Clarity « Niam

Chapter 16

Aybrum was sat on Niall's lap, both waiting for Liam to bring his family into the private dressing room.

Tonight was the night of One Direction's London show and each of the boys' families had come out to support them, making it a full family event. Zayn was so distracted with Brooklyn and his own family members, that he didn't notice Liam had slipped out with his parents and two sisters.

Niall frantically sorted out Aybrum's hair as the door opened, just noticing that the toddlers hair was beyond disheveled looking and he wanted them both to make a good impression - not that Niall hasn't met Liam's family before, but this was the first time they were meeting Aybrm.

Liam's mum, Karen, walked through the door first and immediately went for the smiling toddler on Niall's lap. Geoff, followed closely behind his two daughters, Ruth and Nicola, as Liam came in last and closed the door behind them all.

"Oh isn't he adorable." Karen gushed, scooping Aybrum off Niall's lap and into her arms within seconds. "Geoff, look. He's got Liam's gorgeous brown eyes."

Geoff nodded along, agreeing with everything his wife and daughters were saying about the small child. Instead, he paid more attention to Niall. "It's been awhile, how have you been?"

Niall side stepped the fawning females, smiling politely when Ruth commented on how well behaved and talkative Aybrum was being with them. "I'm good, yeah. You?"

Geoff playfully grabbed Liam by the back of the neck, giving it a small squeeze as he exhaled a deep breath. "Well, I'm a bit miffed my son failed to inform me I had a grandson and that my granddaughter and grandson were born no less than six months apart."

"Dad, can we not do this again - please? Not tonight, yeah." Liam cleared his throat a couple times, embarrassed by his indiscretions and the fact that his entire family knew about it.

Niall awkwardly smiled, "I'm just glad Aybrum gets to meet his grandparents, even if he doesn't know it." He glanced over at the toddler, smiling when Ruth and Nicola both kissed Aybrum's face as Karen took a photo of them. "I don't think he's ever had this much attention at once."

Liam silently thanked Niall for diverting the argument, "So, dad. You and mum going to sit with everyone? They've got the sound area blocked off for you all."

"No, I'd like to sit with my grandson and I'm sure Karen feels the same way." Geoff looked to Niall, "Do you mind?"

Niall looked to Liam, both knowing he and Aybrum had no intention of staying for the concert because they didn't want any tension with Zayn during the concert. They only came so Aybrum could meet everyone.

"Dad, they aren't staying. I told you." Liam murmured, trying not to make it anymore awkward than it already was.

"No, it's alright." Niall chimed in, not wanting to disappoint Liam's parents. "I'm sure Aybrum wouldn't mind staying for the concert. I doubt I could peel him away from the girls anyways, so we might as well stay a bit longer."

Geoff put a hand on Niall shoulder, giving it a small squeeze and smiled. "Brilliant, we can all get dinner afterwards."

He nodded, not wanting to object or question whether or not Zayn was going to be included. But from the look on Liam's face, Niall knew dinner was going to be interesting to say the least.
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Aybrum ended up crying through the first half of the concert, scared of the lights, sounds and screaming girls. But once he spotted Liam on the stage, he calmed down and started enjoying the show.

Afterwards, they all piled into vehicles and discreetly left the venue before anyone else had a chance to realize two of the three members of One Direction had already left the building.

Seating arrangements at dinner were extremely awkward, but there wasn't anything anyone could do because neither Liam nor Zayn's parents knew about the tension between Niall and Zayn.

They were at least seated in a private room in an upper class restaurant, not wanting to attract attention during their meal. And considering some type of argument was inevitable, a private table was the best idea.

Liam's parents and sisters were seated on one side of the expansive square table, Zayn's two youngest sisters sat kiddy-corner to Liam's sisters with Brooklyn and Zayn's mum. Then Zayn, Liam, Niall and Aybrum all sat on the same side, which would've been fine if Zayn could keep his hands to himself for longer than two seconds and Niall didn't have a clear view of Zayn's wandering hands.

"Niall, can Aybrum sit with us until the food comes?" Ruth questioned, wanting to spend every last second with her nephew because who knew when she'd get to see him again.

He glanced down at the toddler in his lap, kissing the top of his head. "Do you want to go sit with Ruth and Nicola, peanut?"

Aybrum looked up at him, giving a goofy smile and puckered his lips for a kiss.

Niall kissed his pouted lips, handing him over to Geoff and smiled as Aybrum was passed down, getting cuddles and kisses from everyone until he reached Ruth and Nicola, who smothered him in affection.

"Liam, why aren't your parents like that with Brooklyn?" Zayn murmured in his ear, watching as Niall's son was given more attention than Brooklyn's had her whole life from any of them.

He smiled when Aybrum giggled hysterically as Nicola blew raspberries on his cheek. "Because Brooklyn throws a fit whenever she not with your family or one of us. Aybrum's more social."

Zayn scowled, looping his arm around Liam's and slightly leaned on him as he rested his chin on his shoulder. "Well, it's not fair. You should talk to them. Brooklyn was their first grandchild."

"Now you know how Niall's felt this whole time, get over it." He murmured, shrugging him off and leaned forward to prop his elbows on the table.

Zayn whacked him in the thigh, pressing his lips into a line and furrowed his brows. "Don't talk to me like that. We aren't the same people, and our child deserves ten times more attention then that mongrel. Brooklyn has a future, he's just a bottom feeder like his dad."

Liam grabbed Zayn's wrist when he went to guide his face towards his for a kiss, glaring at him with a hardened expression. "You don't have the right to say shit about my son, he doesn't concern you whatsoever and if I ever hear you say something like that again, about either of them, I won't take it lightly. Understood?"

He jerked his wrist back, accidentally knocking his elbow on the table and caught everyone at the tables attention. "Fuck you, Liam." Zayn spat, standing up and grabbed Brooklyn from Waliyha's lap, storming out of the room.

Liam rubbed his temples before he looked up at everyone's curious eyes, "He's not feeling well, sorry."

Niall kept his eyes on the table, unsure of what else to do because he'd heard the whole conversation and was beyond proud of Liam for standing up for them when he didn't have to.

"Bubba, bubba." Aybrum fussed, not wanting to be away from his daddy anymore because the man who yelled had scared him.

"It's alright, peanut. You sit with Ruth and Nicola, you're okay." He soothed, smiling brightly at the toddler and got him to feel relaxed enough to stay where he was. Niall leaned towards Liam, turning his head towards the wall so nobody could see what he was saying. "Thank you."

Liam smiled to himself, "You've always been my first family, and I'm not letting him come between that anymore."

He bit his bottom lip, trying to make a quick decision but went with his gut. "I want you to come back to mine tonight, if you can, yeah."

Liam nodded, clearing his throat when his mum gave him a knowing look and tried to ignore the death glare he was getting from Zayn's mum, Tricia.
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(authors note: I'm sorry about the lack of quality in this chapter, I'm having writers block and I don't know what to do anymore. But hopefully I'll figure everything out.

Do you think Niam are on the path to reconciliation or destruction?

p.s. please, please take a second to follow me on twitter -> @zmelec <- If you follow me and tweet me saying you're from wattpad, I'll follow you back there!

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