Count On Me | Niam

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Liam/Niall

"What do you remember? About before? Our first time, back then?"

Reaching over and pressing a kiss to the underside of Niall's jaw, Liam shifted closer to him, not caring as the duvet fell away to one side. The two of them had been laid there, in Liam's bed, for a couple of hours, awake long before the sun had risen, and they'd mutually decided to brush past any awkwardness or embarrassment for the time being as they ended up curled around each other, Niall's fingers tracing over Liam's tattoos whilst they shared sleepy smiles and tried not to think about where they went next.

Letting his fingers wander along Liam's arm, tracing over his tattoos, Niall tried not frown at Liam's question, ignoring the part of him that was ready to nod and spill his all his memories and biting his lip hesitantly as he asked, "Why? What's with the sudden interest?"

Noticing Niall's hesitation, Liam propped himself up, the look on his face softening as Niall let out a slight whine, reaching up for him and mock-frowning as Liam sat up further, pulling the duvet back up over them before he answered Niall. "Call it curiosity...I remember you. From out first time, back then. I just remember you, really...You were gorgeous. I remember that. You...you were just..."

"I tried to remember everything." Relaxing as Liam laid back down, reaching over and linking his fingers through Niall's as he did so, Niall felt his face flush, aware of the look on Liam's face encouraging him to go on. "Once you'd gone...and I...I realised that I was pregnant, I tried to remember everything, tried to remember if we'd used a condom or what. Then...by that point you'd stopped returning my class and Danielle's name was being thrown around. You...it felt like you were slipping through my fingers. So I tried to remember everything. I still do...I remember how you used to...you're not that different to then, not really."

Both of them falling silent for a moment, Niall looked up at Liam to see a flicker of something flash across his face, Liam's expression becoming unreadable,  for a second before he looked back at Niall and gave him another smile, "You've changed, you know? When we were sixteen, seventeen, you were...you were perfect. You were gorgeous and fit and I proper fancied you. Now...you're. Not just fit but...but stunning. You take my breath away just being here."

"I think you're biased." Smiling up at Liam, Niall kissed him back, letting Liam flip them so that Niall pressed against the mattress, his fingers digging into Liam's shoulder as he reached up for him. "I think you're also a sap."

"Hmm..." Kissing Niall again, Liam let his thoughts wander for a moment, pulling away from Niall and giving him a crooked smile before he said, "Only for you, though."

******

A couple of hours later, after Loki had woken up, barking and demanding his presence be known and his breakfast be served, the two of them were in Liam's kitchen, still absorbed in each other. Niall had ended up wearing one on Liam's t-shirts, both of them choosing not to comment on how it hung off of Niall, and how there had once been a time when they were more or less the same height, years ago, and sitting in one of the stools at the island unit as Liam made them both coffee, turning every so often and giving Niall a smile that made him smile back.

Niall's smile faded eventually, though, when Liam had left the room, answering a phone call with a frown that left Niall wondering who on earth it could be. He got an answer to that question when Liam returned, slamming his phone down on to the counter and sighing. Watching Liam as he leant against the counter, running a hand over his face, Niall stood up, wordlessly crossing over to him and giving him a hesitant smile before making him another mug of coffee.

The phone call, it turned out, was from Liam's management, calling to inform him that his social media was about to become very busy and that they wanted him to stay out of the public's eye as much as possible. They were starting to syndicate the beginning of the demise of Liam and Sophia's 'relationship'.