014.

Zayn and Niall had been spending most of their time together. Liam was still staying with Niall and it only seemed to be a coincidence that he seemed to be somewhere off into the house when Zayn came to visit.

Zayn hadn't given up on Liam either, he wasn't sure he ever would. He was growing desperate. But at the same time, each moment that he went to Niall's place made him forget about what he'd been meaning to do. 

He would come ready and prepared to ask Niall if he's seen Liam, but each time, Niall would cut him off and get them on a completely different topic. He wasn't exactly sure if the lad was doing it on purpose, or if he truly didn't know what Zayn was about to say. 

Either way, it always ended up the same. Zayn going home and not realizing that he didn't get to do what he had meant to do until he was so close to falling asleep at night. It was starting to make Zayn mad. And he was starting to get annoyed as well too.

He needs to know where Liam is. needs to know that he's OK. needs him with him, to keep him company, to care for him, to ,eventually at one point in time, love him. He can't have all of that if Liam isn't there. And since Niall seems to be his friend now, he may very well be the only hope he has. 

It's not like he means any harm to Liam, he really doesn't. He only wants to take care of him, love him, keep him close. And hopefully, once he gets him back -if he gets him back- he won't have any of his pride moments where he totally loses control of the situation at hand, and starts to do things he'll later regret. 

Liam, on the other hand, had told Niall about Zayn when he started to notice that he came there. It didn't change Niall's opinion on Zayn however, he seemed like a great lad. A little weird, but a great lad nonetheless.

Niall promised him that he wouldn't say anything to the lad, nor would he give off any hints that Liam was there. He didn't want to ruin the great friendship he seemed to form with Zayn by lying to him, but it technically wasn't lying if he hadn't said anything in the first place, right? Right. So Niall would keep it that way.

And every time Niall sensed that Zayn was in the process of asking if Niall had seen a puppy-looking boy with sweet brown eyes, Niall would steer them away into various topics. It was easy that way. And Zayn seemed to get easily distracted into what Niall was saying, which kept him from bringing it up again until the very next day that they would see each other.

After that one time, Niall tried not to make any other moves on Liam. He could see that Liam liked Zayn to some extent. He wasn't sure how much but in the way that Liam blushed a little bit when Zayn came to knock on the door, told Niall that it was at least a crush. So he told himself not to worry about it or get jealous because if the love of his life was meant to come, then he would come. No need to rush things.

However, that didn't stop him from getting any closer to Liam. He knew this would be a bit of trouble quite soon when Zayn found out that he knew where Liam was. He knew very well because Liam was inside of his home. And he knew he'd have to pick sides if it ever came down to it. Be on Zayn's side and hand over Liam, or be on Liam's side and keep him away from Zayn.

When a knock sounded at the door, Niall unwrapped his arms from around Liam. The knock discontinued his thoughts about Liam and Zayn which he was somewhat glad for. Though he knew that just on the other side of the door was on the the people he had been thinking about. No one else came to visit him.

"Hey Niall", Zayn greeted him with a grin. Niall smiled back. He was tired, but he could do with the company. After all, Zayn was his friend, and he could at least take advantage of that now before it's too late. Because pretty soon, he was sure he wouldn't have any friends once Zayn found out.

"Hi Zayn, come on in". And of course, Niall could see that Zayn wanted to ask him something.

"Yeah, before I do that, I was wondering have you seen a--" His sentence was cut short and it wasn't even by Niall this time. No, Niall had nothing to do with it. Liam had only just woken up and hearing voices, he was curious as to who it was. Big mistake. 

He would think that he'd learn by now that only one person ever visits Niall now, and that's Zayn. But Liam was so out of it, having just woken up and all, he could barely think, much less recognize any person's voice.

"Liam?" Zayn asked. But before he could even see a face to make sure it was who he thought it was, Liam had quickly spun back around, heading back towards the bedroom where he thought he should just stay the rest of the day.

Niall, at this point, was completely frozen. He knew he'd lose a friend, but not today. And he couldn't even really blame Liam for coming out. It was most likely an honest mistake. He could only hope that Zayn didn't see too much in order to know that that was really him.

"Niall, was that Liam? Is Liam here?" Zayn's words were frantic, confused, and vicious, all at the same time. Niall didn't know how to answer. He didn't want to lie, but he guessed it would come down to this at some point in time. Better sooner than later, he thought.

"No, I told you before, it's just a friend staying here. He's a little bit shy and surprised, he hadn't expected company. Maybe you should come back later, he's probably a bit shaken up from seeing a stranger." Niall rushed all of it words out, slamming the door shut right in Zayn's face as soon as he was finished with them. He ignored the 'no wait!' that came from Zayn. He'd leave eventually and hopefully, the next time he came, because knowing Zayn, he will, he won't bring anything up.

Both Liam and Niall were in some deep shit.