Adopted

New Beginnings

"Here, I'll do that for you," Nick offers.

Niall slide his plate over to the man. Nick cuts the waffle into bite size pieces and pours a bit of maple syrup over them. He gives the fork and plate back to Niall and keeps the knife near him.

"Thanks," Niall whispers.

"No problem, Love."

They eat in silence. Most of the meal, Nick has some things on the tip of his tongue he wants to say but he knows the boy probably doesn't want to make any small talk. Soon, their food is finished and their stomachs full. Niall's chin is coated in syrup.

Nick clears the table and rinses everything in the sink. He returns to Niall with a damp paper towel. He wipes the boy's chin and the blond mewls, not expecting it.

Nick kisses his soft hair. "Sorry, Honey. Couldn't let you attract an ant colony," he jokes.

The boy leaves the table and goes into the living room, assuming his spot from yesterday on the large couch. He hears clatter from the kitchen as his new caretaker cleans up the dishes.

Niall knows that he should give Nick a chance. The man has shown he cares and he has already been doing a good job at respecting Niall as he adjusts. But there is still a nagging in the boy's stomach every time he feels like he's let Nick help too much. Because Josh would always call him lazy or ungrateful if he had to do too much for the boy. But Nick never complains.

The doorbell rings and Niall freezes. Normally when the doorbell rings he hides, something he's done ever since he was a child. Niall hates strangers and the thought of an intruder is terrifying.

"just a second," Nick calls.

The man walks through the kitchen, and into the living room. He passes Niall on the way and runs his fingers over the top of his frosty tips. Niall shrugs so the couch hides him.

"Hi, sorry it took so long to answer," Nick apologizes to who Niall could only assume is the person at the door.

"That's not problem, Sir. We brought your order if you could just sign here and show us the way, we'll have it set up in no time," a cheery voice says.

The boy's breath hitches thinking about multiple strangers coming inside the house. He pulls the blanket down that is hanging over the back of the couch and conceals himself, keeping his legs to his chest to be as small and unnoticeable as possible.

Nick escorts three movers into the house. They shuffle their feet on the hardwood floor and one groans as he readjusts whatever it is he is carrying in his arms. The four men all make conversation from somewhere down the hall but the blond isn't quite able to make out what is being said. One of them makes a joke and they erupt in a roar of laughter.

Soft footsteps approach Niall so the boy pokes his head out of his little cocoon. Nick grins down at him. "Baby, what are you doing?"

"Hiding..."

"I can see that," Nick chuckles. "But why are you hiding?"

A loud bang comes from wherever the men are and Niall covers his head again. He lets out a distressed whine. Nick sits next to him and pulls the boy into his lap.

"Hey, hey, hey. You're okay. We're okay. Nothing's gonna hurt you," Nick soothes.

Niall curls himself closer to the man's chest and tightens the blanket in his fingers. "Sorry," the boy apologizes.

"No need to be sorry," Nick says.

"I guess... I just... don't like strangers," Niall struggles to say. "Never did."