𝐓𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐅𝐚𝐭𝐞 ⸙

2.12༊*·˚

Liam looked up when the door to the library creaked. Zayn poked his head through, his brown and black ears flopping forward.

"Have you washed your paws?" Liam asked.

Zayn nodded and made a low noise as if to say of course!

"Alright, come in then."

Zayn hurried to Liam. His claws scratched against the wood. He stood on the couch with his front two paws and waited for Liam to rub his neck.

"Good run?" Liam asked, grinning at Zayn's wagging tail hitting the table.

Zayn made another low noise as if to say Always! He tried to lick Liam's face, but Liam pulled back. He patted his knee instead and Zayn sat next to him on the couch. Zayn rested his big head on Liam's legs, dangling his four paws off the side.

Liam rubbed the soft fur on Zayn's ears and read his book. Zayn soon fell asleep, as he often did in his wolf form. His soft snores made Liam a little sleepy too. When he couldn't finish a page without half closing his eyes, he put his book down and curled up against Zayn.

The wolf was beyond comfortable to lie against. Liam gripped his warm fur and rested a head on Zayn's arm. Sleep soon engulfed him, and Liam fell into a dream about Jaiden trying to push him from the window of Zayn's office.

Liam woke half an hour later when he rolled off the couch and hit the wood with a thud. In his dream, he had been falling from the window and about to crack his head open on the stone yard below.

Liam rubbed his sore shoulder and sat up, coming face to face with a sleeping wolf. Liam softly scratched the top of Zayn's head who didn't stir.

Then he rubbed his own eyes, frowning from his dream. Reoccurring dreams had often meant something to Liam. Whether his subconscious mind knew where he had lost something or knew where he needed to go to feel better, his dreams were tunnels into the thoughts he suppressed.

Why do I keep dreaming of Jaiden pushing me from the window? Maybe Liam felt bad that Jaiden had met his unfortunate end by being pushed from the window he looked from every morning. If that was the case, surely Liam would have felt bad a year and eight months ago, when it happened.

Liam stood and stretched and looked to the book propped on the table. His head was too busy to read. He thought about crawling back under Zayn's paws and lying against him until he woke. The thought was nice for his heart, but his head wanted to go to Zayn's office.

Why?

Liam found himself walking down the narrow attic stairs anyway, and along the corridor towards their bedroom. He turned right through the heavy stairwell door and jumped down the steps, two at a time. Liam soon stood in front of the dark wood of Zayn's office door. Zayn had started locking the door after him.

Liam sighed and leaned against it when it wouldn't open. He looked up to the metal name, Xavier Malik. Zayn didn't want to change it. Even now, he struggled to admit that his father wouldn't come back and reclaim the office. Liam traced his fingers along the engraved metal, wondering if Xavier would have really liked him, like Zayn said. As he trailed the last few letters, the metal slab clicked slightly to the right. Liam tugged on the side, and the metal glided a little more.

Something behind the name tag caught Liam's eye. He stood on tiptoes and glided the metal until the name had slid from its plastic casing.

The thing that caught Liam's eye hit the floor with a loud clang. Liam looked to his feet to see an old brass key. He quickly looked left and right, but he was the only one on the corridor.