lonely hearts club | zianourry au [COMPLETE]

eight

"niall," calum says somewhat nervously. he catches niall just as he's on his way out to meet liam, and he's sort of in a hurry.

"hey, cal. i'm actually on my way out," niall says, shoving a folder in his backpack and slamming his locker shut.

"no, i know, i just..." calum cuts himself off, and when niall looks up, he sees that calum is shifting uncomfortably, tears in his eyes. he sniffles, wipes his nose.

niall is torn. he doesn't want to be late with liam, but he also doesn't want to blow his best friend off either. he hesitates for a second.

"i..." calum wipes his eyes. "no, you go. it's okay, i know you want to."

niall smiles at his words and leans in, pecking a kiss on calum's cheek. "love you, c. i'll call you later," he promises, and rushes out the door.

"i love you, too," calum mumbles in a low voice, but niall's already gone.

- - -

"hey! i was wondering where you were," liam says with a smile as niall meets him at the doors.

"sorry. got a little held up by calum," niall responds, but he's smiling, too. he's excited to see what liam has planned. liam puts his hand out for niall to take, and niall inches closer. liam's hand is large and warm, rough, but not in a bad way. niall quite likes holding hands with him.

"is he okay?" liam asks gently.

niall nods. "i'm sure he's fine." he squeezes liam's hand. "where are we going?"

"i'm more boring than the other boys," liam tells niall.

"i'm sure that's not true," niall interrupts.

liam just grins down at him. "no, i meant it. are you a fan of the show friends?"

niall laughs. "yes. are we having a friends marathon? because i would be in no way opposed to that."

liam's grin widens. "good."

- - -

"ross is so annoying," niall huffs, rolling his eyes.

"i know. he's the worst character on the show," liam agrees. he's the big spoon, niall balled up on his side in front of him. he hadn't realized niall was such a cuddly thing, but is in no way upset about it. he rubs niall's hip affectionately, and the blond squirms, giggling. 

"that tickles," he huffs.

"sorry," liam says, unapologetic. niall turns a little just so he can make a face at him. the episode goes off, and niall stares at the screen with a frown until the next episode starts to play. "you hungry?"

niall nods.

"is there anything in particular that you want to eat?"

"no. not really," niall answers, and liam starts to get up. "what? why are you moving?"

"c'mon. we're gonna make dinner," liam answers. niall makes a face, and liam laughs. "it'll be fun, i promise." niall lets him pull him up, and follows him down the stairs to the kitchen. liam hooks his phone up to his bluetooth speaker, and music starts to quietly play throughout the kitchen. niall hums along, smiling at liam. maybe this won't be so bad.

it ends up being really nice, actually. liam decides on pancakes, which makes niall laugh. he lets niall decide what goes in them, and he has a great time pouring chocolate chips and pecans and marshmallows into the batter. now he's sitting on the counter, swinging his feet to the time of the music, humming along. liam is flipping pancakes, and he looks over at niall over his shoulder.

"i told you i was boring," he says.

"no, you aren't, liam," niall smiles. his voice is very gentle. "i like quiet things, too. not everything has to be flashy to be impressive. the fact that you can decently flip a pancake is impressive to me."

liam laughs. "you're so fucking cute," he says. he plates the pancakes. "do you want syrup? or nutella?"

niall chews on his lip. "do you have peanut butter?"

"you eat peanut butter on your pancakes?" liam asks disgustedly. the expression on his face makes niall crack up.

"it's delicious, okay?" niall defends himself, and liam just gives him a shrug. after some convincing, liam takes a piece of niall's pancake. his face scrunches up in disgust.

"peanut butter belongs only in reese's cups and on a pb&banana sandwich," liam frowns.

"you eat peanut butter and banana sandwiches and you're judging me for eating it on my pancakes?"

"yes. yes, i am," liam responds. he covers his pancakes in whipped cream, and ends up putting some on the end of niall's nose. niall snatches the can of whipped cream from him and nearly covers liam's face in it. then it turns into a full out war, liam chasing niall around the house. he ends up tackling him onto the kitchen floor, their faces inches apart. niall has never wanted to be kissed so badly in his life. "i shouldn't kiss you," he tells niall, scrunching his eyes shut. "the others, they'd be mad."

"you're right. don't kiss me then," niall replies. liam opens his eyes, manages a slow nod. he makes to pull back, but niall loops his arms around liam's neck. "i'll just kiss you," niall says cheerfully, and surprising the hell out of both himself and liam, he actually does.