Lounsbury Prep

Zayn sat in the dean’s office, bouncing his knee up and down with anxiety. He had no idea what the repercussions were for sneaking around the school at night, and he was afraid to find out. Although he’d almost wanted to get kicked out of the school to stop bothering the group of friends that had tried to accept him before he’d screwed it up, once he was actually faced with the situation, he wasn’t so excited.

In fact, he felt like he was going to be violently sick all over the posh carpet. His mother would be so disappointed, and his father would probably kill him for being so irresponsible and not thinking through his actions. How could he have thought wasting his parents’ money like that would be a great idea? Ugh, he hated himself and his rash behavior.

About ten minutes after Zayn had entered the dean’s office, escorted by the teacher he still didn’t know, the dean finally showed himself. It was obvious he’d been roused from sleep, judging from the robe that had been pulled on hastily over a white t-shirt and striped pajama bottoms. He wondered if he’d been the first student to see the dean in such a casual manner, or if he was just a relaxed kind of man.

“Mr. Malik,” the dean stated plainly, his voice rough and deep, making Zayn feel even more on edge than he previously had been, “it has come to my attention that you were wandering the halls unsupervised. Do you have a reason for this, or did you simply want to get in trouble?”

For a second, Zayn thought about lying. He thought about saying that he was sleepwalking, that he had no idea he was even out of his dorm room until the teacher spotted him in the corridor.

But Zayn was a dreadful liar. He knew his face would get hot, and he’d probably start smirking and give away everything. So instead, he admitted, “I’m sorry, sir. I had a lot on my mind, and I thought walking around would help. I know it was unsafe, and I shouldn’t have done it.”

The dean sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Mr. Malik, when I allowed you come to this school, I thought you were a sensible, intelligent boy. Deliberately breaking school rules is neither sensible nor intelligent.”

“I know, sir.”

The dean’s light eyes bore through Zayn’s darker ones, and he finally let out another long breath. “I’m going to let it slide this time, but please don’t let it happen again. If I see you in here again, especially if I haven’t been roused from a particularly deep sleep, I will expel you. Are we clear?”

“Crystal, sir.”

And with that, the dean dismissed the young boy, and Zayn was thrilled to be able to run back to his dorm room. Well, not run literally, since he knew that would land him back in the seat he’d been all too eager to vacate.

Liam was still sleeping, his snores softer than when Zayn had left the room. He wasn’t sure whether that meant his roommate was sleeping more deeply or more lightly, but he didn’t care enough to wait around to find out.

The stress of nearly getting expelled had been exactly the distraction Zayn had needed, and he found himself falling asleep the second his head hit the pillow.



Liam wasn’t in the room when Zayn woke up. For some reason, the reality gave Zayn a pang in the stomach, although it certainly wasn’t Liam’s job to stick around until Zayn decided to snap out of dreamland.

Really, it was better that Liam had left. It would make it easier for Zayn to ignore the others, especially Louis, and Zayn would be allowed to mope however he wished.

Just as he started to get used to the idea of finally being alone, taking out his English book and beginning to read, the door flew open. “Hi, Liam,” Zayn greeted unenthusiastically, knowing it must have been his roommate, since no one else had the key.

“Not Liam,” a familiar high-pitched voice replied, shutting the door behind him.

Flushing horrifically, Zayn kept his eyes locked on the book in front of him, cursing his roommate over and over. If Louis had demanded the key to the room, then it was absolutely certain that he’d spilled Zayn’s secret to the others. Granted, if Liam actually handed the piece of hardware over, then it was possible that he somewhat supported the possibility of a relationship, but that was just speculation.

“Zayn,” Louis pleaded. “Look at me.”

He didn’t want to. But instead of protesting, he glanced up at the shorter boy standing in front of him. His blue eyes were sad, and it was clear that he’d been hurt by what Zayn had done the other day.

So Zayn stood up, brushing off his pajama pants that made him look ridiculous next to Louis, who was fully dressed. He wished desperately that he had the common sense to get dressed right when he’d gotten up, but it was far too late for that.

He walked away from his bed, starting to pace, wringing his hands together. He didn’t know what to say or how to start, and he was so afraid that Louis would get sick of waiting around and just leave.

“Your anxiety is adorable.”

Zayn looked up, confused, just in time for Louis to put a hand on his cheek and kiss him deeply.

Although he was incredibly shocked, Zayn took absolutely no time to reciprocate the gesture. Louis led him back against the wall, pressing him up against it with his body, and Zayn let out a gasp at the gesture. His heart was pounding in his chest, and he wanted Louis more than anything as their tongues danced with one another, Louis’ hand moving northward and tangling in his bedhead-mussed hair.

When the two of them were breathless, Louis pulled back and put his forehead against Zayn’s. “Did you ditch me after you kissed me because you thought I didn’t know?”

“Yeah.” Zayn almost felt embarrassed by how out-of-breath he was from the kiss, but it was just because he had been incredibly overwhelmed. Louis should have been flattered, really. “And I thought you might have been disgusted.”

“I put my tongue in your mouth,” Louis chuckled, and Zayn relished the noise. “It doesn’t get any more forward than that.”

“Yeah, well, none of you knew about me, so I didn’t know what to do.”

Louis’ laugh was louder that time, and Zayn struggled to keep from getting insulted. “Babe, the fact that you’re gay was a secret to no one. All the questions, all the offers to go look for girls, those were all just tests to confirm our theory.”

The Bradford boy’s cheeks flooded with an intense blush as his honey eyes connected with the hardwood floor. “That’s just humiliating,” he muttered.

“No, it’s not. It made things way less awkward when I started to like you,” Louis replied matter-of-factly.

“So wait,” Zayn interrupted, momentarily ignoring Louis’ confession, “when you asked me if I was uncomfortable with your sexuality…?”

“I was trying to get you to tell me. You were supposed to say that it didn’t make you uncomfortable because you were gay. I knew your tension was from shock, not disgust. I didn’t know you’d snog me.”

“Actually, I kissed you,” Zayn corrected. “You’re the one who took it further.”

“Guess I couldn’t help myself.”

Zayn nibbled on his bottom lip, staring at the floor to hide his heated cheeks, for a second before going back to what Louis had said before. “So you like me, huh?”

“Way to state the obvious, brainiac.” And without another word, Louis leaned forward and pressed his lips against Zayn’s again, and the taller boy melted under the touch.