"Nobody wants to face the truth, but you wont believe what love can do." -Till it Happens to You, Corinne Bailey Rae

Sunday
November 18, 2018
City Stacks Cafe
1:22 P.M.

Liam sat at a table on the far side of a small café anticipating the arrival of Zayn and to say he was anxious was an understatement. His hands were sweating profusely causing him to wipe them on his jeans several times and he couldn't seem to find a comfortable position in his seat. This feeling was very reminiscent of his first date with the small male because there was lingering feeling of uncertainty given that Zayn could decide not to show up.

Liam had been sitting at the café for the last ten minutes despite the fact that they had agreed to meet at 1:30 when he had dm'ed Zayn the night before. He wanted to ensure the he wasn't late and as cheesy as it is, he was anticipating being able to see Zayn again. He even considered bringing the boy his favorite flowers, but he decided against it for fear that he would be coming off too strong.

Despite his better judgement, he refrained from telling Alex about his meet up with Zayn. He didn't exactly know why he didn't feel comfortable telling Alex because he knew Alex would most likely be okay with it, but there was something in the back of his mind that wanted to keep this to himself.

Nevertheless, after a few more minutes of Liam sifting through his phone mindlessly while is leg shook under the table, Liam looked out the clear windows of the café to spot Zayn. Liam peaked down to check the time and noticed that it was 1:28 which was surprising because Zayn had always been anything, but punctual.

He watched the boy walk into the café rubbing his cold hands onto the jean jacket covering his arms. Once Zayn was in, he looked around for a short period before his eyes spotted Liam sitting at a table in the corner waving over to him.

"Hey." Zayn said softly he sat down in the seat in front of Liam. His heart was beating wildly against his chest. He had battled with himself all last night and today on whether or not he should come, but ultimately, he was encouraged to go by a close friend of his. That was why he was here now.

"Hey." Liam breathed out taking in Zayn's appearance. The man sitting in front of him was astonishing. He had a jean jacket on that covered the emerald green sweater that complimented his olive skin. His cheeks where flushed with a light pink color from the cold outside and his long eyelashes accentuated his bright hazel eyes. His cheekbones were sharp and prominent, while his soft and fluffy hair gave his look juxtaposition.

"I'm glad you came. I was scared you wouldn't show up." Liam commented honestly.

"Well, I'm here." Zayn replied awkwardly, shooting Liam a tight-lipped smile. Truthfully, beyond the convincing, he had no idea why he was there. He had no real intention of discussing what happened between them with Liam, but he also knew that he always struggled with telling the older boy no. It was frustrating to realize that that still remained true after all these years.

This was weird for Liam because he and Zayn were never like this, even when they first began dating. There was never an awkward moment between them, but now he was feeling like a fish out of water.

"So, how are things?" Liam inquired carefully.

Zayn shifted in his seat briefly looking up to meet the dark brown eyes that studied him from across the table, "They're good."

The answer was short and frigid making the atmosphere even more thick with tension than it had been previously.

Liam cleared his throat, "Look, Zayn, I want to apologize for showing up at your house unannounced. I understand how that might have felt like I was ambushing you, but I promise that that was not my intentions."

Zayn could hear the sincerity in Liam's voice, his eyes holding guilt and genuineness.

Therefore, biting his lip he replied, "It's fine. It did catch me off guard, but with your, um- situation, I kind of understand."

"This is all just really weird for me." Zayn added speaking out loud. He truly didn't know how to approach this and Liam was almost just as clueless.

Before Liam could answer a young employee appeared at the table to take their orders.

"Hi, I am Alexis and I will be your server today. Have you all decided on what you will be having or do you need some more time to think?" The young girl asked politely showcasing her braces with a bright smile spread across her freckled face.

"Are you ready to order?" Liam asked Zayn who was briefly reading over the menu in front of him.

"Yeah, I'll just have a savannah chopped salad with no chicken or cucumbers and then, for my dressing may I have to raspberry pecan vinaigrette. And for my drink I'll just take a strawberry lemonade please." Zayn said politely closing his menu.

After Zayn finishes his order, Liam begins, "I'll have the chipotle chicken sandwiche with barbeque chips as my side and a sweet tea for my drink."

"Alright, I'll have that out to both of you shortly." She said taking there menus before leaving the table, leaving the two to talk again.

"A salad, huh? You always judged people who did that." Liam teased causing the Zayn who had not cracked a smile yet, to briefly abandon his cold front.

"I'm vegetarian now, so my options have become limited." Zayn explained. "But, I see you still haven't abandoned that warm piss in a cup."

Liam laughed knowing Zayn was referring to his sweet tea. Zayn found any type of tea disgusting and he always made fun of Liam for liking it; especially sweet tea, which was just sweet, warm piss.

"If I do recall correctly, I vividly remember you chugging a big cup of my sweet tea at 3 o'clock in the morning. It seemed like you liked the warm piss then." Liam pointed out, recalling the time he had found Zayn drinking a cup of sweet tea in the middle of the night. That was one of Liam's fondest memories between them because he remembered how cute Zayn looked once he had been caught by Liam. He profusely blamed his weird pregnancy cravings and the fact that there were no other cold drinks for the reason why had drunk that "poison".

Zayn scowled, "You will never let me live that down! I was pregnant and you know I hate room temperature water so it was either that or your stupid sweet tea."

"I know." Liam said smiling to himself. Their conversation had put him in the mind of the pregnancy and although, he knew from his family that Zayn had lost their child, he still had the urge to ask Zayn about. Nevertheless, he held off on that question.

"Zayn, how are things really?" Liam asked again. He wanted a more in depth answer than just 'good'. That did not satisfy the curiosity that lingered.

Zayn huffed before answering, "It's been good, like I said. What do you want me to say Liam?"

Liam shrugged, "I don't know I just want to know how you are now that things are so different from how I imagined they'd be. Like, what do you now for a living? I know you wanted to be a professional artist."

"I'm actually a paralegal at a law firm now. I kind of gave up on art a long time ago because realistically, I couldnt support myself financially by just selling art." Zayn said biting his lip.

"Yeah, I get that." Liam said carefully. He knew how passionate Zayn was about art when they were dating. He was always painting or drawing in their tiny apratment with huge aspirations about making a career out of his natural tatlent for art. It was a little disheartening hearing that that did not work out for him.

"I hope this isn't awkward, but um- when I came over there was a child- i-is she yours?" Liam asked hesistantly. He really didn't want Zayn to leave because he said the wrong things, but there were so many questions he wanted to ask and conversation fillers were not going to cut it.

"Wha- oh no." He said laughing a little to himself, a cute smile spreading across his face. "That's my friend's little girl, Riley."

Liam let out a breathe he wasn't aware that he was holding in once he recieved that answer, "Oh okay, she's really pretty."

He wanted to asked if his"friend" was actually more than a friend, but he assumed that that wasn't his business.

"Yeah, she's a character." Zayn said with a fond expression. "Since we're asking questions, who gave you my address."

"You probably already know, but Harry gave me it."

"Of couse he did." Zayn mumbled rolling his eyes. "He probably got it from Louis' ass."

Liam chuckled, "Yeah, I wouldnt be surprised, I see you're still good friend with Louis though."

"Yeah." Zayn answered simply. Silence loomed over the air again as the pair had no idea what to say to each other. Liam had no idea where to begin because everything he wanted to know had the potential to be heavy conversations and truths that maybe he wasn't even prepared for.

The waiter arrived back at the table with their food and Zayn promptly asked for a to go plate because he wasn't very hungry and he wasn't too sure how much longer he would be here.

Zayn sighed before speaking, breaking their previous silence once the young waiter left the table again. "Liam, let's just cut the bullshit, you wanted me to come have lunch with you for a reason, what was it?"

Liam repositions himself in his seat, setting a hand on the table. "Look, I know what you said before and I can respect that. But, you have to understand where I'm coming from, Z. You may not want to relive the past, but without an understanding of our past I don't see how I can move forward peacefully."

Zayn sighs tilting his head back and closing his eyes. "Liam, I'm sorry, but-" He begins.

"Before you say no, I would like to suggest that maybe we could just hang out, get to know each other again. My doctor suggested that I be around things and people that would jog my memory and maybe just being around you would help."

Zayn remained silent, weighing his options. He had no idea whether he wanted to do this, just being around Liam brought back just as many unpleasant memories as it did the good memories. However, he empathized with his ex-lover's dilemma, so much so that it was becoming increasingly hard for him to tell Liam no.

Liam knew the silence around them was from Zayn thinking. "Zayn, can you please do this for me?"

Zayn sighed through a conflicted expression playing on his face. It was clear that he was unsure of what he should do and Liam hated to press, but this was important.

So for the second time in less than twenty-four hours Zayn caved to the wants of a man he swore was dead to him many years before.

"Okay." Zayn answered quietly.