Say It Out Loud (10/12)
Pairing: Liam/Zayn
Word Count: this chapter, 2077
Rating: NC17
Based on this prompt
i don't like this chapter at all but meh, i'm posting it anyway!
In the weeks coming up to Zayn’s operation, there are several tests he needs to take. They are prepping him for the procedure and they do constant checks that he is still eligible. Liam attends each one and often tags Sam along with them. She has started to show quite an interest in the impending operation.
On one particular day, Niall has also tagged along after deciding that spending seven hours a day on his X Box was becoming unhealthy. Zayn’s car was almost packed, what with Niall bringing his guitar and tying it into the middle seat with the seatbelt.
Zayn and Sam are oblivious to the noise of Liam and Niall blasting the radio and Niall sticking his head out the window to sing along to whatever Britney classic that was on. Zayn keeps looking back and laughing and Sam is regarding Niall with a look of utter awe.
They come to a traffic jam in a tunnel on the busy motorway. The signal of the radio is faulty so Niall loosens the belt around his guitar and begins to strum on it subconsciously. During a heated debate with Zayn about whether to take the next exit or not, Liam catches Sam’s reflection in the mirror.
She is watching Niall intently as he plucks at the strings and hums along to a song. He looks at Niall whose focus is entirely on the guitar, lost in the music. Sam’s expression makes Liam’s breath cut short. She looks sad and that is something Liam hates that more than anything. Zayn stops trying to catch Liam’s attention and tries to figure out what he is looking at. He leans over in his seat to look in Liam’s line of sight.
Liam shoves him off with a laugh, not wanting to dwell on Sam’s apparent sadness any longer.
~~
When Zayn is in the doctors, Liam, Sam and Niall are patiently waiting in the waiting room. Well on Liam’s part anyway. Niall has been to and from the vending machine for the past ten minutes, having a lot of trouble deciding what he wants.
‘You know there is a café downstairs’ Sam finally tells him after he lands a particularly painful looking punch into the machine. Niall’s face lights up and he gives her the thumbs up before legging it towards the stairs.
Liam glances at his younger sister through the side of his eyes. She is flicking through a magazine, looking anything but sad. As usual. But Liam can’t shake the image of her in the car. Looking at Niall as if he had given her devastating news.
With a sigh he turns to face her, distracting her from an inappropriate article she had been looking at. He frowns at her when she blushes and shuts the magazine quickly.
‘What?!’ she tries to appear innocent, her wide brown eyes matching Liam’s in colour and intensity.
‘Nothing. Listen, is everything ok?’ he asks, levelling her with a serious look.
She nods her head slowly, as if she is trying to think of anything that could be triggering Liam to ask her this question.
‘It’s just in the car, you’ Liam stops. Maybe he had just been too observant; it could have been the trick of the light. Sam looks at him expectantly. Well her eyes convey her expectancy; it is always her eyes he reads.
He definitely was not wrong in the car. Her eyes were what gave here away.
‘You seemed upset over something when Niall was playing the guitar’
Her face moves with realisation.
‘Oh yeah, it was nothing’ she waves him off and tries to open the magazine again. He lays a hand gently on top of it and catches her eye. He gives her his best older brother look and her shoulders sag. He has her.
“Tell me” he whispers and her eyes watch him.
‘But it is stupid’
Again, an older brother look. She sighs and glares at Liam half-heartedly.
‘It’s just… I wish I could have heard Niall playing the guitar that time is all’ she shuffles in the plastic seats, sending an unnerving noise into the silent room. Liam is reminded of the time when Zayn had asked Liam what music was like.
‘He seems to really love it. Like the way I know you love singing, the two of you look so happy simply singing along to a song’
Liam thinks about it. To him, music is music. Sure he would not be able to live without it but he mulls Sam’s words over in his head. Niall always sings with a grin. Louis hums with a little snap to his hips and loud laughter. Harry shouts the words to songs as if it will be his last. Liam must smile too, each time he opens his mouth to let out a melody.
Sam and Zayn really are missing out on the power of music and it makes a lump rise in his throat. Zayn will have the ability to hear music soon enough, but Sam?
He sits up in his seat when an idea comes to his mind. He sends a quick text to his mum and grins widely at his sister who looks confused at her brother’s sudden erratic behaviour.
‘What are you up to?’ she asks, noticing the rare mischievous glint in his eye.
If he wanted to answer, which he didn’t, he would have been interrupted by Niall anyway. The blonde came thundering up the stairs with four bags of crisps, four sandwiches and cans of coke all resting in his arms.
“A little help here” he says through a bag of crisps which he is gripping onto with his teeth.
Liam jumps off the seat, keen to avoid Sam’s stare and grabs a few cans and sandwiches. Niall plonks down beside Sam and hands her her food. She accepts it gratefully but continues her accusing stares towards Liam over her bag of Doritos.
“What have you done?” Niall asks Liam, eying Sam with a fearful look on his face.
Again, before Liam can answer, the door to the doctor’s surgery opens and Zayn comes out, signing his thanks.
“Everything ok?” Liam asks and Zayn nods his head, catching the can of coke Niall threw in his direction.
“Ok well I’ll be down to the car in a minute” Liam says and eyes Zayn warningly. Zayn gets the message looking at Liam curiously but choosing not to question him. Instead he ushers Niall and Sam towards the stairs.
Liam knocks quietly on the door that was just shut and Zayn’s doctor reappears.
“Ah, Liam is it?” Dr Hughes eyes Liam over the rim of his glasses with a kind smile. Liam nods his head and wrings his hands nervously.
“Is everything ok?” Dr Hughes asks, taking in Liam’s nervous demeanour.
“I was just wondering… about my sister” Liam starts and the man grins.
“Yes Zayn told me about her, he seems to really love the kid”
Liam smiles at that but pushes it to the back of his mind.
“Well as he might have told you, she is also deaf”
“He mentioned that fact” the doctor is close to beaming at Liam now. Could the doctor know what Liam is about to ask.
“Well, is there any way Sam could receive the same treatment, maybe even book her an appointment just to check” Liam rushes and holds in a breath.
Dr Hughes leans against the doorframe and uses his clipboard to scratch his head.
“It seems Mr Malik had the same enquiry”
Liam’s stomach twirls. Zayn had asked him the same thing? He can’t fight the loving grin that spreads across his face.
“I was waiting to call your parents to let them know but I suppose I will tell you now. I have booked Sam in for an appointment next Monday at two o clock”
Liam nearly hugs the man but just proceeds to thank him over and over until he is practically escorted out the door. Liam runs down the stairs and out the door where he spots Niall and Sam running around the grass of the hospital doing various flips and dance moves. He laughs at the sight of them and seeks Zayn out.
His black quiff sticks up from behind the car and Liam jogs over to find him putting Niall’s guitar in the boot of the car. Zayn looks up when Liam approaches him and smiles. Liam wraps his arms tightly around him and practically lifts him off his feet with the force of the hug.
‘What was that for?’ Zayn asks but smiles up at Liam when he is finally put back down on his feet.
‘Sam has an appointment next Monday’ Liam tells him, fingers shaking with excitement.
Zayn looks over at Sam who is doubled over with laughter as she watches Niall attempt to do a cartwheel. He looks back at Liam and beams.
‘That is so great’
Liam nods and watches his sister play with his best friend, a sudden hopeful feeling erupting in his stomach.
~~
The Monday in question, Liam finds himself squashed in the back seat between Sam and Niall who had insisted on coming. Apparently Sam was his best friend now.
Sam looks nervous and keeps chewing on her thumbnail no matter how much Liam tries to get her to stop. His parents were equally nervous and kept up an annoying chatter all the way to the hospital.
Liam was becoming more and more frustrated. His own nerves were eating at him, Sam kept fidgeting, Zayn kept texting him, Niall wouldn’t stop humming and his parents were bringing up embarrassing childhood stories.
“And that was the last time Liam wet himself” his mother finishes to the over joyous looking Niall and Sam. Liam groaned into his hand and wished he had a window seat so he could avoid everyone else’s eyes and focus solely on the road.
They got there five minutes before Sam’s appointment and she was dealt with right away. Liam and Niall had to wait outside whilst she was seen to.
“What if she can’t get it?” Liam wonders aloud for the fifth time. Niall rolls his eyes and looks at Liam over the top of Heat magazine.
“She will” he answers also for the fifth time.
“Yeah but what if?” Liam says, holding Niall’s stern gaze.
With a massive sigh, Niall places the magazine down on the table.
“She will” he repeats, his eyes working their magic and he smiles when he notices Liam’s shoulders sink with relaxation.
Dr Hughes’ door opens and Liam’s parents troop out, offering their thanks and making it impossible for Niall and Liam to read their faces for any sign.
Sam follows them and Liam tenses up again when she walks towards them with her head down. He looks toward Niall in shock. He is watching Sam carefully and with a sudden defensiveness in his stance.
When Liam’s parents are finally done speaking with Dr Hughes, they turn around and Liam’s father pats Sam on the head.
“What’s going on?”
“The doctor says it is too early to make any snap decisions, she will need a lot more tests after this” Liam’s mother explains with a soft smile. Sam looks thoroughly disappointed and Liam knows that she wanted to be told yes right away.
‘It’s not a no’ he tries to make her feel better but she remains stoic looking and Liam’s heart sinks.
‘Hey, why don’t I bring you down to the café to get a bit of cake before we head off’ Niall suggests. At the mention of cake she smiles and starts to walks towards the stairs.
“Leave this to me” Niall mutters before scurrying after her with a challenge of who can make it down the fastest.
Liam makes his way to their car with his nervous looking parents and impatiently waits for them to return.
After a few minutes, Niall and Sam come strolling out the front door with chocolate smeared on their faces. Sam is laughing at something Niall said and seems much happier than she did only moments ago.
“That boy is a miracle worker” Liam’s Dad laughs and starts the engine.
Niall and Sam hop in, beaming at everyone else. It’s as if Sam had never been disappointed and Liam shoots Niall the most grateful of smiles when the car pulls out of the driveway.
//
part eleven
Word Count: this chapter, 2077
Rating: NC17
Based on this prompt
i don't like this chapter at all but meh, i'm posting it anyway!
In the weeks coming up to Zayn’s operation, there are several tests he needs to take. They are prepping him for the procedure and they do constant checks that he is still eligible. Liam attends each one and often tags Sam along with them. She has started to show quite an interest in the impending operation.
On one particular day, Niall has also tagged along after deciding that spending seven hours a day on his X Box was becoming unhealthy. Zayn’s car was almost packed, what with Niall bringing his guitar and tying it into the middle seat with the seatbelt.
Zayn and Sam are oblivious to the noise of Liam and Niall blasting the radio and Niall sticking his head out the window to sing along to whatever Britney classic that was on. Zayn keeps looking back and laughing and Sam is regarding Niall with a look of utter awe.
They come to a traffic jam in a tunnel on the busy motorway. The signal of the radio is faulty so Niall loosens the belt around his guitar and begins to strum on it subconsciously. During a heated debate with Zayn about whether to take the next exit or not, Liam catches Sam’s reflection in the mirror.
She is watching Niall intently as he plucks at the strings and hums along to a song. He looks at Niall whose focus is entirely on the guitar, lost in the music. Sam’s expression makes Liam’s breath cut short. She looks sad and that is something Liam hates that more than anything. Zayn stops trying to catch Liam’s attention and tries to figure out what he is looking at. He leans over in his seat to look in Liam’s line of sight.
Liam shoves him off with a laugh, not wanting to dwell on Sam’s apparent sadness any longer.
~~
When Zayn is in the doctors, Liam, Sam and Niall are patiently waiting in the waiting room. Well on Liam’s part anyway. Niall has been to and from the vending machine for the past ten minutes, having a lot of trouble deciding what he wants.
‘You know there is a café downstairs’ Sam finally tells him after he lands a particularly painful looking punch into the machine. Niall’s face lights up and he gives her the thumbs up before legging it towards the stairs.
Liam glances at his younger sister through the side of his eyes. She is flicking through a magazine, looking anything but sad. As usual. But Liam can’t shake the image of her in the car. Looking at Niall as if he had given her devastating news.
With a sigh he turns to face her, distracting her from an inappropriate article she had been looking at. He frowns at her when she blushes and shuts the magazine quickly.
‘What?!’ she tries to appear innocent, her wide brown eyes matching Liam’s in colour and intensity.
‘Nothing. Listen, is everything ok?’ he asks, levelling her with a serious look.
She nods her head slowly, as if she is trying to think of anything that could be triggering Liam to ask her this question.
‘It’s just in the car, you’ Liam stops. Maybe he had just been too observant; it could have been the trick of the light. Sam looks at him expectantly. Well her eyes convey her expectancy; it is always her eyes he reads.
He definitely was not wrong in the car. Her eyes were what gave here away.
‘You seemed upset over something when Niall was playing the guitar’
Her face moves with realisation.
‘Oh yeah, it was nothing’ she waves him off and tries to open the magazine again. He lays a hand gently on top of it and catches her eye. He gives her his best older brother look and her shoulders sag. He has her.
“Tell me” he whispers and her eyes watch him.
‘But it is stupid’
Again, an older brother look. She sighs and glares at Liam half-heartedly.
‘It’s just… I wish I could have heard Niall playing the guitar that time is all’ she shuffles in the plastic seats, sending an unnerving noise into the silent room. Liam is reminded of the time when Zayn had asked Liam what music was like.
‘He seems to really love it. Like the way I know you love singing, the two of you look so happy simply singing along to a song’
Liam thinks about it. To him, music is music. Sure he would not be able to live without it but he mulls Sam’s words over in his head. Niall always sings with a grin. Louis hums with a little snap to his hips and loud laughter. Harry shouts the words to songs as if it will be his last. Liam must smile too, each time he opens his mouth to let out a melody.
Sam and Zayn really are missing out on the power of music and it makes a lump rise in his throat. Zayn will have the ability to hear music soon enough, but Sam?
He sits up in his seat when an idea comes to his mind. He sends a quick text to his mum and grins widely at his sister who looks confused at her brother’s sudden erratic behaviour.
‘What are you up to?’ she asks, noticing the rare mischievous glint in his eye.
If he wanted to answer, which he didn’t, he would have been interrupted by Niall anyway. The blonde came thundering up the stairs with four bags of crisps, four sandwiches and cans of coke all resting in his arms.
“A little help here” he says through a bag of crisps which he is gripping onto with his teeth.
Liam jumps off the seat, keen to avoid Sam’s stare and grabs a few cans and sandwiches. Niall plonks down beside Sam and hands her her food. She accepts it gratefully but continues her accusing stares towards Liam over her bag of Doritos.
“What have you done?” Niall asks Liam, eying Sam with a fearful look on his face.
Again, before Liam can answer, the door to the doctor’s surgery opens and Zayn comes out, signing his thanks.
“Everything ok?” Liam asks and Zayn nods his head, catching the can of coke Niall threw in his direction.
“Ok well I’ll be down to the car in a minute” Liam says and eyes Zayn warningly. Zayn gets the message looking at Liam curiously but choosing not to question him. Instead he ushers Niall and Sam towards the stairs.
Liam knocks quietly on the door that was just shut and Zayn’s doctor reappears.
“Ah, Liam is it?” Dr Hughes eyes Liam over the rim of his glasses with a kind smile. Liam nods his head and wrings his hands nervously.
“Is everything ok?” Dr Hughes asks, taking in Liam’s nervous demeanour.
“I was just wondering… about my sister” Liam starts and the man grins.
“Yes Zayn told me about her, he seems to really love the kid”
Liam smiles at that but pushes it to the back of his mind.
“Well as he might have told you, she is also deaf”
“He mentioned that fact” the doctor is close to beaming at Liam now. Could the doctor know what Liam is about to ask.
“Well, is there any way Sam could receive the same treatment, maybe even book her an appointment just to check” Liam rushes and holds in a breath.
Dr Hughes leans against the doorframe and uses his clipboard to scratch his head.
“It seems Mr Malik had the same enquiry”
Liam’s stomach twirls. Zayn had asked him the same thing? He can’t fight the loving grin that spreads across his face.
“I was waiting to call your parents to let them know but I suppose I will tell you now. I have booked Sam in for an appointment next Monday at two o clock”
Liam nearly hugs the man but just proceeds to thank him over and over until he is practically escorted out the door. Liam runs down the stairs and out the door where he spots Niall and Sam running around the grass of the hospital doing various flips and dance moves. He laughs at the sight of them and seeks Zayn out.
His black quiff sticks up from behind the car and Liam jogs over to find him putting Niall’s guitar in the boot of the car. Zayn looks up when Liam approaches him and smiles. Liam wraps his arms tightly around him and practically lifts him off his feet with the force of the hug.
‘What was that for?’ Zayn asks but smiles up at Liam when he is finally put back down on his feet.
‘Sam has an appointment next Monday’ Liam tells him, fingers shaking with excitement.
Zayn looks over at Sam who is doubled over with laughter as she watches Niall attempt to do a cartwheel. He looks back at Liam and beams.
‘That is so great’
Liam nods and watches his sister play with his best friend, a sudden hopeful feeling erupting in his stomach.
~~
The Monday in question, Liam finds himself squashed in the back seat between Sam and Niall who had insisted on coming. Apparently Sam was his best friend now.
Sam looks nervous and keeps chewing on her thumbnail no matter how much Liam tries to get her to stop. His parents were equally nervous and kept up an annoying chatter all the way to the hospital.
Liam was becoming more and more frustrated. His own nerves were eating at him, Sam kept fidgeting, Zayn kept texting him, Niall wouldn’t stop humming and his parents were bringing up embarrassing childhood stories.
“And that was the last time Liam wet himself” his mother finishes to the over joyous looking Niall and Sam. Liam groaned into his hand and wished he had a window seat so he could avoid everyone else’s eyes and focus solely on the road.
They got there five minutes before Sam’s appointment and she was dealt with right away. Liam and Niall had to wait outside whilst she was seen to.
“What if she can’t get it?” Liam wonders aloud for the fifth time. Niall rolls his eyes and looks at Liam over the top of Heat magazine.
“She will” he answers also for the fifth time.
“Yeah but what if?” Liam says, holding Niall’s stern gaze.
With a massive sigh, Niall places the magazine down on the table.
“She will” he repeats, his eyes working their magic and he smiles when he notices Liam’s shoulders sink with relaxation.
Dr Hughes’ door opens and Liam’s parents troop out, offering their thanks and making it impossible for Niall and Liam to read their faces for any sign.
Sam follows them and Liam tenses up again when she walks towards them with her head down. He looks toward Niall in shock. He is watching Sam carefully and with a sudden defensiveness in his stance.
When Liam’s parents are finally done speaking with Dr Hughes, they turn around and Liam’s father pats Sam on the head.
“What’s going on?”
“The doctor says it is too early to make any snap decisions, she will need a lot more tests after this” Liam’s mother explains with a soft smile. Sam looks thoroughly disappointed and Liam knows that she wanted to be told yes right away.
‘It’s not a no’ he tries to make her feel better but she remains stoic looking and Liam’s heart sinks.
‘Hey, why don’t I bring you down to the café to get a bit of cake before we head off’ Niall suggests. At the mention of cake she smiles and starts to walks towards the stairs.
“Leave this to me” Niall mutters before scurrying after her with a challenge of who can make it down the fastest.
Liam makes his way to their car with his nervous looking parents and impatiently waits for them to return.
After a few minutes, Niall and Sam come strolling out the front door with chocolate smeared on their faces. Sam is laughing at something Niall said and seems much happier than she did only moments ago.
“That boy is a miracle worker” Liam’s Dad laughs and starts the engine.
Niall and Sam hop in, beaming at everyone else. It’s as if Sam had never been disappointed and Liam shoots Niall the most grateful of smiles when the car pulls out of the driveway.
//
part eleven