Chapter Text
Present time
"And that ladies and gentlemen was Zayn Malik's new hit song "Pillow Talk," now you have to wonder what is going through the singer's head whenever he hears this song. I mean this song is obvious a love song so you have to wonder exactly who was the inspiration behind this great song that has been breaking all sorts of records since it's release. Of course there are rumors flying around that it could be about his ex-fiancee Little Mix's very own Perrie Edwards who's band is releasing their new song Secret Love Song part 2, or his current ex- up and coming model Gigi-"
The radio was shut off before the announcer could even finish that sentence. If it weren't for the fact that he was in a car and driving Zayn would have punched or thrown something to release all the anger and frustration he was currently feeling. Ever since his split with Gigi and his release of his new song Zayn has been a little (okay a lot) annoyed with the constant questions on who the song is about, if he still has feelings for either Perrie or Gigi, if he regrets breaking off with either girl, etc.
What he hated most was how quick both girls were using the song as an excuse to tie their name with his. Perrie and her band have yet to crack America so she was using this as an opportunity on how he misses her but she doesn't miss him cause she is an "independent woman" who is focusing on her career then worrying about some boy who left her. Gigi wants to get on the cover of Vogue magazine and what better way to get on that cover by using one of their favorite clients and saying that his new song is about her.
Zayn took a deep breath refusing to upset himself more over the situation. He's already talked about it with a lot of interviewers that the song wasn't about either girl that it was about someone else. Now people were wondering who it was about, they were trying to discover who was the person that inspired Zayn to write such a beautiful song. He didn't want to say who it was about and every time they asked he would either avoid the question or he would find some way to change the topic.
He looked at his arm, the one that held his own tattoo, his henna tattoo was his unique tattoo, the one if found on someone else's body would show him that they fell in love with him. What they fail to realize that beneath it was one of roses. People would always assume that he just got it because it was "cool" because aside from Perrie's and Gigi's tattoos, Zayn was cover in them. He loved tattoos but he made sure to leave some parts of his body free so that if he got the chance he could leave some room for whenever he fell in love he could see their own tattoos appear on his body.
The roses weren't just any ordinary tattoo, no, the roses belonged to his first love. The first person who knew he was special before the whole world did, the one person who loved him for him and not because he was a pretty face or anything shallow like that.
Looking at the tattoo he allowed a small smile spread across his face. He really did miss him, more than anything sadly their relationship was put to an end due to the long distance as well as the whole closeting thing. While they try to work around him being famous as well as forced to hide his relationship, it did put a lot of stress to them. They were both passionate and both loved showing the whole world who the other belong to. The two were the jealous type and with him having a different beard every minute and force to have the "cheating boyfriend" image it did made him a bit on edge. Not to mention that his lover was also working on getting his own record deal which he was able to achieved at the age of 17. While that did make Zayn happy, knowing that his boyfriend got the chance to show the world that he was also special it just added more stress to their fragile relationship.
Like Zayn, he was force to be in the closet, force to have a beard and force to act like he was happy when he clearly wasn't.
In the end with all the stress, the days spent apart, they both decided that it was best to end it before either of them got hurt, they still remain friends and were still as close as ever but slowly they lost contact with one another due to both their busy schedules.
Then he met Perrie. At the age of 20 he met the blond young woman who helped him get over his past relationship. He was the only person Zayn's ever been with so being with another did trouble him a bit but at the end of the day she did help him move on, he did fell for her, he fell hard for her, her butterfly tattoo appeared on his skin the same time his henna tattoo appeared on her, once he saw it and he was sure that she was honest when she told him that she loved him; he proposed to her and she of course accepted. When he introduced her to the family his mother and sisters welcome her with open arms while his father was a bit weary around her. He made it clear that he didn't trust Perrie, he was skeptical about her intentions with his son and while she assured him that she loved his son more than anything (she did have his tattoo on her after all) Yaser was still weary of her.
Zayn shrugged it off, thinking that his father was still not use to seeing his son with someone else and that he was still hoping (him and his lover's mother) that he and his ex would get back together.
Both his mom and Perrie along with his sisters were planning the wedding and Waliyha wanted to invite his closest friends Louis, Harry, Niall, and of course him.
Perrie knew about him and while Zayn would love to have him at his wedding he would also respect whatever decision his fiance wanted and would stand by her.
Perrie of course said that she knew how important he was to the Maliks and while she was a bit insecure on the relationship between them she still allowed him to be invited knowing that he was important to Zayn and his family. Sadly neither of them would make it to the alter.
Perrie was always trying to bring attention to them by posting private pictures of themselves on her public Instagram, making sure that her people had paps taking pictures of them whenever they were out or whenever she was spending time with his family.
He tried talking with her about it but even though she claim to understand she still made every private event they had together public. To make matters worse she did all this whenever her and her band had a new single or something big coming up.
Things took a turn for the worse when rumors of his "cheating" past resurface and made him seem like someone who didn't care for Perrie and how every time they were out it was because Zayn or rather "Zayn" was making it up to her instead of it being just a nice lunch date that he wanted to do for her. It got worse when Niall and Jawaad showed him her mother's facebook page and her islamaphobic comments.
Zayn of course question Perrie and she immediately got defensive and started accusing them of photo shopping that and how dare he believe his friend and cousin over her since neither of his friends or his cousin made it no secret that they did not like her. Zayn immediately defended them, stating that even though they didn't like her they wouldn't stoop so low as to create something like this, he even told her that neither of them were friends with Debra on Facebook and the only reason they found this was because they saw it trending on Twitter and saw pictures of it on Instagram and Tumblr.
Perrie of course started attacking the fans and called them names which made Zayn become defensive as well. The two had a huge argument over it both attacking the other's work as well as their own fans, before either of them knew it they were using the other's insecurities against them.
Perrie told him that the only reason he's with her is because he was getting over Liam fucking Payne while Zayn accused her of only loving him for what he was giving her and what he was doing for her not him as a person but as to what he could provide for her.
Perrie of course took the defensive and told him that that was not true even though both knew it was, Zayn decided that enough was enough and left, telling her that the wedding was off and that he was leaving her, she of course started yelling insult after insult at him Zayn ignored her and just left.
When he arrived back at his house his family was there, he told them what happened and how he immediately ended the relationship. His sisters and mother gave him sympathetic looks and did their best to comfort him while his dad just stared at the scene before him. He didn't really want to know what his dad was thinking, more importantly he didn't want to see the look on his dad's face but he knew he had to, if he wanted to get things over with he would have to face his dad and his gloating sooner rather than later. When the women went to the kitchen to make dinner Zayn was left alone with his dad.
If he was honest with himself he was waiting for his dad to say "I told you so," or to have a smug look on his face and told him that he was right all along to not trust her. He didn't do any of these things instead he looked at him and asked him if he wanted to talk about it. Zayn said not at the moment so his dad just nodded his head and patted the empty seat next to him. Zayn walked over to the seat and laid down, resting his head on his dad's lap. Yaser didn't say anything about Perrie, he just ran his fingers through his boy's hair, telling him about his day and how he, the girls made plans to spend the evening with the Paynes since it has been a week since they had hang out. Zayn smiled, even though Liam and he broke things off he was happy that their families still spend time together and still kept their family traditions going.
But the thing that made him happy, the one thing that Zayn will always love is that not once his dad said "I told you so," even though he could have easily said it he didn't he just kept talking about his day and plans for the weekend, doing everything he could to take Zayn's mind off of Perrie. He felt foolish for thinking that his dad would ever do that and just snuggle closer to him. Forever thankful that his dad did everything he could to make him forget about Perrie and Liam.
Then came Gigi. Gigi wasn't so bad, she was nice and was half-Palestine so it was nice being with someone who was a part of the same culture as him. Things were okay, they weren't perfect nor was it alright it was just okay. In all honesty the two were just using the other for mutual promo but they did learn more about each other which resulted in them falling in love with the other, and then he ended up having her colorful humming bird tattoo on his shoulder blade and her having his henna tattoo on her ankle.
But sadly the two didn't work out, they were using the other for promo and while the two did come to love one another they both ended since Gigi got tired of trying to compete with a ghost of his past. She knew he use to be in love with someone else and while she tried to get him to talk, to open up Zayn refused to share that part of himself with another person. He did it once and it almost forced him out of the closet if it wasn't for his manager he would have been having a lot of damage control to handle.
Gigi knew that she was competing for Zayn's attention, whenever they went out to do something and she did something she would see Zayn staring at her, almost as if he was silently judging her thinking to himself that whatever she was doing she wasn't doing it right.
Gigi got tired of it and told Zayn that she couldn't do it anymore, that she was tired of being compare to someone she didn't know but she didn't like it and if Zayn was honest with himself he was tired of leading her on. The two ended things while Gigi used the break up to her advantage Zayn decided to write a song about Liam.
While writing the song Zayn discover that his feelings for Liam never went away, that Perrie was right, he was always going to be using other people to get over Liam but he'll never be over him because he will always compare them to his brown eye jaan. He would always try and find flaws in them and think to himself that Liam wouldn't do that or that Liam would have probably love to do this with him.
So here he was in his car driving back to Bradford for Harry and Louis's wedding hoping that Liam would be there and hoping that he still had a chance to be with him and that it wasn't to late.
*~*~*~*~*
Three days earlier
"Daddy!"
Liam turned to the childlike voice as he spotted his little girl running towards him. He couldn't help but smile as he saw his baby girl ran to him. He bend down as he scoop her in his arms and hugged her as tight as he could.
"Hey little bit,"
She pulled back from him and playfully glared at him.
"Daddy, I'm not little anymore," she said pouting at him making Liam laugh a little.
"Well to me you are and always be my little girl,"
She pouted before he laughed and kissed her cheek and put her down. When he did, she turned around and grabbed his arms and wrapped them around her before she lean closer to him.
"Thank you Sophia for watching her,"
Sophia just smiled at him,
"You're welcome Liam I was more than happy to take her to a parade that means a lot to her,"
"It should, her mother and I use to take her to La Dia De Los Muertos parade ever since she was a baby," he said looking down at his little angel.
"Well she loved it and also wanted to see her mother and place flowers on her grave,"
"Did you do it?"
"Yes,"
"Okay, thank you, Yve,"
"Yes?"
"Did you thank Ms. Smith for taking you to the parade?"
Yve stared at her daddy before she looked at the woman in front of her. She didn't like this lady, she was always trying to take her daddy away from her and was always ignoring her whenever she was alone with her, but whenever she was around her daddy or uncles or aunts she acted like a sweetheart. Well no more, she didn't like this lady and it was time her daddy knew it.
"Thank you Ms. Smith for almost losing me and for trying to get my tio Paddy to leave me," she said with a sweet smile, it was obvious she was spending to much time with her Tio Louis but he was her favorite uncle and she love spending time with him.
She then let go of her daddy's arms and ran out of her daddy's studio to go and find her uncle Niall and ask if he wanted to play with her.
Liam stared at her before he looked at Sophia who looked like a small child who was just caught with her hand in the cookie jar.
"What?"
"umm...I..uhh...I just remember I'm needed else where, I'll see you guys later," Sophia immediately ran out the room cursing the little girl for telling Liam something that wasn't his business.
Liam stared at Sophia's retarding form shaking his head in disappointment as he went to go and find Yve.
He knew that he shouldn't have trusted Sophia with taking Yve to the parade but due to his hectic schedule he completely forgot about the parade until she showed up with Paddy dressed in her dress, waiting for her daddy to do her hair like promised and for him to take her to the parade.
Guilt immediately filled Liam's body. He completely forgot about the parade and forgot to find someone to take her, his mother of course volunteer to take her as well as Danielle and Niall, both saying that they could work on the video for his new song after the parade was over.
Sophia however casually reminded them that they had to finish all of this before 3:00 and since it was already 11:00 they only had a total of four hours, she also reminded Karen that she was here to spent time with her son whom she rarely saw as oppose to her granddaughter who she saw every single day. It was then that Sophia volunteered to take her.
At first Liam was unsure if he should allow someone he barely knew to take her to the parade but Sophia reminded him that he trusted her with his busy life, he could at least trust her with his daughter. Liam agreed but only because he was in a rush to get things done that he didn’t think for a second if she would be a good baby sitter or not.
He found her in the next room with Niall, Danielle, and grandma telling them about her day and how everyone at the parade loved her dress and her hair and how the mommies were impress that her daddy did her hair and how her tia Caroline dressed her up like a princess.
Liam smiled as he saw her moving her arms around to describe the parade and her time spent there, when she got to talking about visiting her mommy Liam's smile fell a little.
Alondra Elizondo was a beautiful woman and a sweetheart. Liam met her during his trip to Mexico. She was one of the hosts for the Grammy Latino awards and Liam was captivated by her beauty, but what really caught his attention was her intelligent questions that took the person she was interviewing a full five minutes to answer.
She reminded him much of Zayn, his old flame. The one who he couldn't forget no matter how many times he tried, he always failed because he was always comparing them to Zayn. It's one of the reasons why he didn't try to rush things with her when he asked her out, he did however explain to her his situation and instead of being mad or angry she just smiled and understood where he was coming from, telling him that she was the same way only her girlfriend left her because she couldn't take the pressure of dating a bisexual woman with the chances of her cheating with a man.
Alondra informed Liam that she wasn't a cheater, that if she was with someone she was committed to them and no one else. Liam just shrugged it off and told her that he understood since he too was bisexual and went through the same thing with his ex, Danielle.
The two kept close contact after that, taking...whatever they had as slow as they could possibly take it, like Zayn he tried to keep contact with her, unlike Zayn he never lost it. He understood Zayn was busy with his fiance and he knew perfectly well that Perrie didn't like him. Like Danielle, she didn't trust Liam to be alone with Zayn and she made sure she took all his time, making sure that he didn't have any to speak with Liam.
He didn't blame Zayn since Danielle was the same before he broke things off with her, she didn't take things well which resulted in her being a bit spiteful. He didn't blame her, she had every right to be mad since he was always comparing her to Zayn, she didn't deserve that, she deserve better which is why he set her up to dance in the Victoria Secret Fashion show as a weak attempt to apologize to her. In the end she forgave him, not because of what he did but because he finally sat down and spoke to her about why he broke up with her and how he thought it was unfair to lead her on.
She asked him if he ever loved her and Liam told her he only loved her as a friend which is why her tattoo never appeared on his body. It hurt her and while she wanted to hate him she couldn't.
She knew what she was getting herself into when she asked him out but she still took a shot, hoping he could forget about Zayn and love her. In the end the two decided to be friends and they found out that they actually work better as friends then lovers or enemies.
He told her about Alondra and how he wanted to be with her but was afraid to let her in. Danielle told him to give her a chance otherwise he will always be alone while Zayn will be happy with his new wife and future children.
Her telling him that gave him the encouragement he needed to ask her out. Alondra accepted, the two were actually happy but both agree to keep their relationship a secret from the public, they were famous but they wanted somethings to themselves and their relationship was one of them.
Overall Liam and Alondra were going strong that Liam wanted to spend the rest of his life with her, especially when he found out that she was pregnant with their child.
After he proposed they agreed to wait until the baby was born. Liam told his family and they were ecstatic while his friends share the same enthusiasum as him. Liam then asked Louis-since he and Zayn were both working together at the moment-if he had any way to contact Zayn since he wanted to tell him about the baby and his engagement with Alondra.
Louis sadly told him that it was best if he didn't speak with Zayn right now, when asked why Louis explained that he was having problems with Perrie and didn't want to talk to anyone at the moment.
It anger Liam when he found out that Perrie was just using Zayn for promo for her and her band, using every opportunity she could to make Zayn look like the bad guy and her like an innocent princess. Okay maybe it wasn't ALL her fault but the least she could do is defend him or better yet refuse to do stunts that would hurt her FIANCE.
He decided to let it go and waited for Zayn to come and talk to him. When he did the two spent endless hours talking about their careers, their music, and the new songs they were working on. It was then that Liam mention Alondra and how she was pregnant and how they were getting married.
It was silence on Zayn's part before he congratulated him and said how he hope he was happy. Liam knew Zayn better than anyone else, he knew that Zayn was lying to him but he decided to not comment on it, instead he change the topic about anything he could think of, Zayn obviously knew what Liam was doing so he took this opportunity to his full advantage and talked about whatever it was that Liam was talking about.
When their wedding came Zayn showed up with his new girlfriend Gigi. She was beautiful Liam would admit and he was happy that Zayn was with someone.
He was also happy that the Maliks; from his parents to his aunts and uncles, showed up. His family along with Zayn's got along perfectly and while they all had hopes that it would be Zayn and Liam to walk down the aisle they still came to see him get marry.
Alondra looked stunning of course she would always say she was plain compare to him. When he introduced her to the Maliks she was as nervous as getting to know them as she was when he first introduced her to his family.
When Doniya told her there was nothing to be nervous about Alondra commented that there was since she was meeting the other half of Liam's family, informing the Maliks how she knew how important they were to him and how she didn't want to make a wrong impression on them.
The Maliks smiled and told her that as long as she made Liam happy then they were okay.
Liam smiled proudly, happy that all of his family loved Alondra. In the end everyone was happy for him and congratulated him on his marriage.
The two were happy for the first three years of their marriage that is. When it was discover that Alondra was pregnant with their second child the two were thrilled, Yve was a little jealous but they knew that in time that she would be ecstatic to be a big sister. The two were happy and couldn't wait for the birth of their second child. Sadly they never got the chance to see him. Alondra was six months pregnant when she got in a car accident, she was driving back from dropping off their daughter at her grandmother's when a drunk driver lost control of her driving and crash right into her, instead of calling for help she immediately fled the scene, if she would have just called the ambulance then they would have been able to save her, maybe not the baby but at least she would have still been with them instead of buried six feet under.
When he found out he was crushed and didn't know what to do with himself, if it weren't for his love ones as well as for his daughter Liam was certain that he would have turned to alcohol and tried to drink himself unconscious.
In the end Liam was able to put a brave face for Yve and for everyone else. Sure he missed her at times especially whenever Yve did certain things that reminded him of her but at the end of the day he was reminded that even though his wife was gone he still had his daughter and that's all that matter.
He continue to stare as Yve told them how she visited her mommy and how she gave her the flowers that daddy gave her.
"And did she love them?" his mother asked.
"I think she did...I hope she did," she turned and saw her daddy standing in the door way.
"Daddy do you think mommy like the flowers?"
LIam chuckled as he walked over to them as he sat down on the couch and took her off her the couch and placed her on his lap.
"I think mommy would love them and would be happy that you visited her and your baby brother,"
Yve smiled as she snuggled closer to her daddy.
"Now, exactly what did you meant when you said Ms. Smith almost forgot you and almost left you?"
Yve looked at him,
"Well...she was doing something on her phone and I wanted churros since they were giving them out, I asked if we could go but she ignored me so I went to go get some and when she found me she was mad and then took me away from the churro man and I didn't get any," she pouted at that making Liam smile a little.
"And then when it was time to go, Paddy got upset because she was telling him to go even though I was still giving mommy the flowers,"
Liam's smile fell at that, the reason why he trusted Sophia with Yve was because she told him that she would take care of her. Big mistake on his part, he should have listen to his mom and let her take her to the parade but Sophia insisted and him being busy with Louis and Harry's wedding and him and Niall producing new music, as well as helping Danielle with her new blog he didn't stop to think about whether or not Sophia would be a good candinate to take Yve to El Dia de Los Muertos parade as well as stopping by the graveyard to visit her mommy.
Taking a deep breath to calm himself he looked at Yve.
"Yve sweetie, what did I tell you about wandering off?"
Yve looked at her daddy before she looked at the ground.
"To not do it,"
"And why shouldn't you wonder off?"
"Because meanies can come and take me away from you,"
"And what would happen if they took you away from me?"
"You'd get scared," she said looking at her daddy's eyes.
"Exactly, now I understand that you wanted some food in that little belly of yours," he pokes her belly making her laugh a little.
"However, even if you are hungry you should always have an adult with you, okay?"
"Okay daddy,"
"And the next time we go to the parade you will wait until I say we can go and get something to eat alright?"
"Mtay,"
"Alright, you need to learn how to be patient love, I know it's hard but you have to try and wait until daddy or whoever is with you is ready to go, okay?"
"Okay daddy,"
"Now, next time daddy or one of your aunts and uncles takes you somewhere, what are going to do?"
"We are going to wait for them to be ready to take me to wherever I want to go,"
"What are we not going to do?"
"Go off by myself,"
"Good girl," he kissed her forehead.
"Now, tell me about the parade,"
Yve smiled as she continue telling everyone how much fun she had and all the colors she saw, the decorations she said were bright and beautiful. Liam smiled and was thankful that none of his friends or mother gave him a knowing look or mouthed "I told you so,"
~*~*~*~*~*~
Present time
After spending time with his family Zayn decided to go over to Louis's house and visit his best friend. He knocked on the door and then rang the doorbell, waiting for him to answer the door.
He heard little footsteps running towards the door before a tiny voice asked,
"Who is it?"
Zayn's heart leap at the sound of that familiar childish voice.
A small smile spread across his face before he answered,
"It's me darling,"
The door swung open and standing right in front of him was Yve Payne.
Yve looked so much like her mother but with her father's eyes. The little girl had everyone (including him) wrapped around her tiny finger and they all love spoiling her.
"Uncle Zayn!"
"Love bug,"
Zayn scooped her up in his arms and began kissing her all over her face making her giggle, he pulled back and smiled at her.
"How are you?"
"Good, I miss you," she said poking his cheek.
"I miss you too baby girl,"
"Yve! where are you!" a female voice shouted.
Yve looked behind her before she looked at her uncle Zayn, a mischievous smile spread across her face.
"Yve, what did you do?"
Yve just giggle.
"Wait till I get my hands on yo-oh, Zayn? what brings you here?"
Lottie stood in front of him drenched in what Zayn presume to be water...at least he hope it was.
"What are you doing here?"
"Came to visit your brother, instead I find this cutie," he tickles Yve's stomach making her giggle.
"Answering the door and seeing you coming over makes me think this little one played a prank on you, am I right?"
"You guessed right," Lottie said playfully glaring at her, Yve just smiled at her and hid her face in the crock of Zayn's neck.
Zayn smiled as he squeezed the little girl a little tighter.
"Where's your brother?" he asked Lottie.
"He and Liam went to go get some food, of course this little cutie wanted to watch Ultimate Spiderman so I decided to stay home and watch it with her,"
"And how exactly did you get wet?"
"She threw a water balloon at me,"
"Ah,"
"Anywho, why don't you come inside, I'm sure Louis will be happy to see you, Harry as well since knowing Louis he's going to bring him as well as Niall over to eat with us,"
Zayn accepted her invite, especially since he was going to see Liam again. He knew he had to be careful, he couldn't rush into this especially since he lost his wife two almost three years ago.
Alondra Elizondo was the one person Zayn could say with sincere honesty that he was jealous of. She got to marry Liam and have his child, Zayn hated her, not because she was with Liam but because he couldn't find a single thing to hate her for and because he knew deep down inside she was the perfect person (aside from him) to have Liam.
Unlike Danielle or Perrie she wasn't jealous of him hanging out with Liam, in fact she encourage it since she knew how important they were to one another. Zayn once asked if she was ever worried that if Liam would cheat on her, her respond made him feel guilty for even saying it. She told him that she trusted them completely and knew that they wouldn't do anything to hurt her and if Liam fell for him again then she would hope that Liam would respect her enough to call it quits instead of leading her on.
Zayn felt guilty for evening asking that and ashamed that a part of him was hoping that she would act like the spiteful girlfriend so that he could at least have one reason to hate her. But he didn't, and if he was honest he was happy that Liam was going to marry her, it was clear that Liam loved her and if he was happy then Zayn would be happy and try his best to move on.
When he heard the news of Alondra passing away he along with everyone were heartbroken. Zayn was there for Liam though, making sure that he was safe, wouldn't drink to the point he lost consciousnesses, and that he had someone to talk to whenever he was missing her. It took some time but in the end Liam was back to his normal self and that's all that Zayn wanted.
Now here he was two years later to be with his friends and family.
He sat down on the couch as Yve grabbed her toys and started showing them to Zayn and was telling him who was whom and who gave them to her.
She then showed him her wolf plushie, the one he gave to her and told him that it was her favorite and that she never left home without it.
Zayn felt his heart fill with warmth, happy that out of all her toys, the little wolf that he gave her meant more to her than anything. She then sat down next to him and cuddle against him so that they could watch TV together.
They only watched five minutes before the door opened and they heard five familiar voices walking towards them.
"Yve? sweetie were are you?"
Yve jumped out of Zayn's arms and ran towards the voice of her dad.
"Daddy!
"Hey sweetie,"
He smiled as he heard him talking to his daughter with nothing but love and adoration.
The group of friends entered the living room to find their other friend standing right in the center of the living room.
"Hello guys,"
"ZAYN!" all four shouted as they ran towards him and wrapped him in a bone crushing hug.
Zayn smiled happy to be back home with his friends and family.