Lover Dearest (Ziam Vampire AU)

Chapter 10

Liam sticks to his room for the next few days. Harry and Niall bring him food, both with questions about what happened that Liam refuses to answer. He doesn't want to talk about it, and he doesn't want to talk to Zayn, either. Not that Zayn's tried again after that first attempt. Maybe he thought it worked, his backward apology. Maybe he thought that pining Liam down and reciting the many ways in which he could kill Liam was a good enough apology to fix what he'd done, but it wasn't. Not by a long shot.

So Liam stays in his room, as the dishes pile up on his bedside table. Sometimes Niall joins him, spreading out in his bed and asking Liam about video games and how to illegally download music. Liam lets him in more than anyone, since Niall's companionship is always the nicest. He's light and funny and Liam honestly doesn't know how Niall manages it.

Harry joins him once, after bringing him dinner one night. He opts to sit on the bench seat by the window, haloed by the moonlight. Liam loves Harry, he does. He's a bit disconcerting, though. Harry looks maybe eighteen, at the most, with his bright green eyes and dimpled cheeks, but there's something about the way he talks and this look he gets in his eyes, occasionally, that tells you there's something infinitely older about him.

And by disconcerting, Liam means creepy. It's kind of creepy.

"Still not talking about it?" Harry asks. He folds his hands neatly in his lap, expectantly watching Liam as he shovels food into his mouth. "Or are you just not talking to me about it?"

Liam swallows. "Both," he answers. "I don't want to talk about it, and I'm not talking to you about it."

Harry sighs at him. "Liam," he says. "I know you're upset, but–-"

"Do you even know what happened?" Liam demands. "No, you don't. So don't 'but' me." He hates getting short with Harry, he does, but it can't be helped sometimes.

"I know the gist," Harry says. "Something to do with Zayn and Louis, since they've both been walking around here with their tails tucked between their legs, looking guilty as anything. Which is fairly impressive, actually, because I've known Louis for a long, long time, and it takes a lot to make him feel guilty."

"He doesn't feel guilty for what he did," Liam grumbles. "He only feels guilty because Zayn's probably not talking to him because of it."

Harry frowns. "You're probably right."

"I hate him," Liam says forcefully, dropping his fork onto his plate. "Everything was better before he got here."

Harry gets this pinched look on his face. "He was here first," Harry points out. "I know he's difficult, Liam. Trust me, no one in the world knows just how difficult Louis is better than I do. But he's not all that bad, underneath it all. He's wild, yeah. He's a bit unhinged. But he's got a good heart, underneath that. Really far underneath."

"Good for him," Liam says. "I don't care. I don't forgive him, and I don't forgive Zayn, either."

"What did they do?" Harry snaps. "Just tell me what they did, Liam, because I can't prevent it from happening again if I don't know."

Liam chews at his bottom lip. He doesn't want to answer, but there's always something about Harry that demands answers, in the softest, most subtle way. There's nothing overtly intimidating about Harry, on the surface, but Liam doesn't feel very inclined to ignore the question again.

"They were drunk," Liam states. "Which I didn't even know was possible, by the way."

"It's not supposed to be," Harry admits. "I could drink an entire liquor store and it would only make me bloated. But there's ways around it. If we drink from someone with a high alcohol level, it can effect us. But it's dangerous. When a vampire gets drunk, we lose all sense of self-control and morals."