Count On Me | Niam

Chapter Fifty-One

Liam

Normally, he hated airports.

He'd been to so many that they all kind of blurred together, and, generally, airports were, at least for him, associated with months of hard touring, early morning flights and pap walks that he'd hated.

Today, though, he was considering changing his mind. No one knew he was there and he wasn't catching some godawful red-eye to wherever they were supposed to be performing next. Today, he was waiting, somewhat anxiously, admittedly, for Niall and Chloe's flight to get in. He'd missed them, really fucking missed them, and, if he was honest, picking them up from the airport was his escape from the latest shit storm brewing on the horizon.

He'd been granted a brief respite over the holidays, but now Liam was expected to give crisis resolution his full attention, answering phone calls and emails and deciding what he wanted his PR team to do about the stupid photo some fan had taken of him and Niall. If he had it his way, they'd do nothing. It was just a photo, and a fairly conservative photo at that. There was nothing in the photo to say there was anything between the two of them, it wasn't like there was a picture of him and Niall kissing, but there were apparently repercussions. And Liam knew that.

He and Sophia were yet to officially call it, though it was hinted everywhere and his Twitter and Instagram were being scrubbed clean, probably as he waited for Niall and Chloe, but this, the photo could apparently jeopardise that. His management team hadn't necessarily been thrilled about the action he planned on taking after finishing with Sophia — taking Harry and Louis' advice and finally, finally coming out — but they were unable to do anything but nod and sort that for him. The photo, apparently, could change all of that.

Then, of course, there were the repercussions for Niall and Chloe. Liam didn't need to be told how the could affect them, he'd been in the spotlight long enough to know how it turns on those around celebrities and how any privacy, privacy that Niall and Chloe were used to, could be taken away, and it didn't take a genius to work out that, that would be the last thing Niall would want.

The day after Boxing day had marked the end of the brief holiday respite and he'd been dealing with the photo and everything for only a couple of days, and yet he was ready to scream. So the airport was a nice distraction. Not only did it mean his two favourite people were coming home, but it gave him a break from answering questions and making decisions he didn't want to have to, and generally taking responsibility for something that could have just been ignored.

Even as he waited, his phone buzzed with emails and missed calls, and he was so distracted by them that he almost missed Niall and Chloe's arrival, the seven-year-old flinging herself at Liam the second she saw him and clinging to him until he picked her up. "Papa!"

"Chlo!" Setting her down, Liam pulled Chloe in for a hug, looking over the top of her head at Niall and grinning at him before he asked, "Good trip?"

"Very. Christmas at Uncle Greg's is great." Chloe pushed her hair out of her face as Liam let her go, watching him with a small smile as he pulled Niall in for a hug and hid his face in Niall's shoulder, muttering too quietly for Chloe to hear, "God, I missed you."

"I missed you too." Niall eventually pulled away, giving Liam a soft smile before he took Chloe's hand and directed both her and Liam over to baggage claim, letting Liam take their bags once they were spotted on the conveyer belt and grinning as Chloe sat with the bags on the trolley, giggling as Liam pushed the trolley along diligently, the smile on his face making it obvious for anyone to see that he didn't mind.

It took some persuasion to get Chloe to stand up once they'd made it out to where Liam had parked his car, but she eventually stood up, rolling her eyes and whining a little before she helped load the bags into the boot, calling Liam 'Papa' again as she did so.