37 mins later found him unlocking the front door to his flat, grocery bag in hand with a carton of chicken broth and a bar of gourmet chocolate. He flung the house key in a ceramic bowl placed on a small table by the door and shut it behind him.

"I'm home!"

He listened for footsteps, but only heard music being blasted from around the foyer. He mused at the idea of what could possibly be happening in the kitchen, as he took of the black coat given to him as an anniversary present and smelled mouthwatering spices wafting to his person.

Liam turned around the wall and saw his very perfect boyfriend dancing to NSYNC's I Want It That Way and a smile split his face. Zayn grabbed the sauce covered spoon and was belting out "I nev-er wan-na hear you say-ee-ee!" and Liam chuckled and put the bag down gently by the fridge. Taking light steps, he snuck up behind Zayn, who had returned the spoon to the pot and was stirring.

"Something smells good." He finally said whilst walking to wrap his arms around Zayn. He could feel the slightly shorter man jump.

"Jesus christ."

"haha sorry." Liam's cheecks bulged as he smiled into Zayn's neck and rested his nose on his shoulder.

"Did you bring the chicken broth?" He feels the question reverberate through his tshirt from the other man rather than hears it. "mmhm" he mumbles into the thin fabric. Annoyingly, he notices that Zayn has not stopped moving his arm. His elbow keeps nudging into Liam's upper arm with every oscillation of the spoon. He wrapped his arms tighter around his waist, scrunching the loose tshirt he was wearing and plastering his chest to his back.

"You're nervous." It wasn't a question. The blasting of NSYNC was a tell tale sign. Liam knew how hard Zayn had been working. The bar would not only be Niall's baby, but Zayn's as well. Zayn would be a part time cook at Lucky's Charms. Yeah, it would be simple bar food, but this would be the first time he's ever cooked for anyone other than friends and family.

The spoon clanked against the side of the pot as a sigh escaped into the kitchen. "I just...don't want to get my hopes up for nothing."

Liam was now rubbing his hand across his chest soothingly. "And I keep thinking if its just a big mistake. Like my mum was right, y'know?" Liam lifted his face and reached around to turn Zayn's to his.

"Hey. You've had this dream for a long time. Yeah, you got an engineering degree. But are you really gonna be happy looking over plans for a bridge? Or looking over recipes?"

A smile graced his face. He was right. Liam placed a kiss on his temple.

"You're going to be amazing." He was released as Liam busied himself with putting away the produce into the respective places.

Zayn couldn't lie, this wasn't the first time he had doubts about his life. One thing he was sure of was meeting Liam. Back then, Liam was working for a different company, pitching ideas to anyone who would listen, which was not a big number. He smiled inwardly at the memory of Liam and him meeting at a conference for those who wanted to start their own business in London. Bumping into each other in lobby and mumbling 'sorry' 'no it was my fault' led to a drink in the hotel bar and, 2 years later, buying an apartment together.

He fell hard and fast for the wide smile and unapologetic laugh. Of course, it was rare that Liam would actually give into a gut-wrenching laugh, but Zayn remembered the first time he heard it.

Someone, Niall probably, suggested they go see the new batman movie and Zayn had said something stupid about the batarangs or something, when Liam let out a delicious mixture of lung splitting guffaws and knee slaps. That dork took his heart whole in 2 seconds.

Breathing out, he set the spoon aside and searched the drawer to his right for a ceramic one. Dipping it in the sauce, he brought it to Liam's lips.

"I think its done."

Silently, Liam engulfed the spoon with his mouth, letting it slide to the corner of his mouth, effectively leaving red sauce in it its wake. He nodded while licking his lips, just missing the spot. Zayn took his thumb and wiped the spot, and instead of rubbing it off on the rag in his other hand, he brought it to his own mouth with a sly sort of smile.

"Yeah. Its done."