Lover Dearest (Ziam Vampire AU)

Chapter 7

Liam wakes up in the middle of the day to something thumping in the hallway. Somethings, plural. There's definitely two people outside his door. There's another loud thump, the kind of growl that puts Liam on edge, hairs at the back of his neck standing up. The growl is followed by a hiss, and Liam recognizes it as Zayn's.

And then his door bursts open and Louis' moving into the room, only to be tugged back and thrown against the wall of the hallway by Zayn. There's black, inky blood coating Zayn's fingers and leaking from a gash in his neck, and he looks dangerous. Dangerous enough that Liam sits up, moving back against the headboard of his bed.

"I just wanted to apologize to him!" Louis shouts.

"In the middle of the day?" Zayn yells back. "While the rest of us were sleeping?"

"You weren't sleeping," Louis points out. He touches the back of his head, fingers coming back with his own blood. "You were sitting here in the hallway like a creepy watchdog. I'm not going to hurt him, you protective bastard."

"You're not allowed alone with him," Zayn spits. "Ever."

"Didn't we all have an argument just hours ago about him not belonging to any of you?" Louis counters. "Because you're acting like he does."

Liam rubs a hand over his face. Their yelling is hurting his head, and he still feels half asleep. "Zayn," he says quietly. "If he wants to talk to me, let him."

"Yeah, Zayn, let me," Louis mocks. "Take orders from the human."

Zayn looks at Liam, disbelieving. "You really want to talk to this asshole?"

Liam shrugs. "I just want to go back to bed, and I can't do that if you two're fighting outside my door."

Zayn frowns at Louis, then at Liam, then at Louis again. "I'm gonna be right outside the door, Liam." He leans closer to Louis, adding, "If you even think about hurting him, I'll kill you. I'll tear your throat out and feed it back to you."

Louis makes a face at that, as does Liam. "And I'm the threat?" Louis asks. "You need to calm down. I've no intentions of hurting him."

Liam's honestly too tired to care if he does or not. Maybe if he did they'd take pity on Liam and let him go back to bed.

Zayn steps out of Louis' way, letting him into the room, and Louis shuts the door behind himself, blocking Zayn out. He turns on the light, taking a sweeping look around while Liam pulls his covers up a little higher.

"Wow," Louis says, moving over to Liam's stand of CDs and DVDs and video games. "They do spoil you, don't they?"

"I guess," Liam admits. He still feels on edge, and it's dawning on him that it's a little stupid, agreeing to being alone with Louis. Sure, Zayn would be in the room in seconds of Liam needed him, but it wouldn't take Louis that long to kill him if he really wanted to. Snap his neck, easy as anything, and Liam would just be... gone.

"Harry's always been soft," Louis tells him. "Too much compassion. I expect this from him, and maybe Niall, too. But Zayn. It's a little surprising, coming from him." He turns to Liam, grinning wickedly. "Bet he doesn't tell you what he gets up to on the other side of those gates, does he? Bet he acts like the perfect, caring, conflicted angel, doesn't he?"

"I don't know what you mean," Liam says.

Louis laughs. "Of course you don't," he mutters. "I'd be willing to bet anything that he pretends he doesn't love it. That he acts like he's fighting with himself every time he feeds off you, like he doesn't enjoy it. But he does. I've watched him kill a room full of people and laugh while he licked their blood from his fingers, you know."