Tunnel Vision » Ziam AU «

Chapter Eleven

"It's not going to be that bad, right?" Liam asks.

He's sitting in the seat beside Zayn, rubbing his hands nervously over the legs of his dress pants. It's late, and the windows are tinted, which means it's hard for Zayn to see Liam. He can't tell what his expression is, if he looks terrified or just slightly nervous. "Of course not," Zayn says flippantly, while his mind screams probably, yes. Maxx has made him realize that it's actually a horrible idea, but they have to go through with it and he'd rather not put that weight over Liam's head. "Glad you had a suit, though."

Liam fidgets. "It's a bit tight," he admits. "And I only have it because my sister got married a bit over a year ago and she made me buy one. Doesn't fit as well as it did, but it's not like I had any warning that I was going to have to dress up for tonight. No one told me that being your bodyguard had a dress code."

"This is the only time," Zayn promises. "Won't happen again."

"Okay."

They're both quiet the rest of the ride, both of them nervously moving around every few seconds. Zayn tugs at his tie, hating the way it makes it harder for him to breathe, even if it's not that tight. It's just the thought of something around his neck that bothers him. It makes him feel constricted, trapped, suffocated. He hates it. Hates these kinds of events where he has to dress up like this. If he had it his way, he'd be in sweatpants and a t-shirt, or at least jeans.

The event is held at an expensive ballroom only a few minutes from his apartment. As soon as they pull up, Liam lets out a squawking sound and… yeah, that seems pretty fitting, in Zayn's mind. The whole outside is lit up, with a grand water fountain out front. The entire building has a sense of grandeur and history, and it looks like the kind of place that you don't even want to go in because you're afraid of breaking something.

"You should fire me," Liam says hurriedly. "Like, right now. Fire me. Actually, no, I'll save you the trouble: I quit. Right now. I'm not going in there."

Just behind them, a limo pulls up. The driver gets out and opens the back door, and a woman in a sparkling silver dress comes out. It looks like moonlight, and she delicately puts her hand on the arm of the man who got out the other side. Together, the two of them slowly make their way up to the building.

Okay, Zayn thinks Liam's protesting is a little called for, he does, but they don't have a choice. "You have to go," he hisses. "It's for charity." He needs to stop hanging out with Maxx. "And you can't quit. I'm your boss and I just said so, so there."

Liam takes a shuddering breath and pushes his hands through the longer hairs on the top of his head. "Alright. Let's just — get it over with."

Before he can think about it, Zayn reaches over and grabs Liam's hand. In the dark of the small town car, Liam looks at him with wide eyes. Zayn drops his hand and clears his throat. "Uh. Just a word of advice: fake it. No one likes these things, and no one's as confident as they look."

"Even you?" Liam asks, looking like he doesn't believe that for a second.