I was tagged by the lovely @jacaranda-bloom and @homosociallyyours to share a snippet from my Big Bang fic! Thank you 💕
The door slammed behind him and he knew he’d caused a scene, but the feeling wasn’t enough to stop the hot combination of fear and anger that was raging through his body.
“Liam, Liam, for fucks - sorry, sorry,” Zayn was catching up to him, clearly trying to weave through the agents in the hallway, but Liam didn’t slow. “Will you just fucking stop?”
It wasn’t until he’d made it back to their office that he was jolted backwards by a firm grip on his arm and spun around to see Zayn’s face carved in fury and ready for a fight. Liam straightened his back and squared his shoulders.
Zayn shut their door with a bang. “What the fuck was that? Are you serious?” He laughed, but it was laced with disbelief. “God, if I’d known you were gonna be such an arsehole about this, you could’ve just done it! If I’d known that you thought I was gonna do such a shit job, I would’ve just let you do it!” Zayn was pacing between their desks now, but Liam froze.
He stepped backwards slowly to lean against his desk, white noise buzzing in his head. “You think I don’t want you to do this because you won’t do a good enough job?” His voice was steady, but his hands were trembling where he gripped the edge of his desk, almost surprised that it didn’t splinter when his fingers tightened.
“What else am I supposed to think?” Zayn lifted his chin, standing firm, and Liam stopped for a second to admire his stubbornness. “You were such a prick back there! We’ve been partners for years, Liam, and now you don’t trust me? I can’t believe —.”
Liam was already shaking his head. “This has nothing to do with me not trusting you and —.”
“And what? You worried I’ll fuck it up like I did at the church, yeah? Worried I’ll let them slip through my fingers again?”
It was the mention of the ambush that did it, that pushed him over the edge as his body thrummed with the need to protect like he hadn’t done the first time.
“It’s because I’m terrified you’ll get hurt again!” Liam exploded, and he couldn’t control himself anymore. “You could’ve died, Zayn. Don’t you get that? You could’ve died, and I didn’t even —,” he was tripping over his words, his brain too full to catch up, “I couldn’t — I can’t protect you if you’re undercover, and it scares me, okay?” He finally took a deep breath and let his gaze drop to the floor. “I just want to keep you safe, Zayn.”
There was silence, the words hanging heavily in the air until Liam heard a shuffle, soft footsteps, and then felt a hand against his cheek.
“Liam.” It was a low murmur, calm now, but Liam swore he could feel Zayn’s heart beating in his fingertips where they pressed against his neck. “I’m always going to be in danger. So are you. You can’t protect me all the time.”
Liam lifted his head and had a second to take in the softness that’d settled over Zayn’s features before he moved to rest their foreheads together. He wrapped an arm around Zayn’s waist and pulled him in, closing his eyes with a shaky breath. He knew it was this affection that made people raise their eyebrows, or make assumptions, but here in their office, away from prying eyes, they didn’t have to worry about anyone who thought they were more than best friends.
“It doesn’t mean I don’t want to try.”
Now, I’m the worst and can’t remember who anyone tagged so I tag @bitter-leaf @allwaswell16 @lululawrence and @runaway-train-works
