The Money Maker

Chapter 13

Eyes darting out the kitchen window as her ear catches the soft pitter-patter of the drizzling rain, Karen pouts. "Zayn, I was so hoping we could all take you on a drive. Show you the nice areas outside of Wolverhampton."

Zayn can't help it when his lips upturn. He clears his throat, quickly hiding the motion by lifting his coffee cup up to take a sip. Before he can respond, Liam is chiming in. "Don't worry, mum, 'm sure we can find something to do around the house."

Liam's gaze travels over to Zayn, a soft smile forming on his face. "I can force Zayn to watch all my favorite movies while he's held captive."

Zayn can't help but snort. As if Liam would have to force him to do anything.

"What kind of movies?" He asks, feigning only casual interest. A full yawn pulling past his lips, he stretches his arms up and straightens his toes out as far as he can.

He probably doesn't even really need to ask. He has a feeling he already knows the answer, if their discussion from their movie date all those weeks ago means anything.

"Come peruse my collection with me." Liam bites back the babe on the edge of his lips, instead offering a grin as he stands up and holds out his open palm to Zayn.

Zayn's initial reaction is to make a comment, some sort of joke, but then he looks up and into Liam's lit-up amber eyes, Zayn's white shirt taut against his skin. Instead, he blinks quickly, feeling suddenly shy.

For Zayn, being with Liam is like a game of Russian roulette: he never knows quite when he's going to pull the trigger of his own loaded gun.

Though he has a feeling he already has.

He can feel a tinge of heat, a hint of red soaring across his cheeks as he holds his breath, slowly lifting his hand to take Liam's.

Nicola lets out a low chuckle and Zayn starts at the motion, eyes flying over to her still-sitting form. He'd forgotten that she and Ruth were also in the room, along with Geoff and Karen. So basically the whole world is there, witnessing his and Liam's... well, their what? Zayn's not sure if he can place a word to it.

Nicola's gaze slides over to a beaming Karen, sending her some sort of fond can you believe these two? look. Meanwhile, Liam gives him a gentle tug, pulling him out of the seat with ease. "Pick out a few movies and we'll meet you in there," Nicola says easily as she turns to what has now become Zayn's back.

Zayn nods, keeping his eyes forward so he can keep up with Liam, who's quickly pulling him towards the mysterious DVD collection. Zayn continues to follow the boy out of the entryway of the kitchen, but he stops at the soft words that come next. "That is, if you two can stop making goo-goo eyes at each other long enough to even watch a movie."

Zayn's head flips around, a surprised expression flashing across his face. She laughs good-naturedly, giving him a wink. "Don't pretend it's not true," she calls out as Zayn gives a noncommittal hum in response, choosing to rush to keep up with Liam rather than answer her.

When Liam's out of the kitchen and into the main room, he lets out a low sigh. "Did you hear that?" Zayn asks indignantly.

Liam chuckles at Zayn's tone, shaking his head. He really hadn't, his heart instead pounding out reminders that Zayn's hand was still in his. As if to convince Liam's mind that his hand is truly intertwined with his, he caresses his thumb across Zayn's.

The next time Zayn talks, he sounds much more placated. "Well, I guess it's sort of true..." He mumbles out, sounding almost embarrassed at this confession.