He sees her off, kisses her at the airport and pretends he doesn't feel the many girls of the squad around them watching their goodbye, endeared and cooing, pretends he doesn't know that Kiara and Mason having their own little moment a little off to the side. She looks so at home with him, gathered in his arms and they look like they belong, the two of them.
"I'll miss you," Ellie's mumbling against his lips as the group around them starts moving.
"I'll miss you," he repeats, and he means it. Kisses her again quickly, holds her hand tightly. "Don't worry about me, yeah? Have fun, tell me when you get in, okay?"
"Okay, you do the same," she says. "I'll be seeing you."
"I'll be seeing you."
"Love you."
"Love you," he replies, and they separate, he hands her the luggage and her purse and she's getting one last kiss in before she's being dragged off by her best friend. He waves, and they both wave back.
It feels slightly odd as he watches them disappear from view. He can't quite place the feeling, can't understand why his heart slows down, why suddenly he feels much more centred.
**
Liam yelps when he wakes up at five a.m. just to find Niall staring down at him with a crease between his eyebrows and a look in his eyes like he's dissecting something.
"You know," Liam says and files away the fact that Niall hasn't moved a single muscle in the twenty seconds Liam has been looking at him, "watching someone sleep might seem romantic in pop culture, but even then they don't do it like this."
Niall doesn't answer immediately which usually means that he's come to a stop and is thinking, hard, something he generally likes to avoid. Liam waits.
"Ellie left" Niall says
Liam can't help yawning, though. "Uh huh." Niall slides into bed and drops his head on the pillow.
."And I've got this spare plane ticket" Niall begins His voice is low, and a little rough.
Liam smiles. It's a lopsided, lazy grin, but that's fine; he's gorgeous.
"Get to the point babe," he replies. Niall can feel his hot breath fan over his cheeks and jaw. Liam's body is pressed up against his, and it's warm all over. The air is humid, and as Niall runs his fingers through Liam's hair, it's a little wet.
"I was wondering if you would come with me?" Niall asks
"Okay" Liam says, kissing at Niall's palm. His lips are warm, too, and soft and a little chapped.It simply feels so nice, doing this. He could do this forever, lying here with Liam, talking sweet nothings in the early hours, when most people are still asleep.It feels as though they're the only two people in the entire universe, and it's the goddamn best feeling in the whole world.
Liam's eyes are bright, and his cheeks are a little pink. Niall feels a smile spread over his lips. He presses his fingers against Liam's neck.
"You're beautiful," he says, and he feels like he could start bawling right then and there; he's so goddamn happy.
Liam laughs. It's harmonious, and it sounds like birds, and Niall thinks— not for the first time— that there's nothing better and nothing more important to him than Liam's happiness. Niall can't stop himself, then. He pulls Liam closer to him, and slides his mouth over Liam's. Liam makes a soft, tiny noise— bustling out from deep inside his throat— and Niall loves him so much he could die happy, doing this, though that wouldn't be quite right, not when he could spend years kissing Liam like this; so softly it hurts, and Liam's pressing against him so slowly it feels as though he were trying to memorise everything about him and understand every crevice of Niall, as though he hadn't done that already.
"I love you," Niall tells the sweaty, soft skin below Liam's lower lip, then his chin and jaw before trailing upwards to Liam's temple. Warm breath fans over his neck. Liam's breath hitches, and Niall exhales shakily. He kisses Liam's skin one last time before resting back against the pillows. Liam's looking at him as though he's the last of his dreams to come true.
"I love you so much," whispers Niall once more. His voice catches, and it sounds broken; he's a little overwhelmed. Liam leans their foreheads together.
"I love you, too," Liam replies, and Niall feels his eyes sting a little. Liam's gaze is so full of love it hurts to look at him. He can feel his heart hammer against his chest. Liam pulls his lower lip between his teeth. He sighs softly before smiling once more, eyes sliding shut as his fingers draw nonsense patterns on Niall's clothed chest. His thighs are warm on either side of Niall's hips, and he's so breathtakingly gorgeous Niall's beginning to feel a little overwhelmed; it's early, and he's simply so unbelievably in love with this boy it surprises him, sometimes.
Lmao Niall confuses me.
