#zaynsalbumficfest

[so-why-let-your-voice-be-tamed]

I was tagged by @reminiscingintherain and @allwaswell16 to post a snippet from a fic. I just added another 3K to my @zaynsalbumsficfest fic, so have another snippet from that!

I am gonna tag @londonfoginacup @uhoh-but-yeah-alright @neondiamond @chai-hat-tea @voulezloux @lululawrence @laynefaire and @jacaranda-bloom for a snippet if you're working on something!

He’s been home for all of five minutes before he calls Louis. He knows that it’s late, that Louis has an early shift tomorrow, but he also knows that no matter what, Louis will pick up. Even when he has do not disturb on, there are some numbers that he will allow to come through, and Liam feels fortunate to be one of them.

“Li?” Louis’ voice sounds sleepy when he picks up, but alert enough that Liam knows he hadn’t fallen asleep yet. “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know what I did wrong,” Liam whispers, curling up on the couch and wrapping Zayn’s favourite blanket around himself. “I - I thought this was going to fix it. I thought - Aiden was happy, and Zayn was happy, and I thought that’d be enough, but I’m not happy and Zayn yelled at me.”

“He did?” Louis sounds more awake at that, worried tone that Liam can’t quite place. 

“Well, no,” he concedes, “actually, he got sort of quiet instead. Which is worse. I just don’t know what went wrong. He said he hated how incredibly decent I could be, and then he just told me that he was sleeping at Aiden’s for the night, and I - do you think he knows?”

Louis is quiet for a moment. “Knows what?”

“You know,” Liam says, “that I’ve been having these thoughts about them. That I’m a-” he whispers the last word, as though Zayn’s spirit is still lingering here and will pick up on it. “homophobe.”

There’s a soft sigh on the other end of the line. “Liam,” Louis’ voice is patient in a way that makes Liam’s stomach squirm uneasily, because it’s the voice Louis reserves for people that really frustrate him. He has an apology on the tip of his tongue, but Louis doesn’t give him time to say it. “I don’t think you’re a homophobe.”

“But I-”

“No,” Louis cuts him off. “Listen to me. I’m one of your best friends. I would know. You’re not a homophobe Liam. Not any more than I am, or Harry is. Sure, we all have to unlearn things, because society’s taught us to think a certain way, but that doesn’t make you homophobic.” He sighs again, gently. “I wasn’t going to say anything, but, Liam, have you ever considered that maybe the reason you’re feeling so upset about this is because you’re in love with Zayn?”