Chapter 2 "Would You Rather"

With the right clothes, no makeup, and hats, it is not as easy for people to recognize them at the restaurant and thankfully at this time they are still considered C ranked celebrities. They request a booth in the back of the restaurant, which gladly provides. The seating in the whole restaurant is actually very private, the booths are made to look like they are carved in the side of a mountain in Greece, the lighting is low and they've been informed that the belly dancer will not be performing tonight. "What a shame." Zayn says, acting truly disappointed for the hostess. "That's my favorite part about coming here." The young hostess blushes and giggles an apology before leaving.

As soon as the hostess leaves Leo leans in close, placing a hand on Zayn's thigh. "I could dance for you."

Zayn's cheeks turn pink. "I would like that very much." He places his hand over Leo's, stopping him from sliding any further up his leg.

Leo smirks, as he slowly grips Zayn's thigh tighter. "Would if be your favorite?"

Zayn nervously laughs as the blood begins to rush to his groin and he shakily answers. "Yes. Your dancing is my favorite." His lips fell a little open.

Leo brings his lips close to Zayn's ear. "Good." He releases his grip and Zayn quietly sighs as Leo slightly moves away just a moment before the waitress came with waters and to take their orders. Leo orders appetizers; Tzatziki and hummus with flat breads and olives. He can tell Leo is a little lost in the menu. "Leo, the kids menu only has three options— owe!" Leo hit him hard before scowling back at the menu while the waitress stifles her laugh.

Leo looks to the waitress calmly. "Do you have a senior discount for my friend here?" The waitress fails to conceal her laughter as Zayn's mouth drops open in disbelief.

"Be nice! I'm paying for this meal!" Zayn yells while slapping Leo's bicep, internally screaming at how muscular it is. He calmly looks to their waitress and speaks politely. "We will have the combination plate to share. Thank you for putting up with us." She smiles as she takes their menus.

Leo reaches for Zayn's leg again and pinches him. "No more kid jokes." He quietly yells as he releases his pinch.

"Fine. No more old man jokes." Zayn sneers while rubbing the spot Leo had pinched. "You shouldn't be so sensitive about it. It's a good thing to be so young, you have lots of life ahead of you."

Leo scoffs. "You talk like you are my parent's age. You're only five years older than me. That's really not that big of a difference… You are way more sensitive about the age gap than I am. I prefer the company of people older than me. Nothing wrong with my own age, I just feel I have more to learn from those a little further down the road than myself… and when it comes to you—" He leaned in close again, his breath still warm when it hits Zayn's ear, causing shivers to run through him. ���It gives me something to chase."

Zayn slowly turns to Leo, eyes dropping to his lips. "You're awful." He whispers as the need to kiss him stings his lips and burns when Leo scoots away. "Awful." He repeats in a slightly less quiet whisper.

One corner of Leo's mouth pulls up into a smile. "What should we talk about while we eat?" He asks while leaning his elbow onto the table

Zayn thinks for a minute. "Would you rather?"

Leo chokes on his laugh. "Okay. Would you rather… lose your hearing or— lose your voice?"

Zayn resists the urge to roll his eyes. "I was hoping for something more personal… but okay. I guess I would rather lose my voice."

Leo looks sad. "Why?"

Zayn smiles. "Because if I can still hear, I can still listen to others and try to understand them, and just because I cannot speak doesn't mean I cannot write, or paint, or design. I could still make an impact with either loss, but I enjoy listening to other people… so I guess that's why. What about you?"

Leo shakes his head. "You can't steal my question. Besides, I have more questions about this answer. Who do you like to listen to most?"

Zayn laughs, knowing what Leo wants him to say (him). "I think my favorite person to listen to is my grandmother…"

Leo's lips purse and his eyes tighten as he listened, relaxing when Zayn finished though. "Acceptable answer. I would choose the same, although I would miss singing… and yelling… and making noise, I would rather get to continue listening to my favorite sounds…"

Zayn's eyebrow lifts as he spots his moment and leans in closer to Leo. "What is your favorite sound?"

Leo smirks and abruptly turn so their noses are almost touching. "Currently, that little whimper you let out when I released you leg earlier." Zayn bites his lip and swallows as he tries to figure out who won that little flirtation… he didn't feel like he won. Just as Leo was leaning into Zayn with his lips ready for a kiss Zayn spots the waitress heading their way and gently puts a hand to Leo's chest and push him away. Leo grabs his hand though with a huff before seeing what Zayn did and releases the hand so they can attempt to appear like friends and not two people slowly falling in love as the waitress sets down their appetizers and checks on their drinks before leaving them alone.

"Where were we?" Leo asks in a low tone before leaning back toward Zayn, who once again places a hand on Leo's chest to stop the contact of their lips. "Would you rather surf or snowboard?" Zayn inwardly groans, it shows on his face, at his lousy question.

Leo sits up with irritation and huffs his answer. "Surf." His eyes slowly move from Zayn's alluring lips to the table where their appetizers are.

Zayn reaches out and grabs the warm pita bread and dips it into the tzatziki sauce. "Have you had any of this before?" He asks, the bread still handing over the sauce as Leo shakes his head and the thought pops into his head, and without further thought he starts to move the hand with food in it towards Leo's mouth instead of his own. At first Leo looks irritated, but the closer the food got the softer his expression got until his eyes closed and his mouth opened. Watching Leo's face shift as he registered all the new flavors brought Zayn a pleasure he wasn't familiar with as Leo chewed and Zayn dipped the bitten pita back into the sauce and takes his own first bite.

Leo got his own pita for the rest of the course and when they had finished Zayn picked up an olive, popping it into his mouth, another idea popping into his head. He grabbed another olive and scooted close to Leo. "Open?" He gently asks. When Leo's eyes met his he could see the amazement at how bold he was being as he brought the olive closer. Leo stuck his tongue out for Zayn to put the olive on and when he pressed the olive to Leo's tongue and got a slight moan he thought he might swoon.

"Would you rather go to the beach with your crush or be snowed in with your crush?" Leo asks as his eyes slowly open.

Zayn smiles and shakes his head to gain some composure. "Snowed in."

Leo's eyebrows raise for a moment. "Really?! Why?"

Zayn laughs a little at Leo's shock. "I'm guessing that isn't your answer. Because if I were at the beach right now with my crush there would be a lot of photos taken by strangers and I wouldn't be able to relax or do what I want with my crush."

Leo purses his lips for a quick moment, stifling a pleased smile. "What do you want to do with your crush?"

Zayn closes his eyes as he takes a steadying deep breath and when he opens his brown eyes back to the world they are lowered to the table. "A lot of things that no one else needs to see or know about. Plus, if we are at the beach, he will most likely be shirtless and showing off their abs, which I would like to be for just my eyes now."

Leo snickers. "Jealousy? Not a great look Zayn."

Zayn scratches the back of his head. "Yeah, I have a feeling it's a look we will struggle with for a little bit…" Leo looks completely confused and Zayn doesn't wait for the inevitable question to drop to answer. "I could be wrong, but if we decide to move forward—" His cheeks begin to redden. "My guess is that our publicist and managers are going to suggest that we be as— what's the word—"

Leo tries to contribute. "Discreet?"

Zayn smiles. "Something like that. When we are out at highly publicized events or doing interviews together my guess is that they will want us to limit our physical interactions more with each other than any of the other cast members incase it reveals the truth… and watching you smile and laugh with the other cast members might be hard for me…"

Leo peers towards Zayn. "Me too. I can be very protective of what I see as mine."

Zayn's cheek brighten again. "Okay okay. Enough talking about that. What about your answer? Beach or snowed in?"

Leo smiles. "In a perfect world I would take my crush to the beach and teach hi—them how to surf and hold hi—their hand while we walk along the beach at sunset."

Zayn chuckles. "They sound very lucky to have someone so romantic crushing on them."

Leo looks at Zayn with playful seriousness. "Yes, but I am more lucky to get to look at their face or hold their hand." He reaches under the table for Zayn's hand, hidden under the tablecloth.

His grip tightens when the waitress approaches again with their meal and two plates to split all of the food. When she leaves Leo leans into Zayn. "Like this, but I would wave it around with pride."

Zayn has turned crimson with embarrassment. "That's enough Leo. This isn't a perfect world."

Leo releases his hand, pushing disappointment away to focus on keeping the atmosphere between them warm. "You're right. This world is not perfect… but you are." He leans close enough to leave a small kiss on the stunned Zayn's cheek.

Once the shock wares off he turns to Leo with soften features and leans to him. "You too." He whispers before leaving his own impression on Leo's cheek. When he pulls away he watches in delight as Leo lifts and presses his hand to the spot Zayn's lips had just been with a slightly open mouthed kiss. He smiles as he watches Leo soak in the affection. "I'm starving. Just try everything. Whatever you don't like I will eat."

The extra plates left by the waitress to split the food are never touched as the two sit close enough to just share straight from the plate. Zayn was good on his word, anything Leo took a bite of Zayn happily finished, which turned out to not be extremely necessary as Leo liked most of the options. When the waitress came by to ask if they wanted dessert Zayn ordered a baklava to share and for the check.

"I think I like Greek food." Leo admits, a little bashfully.

Zayn leans back with pride while crossing his arms over his chest. "I won't tell your mother." Leo blushes a little.

Once the dessert is brought Leo excitedly sits up towards it and grabs a fork, grabbing a piece and then turning his fork towards Zayn. He takes the bite from the fork with playfully seductive eyes that send a surge to Leo's groin and he stops thinking properly for a moment, and that moment is long enough for him to ask a question. "Top of bottom?"

Zayn nearly spits the baklava out. To avoid any choking he takes a long drink of water.

Leo is panicking. "I mean… top bunk or bottom bunk?" He laughs nervously.

While Zayn drinks his eyes stay focused at the inside of the cup as he tries to focus on his breathing and how to answer this question and wether or not to answer it the way Leo meant it originally or go along with his cover. He sets the cup down slow and carful, as he looks Leo directly in the eyes. "Seeing as I've never shared a bunkbed with another man before I have to careful examine my mind and I think, for me, it would depend on what the other person needs… that being said, I also need time to feel secure in the relationship before sharing a bunkbed with anyone."

Leo just nervously nods his head, wondering how badly he just messed this up, and wondering how badly his next question might screw this whole thing up but going for it anyway. "How long does it take you to trust someone enough to— share a bunkbed…"

Zayn sighs, not smiling at the hidden topic. "Depends on the person, but I have to admit, I prefer to not be working with the person I share a bunkbed with."

Leo's mouth drops and a little anger makes its way to his expression. "Why?" He asks with ire.

Zayn's expression continues to be stern. "I've seen sharing a bunk bed derail a lot of projects that could have been masterpieces if the leads hadn't shared a bunkbed."

Leo was getting more frustrated, which only made Zayn more concerned about this budding relationship. Leo's voice shakes a little with passion for the topic. "What if the other person really wants to share a bunkbed… not right now… but before you are done working together… And what if that person promises to not let what happens in the bunkbed change how they work?"

Zayn chuckles. "Impossible. Bunkbeds have magic, magic that changes things between two people. Even when you try to use bunkbeds casual, the two people walk away changed, even if they cannot see the change, it's there."

Leo resist the urge to roll his eyes, wanted to be seen as an equal and not some kid just trying to get in his pants, but also wanting to get into his pants. "Are you going to ask me the same question?"

Zayn huffs at the boldness of Leo to continue the conversation in this way, although he could admit to himself that he had a lot of questions on the topic. "Top or bottom— bunkbed?"

He runs his tongue along his cheek after asking the question to avoid a smile.

Leo smirks a little devilishly. "I have a slight preference for the top— bunk." His lips purse for a moment. "Although I think I would also enjoy the bottom— bunk." He winks at Zayn playfully.

Zayn sighs while glancing at the ceiling, searching for his sanity, and found none. "Have you shared a bunkbed many times?"

Leo is the one who nearly spits as the image of his past experiences flash through his mind. "A few." He answers with unease.

Zayn and Leo suddenly feel like they are in an interrogation with each other, Leo the criminal and Zayn the cop trying to get to the truth. "How many?"

Leo finds himself compelled to spill the truth without hesitation. "A few…"

Zayn's eyes tighten, irritated to not get a solid number to grab on to. "How recently?"

Leo swallows. "A little over a year."

Zayn suddenly stops sounding like an interrogator and more like a concerted friend. "Why?"

Leo shyly looks away and then back to Zayn with puppy dog eyes. "You."

Zayn shakes his head in disbelief. "What do you mean?"

Leo sighs. "I tried for a long time to not think about— sharing a bunk bed with you… but whenever I was in the bunkbed alone…" He shift back and forth, his hands suddenly pressed between his thighs. "And then I heard that you broke off your engagement, and the next time I was… sharing a bunkbed with someone—" He looks down in shame. "I may have been thinking of you, and I may have let your name slip out of my lips when… I fell out of the bunkbed?" He wasn't totally confident this code was working until he looked up to see a stunned Zayn.

Zayn focused on his breath so he could respond. "You've been thinking of bunking me for awhile…" Leo's nervous laughter was contagious and soon they were both laughing at themselves for the ridiculous conversation when the waitress finally brings the check. Zayn just pulls out enough cash to pay for the meal and a generous tip. Zayn had texted his driver when the check came, so the dark sedan with nearly black tinted windows was waiting for them.

"You're really going to make me wait another three and a half months…" Leo sighs as he settles into the seat next to Zayn.

Zayn hesitates to answer for a moment, admitting to himself he didn't want to wait that long, but that he believed it was the smart thing to do. "Yes. I think we should wait."

Leo rolls his head to look at Leo. "I need you to be very clear about the boundaries here Zayn… The bunkbed thing was easy to follow but there was no way to discuss hands and mouths in regards to sharing a bunk bed…"

"Hands-- mouths.—" Zayn whispers and Leo smiles as he reaches over to his thigh again, this time rubbing in towards upward and leaning until his lips brushed Zayn's ear as he speaks slow, low, and seductively calm. "Fingers. Tongue. I bet that's all I need to make you—"

Zayn slapped his hand over Leo's mouth and closed his eyes in frustration. "You're being very difficult Leo. We aren't even anything official and you are trying to have sex with me. I see you as more than that, but I get the feeling you don't…" He removes his hand from Leo's mouth, removes Leo's hand that was dangerously close to his zipper, and places his own hands gently on his laps.

Leo's eyes suddenly sadden and his expression goes a little blank. "How else do you see me?"

Zayn strokes Leo's cheek. "You're fearless. You're driven, and that makes you destined for greatness. I see how much hard work and effort you've been putting into this role along with the rest of your career. I think that is what I am most attracted to…"

Leo fiddles his thumbs. "I'd like to see myself the way you do… Something more than a pretty face that people want to fuck…" He looks from his hands to Zayn. "When other people compliment me it's only about how beautiful I am, but you— you compliment who I am... and my heart feels happy."

Zayn looks back to Leo with a smile before leaning in until their foreheads touch. "It makes me happy to hear that." A wish suddenly grows in Zayn's mind that he wants to make Leo's heart smile for as long as he is allowed, maybe longer. That dream continues to grow and take root the longer he watches Leo smile and watch as they approach their hotel.

When they got to the elevator Leo scanned it for the first time in two weeks to see if there were security cameras. "No surveillance here. The hallways do though, so I guess this is where we say goodnight." He closes the gap again, pressing Zayn to the wall and brushing some of his dark hair from his face. "Sweet dreams." He whispers before lightly, and teasingly, brushing his lips to Zayn's cheek.

Zayn shakes himself from the shock of the cheek peck and speaks clearly. "Would you rather go for a run in the morning or go to the gym?"

Leo smiles as the door to their floor opens. They exit the elevator, looking casual as they walk towards their rooms. Before splitting down a separate hall towards his room Leo answers. "I would rather go for a run, early in the morning when almost no one else is awake. When it feels like we are the only two people in the world for a little while."

Zayn smiles. "Five in the morning." He states before they politely separate for the evening. To the camera's it looked like to friendly costars saying good night after a long day of work. To Leo and Zayn it was the first time they said good night knowing how the other felt.