Wanted | Niam AU

Chapter 3: Niall

They lived in a two-bedroom house that belonged to Liam's grandfather. He bought the house when Liam moved to Austin to attend UT. Greg and Liam hit it off within days of meeting each other and Liam asked him if he wanted to bunk with him at his house. That was a no-brainer. Greg would do anything to get out of our house with our drunken mother. I spent most of my days at Louis's house anyway. Mansion, I should say. His dad was a big-shot lawyer but you would never know they had money by the way Louis acted. That was one of the things I just loved about him.

"Am I at least invited to my best friend's graduation party, dickwad?" Louis asked with so much sarcasm it was dripping off of him.

"If he wants you there, squirt, that's fine by me," Greg said as he rubbed the top of Louis's head like he was five years old.

"Fucker!" Louis said as he pushed his hand away. Greg and Liam both laughed.

Oh. My. God. That laugh of his. Like his smile, or his touch, or his massive chest was not enough to be my undoing. His laugh about dropped me to the ground. A feeling ran through my whole body every time I heard this guy laugh. What the hell?

The doctor came back in right at the exact moment I thought I was going to combust from the look Liam was giving me. He gave me my prescription, another round of how to take care of my hand and out the door we went. Thank God. Between Louis and Greg going back and forth with each other and Liam standing across from me sending me looks that about had me wanting to rip his clothes off...I was more than ready to get the hell out of dodge.

"Hey dickwad, can you swing back by the school so I can pick up my Jeep?" Louis shouted over Maroon 5 blasting out of the stereo.

"Niall and I both have our last shift tonight." Louis and I both worked part-time at Flipnotics. It was a little coffee shop near downtown Austin.

"Oh, fuck no is Niall going to work tonight? He has to rest his hand and he is on pain meds. Are you fucking insane, Louis? Thinking Niall is going to work tonight," Greg shouted back to Louis.

"Yeah, that is not a good idea -- going in to work tonight, Niall. You need to keep your hand and wrist elevated to keep the swelling down," Liam said to me as he turned around and looked at me.

Wow, he really looked like he was worried about me. My heart started to beat faster and I felt the blush creep up into my face.

No! Wait...I needed to stop this right now. I could not let Liam Payne get into my heart. No. It was closed for business. Shut down, never to be opened up to any hurt again.

You will never be wanted by anyone...Would I ever be able to get my mother's voice out of my head?

Louis sat there and looked stunned. He just kept looking between Greg and Liam and finally just laughed.

"What? Are you both his freaking father? No, I think not. Niall can do whatever he damn well pleases and you two asswipes have no say in it whatsoever. If he wants to go to work or not go to work that is his decision to make. I can't believe you two...my god," Louis said in a harsh tone, directed more at Greg than Liam.

Liam gave me a small smile and turned back around and looked out the side window. For a brief second I was pissed at Louis for hurting his feelings. He was only worried about me. Just the thought of it had me thinking things I should not have been thinking about Liam.

Holy shit...I started to blush just thinking about what his touch would feel like. Greg brought me out of my wayward thoughts.

"You know what, squirt, you're right. I'm not his father, but I am his brother. Ni, I don't think it is a good idea. Plus you are taking pain meds and you really cannot use your hand."