Two hours later, he found himself in the cafeteria, eating, sort of, which was probably one of the major indicators that he hadn’t slept much because when did heever pass up food, and complaining to Liam about his roommate problems.
“You know, Nialler, for how much you say you hate the guy, you sure do talk about him a lot,” Liam commented, spearing a piece of cantaloupe and pushing it into his mouth delicately. At this comment, Niall lifted his head up to stare at his best friend, jaw slack in indignation.
“Cause he’s a prick!” Niall cried, throwing his hands up in the air melodramatically, and yeah, he was being a bit over the top, but jesus, how could Liam even allude to him feeling anything other than pure hatred for his roommate.
“Who’s a prick?”
Both Niall and Liam turned at the cheery voice, only to find Louis standing at the end of their table, a plate and Harry in hand. Louis and Harry were two of their goods friends, and Niall wouldn’t say best friends because, well, if you were ever with them it would make sense. Harry and Louis were joined at the hip, always together, and always disgustingly cute and sappy, that is, if they weren’t trying to tear each others clothes off.
“His roommate,” Liam answered, seeing how Niall had gone back to pouting and sort of poking at whatever egg thing was on the plate in front of him. Louis and Harry slid into a seat, and yes, only one seat, with Harry sitting on Louis’ lap, and Niall really didn’t understand how they ever ate like that, but they did this at every meal so no one really even blinked at the sight.
“You know, Ni, your hatred for Zayn could just be a cover up for some other feelings,” Louis commented, giggling as Harry used his fork as an airplane, swooping a piece of sausage into his opened mouth.
“Yeah, there’s a fine line between hate and lust,” Harry added, leaning in to kiss a dribble of syrup from the corner of Louis’ mouth, and Niall just sat there wondering if his friends were sane, seriously, who put syrup on sausages?
“I hate you all,” Niall announced loudly as he dropped his head back on the table, which certainly didn’t help his head ache in the slightest. “And Haz, isn’t the saying that there’s a fine line between love and lust?”
Harry didn’t seem to hear him though because he was close to full out snogging Louis by this point, so Niall turned back to Liam, giving him the best ‘god help me’ eyes he could, but Liam just laughed, turning back to the text book he had in front of him.
“I need new friends,” Niall groaned.
~O~

2
“Shit! Fuck. Oh my god!” Niall cried out, covering his eyes with his textbooks and stumbling through the apartment in the direction of his room because he really didn’t need to see that, but he could still hear and that was bad enough.
“Thanks Nialler,” he heard Zayn call out around the moans and groans of whomever he had over this time, and if the shaking of the couch was any indicator, the other boy hadn’t stopped the movement of his hips from bucking up into the random bloke whom he was fucking.
Disgusting, really, Niall thought as he locked his bedroom door, setting his books down on his desk. He turned his stereo on as loud as it would go, and grew even angrier when he realized that the music didn’t do anything to cover up the shouts of ‘harder’ and ‘faster, Zayn’ that were coming from the living room.
Ever since that one night after midterms when Zayn had woke Niall up- and kept him up- by fucking a guy, Zayn had continued to thrust the blonde in similar situations. It was always a different bloke, occasionally a bird, but more often than not a bloke, and it saddened Niall to say that he was becoming accustomed to finding Zayn in some precarious sex position upon arriving home.
Zayn loved pushing Niall’s buttons, often doing anything he could to make the pale boy blush, and it had gotten so bad that Niall didn’t bring any of his friends over without making sure Zayn was out, especially after this one time with Liam when they caught Zayn and well, to keep the story short, Liam was scarred for life and was beginning to understand why Niall hated his roommate so much.
Today, of course, was no different, and as Niall continued to hear shouts and moans and groans he decided that it was high time he invested in some damn ear plugs because man, this one was a fucking shouter.
[To: Liam Payne 4:58 PM]
I’m going to kill myself. Or Zayn. Or both.
Immediately after he sent the text, the apartment suddenly went quiet, other than the music he had playing in his room, and Niall sighed in relief, glad that Zayn had finally finished his little…sexcapade for the day.
He collapsed on his bed, digging his head under his pillow, extremely glad that the noises had stopped.
[From: Liam Payne 5:02 PM]
Another 1??
Niall laughed because every time he told Liam about Zayn’s conquests his best friend seemed shocked, and yeah, Niall was a little surprised- but more disgusted- with Zayn’s slutty ways, while Liam was more appalled.
Louis had asked one day how Zayn managed to do it, seeming a little in awe of Zayn and the amount of guys he reeled in, to which Niall just smacked him over the head.
He didn’t get why anyone would sleep with Zayn.
Sure, the bloke was pretty, shit, he was more than just pretty, he was beautiful, in that dark, mysterious, handsome way, but seriously, how anyone could stand staying in his presence for more than five minutes was beyond him.
Just as Niall was about to type a message back to Liam he heard it, and holy fucking Christ, was his life even real?
[To: Liam Payne 5:07 PM]
They’re going for round two.
Niall thought about leaving and just going over to Liam’s place, which was only a five minute walk away, but then he remembered that to get to Liam’s he’d have to go through the living room, and to go through the living room meant passing by Zayn and his current conquest.
“Great,” Niall muttered, squeezing his eyes closed in annoyance.
He was stuck.
Not only was he stuck, but this time, the bloke decided that shouting wasn’t enough, and had resorted to screaming, so Niall’s ears were being bombarded with shouts of ‘Fuck yes’ and ‘Right there, right there’, along with the occasional grunt or ‘You like that, slut?’ from Zayn.
He wanted to take a nap, but honestly, the sounds and screams from the living room were loud enough to keep him awake, which was slightly disconcerting because should the other bloke be screaming that loudly?
[From: Louis Tomlinson 5:14 PM]

Poor baby Nialler, stuck listening to his roommate get some while he’s all alone with only his hand.
Niall huffed when he read Louis’ text because not only was it so completely true, but it had also been a good week or so since he had gotten a good wank in, and well, it was starting to catch up on him.
[From: Harry Styles 5:15 PM]
I told Lou he was being mean and that I wouldn’t suck him off tonight. So you’re welcome. If you need it though, I’ll suck you off.
Niall wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry at Harry’s text message, so he resorted to just throwing his phone on to the floor softly. He knew that Harry was probably being serious- about both not sucking off Louis that night, as well as offering to suck him off- and the combination of that thought and the sounds coming from the living room was enough to cause him to sport a semi.
He passed it off as him just feeling desperate because he was perfectly straight and never questioned that before, and just adjusted his shorts a little, the friction causing him to harden a little more, before falling into a restless sleep.
***
When he awoke a few hours later it was to a loud pounding on his door. He was a little disgruntled at first, but then, became aware of three things: 1) it was Zayn knocking on his door and shouting at him to ‘wake the fuck up’, 2) he was starving, like gut-aching, painfully hungry, and 3) he was hard as a rock, and no not his abs, he didn’t work out, ever.
“Shit,” Niall murmured, palming himself a little, and god, that felt good. Zayn, however, hadn’t quit his relentless pounding, and the noise was a little obnoxious and not providing a prime condition for him to tug one out. So, he had two options: 1) ignore Zayn until he gave up, if he ever gave up, the lad was damn stubborn, or 2) attempt to hide his raging hard on and make a run for a very cold shower.
Option one wasn’t looking too bright as Zayn continued to shout and pound against his door, but Niall really didn’t want to deal with the endless teasing he would get if Zayn saw his boner, which was kind of inevitable if he opened the door.
So, he decided he only had one option left: to man up and try to hide his dick by slipping it up the elastic of his boxers, which would be difficult cause shit was it hard.
But Zayn being Zayn, took away this options when he stopped knocking and resorted to picking the lock to Niall’s room, swinging the door open with a loud bang before Niall could even move.
“Shit!” Niall exclaimed, and Zayn, for once, seemed shocked as he took in Niall’s appearance, his gaze falling on the very apparent erection that was straining under Niall’s shorts. Niall squirmed uncomfortably, especially when Zayn failed to move his eyes and instead let a smirk spread across his lips.
“Shit is right, Nialler,” Zayn replied, licking his lips, and seriously? The lad had just fucked a guy god knows how many times and he was now looking at Niall as if he wanted to like eat him or something. “You’re a big boy, huh?”
Niall blushed at that comment because, well, he wasn’t exactly small by any means or standards, and Zayn obviously could see this, and he really needed to get out of this situation because his dick had grown infinitely harder in the past few seconds or minutes or however long it had been and he was starting to get that major ache in his balls (aka blue balls) and he really didn’t need Zayn staring at him like this.
“I’m going to take a shower,” Niall mumbled, shoving past Zayn and trying to make his way to the shower. The other boy didn’t seem concerned and confident as ever, was able to snatch up Niall’s wrist, stopping him from even making it through the doorway.
“You need some help with that?” Zayn asked suggestively with a wiggle of his eyebrows and he did not just press his palm into Niall’s crotch, holy fuck. Niall yanked his arm away as if he had been burned, his blush seeping down his neck until it reached the top of his chest.
“No,” Niall retorted sharply, shoving Zayn’s hand off his dick and turning around, almost falling over as he attempted to get the hell away from his roommate as fast as possible. He practically sprinted to the bathroom, throwing himself in the shower without even grabbing a towel or waiting for the water to heat up.
The cold water, however, did nothing to soothe his throbbing cock, and soon enough, he found himself turning up the heat and sliding his hand down to pull and tug himself.
A few minutes later he found his lower stomach building in that sharp, ecstatic way it did when he was close, and he closed his eyes, moving his hand a little faster, imagining that it was someone else holding him. He realized too late that he had been imagining Zayn jacking him off, but there was nothing he could do to take back the image because he was coming in hot spurts, his ejaculation mixing with the water and washing off of his body as quickly as it came.
Of course, Niall reasoned, the only reason he would be thinking of Zayn in any sexual way was because he had spent a good hour listening to the other boy fuck someone, and then, said roommate offered to ‘help him out’.
Yeah, that was it, made sense and all, a Freudian slip if anything.
This didn’t stop him from blushing when he emerged from the bathroom, where he found Zayn lounging in a chair at the kitchen table, waiting patiently.
“Took a while in there, mate,” Zayn spoke slowly, and his knowing smirk said it all, that he knew just exactly what Niall had been doing in the shower. When Niall ignored him, he continued, like a little child needing attention from its mother. “If you were that desperate I could have helped you out. It’s more fun with help. All you have to do is ask.”
Zayn wiggled his eyebrows at Niall, who just stared a little slack-jawed before scuttling into his room, even angrier than he was early that afternoon (but at least he wasn’t achingly hard anymore).
“Sod off, Zayn.”
~O~

4
“That’s what makes you beautifulll,” Niall sung at the top of his lungs to a laughing Louis and Harry, lifting his head up like a howling wolf as he extended the words.
“What makes me beautiful, Nialler?” Harry asked between giggles, the blonde boy’s antics getting wilder with each passing minute (or perhaps it was with each shot he took).
“The way that you flip your curls gets me overwhelmed,” Niall hollered back, his singing becoming a shout and his lyrics getting sillier and sillier.
They were at a party, some random house party that a friend of a friend of Harry’s was throwing (how Niall got invited was beyond him), and yeah, he was feeling pretty damn good.
He was definitely drunk, but he could still walk (sort of) and if anything it made the night that much better. Almost good enough to distract him from remembering that he was cock blocked three times that night (once by Harry, once by Louis, and once by himself- how do you even cock block yourself?).
But now, as he played the lyric game with Harry- a game he made up himself during their freshman year- he was feeling super fucking amazing. He continued to sing at Harry, making up lyrics as he went along, the topic ranging from Harry’s curls to Spiderman to pizza, and eventually he was laughing so hard that he couldn’t even breathe, much less talk or sing.
Niall fell to the floor- the carpet rather, he mentally corrected himself- and wow, why hadn’t he done this earlier? The carpet was really soft and comfy and just really nice to be sprawled out on and yeah, he could definitely take a nap here.
“Nialler! You okay there, buddy?”
Of course Liam would ruin his nap because Liam never slept or drank or like did any of that stuff and when Niall lifted his head up, looking bleary-eyed at the other lad, he cracked a smile. He couldn’t quite move his mouth to respond but Liam understood, grinning right back and moving to get the blonde boy standing.
“Let’s get you home, yeah?”
***
“Don’t wanna, Li, don’t wanna,” Niall whimpered, crossing his arms and jutting out his lower lip in the most adorably annoying puppy pout (at least if you were Liam). The blonde boy was sitting on the floor (he really liked carpets that night or something), refusing to go into his apartment.
“Nialler, you gotta go in at some point,” Liam pointed out, trying hard not to laugh at his best friend’s ridiculousness, although Niall did have some reasoning behind his stubbornness.
“I don’t wanna see though!” Niall exclaimed, throwing his hands up and slamming them down on the ground in a drunken tantrum. His cheeks were all red, both from the alcohol he had consumed and the heat of the apartment building, and his normally bright blue eyes were bloodshot and a little glazed over. “You don’t know the things I’ve seen…”
Liam was at a loss because on one hand he understood Niall’s hesitance at entering his apartment (he remembered walking in on Zayn once and couldn’t imagine how it felt if it were to occur almost every day), but he was getting tired and he had a paper to write the next day. He decided that Niall was too drunk to leave the building, so it would be safe enough to leave him on his own until he decided to go into his apartment.
“Bye Nialler, I’ll see you tomorrow, kay?”
Niall’s jaw dropped and he just kind of stared in this unbelieving way, and Liam began to back away from him, holding back his laughter as best he could.
“Leeuhhhhhhmmm!” Niall cried, lifting his hands up as if a toddler asking to be picked up, but Liam was already at the other end of the hall, and all Niall could do was stare at his retreating figure.
Damn.

The blonde boy stared at the door as if it would bite him or something, and when it didn’t move he decided that fuck it, he may as well go inside because as comfortable as the carpeted hallway was, it wasn’t the same as his bed, and well, yolo, right?
He immediately took back that thought, replacing it with another, I fucking hate yolo, and stood, opening the door as softly as possible. He shut it in a similar manner, wincing when the lock clicked into place, and he stood facing the door silently, waiting for the familiar moans and groans of Zayn and another one of his conquests.
However, they didn’t come, and instead, a voice called out softly, “You just gonna look at the door all night?”
Niall practically peed himself, well, not really, but he did jump up, spinning around quickly- and moaning when he was hit with a wave of dizziness- only to find his beloved roommate sitting on the couch, and what the fuck, was that a book?
He gaped, mouth open, eyes wide gaping, and yeah, his tongue was probably hanging out of his mouth too, but this is the bloke who just fucked people and played video games all day, and he was sitting there, reading a damn book. Niall tried to read the cover, but was too far away, and subsequently ended up hunching forward, his neck extended, until he decided that it was useless trying to strain his eyes.
He then realized that Zayn was shirtless and pantless, sitting on the couch in his underwear, which just happened to be really tight boxer briefs (did he buy a size too small or something?), and fuck, no, no, no he couldn’t, nope. This was a bad time to suddenly get horny.
Of course, whenever his mind thought it was a bad time, his penis seemed to think it was a good time, and the lack of action and pretty girls at the party subsequently caused him to begin to harden in his jeans.
Zayn, always the hard-on spotter (seriously, he seemed to have a radar for when Niall got hard), immediately turned his eyes to Niall’s crotch and smirked, nodding to himself about something before setting his book down and shit, no, he was reading 50 Shades of Grey.
“Need some help there, Nialler?” Zayn asked, and Niall was just kind of frozen, put on the spot like that, all horny and intoxicated. He could see the dark-haired boy advancing on him like he was the prey and Zayn was most definitely the predator, and he could do absolutely nothing but allow himself to be pushed back against the door while Zayn pressed soothing hands against the fluffy bottom of his stomach, right above his boxer line.
“No- can’t,” Niall finally breathed out, not making too much of an effort to push the other boy off because he was pressing some sort of soft kiss against the ticklish spot below his ear and if felt really good and he couldn’t really find a reason to stop this.
Zayn seemed to take his no as a yes, pushing him even more into the door before hooking a finger under his belt and undoing it with precise, even movements that Niall wouldn’t be able to match in that moment. He closed his eyes to pretend it was a girl (not really but he could make believe), and barely even felt the cold air when his boxers and pants were pulled down to his ankles in one swooshing movement.
He did, however, feel when Zayn’s warm lips encircled around him and began moving in the most delicious, titillating movements, and he felt it even more when his lower stomach began to tighten. He also felt Zayn’s uvula moving when he swallowed and damn if that wasn’t one of the best blow jobs he had ever gotten, and why couldn’t it have lasted longer? Of course, he only had himself to blame.
He finally opened his eyes to find Zayn staring at him with his ever-present smirk and he pulled his pants up, not bothering to redo his belt.
“Good?” Zayn asked, and Niall nodded, a little boneless and definitely lost as to what just happened, but unable to really do much more than that. The dark-haired boy tugged him to the couch, pushing him down on the cushions so that he was flat on his back, and yeah, this was definitely more comfortable than the floor.
He couldn’t really process what Zayn had just done to him and didn’t really want to because as Harry and Louis would say, his man card was definitely in need of some questioning, but no, Niall was perfectly straight, thank you very much.
The blonde was so caught up in his thoughts, or not thoughts, that he didn’t notice when Zayn slipped away, seemingly on a mission to grab something from his room, but he was beginning to feel a bit sleepy and the room was still spinning a bit.
Niall didn’t hear Zayn’s loud laugh when the dark-haired boy returned because he was passed out cold, snoring loudly on the couch.
~O~

5
“Ugh,” Niall groaned as light hit his eyelids, seeping below his skin to the eyeballs underneath. It was too bright, much too bright and it fucking hurt. In fact, everything hurt- his body, his head, his brain- and the only things that didn’t hurt were his balls, which was surprising because he had been waking up day in and day out with a bad case of blue balls.
“Good morning sleeping beauty!” Zayn called out, and Niall opened his eyes blearily to find his roommate fully dressed, standing above him with a cup of coffee in hand.
He sat up, wincing as his head spun, and glanced down only to find his shirt off and pants unbuckled (he slept in his jeans?), and love bites on the edge of his hip.
What the hell?
Suddenly, with a rush of nausea and remembrance Niall sprung off the couch with surprising agility and rushed to the bathroom, puking as he remembered what had happened the night before.
He rinsed his mouth out, feeling quite a bit better, and washed his face off with cool water, buying time before he had to face his roommate.
Typical Zayn, though, decided he had waited long enough for Niall to wake up, and appeared in the doorway, thrusting the cup of coffee forward.
Niall stared because what even was happening if Zayn ‘badboy’ Malik was giving him coffee, and shit, he almost had half a mind to sleep with Zayn if this was how he would act the morning after. Of course, he wouldn’t actually, but seriously, who was this bloke and where was his roommate?
“You know, it couldn’t have been that bad,” Zayn commented, raising his dark brows in a question Niall would never answer, and there, yeah, there was his trademark smirk. “You came quick enough.”
Niall groaned, grabbing the coffee from Zayn’s hand, spilling a bit over the edges and not caring as it splashed on the floor. He lifted it to his lips, and after taking a scalding sip, was surprised to find the coffee exactly how he liked it.
Niall eyed Zayn suspiciously, a little unsure of what the other bloke was attempting to accomplish with this act of kindness, but Zayn chose that moment to turn away, walking across the flat and grabbing his favorite leather jacket from a hook on the wall.
“See ya later, Nialler!” Zayn called cheerily over his shoulder with a wink.
Oh lord, what had he done?
~O~
Zayn’s niceties failed to last more than that morning though, and now, three days later, Niall was on the verge of ripping his hair out, or Zayn’s quiff, yeah, preferably Zayn’s quiff.
It had been constant arguing for the past 72 hours, and this, this was the last straw.
“Oi, what happened to the sandwiches in the fridge?” Niall asked, stomping to the living room, where Zayn was sitting on the couch, popping the last of the sandwiches into his mouth.
“Oops,” Zayn mumbled around the mouthful of food. He didn’t seem sorry at all, if the twinkle in his eyes indicated anything.
Niall could feel it, the pent up anger and resentment bubbling up inside of him, and he was losing it, fast. He could put up with the clothes borrowing, and the deodorant using, even the shampoo and laundry detergent, but stealing his food? No.
Absolutely fucking not.
Zayn seemed to sense his building rage and was looking at him a little curiously, as if he didn’t think Niall would do anything about it, and he hadn’t, previously, letting it go because the dark-haired boy helped pay the rent every month and it was only until the end of the semester.
He had held that over his own head like a carrot, a beacon of light guiding him to the end of the darkness, but now, with a month left, he could feel his resolve failing him. How in the world was he supposed to last an entire fucking month with this twat?
[From: Liam Payne 7:27 PM]
Just got pizza..comin ovr in 5…lou n haz r driving me insane
Liam being Liam was able to alleviate a little of his annoyance just with the prospect of food, but Niall still wasn’t able to shake his anger at Zayn, who had finally stopped chewing and had gone back to watching the television.
[To: Liam Payne 7:28 PM]
Thank fuck.

Louis knew he had hit a spot when Niall failed to meet his mischievous blue eyes, instead focusing on a cloud and the grass and Liam and then his hands.
Niall tried not to think about just how good Zayn was (with his hands that was) and just how annoying he used to be (he had to be a little convincing with his acting, right?) and not how their roommate status had taken a turn in a different direction.
“He’s good? I dunno, haven’t seen him yet today, probably why it’s been such a good day,” Niall retorted finally after too long of a pause and thinking about his answer a little too thoroughly to be believable.
Liam was now looking at him suspiciously too (thank you Louis) and Louis was looking at Harry with that snooty, smug look, which was never good because Liam was a lot more perspective than Louis and Harry put together, and those two had already been questioning him a lot.
If Liam wanted to ask anything though, he didn’t, allowing Niall to relax back into the sun, and instead, asking if the blonde needed help putting sunscreen on his pale back.
“What’s that on your shorts?” Louis asked slowly, looking closely at a very obvious, white stain that sat glaringly right below Niall’s right pocket.
Oh shit. Fuck, how could he get out of this one?
“Mayo, I spilled mayo on my crotch during lunch.”
*
To: luckyleprechaun@gmail.com
From: sillyseanloveshisleprechauns@yahoo.com
Hey Nialler-
Mate, you really got to come to Ireland. I know it’s been a while since you’ve been here, but I ran into some people and they remembered you from when you were younger (they said, ‘oh the kid who loves food right? Pretty sure he ate like ten potatoes a day…’) and they wanted to see you! I’ve written down some of their twitters and such so I’ll give you those when I get home!
I only have a month or so left here, I almost wish I could stay another semester, but I guess I can’t leave you alone in the apartment for another semester with your horrid roommate. How is he, by the way? You didn’t complain at all about him, which is unusual and quite unlike the rest of your emails, in which all you did was complain about him. You didn’t hurt him did you? At least, in a way that isn’t able to be hidden?
Oh, got to go, it’s pint time! Delighted for ye fucks…Hahaha. Okay. Let’s not get into that one…see you soon, Nialler! Miss ya!
Love,
Sean
~O~
“My room or yours,” Zayn murmured, licking at Niall’s neck (not leaving a mark of course they had an understanding about that) and smirking against his soft skin.
The suspicions from Niall’s friends didn’t stop him from going home to Zayn instead of going out with Liam, Harry, and Zayn with the excuse of having a paper to write (since when did he use school as an excuse, much less lie to his friends about what he was doing?). Nonetheless, he found himself pressed up against the door immediately when he got home, Zayn’s hands sliding right under his shirt to stroke the soft skin of his tummy, and mewling under his touches.
Niall liked Zayn’s room, the cleanness of it and how everything was somehow organized- completely different from how he imagined it would be- and while Zayn liked Niall’s room (probably because it was so different than his own), it was nice that the dark-haired lad let him choose.
“Yours, definitely yours,” Niall gasped, breathing deeply to control the fast rate of his heart and to hold off from getting worked up too early in the night.
*
And of course, as Zayn pulled him close later that night, nuzzling into Niall’s side, the blonde couldn’t help but remind him.
“This isn’t a regular thing.”
~O~

“Oh, oh gosh, shit, oh my gosh, I’m so sorry, so, so so sorry.”
Niall immediately stopped his movements, looking up from where he was on the couch, lips still wrapped around Zayn’s cock. They were both naked, and from his still assumed position, it was fairly obvious what they were doing.
Liam backed up slowly, putting one foot behind another and as if it were in slow motion, Niall watched as his best friend caught his heel on his other foot’s toe and fell back with a loud thud on his arse.
His face was beet red and he was looking anywhere and everywhere except the couch, Zayn, and Niall.
The blonde lad removed his mouth from Zayn’s body, wincing as it made a noticeablepop.
If the world had been moving in slow motion before, it suddenly rushed forward, lurching Zayn and Niall into action as they scrambled to find their clothes and put them on. When they were finally dressed and shared a look with each other, they realized they had swapped boxers and t-shirts, but didn’t really care because they were at least fully dressed now, and Liam was still sitting on the floor, although now his head was in his hands.
“Li?” Niall asked quietly, going over to Liam and setting a hand on his back. Liam flinched slightly at the touch, and Niall stepped away, hurt by the action.
Liam had never once shied away from his touch during the entirety of their friendship, and yeah, it stung a little that he did now.
The brown-haired lad stood, still not quite meeting Niall’s gaze, his face almost a deeper shade of scarlet.
“I’m just going to…” Liam thumbed in the direction of the door, turning his body to leave. “Yeah…I’ll- erm- see you later, Niall, Zayn.”
He nodded as he said each of their names, missing the way Niall’s arms wrapped around his small frame when he said Niall instead of Nialler or Ni, and then he was gone, disappearing from the apartment just as quickly as he came.
Niall just stared at the door through which Liam just left, feeling small and young and lost without Liam’s steady presence, and for once he felt as if he wasn’t sure where their relationship stood.
“You don’t suppose you could, you know, finish what you started?” Zayn asked, pressing the heel of his palm into his still present erection. It was as if he didn’t see the way Liam stormed off or how Niall was on the verge of breaking right in front of his eyes, or maybe he just didn’t care.
Niall’s blue eyes answered well enough, though, when Zayn’s dark brown ones met his blue ones, full of unshed tears.
“Fuck off, Malik.”
~O~
[To: Niall Horan 3:23 AM]
We ned 2 talk.
Niall was laying face forward on his bed, head buried in his pillows, when Liam texted him. He didn’t move to reply, though, at least for a couple of seconds, wallowing in his misery and not wanting to own up to the fact that his best friend had caught him and his supposedly hated roommate in a very precarious position.
He knew it had to have been a shock for Liam, hell, it was a shock for him and Zayn, but he wasn’t prepared for the way Liam basically ignored him, even calling him by his full first name.
It just…it really fucking hurt and Niall had been basking in the glory of his arrangement with Zayn, but now that one of his best friends had found out, well, he knew everything was crashing down around him.
[To: Liam Payne 3:28 AM]
Ok. When?
Niall didn’t expect Liam to reply that night, usually his best friend went to bed early and it was a surprise that he was even up this late, but that was slightly worrying because it meant Liam was really torn up about what he had walked in on earlier.
[To: Niall Horan 3:30 AM]
Now? Meet me at the bench in five.
And yeah, Niall definitely knew he was in deep shit if Liam was asking him, at this time of morning, to meet at the bench they usually met at before class.
He scrambled off of his bed, sending Liam a quick okay before slipping on a sweatshirt and exiting his room.
“Where are you headed?” Zayn asked, and his voice was gravelly, deeper than it’s usual melodic lilt, most likely ridden with sleep. He was sprawled out on the couch, watching television with the noise level on quiet.
It was odd how much better of a roommate he had become ever since they began their little thing.
“To meet Liam,” Niall replied as he shrugged on his shoes, not missing the way Zayn’s eyes closed with the statement. He wasn’t sure what to think of his roommate’s behavior, though, so he ignored it, more worried about what he would say to Liam.
He paused by the couch, looking at the dark-haired boy and recalling just how beautiful he really was, not that he was saying goodbye or anything because they both knew it hadn’t meant anything, and if Liam asked him to, he would end things tonight, not that he had anything to end.
They both knew it wasn’t going to be a regular thing.
And with that, Niall turned and left the apartment, this time missing how Zayn sat up with wide eyes, watching him go.
~O~
“It’s fucking cold,” Niall greeted Liam, teeth chattering and body shivering against the icy wind. His attempt at lightening the mood didn’t seem to work, though, as Liam’s expression stayed stony and serious as ever.
Niall sighed, hoping Liam wasn’t mad at him, or even worse, disappointed.
It turned out, though, that Liam was neither and was just extremely confused. Apparently it was hard to understand how Niall could go from hating Zayn to hating and fucking Zayn.
“It’s like Haz said, there’s a fine line between hatred and lust,” Niall explained, knowing it was an absolute shit way to show how he felt about the entire situation, but not really knowing how else to explain it, especially because he didn’t really know himself.
“Ni, you even said it yourself, the saying is there’s a fine line between love and lust, which is kind of what I wanted to ask you about,” Liam was cool with his words, serious as always, his even-headedness showing through in this particular situation, which kind of made Niall worried because Liam was worried and when Liam worried, well, it was never good.
He sighed, picking at his nails and kind of half-paying attention. If he were to be truthful, he would admit that he had no idea what he was doing, but he wasn’t quite ready to admit to that- it was bad enough that Liam knew now- so he just stayed quiet about those feelings.
He was Niall Horan and he was a perfectly straight male, regardless of whether or not he was fucking Zayn on a regular basis now.
“What did you want to ask?” Niall looked at Liam suspiciously, watching as his best friend eyed him back, and yeah, the worried glint was definitely there, which meant he was going to ask serious things, things Niall didn’t want to think about and had tried specifically not to think about.
“Well, there’s a fine line between love and lust. Right now, obviously, you and Zayn are in lust, but Nialler, I just- Zayn’s kind of got a reputation, okay? I just don’t want to see you get hurt,” Liam spoke with his hands waving around in precise movements, and it warmed Niall’s heart to hear what the other lad was saying, even if he didn’t really want to agree in that moment.
“Yeah, I know…but, really, Li, there’s nothing to worry about. We’re just having sex and that’s all there is to it. I told you guys I needed to get some, didn’t I?”
Liam nodded, hearing Niall’s words and maybe even believing them, but he still looked like he was confused and worried about something.
“So, does this mean you’re, like, gay?” Liam asked quietly, filling in on the silence that had fallen around the pair. He asked so softly it was almost humorous- had Niall’s heterosexuality not been in question he definitely would have laughed- and Niall was a little shocked by that question, not expecting Liam to ask it.
“No, LiLi, definitely not. The sex is just really good.”
Niall left it at that, glad he and Liam were okay, even if it took a trip out into the cold at three in the morning to fix things.
And maybe things between him and Zayn didn’t have to end, Liam might actually be able to help him, especially with fending off Louis and Harry.
Niall pretended the relief he felt was only because he didn’t have to go back to endless days of just wanking.
~O~

~O~
“Did you get highlights?” Niall demanded, looking at his roommate and his blonde streak suspiciously.
Zayn, ever-so-innocently, pulled a lollipop out of his mouth, making sure to show how his lips pursed around the candy and how his tongue reached out to lick the top of it before nodding casually.
“They’re temporary, but yeah. Whaddya think?”
It was weird, the way Zayn was looking at him as if Niall’s opinion actually might matter, but the brown-haired lad was giving him these puppy eyes and Niall thought Zayn’s heart would like break or something if he said he didn’t like them.
Not that he didn’t like them, cause, well, they didn’t look half bad.
“Were you trying to match me?” Niall asked suddenly, teasing Zayn and sitting down on his lap, which was a little difficult because the other lad was sitting on a bar stool but they made it work, shifting around each other until both of them were somewhat comfortable, if not a little warmer than before.
Had Zayn’s skin been lighter, Niall would have been able to see the beginnings of a faint blush as it spread across Zayn’s prominent cheekbones.
“No,” Zayn mumbled, shoving his face into Niall’s shoulder, his lips moving against the blonde boy’s shirt before pressing little kisses against his neck.
Niall tilted his head a bit, giving Zayn a little more access to his pale skin, and the other lad sucked harder, forming little bite marks and bruises all over, littering his skin with love bites.
“It’s okay if you did want to match, s’cute, really,” Niall replied, barely holding his train of thought as Zayn bit down a little harder as he teased.
It was kind of really fucking sexy when Zayn got rough with him.
“Can we just fuck, yeah?”
And then, Niall really lost all train of thought because Zayn was picking him up and moving them onto a bed.
*
A couple hours later found the boys sprawled out on the mattress, limbs intertwined as they panted, their sweat mixing together in a sex-filled sheen.
It had been two days since Liam walked in on them, and ever since he had, Niall stopped with the whole, “It isn’t going to be a regular thing” speech because if he was being honest, it kind of had become a regular thing.
Not that he was complaining.
Zayn was warm, his body heat pressing around Niall’s body, leaving him scorching and tingling in every place their bodies touched.
He wasn’t sure when they went from just having sexual encounters to doing other stuff like watching television, eating, studying, and just hanging out, but now, apparently, cuddling had been thrown into the mix. Of course, Zayn was still an asshole at times- more often than not- but he had this little side to him that was really quite sweet.
“You better be dressed in two minutes because Louis and Harry are on their way over and won’t be as kind as me!”
Niall startled at the sound of Liam’s voice, always forgetting that he had given his best friend a key (he had a penchant for losing his so giving Liam a copy seemed like the best idea).
Beside him, Zayn was half-groaning, half-laughing, and making his way off of the bed, untangling their limbs as he went to dress himself. Niall followed suit, slipping his boxers back on, as well as his other clothes, and exiting the room quickly.
“I thought we were meeting at their place?” Niall asked upon finding Liam sprawled out on the couch, flicking through an app on his phone. Liam sat up, closing his phone and putting it in his pocket as he looked over Niall’s messy appearance.
Zayn entered the room moments later, looking immaculate as ever (Christ when did he not look like fucking perfection?), and he shot a small smile at Niall’s best friend.
Zayn and Liam had this sort of understanding, where Liam put up with Zayn and just kind of narrowed his eyes in warning at the other lad and Zayn was less of a tosser to him in response.
“We are, I just wanted you to get ready faster than you usually do,” Liam replied cheekily, grinning as his plan seemed to have worked out quite nicely. He then turned to Zayn, who was looking in their basically empty fridge with his usual blank expression. “Hey, you wanna join us?”
Zayn turned, shock flitting across his face for a moment as he processed Liam’s question.
“Liam! What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Niall hissed, smacking Liam across his pectoral muscle as he not-so-slyly made it very clear he wasn’t happy with Liam inviting Zayn along.

The surprise was gone from Zayn’s face as his eyes flickered from Liam to Niall and back and forth again, and oh no, not the smirk.
Niall groaned, shoving his face into his hands.
This wasn’t going to be good.
Liam shrugged at Niall, giving him the stop-being-such-a-pussy look before turning back to Zayn.
“Well?”
Zayn’s cheeky smirk was still present, his dark eyes piercing into Niall’s blue ones.
“I’d love to join you guys.”
~O~
“Nialler, why did you hide him for so long?” Louis exclaimed, his arm still dangling around Zayn’s neck. Zayn, the tosser that he is, sunk into Louis’ hold a bit, challenging Niall to say something.
Of fucking course, Niall couldn’t because his friends- mainly Louis and Harry- seemed to love his roommate, and anything he wanted to say would have come off as completely rude, making him look like the asshole.
So Niall bit the inside of his lip- probably drawing blood- and managed not to say anything he was thinking in that moment.
Instead, he stood up, walked slowly into the kitchen using precise, controlled movements that did not convey his annoyance at all, and proceeded to grab a beer from the fridge and chug it completely.
No, he wasn’t jealous that his friends liked Zayn, not at all, it was more that Zayn seemed to fit in with them so easily, in a way Niall never felt he could, and it had absolutely nothing to do with Louis’ arm being wrapped around Zayn from the second they arrived.
Harry didn’t seem to care, and that was his boyfriend, so Niall definitely did not fucking care.
“Sorry, Nialler.”
Niall jumped at the sound of Liam’s voice- damn when did he get so good at sneaking up on people?- and opened his eyes to see Liam leaning against the fridge, his apologetic puppy-dog face on full force.
“For what?” Niall questioned, not sure what Liam had to be sorry about. In fact, Liam had nothing to do with why Niall was annoyed because he was the only one who seemed somewhat controlled the entire evening, not that it was a surprise or anything.
“Inviting Zayn, it was kind of unwarranted of me. I guess I just figured that you guys were- ya know- and if it were going to turn into something more than he should meet our other friends,” Liam explained, waving his hands around as he tried to make sense of his thoughts and show them to Niall, who just kind of stood there blankly.
Liam pulled Niall into a hug when the blonde lad didn’t respond for a while, rubbing the tightness in his shoulders.
“S’not your fault, Li,” Niall murmured after a while, sighing into Liam’s familiar and comforting embrace.
He shook away the thought that he would rather have it be a different embrace, not wanting to go down that path because it wouldn’t amount to anything good. At the end of the day, no matter how good the sex was and how well he got along with Niall’s friend, Zayn was still an asshole- the same smoking, leather-jacket wearing prick who he had hated for months.
Good sex couldn’t change that.
Liam and Niall joined the other three blokes back in front of the TV, Niall nursing another beer- slower this time- and Liam shooting him worried glances that he tried to ignore.
Thankfully, Louis and Harry had taken up the love seat, cuddling up against each other as usual, leaving Zayn alone on the couch.
Liam pointedly took the opposite end and Niall eyed the center of the couch as if it would bite. He missed the shared look between Louis and Harry as he stood there awkwardly, trying to decide whether or not he really wanted to sit next to Zayn.
“I don’t bite, ya know, well, not unless you ask me to,” Zayn drawled, but his eyes were unreadable, unlike Niall’s, which flickered through every emotion he was feeling.
Zayn patted the spot next to him, indicating for Niall to sit.
“Jesus, Nialler, you’re acting like a middle school girl, just sit down so we can watch the damn movie,” Louis whined, looking away from Harry to glare at Niall, who was still standing indecisively in the middle of the room.
Niall sighed, plopping down on the couch as close to Liam and as far away from Zayn as he could. However, Liam immediately pushed him over, claiming he needed more leg room, and Niall could feel Zayn’s body pressed into his side.
They started the movie, and if anyone noticed how Zayn’s arm ended up around Niall, the blonde boy curling into his side and falling asleep half-way through the film, no one mentioned it to him when he woke up as the credits were rolling and it was time to go back to his and Zayn’s apartment.
~O~

No matter how much he tried to avoid it, Zayn had joined their group. He and Louis had exchanged phone numbers and texted constantly. Even Harry had welcomed the dark-haired lad into their friendship group with open arms, which was unusual, especially seeing how close Louis and Zayn were becoming.
To say that it made Niall edgy was the understatement of the year.
He couldn’t stand being around Zayn and Louis and Harry. Liam was okay because, well, because Liam already knew about Zayn and Niall’s arrangement. Louis and Harry didn’t, though, and Niall preferred to keep it that way.
He just kind of wanted to keep his and Zayn’s physical relationship away from the attachment that came with telling friends and other people; if they were just hook up buddies, it didn’t make sense to make it into anything more than that by telling other people.
Of course, he didn’t quite understand why he got this little tightening feeling in his chest whenever Zayn and Louis whispered to each other or when Harry cuddled into Zayn, no, he just chalked it up to annoyance at the dark-haired lad for worming his way into his friend’s hearts.
It did make things easier, though, that Zayn got along with his friends, especially because it meant they got along more at home, and Niall was able to invite his friends over more often without getting worried about what Zayn would do.
Niall found it slightly odd that Zayn hadn’t invited any of his flings over as of late; before it had been constant, a slew of willing sexual partners, and Niall didn’t think Zayn would stop just because of him, like shit, the bloke was a sexual monster, there was absolutely no way Niall would be able to satisfy all of his needs. Regardless, he didn’t ask about it and found he didn’t really want to know if Zayn was getting some anywhere else (he hoped Zayn wasn’t but he wouldn’t admit that to anyone, not even himself).
It was a relief- although he didn’t quite recognize the feeling- when Louis, Harry, and Liam were all busy for the night, leaving Zayn and Niall to their own devices for once.
Niall couldn’t quite remember the last time they had a night truly to themselves, not including the late nights- but those were saved for sex and more sex, and he was- not admittedly- excited at the prospect of having Zayn to himself.
Zayn seemed to be on the same wavelength because he had made dinner (a special occasion indeed) and it was some fucking delicious curry dish that had Niall moaning and going back for seconds and thirds, reminding both boys of the night previous, but that’s an unneeded digression.
“So, what do you want to do tonight?” Niall asked, settling back in his chair as he eyed Zayn from across the table. He should have found it weird, this comfortable scene they were in, sitting and eating dinner together when just weeks before they had been arguing constantly and hating each other’s guts.
Zayn looked at him right back, his trademark smirk in place, but instead of getting annoyed by the look, Niall found himself wondering what could have the other lad so amused and thinking itwaskindasexy.
“Well…” Zayn began, and yeah, he definitely had a plan and Niall wasn’t sure if he would like it because the last time Zayn started a sentence like that it had ended with Niall tied to the bed and in some awkward sex position Zayn wanted to try (he would admit the sex had been good, well, amazing, although when was it not) that left Niall aching and sore for a good week. Louis even commented on it, asking if Niall had gone to the gym or something, which prompted Zayn to choke on his drink and Niall to blush bright red. It was a never-ending circle by then because then Liam was eyeing them knowingly and Louis was completely lost and begging to be let in on the secret, to which none of them said a word.
But anyway, Niall nodded at Zayn, indicating he should continue and just spit out his idea.
“Do you smoke?” Zayn asked suddenly, and it was far from what Niall had been thinking, so far in fact that the blonde kind of sat there dumbfounded and looking really doped up (and to think this was how he acted without even getting high).
Niall was sure Zayn wasn’t talking about cigarettes because the other lad knew very well he didn’t smoke fags, which left one option that Zayn could be talking about, and well, Niall did enjoy smoking…on occasion (very rare occasions).
So, Niall answered as much, “On occasion.”
And Zayn nodded, still surveying the blonde in the little way he did that was completely unreadable but made Niall squirm because he felt as if Zayn were looking right into his soul and reading his mind.
“Do you want to?”
And, of course, because Niall had a death wish, and a problem saying no to Zayn, he found himself smoking weed for the first time since Sean had left.
"Can you light? I’m scared of lighters?" Niall questioned, holding the piece of glass carefully between his fingers.

He sat cross-legged in front of Zayn, and surprisingly, the other bloke didn’t make fun of him for asking. Instead, he nodded, his dark orbs glimmering a little with some unrecognizable emotion.
"Sure," Zayn nodded, scooting immeasurably closer to the blonde, who sat still as he felt their legs press together a little, the warmth of Zayn’s body comfortable and nice. He could smell Zayn’s scent, and if he leaned in a little to sniff him, well, he was normal, seriously.
"You ready?"
Niall nodded, lifting the piece up to his lips as Zayn brought the lighter close and flicked it on. The blonde lad inhaled heavily, sucking until he couldn’t suck anymore, or breathe really.
He held the smoke in, feeling it settle in his throat and lungs, and wow, it felt so fucking nice. Everything felt so fucking nice: Zayn, his body, his mind, Zayn, and Zayn, and Zayn, and ZaynZaynZayn.
After he held the air in for a decent amount of time, he took his free hand- the one not holding the little glass piece- and wrapped it around Zayn’s neck, pulling the dark-haired boy close and pressing their lips together as he exhaled the smoke.
Surprisingly, it was Zayn who pulled back first, leaving the taste of weed and Zayn on Niall’s lips.
They passed the pipe back and forth a few more times, shot-gunning occasionally, but really just enjoying the way their legs were pressed together and the beginnings of the drug that was starting to work its way through their veins.
Before when he smoked, Niall had gotten really hyper- a fact that Sean made fun of him quite often because seriously, who got hyper after getting high?- but this time, Niall just got hungry.
And no, it wasn’t the needy stomach, munchies type hungry, it was the unquenchablehorny hungry.
Like shit, he just needed and there was Zayn and the other boy felt so good and he was so close, but Niall couldn’t really form any coherent thoughts.
He’s beautiful, was the only thought really running through his mind, and he didn’t even realize he had said it out loud until Zayn replied.
“So are you.”
And then, Niall closed the space between them by throwing his body forward, glad that the pipe was safely on the table and out of his way because all he could think of was ZaynZaynZayn and needneedneed and wantwantwant.
He ignored the fluttering in his stomach and the tingles that started wherever Zayn touched him and just let his body melt into Zayn’s, perfectly content to feel him in every way possible.
It was so easy, being with Zayn, and usually sex with Zayn was rough and dominant and satisfying in every sexual way, but this, this time was different, something was different, and Niall wanted so desperately to blame the weed and he hoped it was the weed, but Zayn was touching him carefully now, his fingers soothing and his lips caressing and it was so different from before- better, almost- and it satisfied a part of Niall that he didn’t even know needed satisfying.
When it was all over, and they had finally made their way onto a bed, Niall found himself wanting more- more Zayn and more Zayn and more Zayn- and he couldn’t remember the last time he had fallen asleep without the other lad’s breath softly lulling him into dreamland, and he found himself not wanting to fall asleep in any other way.
~O~

~O~
It was a long time coming, and Niall knew that. He knew the tightening in his chest wasn’t normal and the butterfly stampede in his stomach meant something, but he had tried to ignore it and separate his mind and heart from his body because he wanted something different for the first time in his history of relationships.
He knew he was the type to get attached and that for him sex wasn’t just sex and he had thought he had found something new with Zayn- a new side of himself- but deep down he really knew that there was no way he could hide from his feelings forever- not that he didn’t want to try.
Especially now, as he became more and more aware of the way Zayn made him feel.
It wasn’t even that he really liked him- yes he did- because he actually really did detest his roommate before, but, well, he could admit that Zayn wasn’t half bad company and sometimes he made Niall laugh and other times he made Niall feel really giddy and he could cook well (when he tried) and he could do the whole sex thing really fucking well and he could do the cuddling after part even better.
Okay, so yeah, maybe Niall liked Zayn a little.
Or, well, maybe Niall liked Zayn a lot.
Either one, either way, he was kind of fucked because Zayn still didn’t indicate anything more than a sexual relationship, or maybe Niall was just dense enough not to see the way the other lad’s gaze would linger softly or how his arms would tighten around Niall’s body a little whenever Liam’s name was brought up.
Niall was actually very convinced these feelings were one-sided, like so convinced that the thought of telling Zayn how he felt made him clam up and start sweating like a fucking pig because he didn’t want to screw up their relationship. At this point, any relationship with Zayn was enough for him (not really) and if not telling Zayn how he felt meant he could keep the other bloke in his life, well, he would keep his feelings a secret.
However, it was much easier said than done because there were many times when Niall found himself a second away from telling Zayn, only to catch himself right before he would speak up.
It put him on edge, like really on edge, because he found himself freezing up around his dark-haired roommate in this weird way, and Zayn was sort of starting to notice.
“Hey Zayn,” Niall started, and then, he was thinking shitshitshit because he knew he was about to blurt out Ilikeyou but he couldn’t, no, he couldn’t do it.
It was just the two of them- again, which was unusual but lately they had found themselves alone, with Liam claiming to be busy with Dani and Louis and Harry being Louis and Harry and doing whatever they did.
Niall was kind of half-studying, half-trying not to watch Zayn move around the kitchen (fuck yeah he was cooking again; when did they get so domesticated?), but the dark-haired bloke made it look really graceful, all of his movements smooth and clean, really pretty and basically movie-worthy, and Niall was having a hard time concentrating on anything else, like his text book.
Of course, at the sound of Niall’s voice, Zayn turned around immediately, eyes seeking out Niall’s, and he looked at the blonde boy, who was turning a little red around the edges.
“Yeah, Nialler?”
-Niall really didn’t get any pleasure from the nickname-

But Niall was already saying, “Nevermind,” and turning back to his text book, where he proceeded to read and reread the same sentence about twenty times, not even understanding the words, which were really simple ‘the’s and ‘and’s.
Zayn ignored the sizzling food, or rather, he turned off the stove because the food was finished, and continued to watch as the blonde studiously ignored him. He continued to watch Niall, who continued to pretend to study, and Niall was perfectly aware of Zayn’s gaze and Zayn was perfectly aware that Niall was aware of his gaze and it sort of went on like this for a few more minutes until Zayn broke the silence again.
“Spit it out, Blondie,” Zayn declared, apparently tired of their kind of ignoring each other thing, or Niall’s kind of ignoring him thing. If he saw how Niall blushed more scarlet, he didn’t say a word, just watching as the blonde shifted on his chair and looked up at him (finally), blue eyes wide like a little kitten.
Niall continued not to speak and the kitchen was silent, until a buzzing sounded- Niall’s phone- and he immediately took the chance to get away, picking his phone up and bringing it to his ear after telling Zayn he’d be right back.
“Seanie!”
“Heya, Nialler! How’s my favorite little leprechaun?”
“Good, good. You know. How about you?”
“God, I’m great! Honestly, everything has been amazing lately. I couldn’t be happier.”
“Well, that’s good, mate!”
“Yeah, yeah! So, hey, I don’t have much time to talk, but I just wanted to catch up for a bit, or rather, make sure you hadn’t forgotten about me.”
“How could I forget about you, Seanie?”
(He had forgotten.)
“Well, wouldn’t put it past you. Kidding. But seriously, haven’t heard you rant about your roommate for a while, so I figured that even if you were starting to get along, which seems kind of doubtful because the guy seriously sounds like an asshat, that I’d remind you that you only have to put up with the douche for about a week and a half more because I’m coming home in exactly ten days!”
“Oh.”
“Jeez, buddy, way to sound excited for my return.”
“Sorry, I was thinking about this test coming up, but wow! That’s a lot sooner than I thought!”
“Yeah, I know right? This semester flew by! Anyway, that’s cool still, right? I mean I’m sure you can’t wait to get rid of your dick of a roommate.”
“Yeah, yeah, uhm, of course that’s cool.”
“You sure?”
“Totally! I just had forgotten and need to tell Zayn about it and what not, but no, that’s totally cool. I’m sure Zee can find another place to stay.”
“…”
“Sean?”
“Zee?”
“Oh, sorry. Zayn, yeah, I’m sure Zayn can find another place to stay.”
“Is there something you aren’t telling me?”
“No! Not at-“
“Shit, Nialler, I got to go, but I’ll call you later, yeah?”
“Yeah. Course. Later!”
“Okay, bye Nialler, miss you loads!”
“…miss you, too, Seanie.”
And then, the phone clicked off, leaving Niall in his room in complete silence.
“Shit,” he muttered, running a small hand through his hair and messing it up more than usual.
In all honesty, he had completely forgotten about Sean and that his best friend was coming home at the end of the semester and expecting to move back into the apartment. He had been so caught up in his world of ZaynZaynZayn that he forgot that Zayn was only supposed to be staying until Sean came back, which was in…ten days.
Ten days.
Ten fucking days.
And not just that, but he couldn’t help the feelings of disgust that bubbled inside of him when he heard the names Sean called Zayn- asshat, douche, dick- and he knew it wasn’t completely unwarranted because he had called Zayn worse things, so Sean couldn’t really know any better, especially because he hadn’t really told Sean about their new-found relationship. But it left a sour taste in his mouth and he felt all dirty knowing his best friend thought that of Zayn, who really wasn’t any of those names.
He was just really shell-shocked because how was he supposed to tell Zayn that he had to find a new place to stay, in ten days nonetheless.
He couldn’t just up and say, “Oh, by the way, my best friend Sean, you know, the one who was supposed to live here instead of you, oh yeah, he’s coming home in ten days, so you know, you have to find a new place to stay. Sorry.”
No, that would make him a bigger dick than Zayn had ever been and it definitely didn’t help him out with his little situation, you know, the little (or monumental) feelings situation.
So, yeah, he was kind of, really, extremely, and totally fucked.
But, he figured he couldn’t put off facing Zayn forever- but fuck he wasn’t going to bring up the whole Sean coming home thing, at least not yet, or the feelings thing for that matter- so he walked out of his room slowly, and back into the kitchen.
He found Zayn sitting at the table, playing a game of SongPop on his phone, and at the sound of the pitter-patter of his feet, the other lad looked up.
“Everything okay?” Zayn asked, and he seemed actually, sincerely concerned in a way that Niall hadn’t seen before and it made his heart a little heavier because of what he had to tell Zayn about Sean.
Niall faked a smile, “Yeah, everything is great!”
He looked around the kitchen, anywhere but Zayn’s questioning gaze, and he was relieved when his stomach grumbled loudly, giving him the perfect excuse.
“God, I’m starved. Can we eat?” he asked, looking extremely hopeful- for Zayn not to ask anymore questions and also to eat- and Zayn nodded back at him, standing up to get the food.
He dished up two plates, and soon enough, Niall was moaning around his fork and Zayn was teasing him about how he sounded like a porn star when he made noises like that, to which Niall simply retorted something about the food being really fucking good.
Zayn didn’t ask any other questions and Niall didn’t almost tell him how he felt, and if Niall’s touch was a little more desperate than usual when they fucked that night, grasping and tugging Zayn as if it would be the last time, well, Zayn didn’t say anything about that either, simply responding in kind and holding the blonde lad a little tighter to him.
~O~