Zouis One Shots

The Sweetest Submission, Drinking It In

Link: http://archiveofourown.org/works/1023647

Summary: From the age of 8, Zayn is visited in his room once a year by Louis, asking for a place to hide. But while Zayn gets older, he notices that Louis doesn't.

~*~

It all started when Zayn was a kid.

His mum had kissed him goodnight and turned the lights of his bedroom off one October night. The 8 year old boy snuggled deeper into his warm covers, relishing the heat, protected from the ice cold wind outside. His mum had made sure to shut the window tight and close the door behind her.

He was just drifting off to sleep when he heard the sound of wood sliding slowly. It was coming from inside his room, over by the window.

Zayn’s eyes shot open. Oh god, was he getting robbed? Kidnapped? Was it a serial killer? He’d heard stories of murders and disappearances from the kids at school. Danny loved to tell scary stories and right now Zayn’s imagination was running wild with them. Then his thoughts flew to his sisters and mum and dad. What if they got hurt?

His curtains flew upward as a sudden gust of wind blew into his room, and Zayn’s heart leapt as he caught a split second glimpse of a crouching figure at the window. A sudden bout of goose bumps covered him – and it wasn’t just from the cold - as he peeked across the room over the top of his duvet. He was so scared.

He watched as a leg appeared below the window, a bare foot finding purchase on the floor, and Zayn counted the seconds in his head to what would surely be the end of his life. Would his mother come in to wake him up in the morning only to find his remains? Would the school hold an assembly for him?

Time seemed to slow down as the intruder climbed into his bedroom. And then all of a sudden, there they stood in the middle of the carpet. If Zayn screamed would it just speed up the inevitable? At the moment though, he could not even breathe properly, let alone find his voice.

Zayn’s eyes, adjusted to the dark, could just make out the silhouette of what was surely a male, but not a full grown man. He must have been a teenager, his frame small, height not daunting.

But he was coming closer.

Heart pounding loudly in his ears, Zayn ducked under the covers, unable to watch anymore. Over the sound of his heartbeat he could make out the sound of sniffing. A second later, from much, much closer, came a “Psst”.

A beat of silence and then it came again. “Psssst.”

“What do you want?” Zayn managed to get out, trying his hardest not to let his voice shake.

“Hey, mate, I need help.”

The voice was raspy and high pitched and definitely belonged to a teenager. Still, Zayn was not about to come up. For all he knew this kid was dangerous.

Then he spoke again. “Don’t worry, I’m not gonna hurt you. I’m in trouble, please. I need to ask you a favour.”

Zayn, resolving to sound braver than he felt, spoke up. “Go away or I’ll call my dad on you!”

“No, no please don’t do that. Just come out and I’ll show you. I’m not here to hurt you. I promise,” he said gently.

There was something calming about the boy’s voice. Zayn said nothing. A few moments passed.

“Hey,” Zayn heard the boy say again. “Wanna see a cool trick? It’s worth it, come on, check it out.”

He hesitated. The boy had been here a good few minutes. Surely if he wanted to hurt Zayn he’d have done it by now? He took a few deep breaths and prepared himself, ready to scream if he needed to. Slowly, reluctantly, Zayn lifted the covers from over his head.