn walks in just in time, having finished his shift at the video game store.

"Come eat," Louis says as he sits down at the table and begins pulling out slices for the both of them.

They sit in silence for a while. That's all it's been recently, Louis's noticed: silent. Zayn's aware that Louis knows something happened, and Louis knows Zayn hates small talk, talking about the smaller details when there's a much bigger story that needs to be told. So he just doesn't say anything.

Louis's phone vibrates several times while they're eating; Zayn's noticing, out of the corner of his eye, Louis growing angrier the longer he stares at it. Zayn almost says something, but Louis's quick to place the phone back in his pocket and continue eating as if nothing happened.

Once they've finished, it's Louis's idea to build a fort in the middle of their living room, and so they do. They encase themselves in a body of couches, pillows, and blankets. It's like they're in their own world as they rest comfortably inside the enclosed space and watch a movie on Louis's I-Pad.

The movie buffers and that's when Louis hears it.

"He doesn't love me," Zayn whispers.

He sits up, putting the I-Pad aside, and Zayn follows after him. And he lets Zayn talk, talk about his bathroom encounter with Sophia, his night with Niall and his unknown feelings towards that, Liam's rejection and how he felt a strong pain he'd never felt before because of it.

Louis's eyes are filled with tears by the end of it, and Zayn reaches over to hold his hand, trying to console him. Louis wraps his arms around Zayn tightly and cries just a bit harder because Zayn gets a bag of dirt, when he deserves the whole world.

They go back to lying on the floor, surrounded by blankets. "This is my fault, innit?" Louis mumbles. It feels like it is, all those years pushing Zayn to admit his feelings for Liam, promising a false happy ending because of it.