Liam and Zayne both go to sun square. Happy #LeaveMeFriday. Enjoy xo

***

The park was in full bloom. Dense, bright trees swayed in the soft summer breeze. Children ran around the playground equipment while parents sat on benches around the area to keep an eye out. Liam and Marcus were sat warily a few feet apart on a bench on the other side of the park where people only passed on their way through the jogging trail.

The area was littered with foliage that blocked most of the sun, the thing that made this park Liam and Zayn's favorite. But he wasn't here to bask in the sun; he didn't deserve it. He was here to be done with this and fix what was broken.

"You really are that selfless, do-gooder type, aren't you?" Marcus mocked. "Why is it always so dramatic with you two?"

Liam was floored. "Maybe because you threatened to kill us if we came back? Maybe because you sold me into slavery? Tried to kill the man I love?"

"Come on, it wasn't that bad."

"Are you having me on?"

Marcus tilted his head, apparently done playing. "I'm just pointing out your proclivity for danger. Even when you have it good, you can't help but find trouble."

Liam didn't have an answer for that. Marcus wasn't wrong. He'd been paired with Marcus and they'd hit it off. Marcus was good to him until he couldn't keep his hands to himself. That didn't excuse being sold into slavery, but Liam wondered what he would've done had Zayn cheated on him....Oh, right. He'd have done exactly what he was doing right now, selling himself to Marcus to make things right. Maybe he and Marcus weren't so different after all.

"I know I messed up, but I want what's best for everybody. I think we can work something out, right?"

"You better make it good, slave." Marcus crossed an ankle over his knee and tilted his sunglasses down to look over them at Liam. "I can think of a few things I want."

Liam swallowed down his revulsion and nodded. "I know. I can make that happen."

Marcus leaned in, voice lowered with wrath. "You don't make anything happen. Got it?"

Fear crept across the back of Liam's neck, but he refused to let Marcus see it. "I got it." When Marcus leaned back, out of Liam's space and he could breathe again, Liam folded his hands in his lap and started. "I'm willing to be yours again if you give me something in return. Once that's done, then Zayn is to be left unharmed and you and I go our separate ways."

Marcus hummed, his eyes tracing the trajectory of a few birds that took off from a tree branch across the empty running path. "How can I be assured you'll obey until I give you what you want? I've already threatened life and limb and yet here you are."

"I've got some ideas for that."

Marcus raised a brow. "Like?"

Liam rubbed his sweaty palms together. "Like a shock collar, for instance, with distance restrictions."

Marcus's dark chuckle made Liam's shoulders tense. The Master turned his upper body to lean an arm on the back of the bench and face Liam. "You thought I was barbaric. Liam, that is something."

"Like I said, I mean it this time."

"Obviously," Marcus allowed and smirked. "I also want to make clear that when you say you're mine, that means something."

"I know."

"Do you? That means your body is mine, your mind is mine, your life is mine for as long as it takes. I could bring you within an inch of death for the fun of it because you belong to me. Is that the deal you're willing to make?"

Liam couldn't let Marcus make him forget why he was doing this. He wanted- needed Zayn to be happy. He wanted this for the man that nearly gave his life for Liam. "Yes."

"Good," Marcus confirmed, sounding a little surprised. "Then whatever it is that you want, I'm sure we can work it out. Why don't we go close the deal?"

Liam felt like crying. Instead, he set his shoulders firmly and nodded. "Yes, sir."

Zayn came to a screeching halt in the parking lot on the west side of the park. There were kids playing, bicyclists, and sunshine in the trees: everything that first he and Louis, then he and Liam had come to love about that place. He ran onto the grass and around the big jungle gym so he could see the expansive space better.

No Liam.

No Marcus.

But he knew he was right. They had to have been here.

"Is this the place?" Harry asked as the three others caught up to Zayn.

Louis confirmed with something bitter in his voice, "Yeah, this is it."

"Where are they?" Niall asked.

Zayn ignored them all, walking forward along the path he and Liam had held hands on while they'd walked the setting sun into the horizon. Liam had told him about his fear of abandonment in that park. Zayn shared his desire for a family in that park. The Master's feet took him back through the same course they'd come all those nights ago, to the bench they'd shared as shelter from the sudden rain.

Zayn sat down on the bench and let his head drop back in defeat. He could have sworn he was right. How could he-

Zayn's head popped up and he sniffed the air. He turned in his seat and looked at the bench, inhaling deeper. "Liam." Zayn would know that cologne anywhere. He'd been the one to get it for his slave's birthday; a handmade scent he'd spent months on.

The dark-haired man stood on shaky legs and pointed frantically at the bench. "He was right there." He turned and yelled towards the other three, who were all wondering towards him while searching the park for any sign of the slave and Marcus. "He was right there!"

Niall came running over and caught Zayn as he stumbled back a step. "What's wrong, Zee?"

Zayn grit his teeth, walking back towards the bench and kicking violently at the seat. The wood splintered under the force, cracking and scratching along Zayn ankle through his sock. "He was right there! I can still smell him," he urged while he motioned frantically at the bench. "That rat Master bastard was right here, and I missed him!"

***

Ooo, damn so close! Maybe you'll get him next time, babe. Though, be careful what you wish for.

How we feeling this week y'all? Mwah! Xoxo, Jess