PART 3: 50-100k
it keeps my veins hot (the fire’s found a home in me) by loveonrocks
“You think anyone said thanks?” Zayn asks, his voice wrecked and shredded, half whisper, half reminiscent of pubescent teenaged years.
Harry looks at him like he’s lost his mind. “Thanks to who?”
Zayn shrugs, finally bringing the cigarette up to his lips, igniting the flame of his lighter. “The firefighters. They’re the ones who got us out, right? They’re why you and I are here on this couch right now. Right?”
Harry purses his lips. “Dunno. Wasn’t a priority of mine, I guess.”
It should be, Zayn thinks.
or; the one where zayn survives a fire and falls in love with the firefighter that saved him.
Not Happening by scottmcniceass
Zayn and Liam are roommates. They hate each other. (Most of the time.)
and you take me the way I am by jmcats
It’s incredibly relaxing, even in this small space, the way they’ve always been. Such a distraction that he doesn’t think, not for once, about agreeing to lie to his family and Zayn pretending to be his date and how easy all of this might be.
(Liam needs a date to a wedding. His family loves to match him up with blind dates. He doesn’t want that. He needs a date… and, well, why not Zayn. Pretending to be boyfriends for a weekend isn’t the worst idea he supposes. Liam is horribly wrong.)
Liam has been anticipating a weekend away at Louis’ family’s cabin for years. It’s nothing but wilderness, bonfires, football, his best mates, alcohol, and an escape from their last year in Sixth Form. Oh, and Niall has invited Harry Styles and Zayn Malik along. The same Zayn who’s a complete prick to Liam’s mates. The same Zayn that Liam has spent so many years hating, he doesn’t know the reasons anymore.
Suddenly, Liam doesn’t think this is such a brilliant idea after all.
Vampire In London by TheOutCastAyh
There’s a daring new boy in London and he has every body talking. “Stunningly muscular” and devastatingly “sculpted by the gods themselves”. How ever, Liam Payne has a secret - he’s a vampire. Zayn Malik is a dark, beautiful boy who enjoys drawing. He becomes fascinated by Liam, but he doesn’t know why he’s so secluded from people. His best friend, an understanding but secretive person himself, Louis helps Zayn piece together the puzzle. When bodies start turning up all over London, they begin to fear the worse. His friends tell him to report Liam to the police and he knows he should, so what’s stopping him? He can resist Liam’s bite, but can he resist his charms? Or will he be caught in the middle of life and death?
Wrong For Too Long by DoveZiam
While a lot of people spent years and years pining for someone they didn’t know, it was very easy for Liam to discover who his soulmate was. The most expected day to everybody he knew, came for him at a very young age. He was fifteen, and it was the first day of classes. He was distracted by his phone and bumped into his crush.
Unfortunately.
It’s You by happily_missy
Liam is a PA for a famous fashion designer and Zayn is their gorgeous new model.
or the one where Liam is in control of everything except for the fact that he keeps getting hard around Zayn and Zayn refuses to admit that Liam might be everything he’s been looking for all along.
Face To Face by JoMouse
Liam’s fiance lost her ring. Zayn found it in his girlfriend’s rucksack. What happens when the ring brings them face to face?
the color of your cheeks (and the ink in our hearts) by jmcats
And part of him wishes he still held onto his own dreams instead of settling for drawing a comic he doesn’t really like for a few pounds and an in-the-meantime that’s lasted longer than a few breaths.
(Zayn is a young comic book artist who takes on a summer intern that sparks the inspiration in his hands and the rush in his heart. He doesn’t know what to do with Liam. It’s a shame, really, because Zayn and Louis have one rule: never date a redtag. Except, maybe they do this time)
Floating On The Water by scottmcniceass
Liam just wants to get through his last summer working at Malik Resort before University without incident. Of course, life is never that easy, and he ends up getting roped into giving the bosses son, Zayn, swimming lessons. That wouldn’t be so bad, if Zayn didn’t happen to hate him so much.
shapes that renew by aubadezayn
a “you’ve got mail”-esque, coffee shop au, advice columnist!zayn and baker!liam fic where liam writes to “aunt mariam” asking for advice on how to fix his failing young marriage. zayn, recently broken up with his gf and discovering after two years that he might not be happy writing for the “aunt mariam” column, gets involved more than he probably should with a married man, and starts writing letters back to liam privately. he also finds a new local coffee shop struggling to stay open.
Let Me Drown Slowly by fruityoatey_bahhh
Zayn doesn’t go out of his way to look for call boys. He doesn’t go looking for call boys, period. When Liam comes into his life, everything becomes blurry and skewed, and all Zayn wants to do is learn how to avoid what he feels.
Or, the one where Liam’s a prostitute, and Zayn just wants to be kept warm at night.
The love in our hearts by Jemappelle5
‘’I’m Liam. Louis’s brother’’ he introduces himself and Zayn finally learned the name of the hot guy. ‘Fuck, stop it now. It’s his brother. You can’t keep thinking of him like that anymore’ Zayn curses inwardly and shakes his head to clear his inappropriate thoughts of Louis’s brother.
(Zayn pretends to be Louis’s fiancé and ends up spending his entire summer with his family, planning their wedding. He hates everything and especially Louis’s younger brother Liam, who makes his life miserable.
And Liam. Well Liam acts as the world’s biggest douche, but what you expect when he falls in love with the only person, he is not allowed to. His brother’s fiancé.)
Hold on When You Get Love (and Let Go When You Give It) by jmcats
This city, where Zayn’s lived all of his life, has always felt like home. He has two goals: finish up his Lit degree at University and avoid distractions. It’s unfortunate, and probably referenced in a dozen words he’s read by Whitman, Keats, and Twain, that this city’s never seen something quite like Liam. He’s just a boy with a dopey smile, soft eyes, and he’s the most absolute definition of the word distraction Zayn’s ever met.
Or where Zayn’s studying Lit at Uni and Liam is a construction worker who catches Zayn’s eye every day he passes by
These Faded Stars Along Our Horizons by ch3stpaynes
Zayn isn’t used to this; the buzzing feeling that comes along with pinched grins, cherry red lips and eyes like Sunday morning coffee. He’s used to smogged out cities, not enough oxygen between each breath and perhaps a few spliffs with the boys when the weather isn’t absolutely dreadful.
And Liam Payne may just flip all of his priorities upside down.
Habits Of The Heart by zipplekink
“I’ll be really good to you,” Liam whispers, sliding an arm under Zayn’s shoulder like he is a pillow. Zayn closes his eyes, remembering when Liam had said those same words to him while laying on his chest before they started dating. The same feeling rattles in his chest, the same uncertainty, the same need for his words to remain true.
“I know,” Zayn whispers, massaging his fingers through Liam’s hair. “You always have.”
Liam pushes up, brows furrowing together as he stares down at him, the humor in his face turning far more serious. “And I always will, Zayn.”
I See You Babe, But We Are Both Blind by SoftlyandSwiftly
Zayn’s fairly certain the world actually hates him. He’s got the shittiest luck, and fate seems to want to fuck with him. But maybe that’s exactly what he needs.
One Direction returns to London for a break from their Take Me Home Tour in August 2013, and after an unfortunate run-in at a coffee shop, Liam and Zayn find themselves in a fake relationship. Except, it ends up not feeling fake at all.
(Basically, I wanted to write fakedating!ziam).
Run For The Woods Now by jmcats
Zayn knows some of the best and worst moments start with one of Louis’ ideas. Still, it’s almost as if everyone knew where this, his life, was going when Harry and Liam moved into Wagner’s old flat, with that stupid plant sitting in the doorway, and too many cigarettes and Justin Timberlake for any of this to have been one of those classically clichéd love stories.
And Zayn doesn’t do clichés. Not until Liam, that is
Some Love Wait Till Its Time by wasp
It hadn’t occurred to Zayn that they would start loving other people, people that weren’t each other. That it would be devastating but they’d survive, they’d keep on going with their lives. It hurts a lot more than Zayn expected.
University!AU where heart-in-the-right place but always-trying-to-save-people Liam Payne meets slightly pretentious hipster Zayn and tries to mend his broken heart.
Every Day With You by TurtlePushups
Liam and Zayn have been married for years, and have three beautiful sons. Liam works from home to take care of the house and the kids, while Zayn spends all of his time working. Dealing with an angsty teenager, a hyper 7 year old, and a quickly growing toddler (mostly) alone is dragging him down to a place he hasn’t been since before he and Zayn met. At least their dog is cute.
the bittersweet between my teeth by gaysubtexts
liam and zayn grow up together, louis, niall, and harry tagging along later on. that’s it.
keep this love (in a photograph) by carissima
“So Liam asked you to slide down his pole then?” Harry yells over the music.
Zayn nods for a second before he starts frowning. “Wait, no, not like that! He was being nice!”
“You’ve called Liam nice like, ten thousand billion times tonight,” Harry points out. “You fancy him!”
“Do not,” Zayn protests. His head feels heavy so he lets it drop onto Harry’s shoulder. “He’s just -”
“Nice?” Harry supplies unhelpfully.
Or the one where Liam’s a fireman, Zayn’s a photographer and yeah, there’s a calendar shoot or two involved.
according to your heart (my place is not deliberate) by jmcats
The fading light brings the world into prospective – the team standing shoulder to shoulder, halfway buzzed on alcohol and cigarettes, grinning goofily at the sky. His boys nudged hip to hip with him and he couldn’t think of another place to be.
(or: a university-volleyball au in which Zayn hates the game but he does it for a scholarship. And for Louis. And possibly for the new freshman setter who keeps teaching Zayn new things.)
the beauty of this mess by jmcats
He won’t admit how cold his sheets are when he’s alone or how his spine aches for Liam pressed to it or the way his fingers shove unforgivingly into his stack of pillows when he thinks about Jackson drowsy on his chest or Annabelle’s soft face under the moonlight or how that one-story bungalow was the closest he’s felt to home since leaving Bradford.
(Re: Zayn loves this city, loves his boys, loves the salty taste of the surf on his tongue even though he hates the ocean… but he’s not expecting to fall in love with Liam and all of his little secrets, too. Not enough to stick around in this sandy city of teenage dreams)
let’s pretend it’s love by wafflehood
Pretend!boyfriends fic in which Liam and Zayn get papped while hamming it up for Louis and Eleanor, and management decides the easiest way to deal with the resulting hysteria is to let it run its course.
simple truths of belonging by soofyahn
“He doesn’t think about Zayn, anymore. He doesn’t smoke and he doesn’t daydream and he doesn’t picture those dark eyes catching on his for only half a second, begging so many questions: what are you doing? Are you happy, now? How are you? No, really, how are you?
Liam doesn’t think of him. He doesn’t.”
Liam spends ten years building the career for himself that he’s always wanted, and spends the same span of time falling out of communication with the one person he can’t reason why he misses. They find each other, again, stumbling around each other for a moment until they fall together in new, unpredictable ways.
these fading scars by lovely_ziam
There is sunlight glittering over his skin and over the sheets, flickers of various shapes painting a kaleidoscope of bright colours over the contrast of tanned skin. He can’t stop staring, unable to move his eyes from the cut of Zayn’s jaw, the freckle displaced in the hazel of his eye.
Nimble fingers as they slip beneath the duvet, the intriguing tattoos painted along his arms.
Liam is convinced he’s never seen anyone so beautiful, even in his two hundred and twelve years of existence.
Or a Vampire!AU in which Liam falls in love with a human.
be a place that I call home by lightseep
sometimes, home is a person. and sometimes, home is lots of people and sometimes home is two very, very little people.
But the sun comes up instead by blackwayfarers
Zayn Malik, charming and confident fraternity vice-president, meets shy but achingly endearing high schooler Liam Payne at a kegger and everything just goes straight to hell.
Just Let Me Know by SoftlyandSwiftly
Zayn wakes up in a hospital, eyes blurry and head pounding, only for a doctor to tell him he’s lost two years of his life. And if that’s not awful enough, something’s different with Liam, off like something has changed, and Zayn doesn’t understand.
Until he does.
And then it’s somehow worse.
Double Standards by rorz94
Give love a try, one more time by iwasnthere
Zayn groans, “Liam, do you ever get tired of annoying me?”
“Nope” Liam replies, popping a chip into his mouth. “Because it’s cute watching you lie to yourself”
“Excuse me?” Zayn looks at Liam bemusedly.
“You’re lying to yourself when you say that ‘I annoy you’.” Liam does the quote unquote thing with his fingers, smiling. “Admit it, you like me.”
“You’ve been asking me out for the past year and a half,” Zayn states, “the answer you always get is no, and I’m pretending?” he asks incredulously.
“Yep.” Liam grins, “I’ll get that yes one day, Zayn.”
“Keep trying.” Zayn gets out, trying for snappy but it ends up sounding amused. Damn it.
through the summertime, winter, spring, and fall by zipplekink
They change with the seasons, burning bright during the summer and biting cold during the winter, but that feeling of being in love Zayn found in the summer clings to him through it all.
What We Became by scottmcniceass
“Nervous?”
“No.”
“It’s okay if you are,” Harry says seriously. “I mean, I know I would be. Like, if there was ever a date that was destined to go bad, it’s probably this one. Werewolf goes on date with the son of a werewolf hunter, who’s also training to be a werewolf hunter when he’s older, while another pack of werewolves are practically massacring the town, and no one has no idea how to stop them. It’s not a question of what could go wrong. It’s a question of what could possibly go right, and I’m willing to bet the answer to that is nothing.“
vanilla sweet universe by xxcaribbean
despite the fact that zayn’s an alpha, liam gives him a chance to prove himself worthy of the omega’s affections.
What We Become by scottmcniceass
“Nervous?”
“No.”
“It’s okay if you are,” Harry says seriously. “I mean, I know I would be. Like, if there was ever a date that was destined to go bad, it’s probably this one. Werewolf goes on date with the son of a werewolf hunter, who’s also training to be a werewolf hunter when he’s older, while another pack of werewolves are practically massacring the town, and no one has no idea how to stop them. It’s not a question of what could go wrong. It’s a question of what could possibly go right, and I’m willing to bet the answer to that is nothing.“
this is interlude by xxcaribbean
liam figured a gunshot wound, a mysterious stranger, and a clear sign of betrayal was enough excitement to last a lifetime. however, in the process of it all, he didn’t take into account the fact that what he thought he knew would be challenged, provoked, and possibly crushed, all because of a little four letter word that shouldn’t have even crossed his mind.
Pride by iwanttowriteyouafic
“What if you guys were to come to some sort of arrangement?” Niall said. “Just a strictly, er, business-only deal, where you’d help each other out. You’re not close enough that it’d be weird, but you’re not strangers, either, so you know he won’t take advantage of you.”
“This is a really weird conversation,” Zayn told him. “I hope you know that.”
(Or the one where Zayn and Liam strike a deal to help each other through their dirtiest nights, but Zayn’s perception of alphas may be preventing him from something purer.)
Burning Away From Inside by scottmcniceass
They’re a little too dysfunctional to be considered superheroes, but they do their best.
all is fair in love and war by bad1ands
Up-and-coming journalist Zayn Malik - in hopes of later being allowed to cover more substantial stories - takes on an assignment by which he must pull a guy and then push him away in ten days.
Advertising executive Liam Payne - in order to take over a major campaign for his company - must prove to his associates that he’s able to woo a man in less than two weeks.
They walk into a bar.
(An AU based off of the 2003 film How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days.)
Deadpool by rorz94
Zayn Malik, a multi-millionaire good doer/artist, is targeted by a lunatic serial killer for no reason. Enter hot charismatic detective Liam Payne in the investigation of his case. Payne is assigned to protect Mr.Malik as a punishment from his supervisor but Liam does not think it’s such a bad punishment to stay close to the attractive young man.
I Know U So Well (No Homo) by jaylanic
Liam wants to get to know his roommate better. Zayn doesn’t have anything anyone needs to know. Except for his rules. No Taylor Swift or la Traviata after 6 p.m. No touching his stuff. No testing him and most important, no homo. Unless you’re Liam. No touching Liam either.
