Ziam Smut

Remember These Thoughts

Remember These Thoughts
C: Zaithiest
Summary:
It's not easy, remembering who you use to be. Liam needs a little help and of course Zayn is there for him but they end up fixing each other in places they never even knew were broken.
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"All of it?"

"All of it."

Zayn ran his hands through the long strands of Liam's hair, brows furrowed but concern was silenced by the determination set in Liam's features. Instead, Zayn simply memorized as best he could the cool, smooth texture of the sandy locks tossed across Liam's forehead without the stiff hold of gel. Zayn knew, somehow, that it was more than a haircut Liam wanted but he didn't dare ruin the fragile trust he had re-established, the thin ice covering an ocean without waves and temperatures too inconsistent to rely on.

"You're sure?" Zayn asked wondering how fast thoughts move for one of them to be doubt.

"You wanna ask one more time or am I going to have to do it myself?"

"Okay." It was a sigh, maybe more a preparation for Zayn than confirmation for Liam.

There wasn't a breath, a twitch, a heartbeat that Zayn didn't miss. He knew there was something he couldn't see yet, something with a little more substance that he couldn't touch until he understood more.

"Okay." He repeated in a sigh.

Liam chuckled. "I feel like your more upset than I am."

Zayn couldn't laugh at that, not when he knew so little.

Liam closed his eyes, let the pads of Zayn's fingers massage gently into his scalp, something he use to take for granted, something he never thought he would have to miss so much.

"Why don't we do this in the tub, we've already got dog hair everywhere, you don't need to add to that." Zayn smiled only when Liam did. It was something cautious, something careful.

It was quiet, the few steps they took to the bath. Maybe it was their minds again, moving fast enough for second thoughts. Zayn, however, ruled that out when Liam stripped his shirt.

"If you should be shaving anything, it should be your chest." He laughed ridding himself of his own top.

"You don't like it?"

"I think Niall's jealous."

Laughing together was another piece of happiness taken for granted too many times before. It was luxury now, when they could both be happy at the same time, when they didn't have to worry about still raw sensitivity. It felt as if they exhausted every conversation in the past five years. New words were hard to find even though it seemed not long ago they did it so easily. Why was speaking so difficult when thinking came so naturally?

"It's in the top cabinet." Liam nodded stepping into the ceramic bathtub.

It took Zayn a moment to remember what he had been doing there before opening the cabinet and reaching for a razor probably untouched in years.

"Why didn't you go to a Barbour?"

"I had the stuff. Why spend the money when you don't have to." Liam explained taking more interest in the faucet than the conversation.