End Up Here (Ziam AU)

Chapter Thirty Four

Liam knocks twice on the door, at Zayn's parents house, he hears Bella cheer and several sets of footsteps racing towards the door. "No Auntie Saf I get door" Bella's voice calls out, followed by Zayn's sister "no you don't. Baba doesn't like you answering the door" she yells. Liam can hear the two girls on the other side of the door before he hears a third voice, "Grandma doesn't like it either" Trisha says, before the door swings open. Liam smiles at what he sees, Arabella is hanging off of Safaa, and Trisha smiles fondly at him "Liam, hi. Sorry you have to do this" she says but Liam shakes his head, "it's really no problem, and you look lovely" he murmurs. Trisha grins and gestures for him to come inside "thank you" she says. "DADDY!" Bella calls, diving away from Safaa to throw herself at Liam, "where Baba?" she asks looking around Liam for Zayn. Liam crouches down to be at her level, "sorry princess, Baba has to work late, so you and I are going to hang out at my house, how's that sound" he murmurs, pulling her into his arms as he speaks. Bella eyes him carefully, before snuggling into his neck and nodding, "okay" she mumbles and Liam grins, standing up with her in his arms. Trisha smiles at him, and reaches out "I'll see you tomorrow Bella" she smiles, pressing a kiss to her cheek, Bella pulls her head out to look at her "bye grandma" she says, as Safaa passes Liam her bag. Liam takes the backpack and turns to head back out to his car, "thank you" he murmurs, but Trisha just smiles at him, patting his arm before letting him leave entirely to strap Bella into his car.

"Daddy, where toys?" Bella whines for the fifth time since they've been in his apartment, Liam sighs and gestures to the small pile of toys from her bag that are on his living room floor, "I'm sorry Bella, I don't have any toys here, you'll just have to play with the ones you brought" he explains, again. Bella pouts and picks up one of her princesses, tossing it across the room, "no" she pouts, "Bella, we don't throw the toys, or you're going to have to sit by yourself for a minute" Liam warns. Bella's eyes widen and she shakes her head, "no, Daddy. Bella not sit I not" she whines, Liam nods, just as there's a knock on the door, "alright then, no more throwing toys" he says, making his way across the apartment to let Niall in. Niall comes through the door carrying three different bags, "hey Ni" Liam says, stepping away to let him in, "hey Li, I brought Italian, I hope that's alright?" he asks. Liam shrugs "fine with me, and Bella eats pretty much anything, so it should be fine" he answers. Niall nods and moves to set the food down in the kitchen , before moving back into the living room "hi Bella" he calls and her head snaps up from where she was sorting through Liam's DVDs "Neil!"she calls happily, running over to hug his legs. "Hey cutie, you hanging out with your Daddy today?" he asks. Bella nods, reaching her arms up so Niall can pick her up, which Liam notes he does easily, "but Daddy, no toys" Bella frowns and Niall laughs. "He doesn't have toys?" Niall asks, eyes widening, Bella pouts nodding at him, and Liam groans, "well I brought us something to eat, and after maybe you, your daddy and I can watch a movie" Niall adds. Bella turns to Liam then "please?" she asks, eyes widening and bottom lip poking out, Liam sighs, and nods his head, "only if you eat your dinner though" he answers, and Bella grins, nodding happily and struggling to be put down again.

"Daddy, yuck" Bella whines, holding a piece of broccoli out towards him, her upper lip curling in disgust. Liam narrows his eyes because he knows he's seen her eat broccoli before at Zayn's "it's not yuck" he says quietly, taking the vegetable from her fingers and setting it back on her plate. Bella pouts crossing her arms, "Bella not eat. Neil tell Daddy no" she insists, Niall chuckles and makes a show of eating his own broccoli, "no way, it's so good you should try some" Niall says, gesturing to her plate. Bella narrows her eyes and looks suspiciously between Niall, Liam, and her plate, before taking a little bite out of the broccoli. Liam bites back a laugh at the face she makes, because he knows she's putting on a show, "see it's not yuck, it's good" he tries but Bella shakes her head adamantly. "Bella. Not. Eat." she insists, crossing her arms and pushing the plate away slightly, Liam groans, "fine, at least eat your pasta, please?" he asks. Bella makes a face but nods and starts picking up the pasta with her fingers, "with your fork" Liam reminds her, and she sighs picking up the utensil and eating again.

Liam's packing up the few toys Bella brought with her back into her bag, once he's sure she's actually asleep in his bed, it's a few hours after dinner, and the evening has been nothing short of chaotic for him, and he wonders how Zayn does it every day. After the fight over dinner, Bella had insisted she needed ice cream, and wasn't happy to have to settle for cookies because Liam didn't have any ice cream. After that they settled in to watch a movie, but like most two year old's Bella lost interest less than halfway through, and started complaining about Liam's lack of toys again. He managed to get her to settle down again, by letting her build a tower out of his DVDs. Then there was getting the toddler into bed, he started out trying to get her to sleep in the spare bedroom, but Bella had refused, adamantly, claiming it was scary and she needed to be in Liam's bed, so he'd switched her to his bed, along with her bunny, and she had snuggled happily into his pillow. Which leads Liam to now, he's tidying up the toys and DVDs, that became blocks, while Niall finishes cleaning up the mess from dinner. Niall comes back into the room, just as Liam's putting the last DVD away, "she's energetic" he teases and Liam nods, collapsing onto the couch, "yes she is" Liam mumbles. Niall sits beside him and picks at a loose thread on his jeans, while Liam looks for something for them to watch, he can tell there's something Niall wants to talk about, knows his best friend inside and out, but he also knows not to push him, he'll talk when he's ready.

Liam's settled on a Sherlock rerun, and is partly watching it, while keeping an eye on Niall, and listening for Bella as well. "So, um, Jace and I broke up" Niall says suddenly, and Liam's eyes widen as he turns to face his best friend. "What? When? What happened? And are you okay?" Liam asks. Niall chuckles shaking his head, before leaning onto Liam, "yeah, um a couple days ago. And I found a few pairs of boxers I'd never seen before, when we first got back from America, but I thought maybe Jace had bought them while we were gone. But then a few days ago, while I was at work I got a text that was clearly meant for his other man" Niall explains, Liam frowns, wrapping his arms around his oldest friend, "I'm sorry Ni" he murmurs. Niall shrugs, "I called him on it when I got home, and he told me it's been going on for three months and that he just doesn't love me anymore. So I told him to get out" he adds. Liam pouts he hates to see his normally so happy friend sad, "are you okay?" Liam asks again and Niall sighs nodding, "I will be, it's just hard, you know?" he murmurs. Liam nods, hugging Niall closer "yeah, but I'm here if you need anything, and if you want to take a few days go for it we'll manage" he says. Niall nods, "thanks Li, but I don't think I want time off right now but could I maybe stay here? I know Zayn and Bella are tonight, but, I just don't want to go back to my apartment right now" he asks. Liam frowns nodding, "of course, you can have the guest room, Bella's in my bed anyways" he agrees, "thanks Li" Niall sighs, before falling silent, eyes darting back to the TV and Liam knows that it's the end of the conversation for now.

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A/N: So I'm home with a sick three year old and while she's watching Tinkerbell (again) I did this. I hope you guys enjoyed these two chapters. Remember Bella is an over tired two year old in the last chapter, hence the tantrum and hitting, she's just acting out because she really doesn't know how else to deal. Plus we got some more Niam friendship, and adorable Bella/Liam alone time. Let me know what you thought, and as always I love you guys. I hope everyone's having a good day.  
Until next time
xoxo