Count On Me | Niam

Chapter Twenty-Six

After another hour or so of being the third wheel, Liam was almost relieved when Niall let Chloe join the other children all gathered around, listening to a speech about the first pioneers of space, letting out a sigh as the seven-year-old smiled over at Niall and avoided looking at him. Joining Liam, Niall stood next him, watching him for a moment before he looked over at an exhibit about a replica of a moon lander, hesitating for a second before he decided to speak. "Chloe's not usually like this. I think she finds this difficult. She's never had anyone else before and now she's meeting you and it's... Not normal for her."

"It's okay. I should have accepted it. She's allowed to not like me. Has enough reason to, anyway." Trying his hardest not to sound miserable, Liam forced a smile, running a hand through his hair and wincing as Niall elbowed him, shaking his head at Liam. "She has no reason. I'm the one who can be pissed and I'm not, not really, so Chloe has no reason to be. Stop validating my... Our monster of a daughter's attitude. She'll get used to you, if you want to keep trying."

Looking up at Liam, Niall smiled back at him, glancing over at Chloe and watching her for a second as she sat down with all the other kids as asked by the museum employee talking to them, sighing and letting out a quiet yawn before he said, "Thank you, by the way, for trying today. It's a great day out for her. Actually, for the both of us. Much better than our usual days out. It's great, Liam."

"Ruth mentioned to me the other day and then when you called earlier it seemed like a good idea." Shrugging, Liam tried not to focus on how close he was to Niall, instead giving him an actual, genuine smile and looking over at Chloe, giving his daughter a smile as she looked over at him and her dad, trying not to let how much it hurt show as she looked past him to Niall. Well aware of what Chloe was doing, Niall sighed again, squeezing Liam's hand before he went over to Chloe, resting his head against hers as she sat on his lap for the rest of the talk.

"Chloe Amelia, you promised me." Leading Chloe away once the talk had finished, Niall gave her a look, one that screamed 'we talked about this, be nice or you'll find the rest of the holiday very boring', causing her to sigh and flinch at the use of her full name, looking as though she was about to protest only to be cut off as Niall continued to speak. "Chloe, I get it. You act like you don't like Liam because of what I told you about him, but you don't have to get back at him for me. Whether he hurt me or not, he's your dad and he wants to get to know you. We've talked about this so cut it out, yeah?"

Not expecting an answer from Chloe, Niall let go of her hand, giving Liam brief smile before he looked down at the guidebook in his hand, checking the time on his phone before he suggested, "It's gone half-one, Li, why don't we go and get some lunch?"

"Sounds good. There's a restaurant cafe thing on this floor, somewhere, I think." Looking over at Chloe, Liam gave her another smile, trying not to seem too surprised when the seven-year-old didn't look right through him, Chloe instead nodding and letting herself be led away by the two of them, listening and humming every so often as Liam pointed out various exhibits. Tugging on Liam's sleeve, Chloe waited until Niall was out of earshot, having gone to check if the cafe had any space, biting her lip before she looked up at Liam and said, "Sorry. Again. Daddy said that I'm not being very nice to you... Thank you for bringing me, here. It's really cool, so thanks."

Giving Chloe another smile, Liam looked down at her and hesitantly brushed her hair out of her face, tucking it behind her ear before he said, "It's okay. It's just nice to get to spend time with you and your dad. What's your favourite part of the museum?"

"The space exhibits. They're so... Interesting. Like the fact that that Neil guy was the first man on the moon, ever, and it took him three days to get there." Slipping her hand into Liam's as Niall lead them into the cafe, Chloe smiled up at him, sitting in the chair next to his and letting him push her chair in for her before she asked, "Can we go and see the part about the first man in space next?"

"You mean Yuri Gagarin, Chlo? 'Course we can, right, Li?" Smiling over at Chloe, Niall reached over and ruffled her hair, making her giggle before she looked up at Liam with big, brown eyes, clearly wanting him to say yes. "If that's what you want, then definitely."

*******

Giving Chloe a hug, Liam tried to keep the smile on his face as she pulled away, looking to see if she could see the bus she and Niall were supposed to be catching, thankfully oblivious to the frown on Liam's face. After finally, finally seeing the little girl Niall had told him about, and getting to see a side to his daughter that he'd missed previously, he didn't want to say goodbye to her just yet.

Watching after Chloe, Niall made sure she hadn't wandered off too far before he looked up at Liam, noticing the look on his face and shaking his head at him as he said, "You don't want to say goodbye... If it makes you feel any better, Chloe doesn't either."

"And how would you know?" His frown fading slightly, Liam looked down at Niall and sighed, shoving his hands into his pockets and shaking his head about to apologise when Niall said, "Because I know you, or I used to, a long time ago. You look like you did when we went on that class trip and I couldn't go because of my knee. As for Chloe, she got that from you too. It's fine to not want say goodbye, Liam. We'll have to do something else soon. Have you round for dinner or try the park again, with Loki."

"Yeah. Dinner together, or the cinema or something..." Ignoring Paddy as he tried to get his attention, Liam looked down at Niall, something in Niall's expression making him uncomfortable and reminding him of something Niall had said. "We need to talk, right? You keep reminding me and there are so many things that need to be said, right? I have so much to say to you, Ni, but I'm guessing you do too,"

Pulling away from Liam as he reached out to take his hand, Niall looked back over at Chloe, falling quiet for a moment, trying not to be surprised by how out of the blue Liam's comment seemed, eventually nodding and looking up at Liam. "There is. Most of it, I think, should have been said before you started to meet Chlo, but it still needs to be said. We'll figure something out another time, though."

Glancing down at his phone, Niall checked the time, sighing as he realised there was only a minute or two left until the bus came, looking back at Chloe and giving her a smile as he called out, "Chlo, come say goodbye, yeah?"

Hugging Chloe, Liam gave her another smile, reaching out and gently tugging on one of her curls, making her smile back at him as he said, "I'll see you soon, right? And maybe next time I'll bring Loki. Sound good? Your dad and I'll sort something and we can do this again if you'd like."

"Yep. Bye.. Liam." Nodding up at him, Chloe gave Liam another hug before she turned to look at Niall, taking his hand as the bus arrived and following him on board before she looked back, waving goodbye to Liam, tugging on Niall's hand and getting him to do the same.

_______________________________

So... I'm back.

Finally.

I'm almost (not really) done with the mountain of work I have but I feel human, finally. I'm still swamped with work but I'd rather update than write a paper comparing secular and non-secular ways to describe God. (It's worse than it's sounds... Trust me.)

So happy update.

This took me way too long, but, to make up for how long it's taken me to update, it's quite a bit longer than usual. Kind of...

Anyway...

Chloe's finally warming up to Liam. And if you ever go to The Science Museum in London, whatever's in this chapter is accurate to how it was in November 2015. Because that's when the map and guidebook I found online were from.

Thoughts on the chapter?