The Money Maker

Chapter 1

"This is who I gotta pretend to be in a relationship with?" Zayn whines, shaking his head when he sees the crinkly-eyed boy with the styled quiff, the hoodie, the sunglasses.

"You're no looker yourself," Liam snorts, squinting his eyes at Zayn as he pulls off his sunglasses. But he's lying. Of course he's lying. His cheekbones are sharp enough to cut wood, his eyes bright enough to start a fire. But Zayn doesn't have to know that.

Zayn is perplexed—already—by Liam. He's sharper, quicker than he expected. With a sigh, Liam slides down his hood, tiredly sliding his fingers through his hair. "Alright, well, let's get this... thing started. I want it over as soon as possible."

Zayn wonders suddenly what Liam's hair feels like, has a strong urge to reach forward and kiss him back into the wall, find his own fingers in the boy's brown hair.

Zayn's lying, too. But Liam doesn't have to know that.

---

"Guys, you gotta at least try," Liam's manager, Chris, hisses behind them, his eyes lasering in on the most awkward hand holding he's ever seen: their hands barely touching, only thumbs connecting the two of them.

A sigh falls from Liam's lips, but he changes positions to interlock fingers with Zayn's anyway. Zayn's hand is hot, a little sweaty, but just the simple touch brings a lump into Liam's throat and a sudden urge to squeeze his hand. But no. He shakes his head in an attempt to clear the thought from his head. That's something a real couple would do. And the two of them were not even close to that, considering they didn't even know how to hold hands.

Zayn echoes Liam, a sigh leaving his mouth as the paps start shouting, firing questions at them both that Zayn probably wouldn't even confide to his closest friends, let alone some sleazy guy looking to make a quick buck. But he's surprised by how soothing the hand holding is, at the ease to which Liam's hands fit with his, at how natural the whole thing feels. Surprised by the quickened beating of his heart from Liam's touch.

"You're supposed to be in love," Chris whispers sharply as he gets closer to them.

The two of them know what this means: smile now or die later. Zayn grins first: at the paps, straight ahead, even at the carpet. But he's careful to look anywhere other than Liam.

Seeing Zayn's smile from out of the corner of his eye, Liam follows suit, finding a random person in the crowd to smile to. The walk seems to go on forever, and Liam feels his lips already beginning to hurt from the pull of his mouth.

When they (finally) make it to the door, Zayn pulls the door open for Liam. As Liam steps closer to the door, closer to him, Zayn finally lets his eyes wander from the door to the boy beside him, feeling his breath catch as he sees the grin on Liam's face, the crinkles around his eyes forming as he catches Zayn's eye. His brown eyes are so bright they almost twinkle for a second before it's gone, leaving Zayn sure he must just have imagined the whole thing. Chris ushers the two of them inside with a little push as Zayn reminds himself that the smile wasn't for him, quickly forcing himself to let go of Liam's hand as soon as they're out of sight from the crowd.

"Day one," Liam exhales, rubbing his now empty hand, his thoughts still swimming from the blinding flashes. From the crowd surrounding him, Chris' eyes following every one of their moves, everyone aching to get a closer look. He's sure that's why he can't think. Or, at least, that's what he tells himself.

---

"If you saw this picture... Would you say these people had fallen in love?" Chris' voice booms through the office as he holds up the front cover of the tabloid, his eyebrows furrowed. Zayn flinches, watching Liam from out of the corner of his eye slink down away from the sound as he grumbles something under his breath. "Cause, honestly, I wouldn't have even known if you two had even met each other before if you weren't attached!"