love, cheater ➳ ziam au

|twenty seven|

A month. 30 days, yet Zayn was too stubborn to snap out of the coma he indulged himself in.

Liam's knee bounced in anticipation as he waited for Harry to open up the door to the house. His house. Their house.

"Well, now it's all yours, Li." Harry smiled softly, pushing the key into Liam's grasp, "Now, I got a princess to tend to."

Liam smiled softly, fondness washing over him as he saw Harry bounce his newborn daughter in his arms.

"Can you say bye to Uncle Li, Vanessa? Huh, sweetheart?" Harry cooed, and Liam kissed her small hand as she gurgled at him.

"Bye Harry." Liam mumbled, giving him a tight hug before waving him off.

Sighing softly to himself, Liam ascended the porch, leaning down to unstrap Landon from his stroller. The one-month old infant gurgled in his sleep, his nose twitching when Liam placed a warm kiss on his forehead.

"Louis?" Liam called, watching the toddler run back from the backyard, "Wanna' go inside, bud?"

Louis hesitated, looking up at the house looming in front of him. His house. The house where he would sit with his Papa and make cupcakes, the house where his Daddy would scold him for painting on the walls, before helping him spray paint in the graffiti room. This was their house.

Louis nodded dubiously, and Liam extended his hand. The toddler latched onto it and the little family of three walked inside the threshold.

"Why don't you go check out your room?" Liam asked, his eyes cast downward. Louis nodded and carefully waddled up the stairs and when Liam deemed it safe to look up, he did, only to have cold and bittersweet nostalgia dumped over him.

The house was pretty much the same since he left except there were a lot of pictures of him and Louis. His eyes started to water when he saw their huge family photo on the mantle piece, surrounded by white roses. Zayn's favorite.

The TV set had a huge crack on it, and there were old tapes scattered on the ground. Liquor bottles were shattered and their contents seemed to have been emptied out in the fireplace. Pieces of paper littered the floor, and Liam's heart stopped when his eyes landed on a scrap.

'I can't live with you. Come back--
Love,
Cheater.'

Releasing a heavy sigh, Liam carefully placed Landon on the couch, surrounding the small baby with cushions. He draped his little blanket on top of him, before he gathered all the pieces of paper from the ground. He didn't want to read them, he didn't want to soak in more ounces of grief and sorrow, but, nonetheless, his eyes continued to scan the fragments of parchments and papers.

'I know you hate me, I hate me too--'

'Remember the time I proposed. You were so happy to spend the rest of your life with me. Big mistake, huh?'

'Louis always said we were a big, happy family. What happened--'

'Liam James Malik-Payne, I love you so fucking--'

'Paul asked me why I wanted to stay alive. My answer was simple. You.'

'Harry is pissed at me. I think he wants to smash a bottle of alcohol on my head--'

'Did you know that my heart beats for you? If not then--'

'I'm 98.9% sure that I want to kill myself. But then I see your picture and--'

And then Liam couldn't help but release a whimper, the papers falling from his grasp and fluttering back to the floor in a heap. He composed himself, blinking back his years forcefully.