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The first thing Zayn thought was "Wow, this is pretty freaking awesome!". But then it occured to him that most normal people would think "Holy shit! I'm on fire!"
Well, Zayn's not normal.
From a young age, he's always enjoyed playing with fire. On his birthday, instead of blowing out the candle, he watched the flames burn down the wax until it got too close to the icing. In the winter when his family sat around the furnace watching cute little cartoons, Zayn sat as close to the fire as he could.
In the winters, he was never completely cold. There was always something inside of him, or so he felt, keeping him warm. In the summer, well, sometimes the summer was unbearably hot and not even sitting inside a freezer could cool him off.
Then there were the times when Zayn's emotions got too intense for him to handle. Sometimes his little sister pissed him off by messing with his art supplies and that made his skin burn. Literally nobody could bear to touch his skin, it was so hot.
The first time Zayn kissed a girl, she yelped and pulled back saying he shocked her. They tried another kiss, and Zayn felt like he was on fire. It was good for him, but not for the girl. She ran home crying because it felt like she pressed her lips onto a hot stove.
It was a year after that, not long after Zayn's sixteenth birthday, that he realized what was happening. Around that time was when it became harder to have skin to skin contact with anybody. He could construct fires just by snapping and he could stop them with a simple nod.
That was when he realized what he was.
A mutant.
Mutants weren't exactly top secret, but the existance of them was highly discouraged. They were outcasts, at the bottom of the social heirarchy. People approved more of gay marriage than they did mutants.
Zayn knew what he could do. He could control fire, create it, manipulate it. He was dangerous and just by being what he was, he was putting his family in danger.
So he ran away.
He ran away to the only place he could think of. Charles Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters.
Sure it was across the Atlantic Ocean, but that was supposedly a safe place for young mutants like him. And no matter how angry his makes him, no matter how frustrated he gets with them, there's no way he'd put them in danger and stay there.
The journey to the states was long and painfully boring, but completely worth it when he reached the large school. It looked exactly as it had online when he researched it.
Professor Xavier was waiting in the front lobby, it appeared, when Zayn arrived. Immediately Zayn was thrown into a world of mutants and they all opened their arms and welcomed him. He was a part of a new family with more people like him.
His roommates, Niall (who could run faster than Flash) and Louis (who had a nasty habit of reading everyone's minds), quickly became the best friends he'd ever had. Along with Harry (with piercing green eyes that looked as if they could see through you, and surprise suprise, they did) and Liam (colder than Mr. Freeze himself).
The first few weeks were hard on Zayn. He wanted to call his parents, let them know he was okay. It's not like they didn't know where he was, he left a note. And it's not exactly forbidden, he didn't think he could handle hearing his mother's voice. There's no doubt that she'd cry and then tell him how special he is and that she'd love him forever. Then he'd cry and they'd both be crying.
So he didn't call.
It got easier.
Zayn learned to control his emotions so he wouldn't burn every person he came in contact with, though they'd still feel an uncomfortable amount of heat coming from his body. It was like that for everyone. Everyone except Liam.
Zayn liked Liam. He really liked Liam. But he was too scared to act on it, because he knew what happened when his emotions got out of control, and it's not that hard when he's a hormonal teenage mutant.
As it would turn out, Liam liked him too.
Crazy as it seems, Fire and Ice do mix. When Zayn was angry and he was feeling a little warm, all Liam had to do was press a hand to Zayn's cheek and he'd calm down almost immediately. If Liam "accidentally" froze someone to a metal pole, Zayn was there to keep Liam from getting into any major trouble. They balanced each other out.
And Zayn's favorite thing was when they got in to a steamy makeout session, that's exactly what it was. Zayn's skin would heat up, to the point where he was almost on fire, and as soon as Liam's skin would touch his, it was like sticking a hot pan under cold water.
Zayn loved the feel of Liam's ice cold fingertips caressing his cheeks, tickling up and down his sides, and in the palm of his much warmer hand. Liam loved feelings Zayn's lips on his own, it made him feel like he was melting, sometimes literally.
Sometimes its hard for them to keep their hands off of each other. Mostly because Zayn loves being able to touch someone without burning them. Liam loves watching the wisps of steam that comes from their touches.
Fire and Ice is what they were. Perfect opposites that balanced each other out.