the song of persephone ♡ ziall/niam au [COMPLETE]

treize

zayn was asleep when he heard the knock on the door. he groaned and rolled over, somehow nearly crushing niall.

"what?" he mumbled, unsure of how the blond had even gotten into his room. "what are you doing, flower?"

"missed you," niall mumbled back sleepily, nuzzling his face into zayn's shirt. a small smile trickled across zayn's face, and he leaned down to kiss the top of niall's head.

"let me get the door, sweetheart." with a frown, niall let go of zayn's shirt, and zayn went and opened the door.

"hey," liam greeted him. he peeked into the room and saw niall curled up under the blankets, and he actually smiled.

"i didn't --" zayn began, not wanting liam to think he took niall from their room or anything like that.

"hey, no, i know," liam interrupted, already knowing what zayn was going to say. "he missed you, wanted to be near you. i get it. it's cool." and he smiled again. he was fucking smiling at zayn. zayn actually just stared at him, starstruck, because he didn't know what to do. "you okay?"

zayn realized he'd just been staring blankly at liam's face, and ducked his head to rub his eyes so liam wouldn't see that he was blushing. "uh -- yeah, i'm fine."

"okay, good." liam bit his lip. "uh...i wanted to show you something."

"show me something?" zayn asked skeptically. i mean, sure, he'd been there nearly a week, and liam has been nothing but kind to him...but he still worried that liam didn't like him. i mean, after all, they were both in love with the same guy, and it wasn't like liam had wanted zayn to come here anyway.

"don't say it like that." liam rolled his eyes. "i'm not gonna set cerberus on you or anything."

"cerberus likes me," zayn retorted, which, oddly enough, was true. apparently, cerberus only liked zayn, niall, and liam. any and everyone else was a chew toy if they went anywhere near him.

"that is true...and weird," liam said thoughtfully. "anyway. come on, zayn."

zayn glared at him, still skeptical.

liam sighed. "i brought coffee." he wiggled a travel mug at zayn, and when zayn smiled, he knew he had him.

- - -

"are you showing me where you're gonna hide my body?" zayn asked suspiciously.

"no. why would i need to hide your body? you're already in the underworld," liam pointed out.

"oh, shit. true," zayn noted, which made liam laugh. "come on, tell me where we're going, li."

it was the first time zayn had called him anything besides just liam that wasn't
some sort of joke about being in the underworld. zayn hadn't even meant to say that, the words had just come out of his mouth, and now he was staring worriedly at the side of liam's face.

liam didn't comment on it. in fact, he didn't say a single thing -- but the side of his mouth was curling up; he was grinning.

"here we are." liam stuck a key in the lock and turned the handle, gesturing for zayn to go first.

"is this like in harry potter? where only the goblins -- or in this case, the king of the underworld -- can open it and if i go in, i'll be trapped until you open it to check in ten years?"

"oh, my god, zayn, this isn't gringotts," liam muttered, but he went into the room first anyway.

"you know harry potter?"

"i live under the earth, zee, not under a rock," liam sighed, and zayn laughed aloud. he was surprised, not only at liam's use of the nickname, but also at his joke.

zayn's laughter was cut short as he entered the room. it was a wall-to-wall library, and when he went up to look, he saw that somehow his favorite genres and authors were there. he turned around to look at liam, absolutely speechless.

"it's a surprise for both you and niall," liam stated, because he couldn't tell how zayn was reacting. "do you not like it? because i --" before he could even start apologizing, zayn was hugging him.

"thank you!" he exclaimed, voice muffled by liam's shirt. liam let out a chuckle, hand going up to ruffle zayn's hair affectionately, and then liam had a beautiful thought: zayn had spent so much time making niall happy, and nobody had ever taken even a fraction of that time for him. and liam had the realization that he wanted to do that -- zayn had spent so much time taking care of someone he so dearly loved. he deserved that, too.

"are you guys having a moment in here without me?" niall's voice called, but he brightened when he walked in the room and saw them hugging. with a squeal, he bounded over to them and wiggled in between their bodies so he could join their hug, too.

"i love you both soooooo much," he sighed, eyes closed, one hundred percent content. it was strange, how happy he was here, but he was with the two people he loved the most, and that's what happiness is all about, isn't it?