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Five months, sixteen days, fourteen hours and eleven minutes.
That’s how long Zayn’s been waiting for Liam to come back home. To come back to him and hold him close, maybe lift him in their air and spin around in slow motion. To pull him close and promise to never let go again, whispering sweet words that he had said a million times over calls but saying it again just because he could. To cuddle together on his pullout couch, eating Chinese food and watching Disney movies (because Liam says they’re the greatest movies to exist, and he’s never been wrong before).
To be fair, Liam had left five months, sixteen days, fourteen hours and twelve minutes ago. But Zayn had missed him the moment he had left. That moment where Liam opened the door to Zayn’s apartment, looking back at him with those puppy eyes that he adored before shutting the door behind him. He wanted to reach for him and pull him back into his apartment, refusing to let go until Liam’s management caved and canceled the American part of his tour.
However, Zayn had a heart and didn’t want to disappoint Liam’s fans (or be threatened, because lets be honest, they are both psychotic and adorable). So with a long hug with a few kisses in-between, they both finally said goodbye. Liam had driven off to the airport where he would meet with security and have them escort him onto his private plane that would take him all the way to New York. He’d spend a few days there and then start traveling the U.S.A for five months, performing in the biggest cities.
And it wasn’t like Liam hadn’t asked him to come with him. Out of everyone, he was the one to bring it up the most, to promise Zayn he wouldn’t spend a single dollar and they wouldn’t have to separate. His parents absolutely loved Liam to death, so it wasn’t like they’d ever tell him no. But Zayn had his principles (and stubbornness, Liam would add) and told Liam he wouldn’t go. Liam was constantly spoiling him with unnecessary gifts, minus the art tools he would bring him because those were actually pretty decent. His lover still insisted on having Zayn move into his luxurious mansion in Wolverhampton where he could just pitch in for rent from time to time to feel like he was doing something.
But he said no like the good person he was, so now he had to wait over five months for Liam to finally come back home.
He arrived at the airport Liam would arrive in about an hour before his flight. Parking his car was nearly impossible since a lot of fans were already starting to arrive. Word of where Liam’s plane would land had spread faster than a wild fire, so it would be nearly impossible for him to be the first to see Liam. However, the security workers of both Liam and the airport helped direct the cars around the fans so nobody would get hurt. He had to park on the fourth floor since the parking place was beginning to get packed.
He looked in the passenger seat where a small poster board laid, smiling to himself and grabbing it. He folded it in half carefully, making sure the creases wouldn’t make it hard to read. Once he figured it was good enough, he got out of his car, the voices of fans echoing loudly against the concrete walls. Most of the people around him were teenage girls, some heading to the elevators and stairs, while some were still hanging out by their cars. He followed the rush of people down the stair case, climbing down the four flights in the large crowd.
The entire walk to the actual airport itself took nearly twenty minutes due to the amount of people. He laughed at the people who had no clue on what was going on, wondering if the airport was holding some convention for crazy teen girls.
He did end up finding some space in one of the Starbucks they had. Though he was more of a tea person, so he decided to just wait inside there until Paul would text him that the plane had finally landed (Liam thought it was weird that he and Paul had each other’s numbers, but he just shrugged it off with a smile).
While waiting, he looked out of the clear windows of the Starbucks, watching as fans with Liam Payne merchandise walk by. All of them hoping to just get a glance at his boyfriend. He felt bad every time he and Liam would go out for a date, always nodding encouragingly whenever someone came up for a picture and autograph.
He got the text that Liam’s plane would be landing soon about ten minutes later from Paul, who said to meet him at Terminal One so he could be moved to the front. He smiled and walked out of Starbucks, his poster clutched tightly to in his arms, a bounce in his step. Finally, after five months of pure torture, he would finally be able to see his Liam again. Though stalking him through Twitter and Tumblr were nice, it wasn’t as great as actually being in his arms.
On his way to Paul, he was actually stopped by a few fans himself. All sweet to the core, asking him if he was ready to finally see Liam and what they would do when they were alone (that last one was asked by a girl only twelve and it scared him to think that she actually knew about all that). A few asked for pictures and he smiled for them all, nodding his head and answering politely when they asked a question.
“Are you excited?”
“Of course!”
“Do you guys call each other a lot?”
“Once a day, sometimes twice.”
“Can you tell Liam we love him?”
“He already knows that but I’ll pass along the message.”
There were a lot of camera flashes (from both fans and paparazzi) taking photos that would probably be all over the world in a little less than an hour. Probably with a heart warming article showing how their two year romance was still just as strong. He’d managed to find Paul in the Terminal which was beginning to become a little crowded, who smiled and helped him to where Liam would enter. He had taken a first class flight back home instead of his jet so he would be entering from where everyone else usually would instead of the back entrance.
It was more crowded at the entrance to this flight, packed tightly with security, who had forced any people here just for Liam behind lines. More fans were starting to pile in, some chanting Liam’s name and singing some of the lyrics to his songs.
Most of Liam’s personal security already knew Zayn so it didn’t take a lot of convincing to let him through. He was able to stay with them, a few feet in front of the enormous amount of fans behind the lines that had been set up. They were all holding walkie talkies, communicating with other security members around the entire airport.
“His flight just landed a few minutes ago. They’re just letting the people on the flight know that there’s going to be a crowd when getting off.” He nodded at what Paul said, unfolding his poster and looking down at it with an excited smile. Paul looked down at the poster and let out a loud laugh, clapping him on the shoulder with an amused smile.
“He’s been asking about you nonstop. Making sure you didn’t have trouble with any of the fans.” He shook his head at Liam’s protectiveness with a loving smile, hugging his poster to his chest. He was tapping his feet against the carpeted floor, buzzing with pure energy. He looked behind him to where the fans were, all holding posters and photos of Liam, welcoming him back home.
He gestured towards them and Paul nodded, understanding what he was thinking. He made his way over to them (almost all screamed even louder when ‘Liam Payne’s freaking boyfriend” was walking towards them). He smiled as some took photos and waited alongside them, showing them the poster he had made, earning him a good amount of coos from the crowd. He had complimented them on theirs, about to go into a conversation with a group of girls on why his boyfriend was so perfect, when the screaming intensified.
The flashes of cameras grew brighter and closer, the fans trying to get past the lines and security. He had to jump away a few feet to stay away from the chaos, looking around for his boyfriend, his best friend, his everything. The doors had just opened to his flight, shocked passengers being escorted away from the fans and to their destinations.
But they weren’t Liam.
Impatiently bouncing on his feet and biting his bottom lip, he gripped his poster tightly in his hands as he counted the seconds for Liam to finally get off his damn flight and just kiss him already.
And then he finally came out the doors.
His hair swept up in a small quiff, his face clean and fresh of facial hair. His dark brown eyes were lit up with joy as he waved to the fans around him and smiling towards the cameras, though he was looking for something (specifically someone). His clothes were a little bit wrinkled from shuffling anxiously in his seat, one of his shoes still untied because he always forgets to double knot the laces. He was now nearly spinning in circles, trying to see where his boyfriend would be. He had promised to meet him at the airport.
What if the traffic was too bad?
Or maybe one of his “fans” had told Zayn that he wasn’t right for Liam and that he should leave.
Maybe after five months of not being able to even hold hands, Zayn found someone who would be there for him.
But all these thoughts immediately disappeared when he saw his Zayn standing in front of the crowd of fans, a white poster with Liam in bold, blue letters and a red heart drawn underneath the ‘M’. He could feel his heart pick up speed as Zayn’s beautiful brown eyes met his, a smile forming on his lips with his tongue squeezing between his teeth.
And it was sort of like everything disappeared. Suddenly he wasn’t at the airport anymore with fans screaming his name, paparazzi shoving to get a good photo of him. He wasn’t being surrounded by hundreds of screaming fans, security trying to keep them in place. He wasn’t tired from his long flight or the American part of the tour that had him out almost every day.
It was just him and Zayn after five months, sixteen days, fourteen hours and eleven minutes.
He was already moving before he really thought about it, his mind just focused on his lover less than twenty feet away. Zayn smiled widely, catching on with his idea and already moving forward. And with each step they both took, they went faster and faster, closer and closer. He could hear his heart pounding against his ribcage, threatening to burst at any given moment. His arms were shaking already, itching to just grab onto Zayn and hold him tightly and just never let go, never let him be a minute away ever again.
With their last steps they were practically running now, realizing that this was finally happening, that they were finally going to be able to do the things they’ve been dying to do for over five months. They finally crashed into each others arms, Liam’s making it’s way around Zayn’s waist and pulling him off of the ground. Spinning in a tight circle like in those movies they would make fun of on movie nights, they spun together, each with a tight grip on the other. Zayn had his face buried in the crook of his neck, laughing almost hysterically as he held Liam close to him.
He knew he wouldn’t be able to hold Zayn up for forever, though he wished he could. Slowly coming to a stop, he held Zayn to himself and let him stand on his own. However, Zayn didn’t loosen his grip, his lips near his ear as he spoke over the roar of the fans.
“I missed you so much, don’t ever leave again.” And he just laughed and nodded along to the words Zayn said, adding in “I love you” every chance he could get. Zayn had one hand coming through his hair, the other pushing the back of his head so their foreheads were touching, so they could only see each other’s eyes.
“I can’t believe this is actually happening. It’s been-“
“Five months, I know. I’ve been counting the every minute, love.” Zayn smiled brightly, leaning forward a few inches to have their lips meet after so long. Liam’s were just as soft as he remembered, tasting like the minty gum he had been chewing nervously the whole flight. Zayn sighed happily and finally stepped back. He was eager to welcome Liam back in many other ways, but he felt that that was something for only them to see (and he really didn’t want to scar the fans, he couldn’t be held responsible for that).
Liam smiled lovingly down at him, reaching at his hand and grasping Zayn’s tightly. He pulled him closer until Zayn was placed perfectly under his right arm, his head leaning against his chest slightly. Zayn smiled up at him and placed his free hand on Liam’s heart, his silent way of saying that he loved him back with just as much passion.
He didn’t stay too long at the airport since he wanted to spend time with Zayn, watch a few movies and cuddle together on his pullout couch. He wanted to get him a better one, a better apartment really since Zayn felt that moving into his home would make him feel too spoiled. But Zayn had told him several times that he would never allow him a cuddle again if he ever got rid of something as simple as a chair for his art room.
He looked down at Zayn and noticed he had his poster tucked under his left arm, and he pulled it out to see better. He blushed at the poster but smiled nonetheless, kissing the top of Zayn’s head and earning a giggle from his boyfriend.
“Was the poster really necessary?” Zayn nodded his head, pointing to the heart and saying how one day he’d teach Liam how to draw a proper poster (since according to Zayn, he was a horrible artist and was a disgrace to every artist known to mankind). He couldn’t really hear over the screams of his fans or orders that security yelled left and right, but he just nodded his head whenever Zayn looked up at him with fascinated eyes.
He had originally planned to smother Zayn with love and affection on the car ride home, but the moment he sat down on the suede seats, he was out like a light. Zayn smiled softly and let Liam rest his head on his lap, running his hands through his hair as one of Liam’s many drivers drove them to his home. Paul would get someone to bring Liam some of his luggage since they’d most likely spend a few days together, just the two of them.
And sure, he was looking forward to being with Liam when he was actually awake, but he had a lot of time for that. He’s waited over five months, he’s pretty sure he can wait a few more hours.