Cover Story

Chapter 6

That night was the first night since they had been put together as a group that Niall slept all the way through the night. He woke up a little panicked at first because it was morning and he hadn't woken up to change his pull-up or pants. He sat up and got off the bed before sighing in relief. The thicker nappies really had worked. And Niall's first reaction was to tell Zayn.

"Zayn," Niall whisper yelled into Zayn's ear after he'd sat on Zayn's bed. "Zayn, it worked."

"Hmm?" Zayn hummed, stretching his arms above his head and adjusting to Niall's face being right over his own.

"The...you know, they worked," Niall said giddily.

"That's great, babe," Zayn said, not totally processing what Niall had said in his sleep-fogged mind. He unconsciously started to roll back over in bed, but was officially woken up by Niall's incessant tapping on his shoulder. "Yes, Niall?" he asked with one eye open.

"Well, can you, uh, help me?" he asked nervously, all of his previous glow dissipating into a bright blush.

"Oh," Zayn realized, sitting up, now fully awake. "Let's go before the other boys wake up, yeah?" he said, holding out his hand for Niall once he'd stood up.

Zayn grabbed a pull-up from the drawer next to his bed before he led Niall to the bathroom down the hall and checked around before shutting and locking the door. When he turned around, Niall was already laying on the ground with his eyes closed and his fingers twisted together on top of his stomach. Zayn reminded himself again that the next time they go out to the store, they should get a mat of some sort so Niall doesn't have to keep laying on the ground.

"Is this okay for during the day, love?" Zayn asked, making sure it was okay with Niall. Zayn thought that maybe Niall just needed a slight reminder for right now as he didn't have many daytime accidents, and a pull-up would be easier to conceal. Niall opened his eyes enough to see what Zayn was talking about before nodding and screwing his eyes shut again.

Zayn smiled and quickly slid Niall's sweatpants down his legs and untaped the nappy from his hips. He leaned across Niall for the wet wipes that were under the sink before cleaning him up and helping him stand in front of Zayn. He guided Niall's hands to his shoulders so he could steady himself and tapped Niall's legs when he was ready to have him step into the pull-up since Niall insisted on keeping his eyes shut. Zayn sighed and stood up once he was done. He walked over to the sink and washed his hands before turning around to face Niall who was looking down and kicking his toes against the floor.

"You don't have to be so embarrassed, Ni," Zayn said. "I told you I'd do this for you."

"Just nervous," Niall mumbled.

"There's no reason to be," Zayn said, pulling Niall into his chest and kissing the side of his head briefly. "We'll be so great that he can't say no," Zayn finished, hoping he was right.
~~~~~~~
"I've gone with my heart," Simon smiled. "You're through."

Everything from the moment those words came from Simon's mouth to the first day of the live shows two weeks later was a complete blur of rehearsals, practices, lessons, and more rehearsals for Zayn. All he could remember about immediately after was looking into Niall's excitedly shining eyes and smiling the biggest smile he ever has before saying, "I told you so," and pulling Niall into a big hug.

And now Niall's fear from that day had returned.

It was their first live TV performance, and all Niall had wanted to do most of the day was lay down with Zayn when they didn't have to be doing last-minute rehearsals. Although not much had changed in the last two weeks between Niall and Zayn, the constant cuddling definitely was new. At first, Zayn didn't notice. It would start with Niall laying his head against Zayn's shoulder or wrapping his arms around one of Zayn's or laying his head down in Zayn's lap while they played Xbox.