Baby Boy | Zustiall AU [COMPLETE]

Forty (SMUT CENTRAL)

A/N: hey y'all, so this chapter is gonna be mostly smut. feel free to skip past it if it's not your thing, but i've had loads of requests for this, so i figured i should follow through. i'll put up a lil warning once the smut ends in case you all wanna see the fluff that'll be at the end.

thank you all for following on this journey with me and these three! i've been writing this fic for literal years, and it's the longest thing i've ever written. i'm actually quite proud of it, and i had a lot of fun writing it – i think i'll have a lot of fun writing another zustiall, too, which i most definitely plan to do. keep your eyes peeled, my loves.

every vote, every comment, every read means the absolute world to me. thank you so much for everything – i love you so, so much. i really do.

x,

alex

- - -

The feeling of safety takes the longest to get used to. Niall still jolts up in the middle of the night sometimes, unsure of why he's so anxious, before remembering the trial, the madness, Alex's arrest. He'd been so angry, screaming curses at Niall as they hauled him away. Niall can't help but smile at the memory.

He's so happy about it, about the peace that follows. Zayn eventually finds it, too, though it takes him longer than it took Justin and Niall. He goes to therapy every week, and slowly, the tension leaks out of his back and shoulders, and his smile starts to reach his eyes again. Niall couldn't love him more if he tried. He sometimes finds himself staring at Zayn with nothing but pure admiration, so full of love it's a bit embarrassing.

"Baby boy, can you stop doing that?" Justin's voice asks, jolting Niall out of his thoughts. He stands at the coffeemaker in the hallway, glancing at Niall over his shoulder.

"Doing what?" Niall looks down at himself, trying to figure out what exactly he's doing. He's at work, trying to find an address for a meeting of Zayn's on his desktop.

"You've got the end of your pen in your mouth, and if you keep sucking on it like that..." Justin trails off, gaze darkening as he does, and Niall's cheeks flush.

"Sorry," he says. The actions that follow can't be explained – he's not sure what comes over him, but he locks eyes with Justin and slides the pen farther into his mouth, sucking hard.

Justin drops his coffee cup. "Are you....teasing me?"

"Is it working?"

"Holy shit," Justin breathes out, genuinely dumbfounded for a second. He swallows hard, still staring at Niall, before shaking himself. He crosses the long hallway in four strides, grabbing Niall by his bicep and leading him to the elevator.

"What? Where are we going?" Niall giggles, having never seen Justin act this way. His jaw is clenched tight.

Justin glances down and Niall and then groans, pinching the bridge of his nose. "You just had to wear thigh highs today, didn't you?"

Niall pouts. "I thought you liked them..."

Justin groans louder. "Don't you dare start with the lip, not right now. You already made me hard, you're gonna get yourself in trouble."

"Maybe I wanna be in trouble."

"Holy shit." The elevator doors can't open fast enough for Justin, and once they finally do, he leads Niall to the car, opening the passenger door for him. "Call Zayn," he says once they're both in the car.

"Why?"

"He needs to meet us at home."

Niall shrugs, pulling his phone out of his pocket to call Zayn, and as it starts to ring, he suddenly is aware of Justin's hand on his thigh. He squirms a little. "What are you doing?"