married life ♡ niam au [COMPLETE]

day ninety-six // bruised knuckles

niall is still asleep when liam wakes up, nestled into liam's chest as the small spoon. liam leans in a presses a kiss against his bare shoulder, and niall hums in his sleep, arching closer.

liam pulls back, about to get out of the bed, when he sees a large, purple bruise on niall's back, near the spine. his eyes well up with tears as he brushes his fingers over it gently -- did i do that? why can't i remember?

liam sniffles quietly, not wanting to wake his husband, but niall shifts anyway. he holds his breath, hoping niall will sleep longer, but the blond's eyelids flutter and eventually open. his expression goes from sleepy and fond to alarmed in about three seconds flat.

"liam," he gasps, "what's happened? what's wrong?"

liam just shakes his head. there's a lump in his throat, and he knows it would be nearly impossible to speak around.

"please talk to me," niall pleads. "you're not still mad at me about last night, are you?"

the lump disappears. "why would i be mad at you about last night? you didn't do anything wrong. if anything, you should be mad at me."

"well, i'm not," niall shrugs.

"but..." liam swallows. "the bruises."

"bruises?"

"on your back...i...i don't remember doing anything, but i --"

"oh, liam," niall mumbles, shutting his eyes. he loves his husband so much, he drowns in the feeling for a second. "liam, you didn't put a hand on me, babe."

"then how did you get bruised?" liam is so confused.

niall shakes his head. "li, it was randy. we were --"

"hold on a second." liam cuts niall off because he's seeing red right now. "randy put his motherfucking hands on you?"

"not really -- i --" niall is stammering. he's never seen liam this angry. "it was just...he kind of shoved me --"

"he shoved you?" liam is so angry he's shaking. "i'm gonna kill him. i'm gonna fucking kill him." with that, he gets out of bed and goes into the closet.

"what are you doing?" niall calls, following liam into the closet.

"which suit?" liam is holding up two. one black with a purple tie and the other grey with blue.

"uh...the grey," niall decides, and liam nods, putting the other back. "why do you need a suit?"

"well, i wanna look nice at his funeral after i fucking kill him," liam states, way too casually.

"what?" niall yelps. "liam..." he stops, staring at his husband, so niall starts to get dressed, trying to think of how he can stop him from doing anything stupid. "this is so unnecessary!"

"i disagree," liam replies calmly as he struggles to tie his tie.

with a sigh, niall takes over and ties his tie for him. "liam, you're being ridiculous, you know that, right?"

liam covers niall's hands with his own, stopping him from tying the tie. "niall. a grown ass man is bullying you. he's made you cry, made your job -- which you love -- a living hell. he harasses you, and now he's physically harmed you while you're pregnant. forgive me if i'm a tad miffed about that."

"did you just use the verb miffed?" niall questions, desperate for some form of distraction when he sees how serious liam is.

"stop trying to use your cuteness as a distraction," liam mutters as he looks for his keys. "i'm too pissed for it to work."

"violence isn't gonna solve this!"

"probably not," liam agrees. "we'll have a chat with your boss, too." with that, he slips out the door to the car. "what the hell do you think you're doing?" he questions. he's so angry he's calm.

"i'm going with you," niall says stubbornly, buckling his seatbelt. "someone has to stop you from killing the asshole."

"that someone does not have to be you. that someone could be zayn... wait -- that's a good idea! he's friends with the principal!"

"no," niall tries to protest, but liam is already backing out of the driveway.

- - -
it doesn't take much convincing for zayn to go with liam.

"zayn, i need to beat the shit out of someone."

"who and why?"

"niall's coworker...niall, show him."

"no!"

liam doesn't say anything, just turns and raises an eyebrow at his husband. with a sigh, niall turns around and lifts his shirt. harry lets out a choked gasp, and zayn's jaw goes tight.

"we'll be back," is all he says to harry, kisses his temple, and leaves with liam.

"i tried to stop him," niall mumbles to harry. "he wouldn't listen. he's just so angry..."

harry shakes his head. "you know it's impossible to stop him when he gets like that. zayn is the same way."

"you could've stopped him..."

"no fucking way. the asshole deserves it. plus, you know if zayn asked him to help beat the shit out of someone who'd bruised my back up, you wouldn't stop li."

niall huffs. it's true, of course, but he doesn't have to like it.

- - -
"he needs to be fired," zayn states, disturbingly calmly. he's holding randy by the bicep and the man is holding a hand up to his nose, which is bleeding profusely. liam is next to zayn, jaw tight, knuckles on his right hand a bloody mess. "he's harassing one of your employees and has been for months."

"i didn't touch him!" randy yells.

the principal, carter, sighs. "randy, you shoving niall was caught on tape yesterday afternoon, and we've gotten plenty of complaints over the years you've been here. i'm sorry, but we're definitely going to have to let you go."

"what!?" randy yells. "fuck you! you can't fire me! i'm your longest employee!"

"there's a first time for everything," carter says dryly, and randy storms out of the office, fuming. "zayn, we're friends, but i'd appreciate it if you didn't beat the shit out of one of my employees, even if he deserved it."

zayn shrugs. "he shoved liam's pregnant husband. his response couldn't be helped."

carter rolls his eyes.

- - -
"are you okay!? what happened!? did he hurt you!?" niall scrambles to liam's side as soon as he walks in the door.

"baby, baby, baby," liam laughs, arm going around niall's waist, trying to calm him down. "i'm fine. look at me, i'm fine. only thing hurt are my knuckles, and that's because i beat the shit out of him."

niall lets out a delighted laugh. "you did?"

zayn nods. "he did."

"i love you," niall mumbles, hugging liam hard around the waist, and liam lets out a laugh and kisses the top of his head.

"i love you, too."