End Up Here (Ziam AU)

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Sixteen – Liam

Liam's woken up out of a dead sleep a few weeks later by his phone ringing obnoxiously beside his head, he groggily reaches out to grab it, unsure of whether he wants to know what's causing someone to call him in the middle of the night. He glances blearily at the screen to see Zayn's name flashing at him, he instantly panics as he tries to make his hands work to answer the call, has something happened to Bella? "Hello?" Liam asks groggily "Liam? Shit I'm sorry to call you so late" Zayn mumbles into the phone, and he sounds almost sad, "Zee, it's fine. Babe what's wrong, is everything okay?" Liam asks slowly. Zayn sighs "yeah it's, well not really. I just can you come over here?" he asks, and Liam furrows his eyebrows, confused because it's two o'clock in the morning and his boyfriend is asking him to come over.That's when Liam hears it, the shrill, screaming cry from the background of Zayn's side of the conversation, "is that Bella?"he asks concerned. Zayn lets out a defeated sound, "yeah, she's, I guess she had a nightmare, but she's inconsolable, keeps demanding you" he answers tiredly. Liam's heart breaks a little both for the two year old who has wormed her way into his life, and heart, and for his boyfriend who sounds so dejected, and Liam knows it's because he feels like his daughter doesn't want him. "Yeah, okay. I'll be there in a bit Zee" Liam answers, already trying to pull on a pair of sweatpants and a hoodie, looking for his keys, "thanks Liam" Zayn mumbles, before hanging up. Liam frowns at his phone, before stuffing it into the pocket of his sweatpants, sitting to pull on some socks. Once he's dressed Liam's running out of his apartment and down to his car.

Liam makes it to Zayn's apartment in record time, he only broke a few laws in doing so. He's stepping out of the elevator moments after, and banging on Zayn and Louis' door, the door swings open to reveal a very tired Louis, who smiles tiredly at Liam, and the shrill sound of Bella still screaming in the background. "Hey" Louis yawns as Liam steps inside and toes off his shoes, "hey, where are they?" he asks. Louis chuckles and gestures down the hall, "Arabella's room, just follow the screaming" he answers before disappearing into the kitchen himself. Liam does as instructed following the sounds until he's standing outside of Bella's bedroom door, pushing it open to see Zayn struggling to hold onto his daughter as she thrashes around, screaming , all while pounding her tiny fists against Zayn's chest. Zayn's eyes meet Liam's when he glances up at the door opening, relief evident in them, before it fades to something else. "How long's she been like this?" Liam asks softly, making his way towards the pair, and reaching for the screaming toddler, Zayn shrugs as he hands her over, "since about twenty minutes before I called you" he answers stifling a yawn. Liam nods, taking in Zayn's tired face, and the way his entire body looks heavy with the weight of this incident. Bella's still screaming, clearly not even aware that it's Liam holding her now, not Zayn, she's still struggling and punching, and Liam's heart breaks a little more.

Liam moves so he's sitting on the edge of the castle, Bella calls a bed, cradling the struggling toddler in his arms, "hey, shh, you're okay, it's Liam. I've got you" he croons, directly into her ear. It's as if a switch flips, because Bella just stops. Her body goes still and the screaming changes into a pained, hiccupping cry, as she grips tightly onto Liam's shirt, trying to push herself even closer to him. Liam glances up to see Zayn standing across the room, arms across his body, like he's hugging himself, as he stares at the scene mouth hanging open, Liam can see that Zayn's hurt, and confused, but he'll talk to him later, right now his main focus is on Arabella. "Hey, Bella. What's got you so upset hmm?" Liam hums rocking her gently, Bella whines and snuggles into his chest more, "too scary" she mumbles. Liam pouts, "what was?" he asks carefully, "gone. Everyone gone. Bella all alone with monsters" Bella whimpers. Liam frowns "aww, love. It's okay, everyone's here though see, there's Baba" Liam coos pointing to where Zayn's still standing by the door. "Uncle Louis' in the kitchen, listen" Liam continues, falling quiet soBella can hear Louis banging around, "and, I'm here too" he finishes after a moment. Bella nods, still sniffling as she attempts to stop herself from crying, "monsters?" she asks quietly. Liam chuckles shaking his head, "No, there's no monsters babe" he says seriously.