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@Harry_Styles: Lux dropped my phone in the pool today. Need numbersssss x
@Real_Liam_Payne: +44 20 555 1730*
Zayn stared at the screen of his phone in disbelief. There was no way that Liam Payne just tweeted his own phone number. He wondered if he realized it as his fingers began to dial the numbers into his phone. He felt silly that he was actually considering calling the famous band member but it seemed like his fingers had a mind of their own because before he could stop himself, he had hit 'call' and he heard his phone ringing. Zayn held his breath, his mind going over the possible scenarios that could happen. It could be the wrong number, first and foremost. It was very unlikely that Liam would have actually thought it was a good idea to tweet his real number to nearly ten million followers. It could be his number and Liam wouldn't answer. That was pretty likely since Zayn was usually wary about answering phone calls from unknown numbers so he would imagine that Liam would be too. It was possible that he'd get angry since Zayn had a hard time believing that he was the only one doing just this. He wasn't just one in a million, he was one in ten million and ten million phone calls would cause any person to freak out. No matter how many scenarios his brain tried to prepare him for, he wasn't ready for the "Hello?" that came from the receiver.
Zayn knew that voice. He recognized it from the numerous interviews and performances videos he watched over the years. This voice belonged to no other than Liam Payne, he was sure of it. He was freaking out a bit, but he knew if he didn't speak soon Liam would hang up on him and Zayn could miss the one chance he'll ever get to talk to his not-so-small celebrity crush. "Liam?" he said when his mouth seemed to work finally. "Um, you don't know me but um, you might want to check your Twitter. I think you meant to send a direct message to Harry and accidentally tweeted it instead?"
There was some shuffling in the background and he could swore he heard Liam murmur 'shit' and 'fuck' a few times before there was a sign on the other end. "I can't believe I'm so stupid," he said. "That's probably why I've received what seems to be a million incoming calls since answering this one and fuck, my phone is blowing up. So stupid."
Zayn couldn't help but chuckle as Liam continued to mutter how stupid he was. "Could have been worse, mate," he said. "Could have answered the phone and had some eleven year old girl sobbing to you."
That earned a chuckle from Liam which made Zayn's heart fucking soar, not that he'd admit that. He'd like to think he was nothing like most fans, starting with the fact that he wasn't female. He also liked to believe he wouldn't freak out completely if he ever got a chance like this and he was doing a damn good job thank you very much. Liam hadn't told him to 'fuck off' or hung up on him yet and he even got a chuckle out of him so Zayn figured he was doing pretty good. "Yes, this is much better than that," he agreed. "I get enough of that just walking outside. What did you say your name was, again?"
"I don't think I did," Zayn said. "But I'm Zayn."
"Well thank you so much, Zayn. You saved me from what could have been a very unpleasant experience. Hate to make our call short but I need to change my number as soon as possible but thanks again!"
They said goodbye and when he hung up, Zayn looked at his phone completely dumbfounded. He actually just spoke to Liam Payne. The Liam Payne. Granted, it wasn't a very long conversation but Liam-fucking-Payne spoke to him and knows his name. Of course, he had no idea what Zayn looked like but fuck it was better than nothing. He fell back on his bed, trying to figure out how life was supposed to go on when probably one of the best things in his life had just occurred. He sighed and went to check his Twitter to see if Liam was able to delete the troublesome tweet. The tweet was gone just as expected, but there was also a new Tweet a the top of his feed.
@Real_Liam_Payne: Ahhh cant believe I tweeted my number. Stupid stupidd boy. Changing it now! Thank you zayn for letting me know!!! :)
Okay, it was possible that Zayn was freaking out now. That was his name. In Liam-fucking-Payne's tweet. He was allowed to freak out a little bit, right? He clicked to open the tweet and saw that it already had a few hundred fans who were either upset that they missed the chance to have Liam's number or asking who Zayn was. His finger was hovering over the reply button as he thought of a good response that didn't come off too strong. "You're thinking about this too much," he mumbled to himself. "This isn't that big of a fucking deal." He hit the reply button and typed a response that seemed nonchalant but friendly.
@zaynmalik: @Real_Liam_Payne no problem, mate. Great talking to you ! x
He hit send and smiled at down at his phone. It was a long shot that Liam was even going to see his tweet among the thousands of other fans that were responding to that tweet but just a few minutes after he sent it, his phone lit up with a Twitter notification:
Real_Liam_Payne is now following you!
Before his brain could truly catch up to what those words meant, Zayn jumped from his bed and rushed across the hall of his apartment and pulled open his roommate's door. "Louis!" he called as he jumped onto the boy's bed, making his friend groan. "Louis, I have something super important to show you."
"Jesus, Zayn," he said as he pushed his Spiderman comic book away from him. "What if I had been jerking off in here? How would our friendship survive if you'd inevitably fall for me and try to pursue me? Use your head!"
Zayn rolled his eyes. "Like that would ever actually happen, you wanker," he said, elbowing the other boy in the side. "Besides, I'm serious about having to show you something. Look at this." He showed Louis his phone screen with the notification about Liam following him.
"Shit," Louis said. "How the hell did that happen? You always complain that he never follows you during his following sprees even though you never tweet him about it, so why the hell would he decide to follow you?" Zayn told Louis about the phone call he made to Liam on a whim after seeing his original tweet and the tweet that following that was thanking him. When he tried showing Louis the tweet, he noticed that he had more notifications and when he clicked, his eyes grew wide and they felt like they were about to pop out of his head. Not only did he have over a hundred retweets and likes on his tweet to Liam, but he actually gained over fifty followers since he came into Louis' room.
"Well, damn," he said. "I guess people think I have some kind of connection to the band because of the tweet. That's weird."
"You know, I never quite understood what your obsession with Liam was," Louis said as he picked his comic book back up and thumbed to the right page. "It's quite obvious that the curly haired one is the most fit.
"Harry," Zayn corrected. "His name is Harry and you know that, Lou but you're too stubborn to admit that you actually like their music because it will make you seem 'more gay than you already are'." Zayn stood up and walked towards the door before turning back and adding, "Hate to admit but I think it's far too late for that, darling."
Louis swore as Zayn quickly left the room and he could have sworn that he heard the thump of a pillow hitting the door but he wasn't going to turn around to find out. He returned to his room and fell back into his bed again. Liam Payne was following him on Twitter by some strange divine force in the world. He figured since Liam went out of his way to find his tweet specifically and to follow him, it wouldn't be such a huge deal if he sent him a direct message. He clicked the button and typed out 'thanks for the follow ! cant believe you were able to find my tweet in that mess !! Haha :)'
Almost instantly, Zayn's phone lit up again and he saw that Liam had responded. 'u seemed like a alright guy on the phone! im definitely glad it was u who called me saved me a big hassle!! plus no crying ;)'
Zayn knew he was probably pushing his luck, but decided that it wouldn't hurt to send Liam one more response. This was the benefit of being mutual followers, right? 'No crying here. cant promise not to if it happens again !! mostly for your horrible luck at twitter x' There. Nothing wrong with that. Just some playful banter with one of the most famous people in the entire world currently. No big deal. Zayn set his alarm and plugged his phone into the wall so he could make sure he didn't sit around waiting for a response from Liam. He had classes in the morning so Twitter would just have to wait for the morning.
When he woke up the next morning, he was incredibly shocked to find that those fifty people grew to over three-thousand. Before this situation with Liam occurred, he only had about seventy followers and now seeing that big number staring back at him kind of blew him away. Not only did his follower count increase, but his notifications had blown up. For whatever reason, people seemed to be very interested in finding out about who Zayn was and just what happened between Liam and him. He knew the One Direction fandom reacted this way when it came to the boys, but he didn't understand why any of them would be interested in who he was just after one tweet.
He quickly checked his direct messages and saw that there hadn't been a reply from Liam after the last one he sent the night prior. He tried to ignore the sinking feeling in his chest at the disappointment, but the fact that he even had the opportunity to talk to him at all was pretty much a dream come true so he couldn't let it get to him. He gathered his things into his book bag, made himself some coffee to take with him to class because tea just does not have enough caffeine sometimes, regardless to what Louis says and headed out the door to his first class, trying to leave his thoughts of Liam Payne behind him.