#THAT was the definition of manic babes xx

[christopher067]

~ a new blonde bombshell has entered the villa ~

the way i haven't used a blonde sim since 2021 is crazzzzy also rip to that model from 2021 she's lost forever since I accidentally deleted all the game files off my computer during a manic episode when the game wouldn't open... 🥰 but now we have this diva so slay

also a widdle wip if yew even cared 😔

[darlinvandijk]

Okay since i can sing i can just imagine reader and Ruel singing Best Part or something while it rains outside or he finds out that reader can sing when shes just singing to herself thinking that shes alone and freaking out being like "BABE WHY DIDNT YOU TELL ME" "OHMYGOD WE CAN DO DUETS NOW" etc and just being obsessed with the fact that his gf can sing as well

So honestly this was written very fast and I kinda just manically typed it up and decided it was the move so I hope y’all enjoy this jumbled mess I made and I added some cute touchy fluff and a little making out because it’s quarantine and why not fuck with y’alls hormones (holy shit I’m adding in this rn before I post it and oh god I think I fucked with my own hormones as I wrote it, I’m dyING) (it’s also like kinda uhm sexual if you didn’t get the hint, NO smut, but definitely sensual towards the end!!!) :) xx

~Secrets & Rainy Days~

I pick up Ruels dirty clothes off the floor, throwing them into the hamper we have in the corner of the room, deciding that today’s rainy day would be dedicated to cleaning. Trust me, I’d rather sleep and watch Netflix all day, but when you live with a walking tornado of a boyfriend, you sometimes just don’t have a choice. We have a system though, since he does all of the cooking and errand running (usually making me go with him because he gets “lonely”), while I just tidy up the apartment once it starts to look a little messy. It’s not like he doesn’t clean at all or leaves his mess everywhere, he just doesn’t know a thing about organizing and loves to leave his dirty socks on our bedroom floor.

As I finish up our bedroom, only having to pick up a few articles of clothing, and fix our bedside tables, I hear him start to strum on his guitar. I instantly get excited, since one of my favorite parts about cleaning days, is that he always sings, giving me my own private concert. I softly smile and grab his hoodie off of our desk chair, taking it outside to him since he’s only in a t-shirt and sweats, knowing he’d sit out on the balcony and play regardless if he gets cold or not. I stop in front of his favorite outdoor sofa, laughing at the way he has an umbrella strategically placed to block the light rain coming down just so he could stay out here.

“Thanks my love, since today is cleaning day, what songs do you want to request? I also opened the other windows so you could still hear me” he softly questions, giving me a boyish grin while grabbing the hoodie from my hands. I ponder over his question before giving him a small shrug, choosing to rush from the doorway and to get under his umbrella, so I could climb up on to his lap. He lets out a laugh, setting his guitar against the chair where it could still be protected from the rain, but give him space to wrap his arms around me.

“Hm I don’t know, surprise me? You already know I love everything you sing” I mumble, pressing my lips lightly against his neck, laughing when he shivers from the contact. I press another kiss to his neck, slowly making my way around the base of his throat, leaving a trail of light pink marks as I go. I get to his favorite spot, a little bit below his ear, and lightly bite down, smirking when he lets out a groan and digs his fingers into my hips. Before I can even try to keep going, my face is pulled away from his neck, his lips instantly smashing upon mine.

I let out a light gasp as he kisses me, my mouth instantly being filled with the taste of cherry chapstick, the chapstick I know he stole from my purse. I grip on to his shoulders, his own hands gripping my hips and pulling me against him, before I start to become restless. My hands move up into his hair, lightly tugging on it as he groans into my mouth, before I swipe my tongue across his bottom lip. He pulls away from me with a chuckle, lips and face flushed red, and a light smirk on his face.

“As much as I love having you on top of me, I already know you’re going to be mad tonight if you don’t get all your organizing done, so let’s postpone this for when you’re done” he laughs out, eyes focused on the pout that forms on my face, knowing I was about to start whining. I open my mouth to complain that I want attention, only to get cut off right before I can even speak since he leans in and gives me another kiss. “Lets make a deal, once you finish up, we can do whatever you want. Sound good baby?” He says with a soft smile, knowing exactly what I was going to ask for.

“Cuddles and kisses?” I ask, resting my hands on both sides of his face, feeling the soft skin move as he presses a kiss against my palm. He gives me a small nod of approval, knowing just exactly how I like to spend our lazy days together, which is with him absolutely showering me in love and attention. “Fine, I guess I’ll go finish what I need to do, buuuut I want a kiss. Just one more” I tell him, giving him a small pout as I run my thumb across his bottom lip. He chuckles at my whining, giving my thumb a kiss, before grasping the side of my face in his hand.

“One more kiss and then you gotta go do whatever it is that you do when organizing” he whispers, his mouth pressing against mine right after. I lean in more, adding more pressure in hopes of distracting him, only for him to pull away with one last peck against my lips. “I know what you’re trying to do, it’s not gonna work this time sweetheart” he laughs, a lazy grin spreading across his face as I roll my eyes, knowing I’ll have to wait till later for him to give me more attention. I climb off of his lap, turning so I can get out from under his umbrella, when his hand flys out and roughly smacks against my ass.

“Rueloff” I screech, jumping from under the umbrella, only to end up standing in the rain, a glare heavily directed at the lanky bitch. His head is thrown back as he laughs, a sound that would usually be music to my ears, now making me want to punch him in the head. “You’re literally so annoying” I grumble out, walking back into our bedroom to change, already feeling to spots where the shirt was sticking to my skin.

“You weren’t saying that like 2 seconds ago when you were basically trying to get me to strip on our balcony” he says trying to get a rise out of me. I let out a scoff, a small smile picking at my lips though, since I could never genuinely be mad at him. I finish putting on one of his sweaters, before making my way to our living room, since that was the room that needed the most fixing up.

I start picking up the random things we leave laying around, when I hear him start to play on his guitar again, waiting to see just what song he picked out to surprise me with this time. He starts strumming the beginning chords of self control by frank, before his voice starts to drift throughout the room, a smile of pure adoration on my face as I hear the voice I love more than anything. I finish picking up all of the things left out, rearranging pillows and blankets on the couches, before deciding it’s time to do my least favorite thing. Dusting. Some might ask why I hate having to dust things off, well let me tell you why. Whenever I dust things off, it always somehow manages to just get the perfect amount of dust particles in the air, making me sneeze like crazy every time. Usually to the point where Ruel has to stop singing because he’s laughing so hard. Laughing so hard at my pain, because he’s a terrible person like that. Such a sadist honestly.

I get out the duster, completely filled with dread, only to end up filled to the brim with excitement as I hear the new song he decided to play. My heart beating out of my chest with love as he sings the song he dedicated to me, saying it almost perfectly described the love he felt for me, but not quite since no words could ever fully describe it. The sounds of him singing, with the light rain mixed in, causing me to feel nothing but pure bliss.

“You're my sunshine in the rain when it's pouring, won't you give yourself to me” I softly sing, creating a harmony only I could hear with both of our voices, lightly dusting off the tv stand that was starting to form a layer of dust. I move around the living room, singing to myself, while surprisingly not sneezing from the dust flying up into the air. Also surprisingly not hearing the guitar stop and light footsteps heading into the living room. “I just wanna see, I just wanna see how beautiful you are, you know that I see it, I know you're a star” I sing, a smile on my face as I dance and dust around our living room, completely in my own little world as the lyrics blissfully spill from my lips. Not noticing the love of my life, also in complete bliss as I sing our song, the song that has now become even more important to him. He finally decides that he can’t stay silent anymore and instantly tackles me on to our couch, absolutely smothering me in kisses.

“Baby!! You never told me you could sing, like holy shit this changes so many things” he all but screams out, his eyes almost glowing with affection as he stares down at my horrified face, which is burning in complete embarrassment as I realize he heard me singing. “Fuck I already know we have to do a duet with this but now I need to figure out all the other duets we can do” he mutters, completely ignoring me underneath him, and getting lost in all the ideas forming in his head at a rapid pace.

“Oh my god no, Ruel I literally barely sing. That wasn’t anything special” I groan out, face completely buried in his neck, not wanting him to see how red I was turning from all of his praise and attention. He roughly pulls back and stares at me in shock, acting like I just told him I ate Wilbur for breakfast. “Stop looking at me like that” I whine out, knowing he’s going to make this a huge deal, since he’s always been a bit more on the dramatic side.

“Are you kidding me? You were insane, like literally fucking legendary” he cries out, the giant grin on his face still there, and not leaving any time soon. I reach my hand up and cover my face, trying to not get even more flustered than I already was, if that’s even possible. “I’m being serious baby, you know I wouldn’t try and get you to sing with me for the fans if I didn’t think you were going to do great. You’d honestly be better than me, don’t underestimate yourself” he softly says, pressing a kiss to the tip of my nose as he finally takes in how apprehensive I am about this.

“Can we talk about this later? I’m still very mortified that this even happened and just want cuddles now” I mumble, looking up into his eyes as he stares down at me with a cute smile on his face. He nods his head before leaning down, pressing his lips against mine in a soft but love filled kiss, before he gets up and extends his hand to me. I grab his hand and get off of the couch, only to get thrown over his shoulder as he jogs to our room. I let out a shriek as he tosses me on the bed, jumping on top of me meee seconds later, before he smashes his lips on mine in a rushed manner, leaving me completely dazed.

“God I’m so fucking in love with you” he mumbles against my lips, his hands traveling all over me as he picks up the pace of our kiss, grabbing one of my legs to wrap around his waist. I let out a soft gasp as his lips travel down my neck, leaving little marks all over as he mutters how much he loves me in between kisses, my back arching up into him on instinct from his touch. “So fucking in love with you” he groans out, leaning up to press our lips together, his hands finding mine and interlocking them above my head, before I pull away completely out of breath.

“If I would have known you’d react to me singing like this, I would have sang for you a lot sooner” I gasp out, my chest heaving up and down as I try to steady my breathing, Ruels breathing just as staggered as mine. He leans in and gives me a slow kiss, completely taking my breath away again, before pulling back with my bottom lip between his teeth, letting it fall back into place slowly with a smirk on his face. “Maybe this singing thing isn’t gonna be as bad as I thought” I mutter, eyes locked on his mouth as his tongue swipes out along his bottom lip. He lets out a quiet laugh, watching the way my eyes seems to twinkle as I stare at him, his mind completely and utterly focused on me.

“Oh trust me, you’ll be singing alright”

[safflowerseason]

dan x amy college au drabble

i’ve had this little scene chasing itself in my head for a while, and getting it out was my form of stress-relief tonight. enjoy xx

summary if it were a real fic: dan and amy meet for the first time when he hooks up with her roommate. 

~*~

“Rise and shine, frat-ass.”

Through a haze of sleep, Dan perceives one thing: something poking his shoulder repeatedly. And sharply. He ignores it, in the hope that it will go away. 

It doesn’t go away.

“Come on, you fucking braindead assortment of malfunctioning pheromones, wake the fuck up. I need my room back, so I can begin to sanitize it.” 

The poking continues. Dan wakes up just enough to roll over and grit out, “Jesus, get the fuck away, I’m getting up!”

He pushes himself up on his elbows and bats away at whatever’s poking him. His hand closes around smooth, warm, skin. Whatever is poking him is female. Dan opens his eyes. 

The girl he is face to face with is most definitely not the girl he fucked last night. He does not remember a fucking enormous pair of blue eyes, and a sheet of princess-blonde hair. He does not remember those curves underneath his hands.

They stare at each other for a second—their hands still loosely entangled—before the girl narrows those eyes at him and yanks her wrist away. Dan immediately scrambles to a sitting position, his back against the wall of the dorm room. Hastily checks to make sure the sheets are covering him. 

“Uh…hi.” he begins, awkwardly, and runs a hand through his hair. Fuck, he needs a mirror. 

“…where is…?” Shit, he’s blanking on the name. Her dad was on the Board of Trustees. He remembered that much. 

“Wow.” Blonde-girl laughs derisively. “The poor girl who faked an orgasm for you last night…her name is Alice. And her sex window is over, so I don’t know what the fuck you're still doing here.”

“Hey, she didn’t fake it.” Dan snaps automatically, not that he cared that much either way. Her father was a trustee, but it didn’t make Alice particularly exciting. Their encounter was definitely not worth putting up with her fucking manic roommate. Jesus. 

“Oh, I’m sure she didn’t.” the girl rolls her eyes. She’s coming into better focus now that Dan is more awake, and to his profound exasperation, she’s way hotter than Alice. Shorter—they’re basically eye-to-eye with him seated on the bed—but striking, with those massive eyes and a rosebud mouth. Her tits look very good in an aggressively simple navy blue sundress, the thin material clinging to her curves in a way that’s probably not intended to be enticing but totally, totally is. Fuck, he needs some coffee. Or a shot.

“…are you…are you checking me out?” she asks, sounding a bit stunned, and Dan realizes belatedly he’s basically been staring at her for the past thirty seconds, not saying anything.  (Then again…she didn’t stop him right away.) “Oh my god—you literally woke up in my roommate’s bed!” 

“So? Did I fall down some fucking time hole and wake up in the fifties?!” he retorts, more annoyed at her than ever. Forget how kissable her mouth looks. This girl has to be the most fucking infuriating person he’s ever encountered this early in the morning and he lives in a frat house. “What are you even doing here in the first place? Don’t the two of you have some sort of system?” 

“She told me she had a volleyball game. I didn’t know she accidentally left a souvenir behind.”

“Well,” Dan snarks, “You’re going to have to give me a few minutes, babe, and I’m going to need some coffee first, but don’t worry, you can have your turn if you want.”

She looks truly enraged. “Get. the. fuck. out. now.”

“I can’t.” Dan retorts, as insolently as possible. “You’re standing on my pants.” 

“Ugh.” the girl groans, looking revolted, and flounces toward the door. “You have two minutes to make yourself presentable.” 

Dan gives her the finger, a gesture she returns in a move that’s so unexpected for a girl he almost chokes on his own surprise, and then she slams the door angrily behind her, leaving him (finally) alone. 

He jumps out of bed hastily and the first thing he does is check his reflection in the nearest mirror. (It’s workable. His hair miraculously still looks purposefully tousled, and his freckles aren’t standing out too much.) Fumbling into his jeans and shoes, he looks desperately around the room for some intel on whoever the fuck this girl is. 

Her side of the room is obsessively neat, and there are some boring prints of some lesser known impressionist paintings tacked up on the wall over her bed. Unlike Alice’s massive and messy collage of photos, there’s just a few framed pictures arranged on the bedside table. Dan doesn’t even have to guess which desk is hers—it’s the one overflowing with books and papers, even though class doesn’t start for two days. (And he steals a piece gum out of Alice’s desk, just to cover his bases. And borrows her deodorant. He may as well get something out of fucking her.) 

Hanging on the back of the door, there’s a whiteboard covered in flowery curlicued scribble. Amy - SAE welcome back party. Come out! 

Amy reenters the room just as Dan is tugging his shirt down over his chest and reading the old textbook titles that are stacked in her bookshelf. (What? He’s no rookie. She might be annoying but she’s too fucking cute for him not to try.) 

“Stop looking at my stuff, you creep.” she says, crossly. “It’s a girl’s dorm room. Nothing you haven’t seen a hundred times before.”

“Yeah but not all of them had their very own library.” Dan replies, but in a distinctly nicer tone of voice. It was just a split-second, but he caught her glancing at his shoulders, and it’s enough for him to feel significantly more in control of the situation. “Did you leave any left for the rest of us?” 

“I don’t imagine you come across many of those in the primordial ooze that makes up your frat house.” 

Dan smiles at her, his most charming, devastating grin, because she clearly thinks he’s a braindead fraternity bro with nothing but a pretty face and he can’t wait to prove her wrong. 

“I’m Dan.” he offers. 

“I know.” Amy replies, and there’s a smug little tilt to her chin. “I figured out why you look so familiar. You’re that idiot who ran for GSA president as a freshman.”

Dan just smiles wider and takes a step toward her. “If you knew anything about politics, Amy, you would know sometimes people run just to come in second.”

He says her name with the intent to throw her off, since she still hasn’t introduced herself, but Amy just rolls her eyes. “I actually do know a thing or two about politics, and no one runs to lose like you did.” 

Her voice is still impossibly dry, but the corner of her mouth lifts, just slightly, in a coy little smirk—pleased to have gotten the upper hand so neatly. Dan can’t even be too annoyed, partly because it’s a fucking sexy expression, and partly because…he has his own trump card to play.

“Well,” he says, in a very aw-shucks kind of voice, and shoves his hands in his pockets. “I guess I’ll be learning a lot more in Professor Spellman’s American elections class.”

Amy looks flatteringly gobsmacked. “You are in Spellman’s History of the American Election course?”

“Yep.” Dan replies, smugly. History of the American Election is the capstone junior seminar for the political science major, and not just anyone can take it. It’s taught by the toughest professor on campus, who worked for two presidential administrations before “retiring” to teach. He only accepts twenty students per year, and you have to submit a portfolio of your previous work and endure a personal interview before he decides if you can take the class. Professor Spellman is old friends with the chair of the DCCC, and rumor has it if that if you impress him, he’ll land you a internship with the congressman of your choice after you graduate. A paid one, for that matter.

“…What’d you do, sleep with his TA?”

“Nice try, Amy.” Dan shakes his head at her for being so mean. “You know Professor Hardman doesn’t have a TA. I sat through the same fucking interview process you did.”

Amy doesn’t respond right away, just studies him like he’s a particular complicated theorem.  Dan can see her instinctive respect for the professor battling with her low opinion of him, and something else glimmering in her massive eyes, something genuinely curious. Her face is incredibly transparent, and Dan can’t help it…it’s fucking intriguing about how open she is around him and yet also (maybe even because of it) so obviously guarded. He stares right back at her, long enough that she blushes a little and looks away, and immediately Dan decides that he and Amy Brookheimer are going to fuck, and they’re also going to ace the class. He could fucking do anything if she looks like that around him. 

“Well…” Amy finally says, and sits primly down at her desk. “I guess I’ll see you on Monday, then.”

And that seems like an impossibly long time to wait.

Dan pulls out his phone—the usual endless string of text messages from friends and possible fuck buddies, nothing from April but he doesn’t care—and pretends to be studying it for a moment, as if he’s figuring out where to go. Amy, incredibly, based on the sounds coming from behind the wall of the desk, seems to be opening up her laptop to start working. On a Saturday.

When he’s certain she’s reasonably distracted, he peeks down at her over the edge of the desk. “Wanna get breakfast? The waffle bar will still be open.” 

Amy glances up, and for the first time since she encountered him in her dorm room, she looks truly flustered.

“What?! I…what?”

“Breakfast. It’s what people eat in the mornings.”

She actually looks confused. “I…I ate already.”

“It’s nine thirty in the morning. What’d you eat?”

“I had a smoothie. On my way back from my boyfriend’s.”

A boyfriend? Dan clocks the information without any disappointment. Any boyfriend who’s letting Amy Brookheimer leave his place before noon on a Saturday is not a boyfriend he has to worry about. “Oooh.” he deadpans. “I think you can spare some space for waffles.” 

Annoyance and intrigue are fighting across her face. “I…I have work to do.” she finally says, but she’s smiling helplessly, as if she knows she can’t resist him. “We have reading.”

“There are forty eight hours until class begins. Come on. I’ll share with you the intel I picked up on Spellman.” 

“I already did some research on him.” Amy says, in a very know-it-all tone of voice that, weirdly, just makes Dan like her more. She plucks a blue file folder from a stack on her desk. 

“Oh, excellent, Amy.” he says, and snatches the folder from her. “Waffles are on me.” 

He darts for the door, and predictably, Amy leaps after him. “Dan! That’s mine!”

Dan doesn’t give her the folder back until they’re seated outside the dining hall with their food. Immediately, she smacks him upside the head with it and then steals half of his bacon. Dan lets her. It’s going to be a good year. 

[ohthathurt]

Hey babe , for the prompt thing how about " Seduce Liam with love notes so Zayn stop pining" ?

Hope I did this justice babe xx

We follow a chilly winter’s morning, the atmosphere wasstill buzzing with the week-past New Year’s Eve celebrations as hopefulresolution-keepers bounded back and forth with promises of activity.

The scene is modern-time New York, the streets covered inwhite, slippery ice; cars grounded and parked under heaps of settled snow,people trudging through inches of ice in sturdy boots and water-proof pants. Alonesome coffee shop stands tucked into the corner of a brownstone, its whiteand red shop sign glistening with ice under the faint sunlight.

The four members of the shop’s founding crew were dashingabout busily, their coffee concoctions and warm pastries a hit with theholiday-exhausted crowd. Customers were ducking into the warmth of the shop,just to escape the bite of the snow-chilled air, only to be comforted by theintoxicating scent of brewing coffee and fresh baked goods.

The marble counter span an entire side of the shop; it was aglass-covered counter at the end where all their pastries, breads, pies, cakes,cheesecakes, croissants and buttery, sticky varieties of baklava.

The busy lines were branching out from the middle of thecounter, where a loud, mouthy man with piercing blue eyes and a Yorkshireaccent, stood accepting money and shouting out orders.

Behind him, a blond man with an infectious grin was boundingback and forth from the espresso machine and the syrup station, deftlyswitching coffee cups around with nimble, seasoned fingers.

Another man came out from behind the hidden door in thecorner of the shop, where the baked goods were kept, with a proud, dimpledsmile and a tray full of hot biscuits.

And right at the back of the shop, far away from the crowdsand his manically busy friends, sat a quiet but observant man, who looked likehe wanted to be elsewhere, like he wanted to escape into his mind.

His name was Zayn, a boy who had once come to New York as avery young 19 year-old with his three other friends, looking to write out hisdreams. This was a boy who had failed miserably at achieving his dreams, enoughto fall on hard times. The solution was soon decided simple: get a loan andopen a coffee shop, supplying the one thing New Yorkers could survive anapocalypse with.

It had worked, tremendously so, and while Louis, Harry andNiall had been ecstatic at the success of their conjoined business, Zayn hadstill felt an ache of regret.

Currently, he sat doodling idly on a napkin, which belongedto their shop, the name ‘Just Brew It’ etched in a cursive brown font overwhite. Niall had been the one to come up with the name, claiming Shia LaBeoufas inspiration.

**

Back at the end of the line was stood a frazzled and verylate Liam Payne. Usually, he couldn’t give a rat’s arse about being early, hisPA gracious enough to handle any problems before he lazily popped in at 11am.But today was different. He was supposed to be at a meeting with an importantclient, the sort who’d happily invest millions of dollars into Liam’s companyif he was buttered just the right way.

But he needed to be charming, and in order to be charming,he needed coffee. Desperately.

And that is why he was stood on a Tuesday morning, detestingthe loud crowds around him who were enjoying the cold in a coffee shop thatlooked ordinary enough. But, it was the closest to his office right now andLiam didn’t want to risk a 10 minute drive to his favourite coffee place withthe risk of getting stuck in traffic.

A child was crying loudly next to him, sat on a chair besidea stressed-looking mum and Liam was sure he going to join the crying child soonif he didn’t get his caffeine fix.

He loosened his tie, before changing his mind and doing itup again, he can’t look even a tiny bit off, he was dressed to impress. He scannedthe large interior of the shop, eyes roving casually over the baristas and atall man who was holding a tray of what looked like biscuits.

Liam froze to a stop, as his eyes locked onto the silhouetteof a young man. He couldn’t see much of the man; his head full of shock blackhair was ducked down, arms littered in numerous tattoos, shown off by ashort-sleeved work tee. A light scruff on his jaw was all Liam could make ofhis face until –

His breath was taken away, quite literally, when the man,the boy, looked up to face hiscoworker who came over to him. And when the boy smiled, a sweet and serenething, beautifully glinting eyes crinkling up and a perfectly angled nose thatheld a hint of scrunch, Liam’s jaw weakened and he feared he was about to startdrooling.

The boy’s face was enough to stir something up inside ofLiam, something that had been silenced a long time ago, an urge to possess, anurge to ruin but in the mostdelicious way possible.

God, was heactually stood here in a coffee shop lusting after a random barista? He fannedhimself with his suit jacket inconspicuously, looking around to make sure noone saw that.

He edged slowly up the line, people in front of him leavingone by one, but he kept his eyes trained on the boy, he couldn’t help himself.Seconds turned into minutes and yet Liam still couldn’t take his eyes off him.

***

“Zaynie!” Niall rushed up to him as he was doodling still,and he looked up at his friend, gracing him with a small smile. Niall’sliveliness was always infectious, his cackling laughter some of the best noisesZayn has ever heard.

“What’s up?”

“Louis wants to know why you’re brooding again.” Niallstated bluntly, head tilting backwards where Louis was pretending not tolisten.

With a huff, Zayn replied, “I’m not brooding – no, honestlyI’m not.” He emphasized as his friendlooked doubtful.

“Just, I feel like there’s nothing to look forward to thisyear. I dunno, is this what seasonal depression feels like?”

Louis, who had given up all pretense of not listening, cameover and tapped Niall on the shoulder to let him take over the orders. Hisperceived stare bore through Zayn, the latter of whom squirmed uncomfortablyunder the scrutiny.

“Listen, mate, how about we use that money we saved and getyou to – “

Zayn hastily replied with a resounding no, that money was for when it all went balls up, and he wasn’tgoing to waste it just because he felt homesick or bored.

“Oi, Louis! Here’s a Midlander for ya!” Niall called outfrom his position at the cash register, a wide grin threatening to split hisface as he chatted merrily with a customer.

Louis turned around with a confused expression, “What, issomeone cosplaying again?”

Zayn snorted and got up from his seat, determined to end theuncomfortably deep conversation he was having with Louis. He walked towardsNiall with a smile, “Nah, it just means the person is from –“

But the rest of his sentence never made it out of his throatbecause apparently someone ran away with his tongue. Someone who looked a lot like the man standing in front of him;regarding Zayn with calculating yet warm brown eyes.

Zayn took a few seconds to take him in, he seemed to beolder than him, late 30s maybe? He hadthose aforementioned gentle brown eyes, an adorably appropriate button nose andlips that were made to sin.

How were they so red? –

A loud clearing of the throat snapped him out of his reverieand he winced and realized he had been staring at the customer’s lips. Hischeeks flushed heavily and he ducked down behind Niall who was turningviolently purple from holding in his laughter. The dick.

A deep voice brought his attention back to the man who onlyamusedly murmured, “That’s Outlander, actually,” in a familiar yet foreignaccent. He was English and his accent was maybe close to where Louis and Zaynoriginated from, but it had a slight tang of New York phasing out of it.

So, he was someone who has lived here long, Zayn thoughtabsently as he kept his eyes trained on the cup in front of him, uncapping amarker before looking up at the man again.

“Your name?” He rasped out, clearing his throat andhopefully his thoughts of anything too inappropriate.

…Is what you’ll shoutwhen I finally get you under me, Liam thought, before mentally giving hisbrain a slap. He was here for coffee not to pick a barista up.

“Liam,” he assuredly stated, a bit of his lost confidence inthe face of beauty (literally)returning to his demeanour.

He was confident and assertive in the way he uttered his name, and Liamwas a name Zayn felt he wouldn’t forget anytime soon. He blushed lightly at hisown thoughts and got to work quickly, unknowingly tugging at the heart stringsof a man who thought that love was lost to him.

***

Right, so Zayn was definitely, properly, gone for Liam. Everything about the man endeared and sethim on fire simultaneously. Those eyes as they crinkled up in a rare laugh atsomething Zayn said, that cute button nose that always takes the time to sniffat Harry’s baked goods appreciatively, and those lips that curve perfectlyaround his name.

Liam had been coming round to the coffee shop for over amonth now and with the weather slowly warming up and Valentine’s Day fastapproaching, Zayn was adamant to date Liam.

He’s got this coffee coloured birthmark that he feels is somesort of fated clue; Liam was always dressed professionally and ratherdeliciously in suits with perfectly knotted ties. Zayn’s favourite was the greycheck-patterned suit paired with a white shirt and a pink silk pocket square.

Liam had been going to a charity gala wearing that suit,he’d informed Zayn , as he stood idly in front of the marble counter, on a lessbusy evening while Zayn waited for the espresso to brew.

Zayn remembered he could hardly keep his eyes off the man, hishair shorn down to a buzzcut with the slightest hint of silver around histemples. But he was soon caught, as amused brown eyes met his as Zayn finallyfinished doing a body scan on Liam.

The boy had blushed intensely before turning his back onLiam, pretending to keep busy with the espresso, even though he had to do nothing;the machine was doing all the work.

A slight chuckle was all he heard before the machine drippedthe dark brown liquid down into the waiting shot glass. A few minutes later, hefinished preparing the man’s drink and handed it over to him with a smallsmile.

“Thank you,” was all Liam murmured to him before he wasgraced with a wink and the man soon left after.

And that isexactly why Zayn is confused; Liam seems to show interest in the way he regardsZayn, the way his stare makes the boy’s cheeks flame, the little flirty momentsand smirks Liam throws his way.

A month of flirtyconversations and suggestive looks and yet not even an invitation to a drink?

Yeah, he was confused.

So he did what any person in a confusing situation might do,he turned to his friends. But as he filled his three friends in on histroubles, three very sly, almost Cheshire cat-like grins awaited him. He couldpractically see Louis rubbing his hands together in anticipation.

What the fuck did hejust get himself into?

***

Harry opted to help him out first, which was rather helpfulof his friend, Zayn thought, but all that ground to a halt when he heard hisfriend’s idea.

“A love note?”Zayn all but exclaimed incredulously as he lounged on their shared couch in thelittle apartment they shared not a long way away from the shop.

Harry who was currently perched on Louis’ lap (“My baby may have outgrown me, but he’s stillmy baby!”) nodded enthusiastically at him, jostling his boyfriend’s grip onhis beer bottle.

“Watch it!”

Harry only frowned down at Louis before turning back toZayn, ignoring his boyfriend’s irritated huff.

“Trust me, Liam’s gonna love it and he’s going to be beggingto know who it’s from!”

Zayn sighed quietly, mulling over the proposed idea.

The television blared loudly as Niall sat on the carpetedfloor in front of it, staring unblinkingly at Tiger Woods moving around on agolf course. Louis looked like he was close to dozing off, his head alreadyleaning against Harry’s shoulder and his beer bottle now lying empty on thefloor.

Great, so thosetwo were no help.

He remained unconvinced by the idea of an unsigned love notefor Liam but Harry’s dimples deepened invitingly and those trustworthy, greeneyes finally groaned an agreement out of him.

God help him.

The next morning, Harry was acting like someone hadwillingly handed a baby over to him and named him Mick; he was dashing about,throwing smug grins at Zayn who only rolled his eyes at the impish behaviour.

When Zayn had asked him that morning, before the doors tothe shop were opened, what he had written in the love note, Harry had onlyshaken his head in a scolding manner before ordering him to start the service.

Soon, Liam was stood in front of the cash register, orderinghis usual coffee to-go, grinning at Louis as they made small talk. Zayn wastucked in the shadows at the end of the shop, keeping an eye on Harry as he boundedup to Liam with a pastry package. He shoved it at a perplexed Liam beforerather loudly proclaiming, “From a secret admirer!”

Zayn groaned internally and hid his head in his hands, trustMr. “I’m a baker!” to want to seduce a man with a baked pastry. When he lookedback up, Liam was stood a little way down the marble counter to the side wherethere were no customers. He was preoccupied with the pastry bag, those adorablebushy eyebrows furrowing in confusion as he pulled out a card. His eyes roveover the card before he pursed his lips in an odd expression.

Oh wow, this was Liam trying to hold in his laughter.

Wait –

He was laughing atthe card, oh God, what did Harry do?

Mind made up, he casually strolled past the cash register,pretending to straighten up the syrup station before he noticed Liam.

“Oh! Liam, didn’t see you there, mate. What’s that you’vegot?” He asked as nonchalantly as possible, although going by Louis’ scoff hemay have come across as too eager.

But the man didn’t mind sharing the ridiculous card, a largegrin gracing his usually subdued features. He flipped the card towards Zayn andheld it up. The boy took a look; it was a pink and white Valentine’s card witha smiling cartooned hammer and a nail looking at each other. The caption said:“I want to nail you! Happy Valentine’s Day!”

Zayn paled considerably as Liam took his expression ashorrified judgment and laughed loudly.

“This is properly hilarious, and kind of unnecessary.” Liamsaid, casually looking up at Zayn but his attention still on the god-awfulcard.

“Unnecessary?” Zayn stuttered out.

“Yeah, it’s just whoever this is clearly wants no-stringsattached and I mean at this point in my life, I’m not looking for that. I’mlooking for something permanent.” He proclaimed, the words hanging meaningfullybetween them before Liam rapped the counter with his knuckles and headed outwith a goodbye.

Zayn stood there, utterly embarrassed yet still determined,if he was to judge Liam’s intent gaze towards him as he stated his wish for afuture.

And yes, he wanted exactly that. He wanted a future withLiam, where instead of sharing small smiles and awkward small talk over themarble counter, he shared soft, gentle pecks and warm hugs with a murmured good morning.

He sighed heavily and banged his forehead against themarble.

Right, time to break out the big guns. Tommo to the rescue.

***

Louis was very secretive about his idea, even went as far asto claim it was a gift. Now that confused Zayn, because Louis had packed the‘gift’ into a very thin brown bag to go with Liam’s Sunday coffee and breakfastthat he always took at the shop.

Sundays were also pretty stressful for Zayn; not just thatcustomers were milling in by the tens, rather a very intense looking Liam Paynesat in close proximity to where Zayn usually stood behind the counter. Hisknees felt weak every time they made eye contact, something hot and stormybrewing in those brown orbs.

But as Liam reached for his breakfast sandwich, somethingheavy like a booklet falls out of the brown packaging. Confusedly, he reacheddown for the long booklet that looked more like a cheque book but the vibrantpink and purple colours assured him it wasn’t.

He raised his head and looked around, maybe someone slippedit in or left it accidentally, but he paused as he flipped it around to readwhat was written on it.

Across the shop, Zayn held his breath as Liam looked aroundhim at the customers chatting away before finally zeroing in on Louis.

Zayn frowned as he watched Liam stand up from his chair andstride determinedly towards Louis before seeming hesitant to talk to him.

“Mate?” Louis has noticed now that Liam is stood in front ofhim, but he doesn’t see the cheque book like gift clutched in Liam’s fist.

The older man clears his throat uncomfortably, beforeraising the booklet to Louis’ eye level.

“Um, Louis, I appreciate the gift but, um, I’m not sure youand I – “

But Zayn zoned out of what Liam was saying, no his attentionwas on the booklet that Liam was waving around.

“Sex Favours for You,” it proclaimed in a loud, black textas Zayn felt like he needed to change state into a liquid form so he couldgladly sink down a drain.

Shamefaced, his cheeks burned red as he watched Liamcontinue his speech apparently letting Louis down gently.

But his friend only chuckled, causing Liam to stop and raisehis eyebrows.

“Mate! It’s not from me,it’s from your secret admirer.” Louis set the record straight, with a smugexpression fixed on his face.

Liam’s face cleared itself of the discomfort, and he laughedlightly and flapped the book around comically. For some reason, he snuck a lookat Zayn, who hurried to look busy and not like he was shamelesslyeavesdropping.

The man cleared his throat and went to a nearby bin,dropping the booklet unceremoniously and without any doubts. Zayn held hisbreath; what did this mean for him? Sure, Liam said he wasn’t interested inonly sex but had looked at him rather significantly before throwing the giftaway.

Seriously, what was he going to do now?

***

Zayn flopped onto his belly with a groan on his bed. Niallpatted his leg affectionately before falling silent; the only sounds in theroom were Zayn’s heavy breathing and Niall’s constant munching on crisps.

“Zaynie…” Niall started gently, before sighing anddiscarding his packet of snacks to the side before manhandling Zayn to facehim.

“Stop it,” he warned him, flicking Zayn’s nose. “You’reoverthinking this, mate. You like him right? Just tell him! Or if it’s easierfor you, write it down and give it to him.”

Zayn’s voice wobbled as he managed a, “Niall, I think I lovehim.” The boy turned back onto his belly, hiding his face in his pillow, eyesfilled with tears.

But Niall jumped up off the bed landing with a thump on thefloor.

“That’s it!” He reached over to Zayn’s work desk, a mess ofscripts and unfinished works, before taking out a writing pad and offering itto Zayn with a pen.

“Write what you love about him,” Niall ordered Zayn who onlystared at his friend in a daze before he was sitting up and accepting the padand pen.

“What’s that gonna do?” Zayn’s voice rasped out, tears stillevident in his tone.

“Solve your fecking problems!” Niall turned ratherdramatically and marched out of Zayn’s bedroom, shutting the door behind him.

Words were his thing, had always been his specialty, evenwhen they failed to get him his dream career. That’s what he did best. So Zaynput pen to paper and started writing, loopy handwriting shaping out the profoundsort of love he felt for Liam.

***

The next day Liam doesn’t show up until the evening; clad ina black tux this time, hair grown out and artfully styled, a small smilegracing his features as he greeted Zayn.

The boy was subdued Liam noticed, more so than usual, andhis odd behaviour worried the man who didn’t like seeing Zayn like this, likesomeone had snuffed out the light inside of him.

Zayn was chewing incessantly on his bottom lip, refusing tomake eye contact with Liam but soon Niall brought his order out with a biggrin.

Liam accepted it with and absent-minded thanks, and turnedaround to leave before he realized something was wrong halfway out of the shop.His coffee cup was empty; rather it was full of papers, he realized perplexedly,as he shook it back and forth and heard a rustling.

Confused beyond belief and fearing something inappropriateyet again, he slowly edged the lid off and stared down at the messy mound ofchits, loopy handwriting staring up at him.

The first chit was unrolled and it read, “I love the way hesmirks at me with those unbelievable looking lips.”

Liam huffed at the sentence, bizarre as it was, he couldn’thelp but notice the word ‘love’. His heart skipped a beat and he reached foranother chit, oblivious to the four sets of eyes on him, one particular setbelonged to a rather nervous and teary-eyed boy.

The second one read, “I love the way he always says goodmorning even if he’s having a shit day.”

A third chit said, “I love the way his eyes twinkle when hetalks about his family.”

“I love the little coffee-coloured birthmark on his neck.”

“I love that he always takes the time to get to knowpeople.”

“I love the suits he wears almost every day.”

“I love the fact that even though he doesn’t love me, healways makes sure I’m okay.”

At the last one, Liam furrowed his eyebrows, emotionsflitting from happiness to complete confusion. Who was this person? And how didthey know him so well? He was about to look up to ask Niall, when he noticed afinal chit at the bottom of the empty cup.

“I love you, Liam. Always.

          - Zayn xx”

Liam’s breath whooshed out of him, and he looked up at theboy with his mouth agape.

Zayn loved him? Him?

Finally, the last puzzle piece shifted into place; the boyhe was head over heels for was actually interested in him, in Liam. He could scarcely believe hisluck, not only was he under the impression that Zayn wasn’t interested in him,Liam was always aware of the significant age gap between them.

He huffed out a breath incredulously before forcing himselfto move. But he didn’t make his way towards Zayn like his heart was pushing himto.

He forced himself to walk out the door determinedly.

Zayn watched the love of his life walk out of the coffeeshop, possibly to never return. The coffee shop was completely empty ofcustomers and Zayn couldn’t help but let out a wounded noise as he sank to theground, arms wrapped around himself.

He felt hands on him, comforting words murmured into hishair, but he didn’t care. Liam had taken one look at the person behind thesilly notes and decided he didn’t want any of it. All of his fears had cometrue.

He doesn’t know how long he sat there, knees aching, cryinginto his friends’ embraces, before a loud bang jolted him.

Footsteps hurried towards them, and he heard Louis shoutout, “What the fuck do you want now?”

All of a sudden, he felt the warmth of Harry leave him, andZayn felt shocked at the loss before it was replaced by another person. Liam.

“Darling, don’t cry,” Liam cooed in his ear, lips pressinggently onto his tear-stained cheeks.

Zayn let out a confused sob as he cautiously looked up atLiam, who only tutted quietly at him, cupping his cheeks with large hands. Afleeting kiss was pressed into his forehead and Zayn leaned into the wonderfulfeeling before Liam was wiping his tears for him.

Still sitting on the floor like a dolt, Zayn attempted tosort himself out as best he could, scrubbing his face clean of tears andrunning a haphazard hand through his hair.

Liam gazed patiently at Zayn before murmuring to the boy, “Now,I still have an event to get to, darling, but I was wondering if you were freetomorrow?”

“Tomorrow? Why?” The boy asked with an adorably confused expressionon his face.

Liam beamed at him, “Yeah, there’s this art gallery openingI want to take you to.”

Zayn’s mouth gaped open, eyes wide as they gazed up at Liam,“You – you’re taking me to an art show? Like – on a date?”

The man nodded and chuckled at Zayn’s answering grin,pressing more lingering kisses onto the boy’s cheeks before moving away tostand up.

Zayn stood up with him, noting how his friends had alreadyleft, probably to grace him with the last shred of dignity he had left. Liamreached over to the marble counter, where he picked up a beautiful bouquet ofwhite roses and offered it gently to Zayn.

“White roses for my Yorkshire boy.”

Liam leaned down and kissed the corner of his mouth softly,before smiling at him and turning away to the doors of the shop. He stopped atthe doors and turned back to Zayn and called out.

“See you tomorrow, darling. I’ll pick you up.”

And with that final sentence, the love of Zayn’s life walkedout again, this time leaving the boy with a heart bursting full of joy and asmile that lasted for hours as he buried his nose in the beautiful flowers allnight.