Count On Me | Niam

Chapter Ninety-Three

Niall paused then, kissing Liam briefly, once, twice and a third time on the mole below his jaw just because he could, before he continued, admitting, "'M so fucking glad you're home. I might not let you leave again, you realise?"

"That's fine by me." Liam laughed a little then, hiding hiding his face for in Niall's neck and huffing out a breath of surprise when Niall's fingers clenched around the material of his shirt again, keeping him close. They stayed like that for a while, long enough to be driving through the outskirts of London and for the realisation that he was actually home to have hit Liam again. That thought had him smiling again, though it was just one of many reasons he could think of, including the thought of seeing Chloe and actually being around properly, the fact that he'd get to see Loki and even though he'd have to fight to reclaim his dog from his sister, then there was Chloe and Loki, and Niall — just Niall in general made him grin — and the very obvious bump pressing between him, not quite hidden by the loose jumper Niall was wearing, despite the fact that it was supposedly summer.

It didn't surprise him how much he meant it, that staying with Niall, with his family was perfectly okay with him, because that was how he thought things should be, and it was what he had already decided on, even if he hadn't told Niall yet. The boys knew, they understood, and they'd all come to the conclusion that they might go on another hiatus, just for a while. However, thoughts of tour and the band had consumed him for weeks, and so he put them out of his mind to focus on Niall and being home and the fact that he previously hadn't seen his daughter or his boyfriend- His fiancé, in person for months.

That thought prompted him to kiss Niall again before asking, "Did I tell you that you're gorgeous?"

He could have sworn that made Niall blush, a faint rise of pink that vanished as quickly as it had appeared, and he grinned again, not caring about the slight groan and eye roll his comment had elicited from Paddy, any issue he might have had about privacy long forgotten. He was too busy staring at Niall to care, trying to make him blush again.

He succeeded when Paddy pulled into their building's car park and he jumped out before Niall, opening his car door and offering him a hand down. None of it was necessary, but it had the required effect and Niall shook his head at Liam, visibly flustered but still willing to take his hand. Somewhere in the periphery of his vision, Liam was aware that Paddy was rolling his eyes again, that Sam was hovering awkwardly, pointedly not looking their way, but he couldn't find it in himself to care, instead wrapping an arm around Niall and following him towards the entrance of the building.

Somewhere, there was a shit ton of stuff that Liam probably had to sort and unpack but none of it got done or even remembered as he joined Niall on the sofa, carefully curled against him, more focused on recalling every detail of Niall's skin and tracing every pattern he could think of into the expanse of pale skin, memorising Niall's reactions and kissing him whenever he elicited a smile out of him.

That activity slowly passes away into a hushed conversation, needlessly quiet but Liam liked the intimacy of it all, the sense of closeness after so long, or maybe he just liked having Niall pressed into his side. The conversation eventually turns to the matter of the baby and the fact that they're having a boy and how fucking happy Liam is right then. The conversation takes an unexpected turn, however, when Liam lets slip the name, "Connor."

There are worse things he could have said then, or he could have let that slip at a worse moment, but he hadn't been planning on voicing the slowly amassing list of ideas that he'd been collecting ever since he'd received the photo of the sonogram at all. There was indeed a list and Conner had been merely a suggestion, an idea for a name, though his unplanned vocalisation meant that he would be forced to spill his guts when Niall looked up at him, not at confused as Liam would have thought he would be.

His explanation is stilted, not as smooth as he'd have liked it to be, but he managed to convey his meaning, more or less. "That...was going to be my suggestion for a name. For our boy. It- It was just an idea. DIdn't mean to blurt it out, to be honest. I just liked it. It would match with Chloe, if that's not too- You know. I just liked it."

Niall kissed him then, possibly to shut him up, possibly because he could, possibly because he liked where Liam's head was at. The latter option seemed most likely, though Liam wouldn't have thought the first option to be impossible, and Niall smiled softly, shifting a little so he could press one hand against his stomach, before he nodded. "I like it. Chloe and Conner. Conner and Chloe. Not a lot you can shorted Conner to, though. I had ideas for names, too, but I think you've beat them. Jake was on my list. So was Zack. And I can already imagine everyone we know saying no, but I liked Cloud. Don't think we could actually name him that, though."

Liam was able to imagine what everyone would say to Cloud and could already see the tabloid articles, but he would admit that he liked it. He also saw Niall's point about not being to get a nickname from Conner, but there were other names they could work with. "Jake is good. Conner Jake. CJ. We could work with that."

"Definitely. Still got months, though, so let's not get ahead of ourselves. And I'm pretty sure it would be a crime if we didn't work James in somewhere." Niall's answer prompted Liam's smile to grow and he pressed a kiss to Niall's jaw. "That's a good point. We could save James for the next one, though."

"The next one? We've barely gotten started with this one. Slow down there, Li." The laughter coming from Niall took any weight out of his words and he ran his fingers through the back of Liam's hair, closing his eyes and leaning into Liam's touch as he made a trail of kisses along his collarbone.

They were still settled there, Liam's eyes closed whilst he was resolutely not sleeping, despite the jet lag from the change in timezones and the travel catching up to him when the front door unlocked and Chloe ran Ito the apartment, followed by Jessica. Before anyone could stop her, Chloe had flung herself onto the sofa, landing on Liam's legs and tackling him into a hug that shocked him into wakefulness while Niall laughed and tried to avoid being impaled by an elbow.

Chloe's absence from the airport had been explained to him as Jessica giving them the chance to have some time to themselves for a little while, and she'd taken Chloe out for the day, but the second he saw her, Liam was struck by how much he'd missed her and he hugged her back with equal intensity, running a hand through her curls and pressing a kiss to her forehead. "God, Chlo, I missed you." 

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And we're back. 

Dedication for this chapter goes to both @kadiebmore and @Niall_Take_A_Chonce given that I'm taking both of your ideas and smushing them into one name. 

@-NiamsDirection- gets a special mention too because I am seriously considering Cloud, even though all it makes me think of is the One Direction song of a similar name. 

Since today is the second birthday of Made In The AM, I want to ask what your favourite song of that album is. Mine is either If I Could Fly, AM, or Olivia.

If you don't have one or have never listened to AM (which should apply to none of us here, really,) feel free to guess when you think this fic is gonna end. Seriously, I'm taking suggestions.

Anyway...

Thoughts on the chapter?