"I once wrote you love songs. You never fell in love... We used to fit like mittens but never like gloves. Never like gloves."
Finishing the last verse of the song, Niall's voice trailed off, only the sound of his guitar remaining until he finished, placing his guitar in it's stand before he stood and headed for the door, stopping as he saw Liam heading towards him, carrying two coffees and what looked like a packet of aspirin.
Standing back and letting Liam walk past, Niall closed the door to his studio, pushing his sunglasses up onto the top of his head and wincing again, wordlessly accepting the pack of aspirin and dry swallowing a couple of tablets before he chucked the package back to Liam. "Thanks."
"Don't thank me. My assistant was waiting outside with a coffee and aspirin, I simply sent him to get another." Sitting so he was leant against the wall, Liam took a sip of his coffee, watching Niall for a moment before he looked away, staring up at the wall opposite and taking in the many album covers decorating it before he asked "Are those all the different albums you've written something for?"
"Yeah.... Look, Liam, I'm sorry. What I said about you and Zayn. I crossed a line. That was crass and rude and bitchy." Sitting next to Liam, Niall accepted the offered cup of coffee, taking a sip and looking across at the wall Liam was looking at, shrugging as he said "Really.... I'm not even sure where it came from."
"You always were bitchy when you were hungover." Shrugging, Liam took another sip of coffee drumming his fingers on the bottom of his cup, Niall sighing and pulling his sunglasses back down onto his face before saying "Thanks for reminding me."
Ignoring Niall's comment, Liam shrugged again, picking up the packet of aspirin and swallowing a couple of tablets before saying "At least we're talking now. Funny how all it takes is three arguments and you pity-drinking with Louis for it to happen."
"Pity drinking? I was not-" Looking offended, Niall sat forwards and glared at Liam, about to continue when Liam snorted, cutting him off. "Please. That's what it looked like."
Huffing, Niall rolled his eyes at Liam, contemplating elbowing him again as he said "I was not pity drinking with Louis. I was drinking out of frustration and vodka seemed the best place to turn."
"Been there." Not thinking, Liam was focused on reading the back of aspirin packet as he spoke, only realising what he'd said as he looked up to see Niall staring at him."I'm sorry, but what did you just say? Liam, did you-"
"It's nothing. Never mind." Shaking his head, Liam gestured for Niall continue, wishing he hadn't said anything as he caught sight of the look of concern flashing across Niall's face, forcing a smile onto his face before he looked back dow at the aspirin box.
Frowning, Niall watched Liam for a moment before he looked away, taking a sip of his coffee and sighing, not allowing himself to dwell on Liam's words as he continued "And we are not talking. Especially not about anything to do with four years ago."
"We never actually talked." Setting the aspirin packet down, Liam glanced back around Niall's studio, noticing again how different it was to the places Niall used to work in as he tried to recall any actual, calm discussions they may have had regarding the demise of their relationship.
"We talked plenty."
Watching as Niall shifted away from him, Liam sighed, his fingers tracing over the buttons on his watch as he said "We yelled. Fought. Broke up. But we didn't talk. Not about the important things."
"We said plenty." Inadvertently tightening his grip on his coffee cup, Niall glared at Liam, wishing for him to drop the conversation and rolling his eyes as he noticed the determined look on the other guys face.
"Not the right things."
"Now? Now you want to talk about it?"
Nodding, Liam swallowed a mouthful of coffee, feeling the effects of the aspirin already starting to work as the pounding in the back of his head - a side effect of a night of heavy drinking after spending so long trying to avoid copious amounts of alcohol - began to lessen. "Yes. Yeah, I want to talk. We ended things because we were both angry at each other. You were mad at me because I started putting you second to my work and I was mad at you because-"
"No. We are not talking about it. No." Cutting Liam off, Niall held his hand up in an attempt to silence him, his chin jutting forwards as he frowned.
Returning Niall's frown with one of his own, Liam shook his head, the corners of his mouth curving slightly upwards as he remembered just how stubborn Niall could be. "We didn't talk back then. Isn't it time we actually did?"
"Some things don't have to be talked about."
"They do if you ever want to move past them."
"No. We are not talking about it." Mentally counting to ten, Niall looked up at the ceiling, feigning an interest in the number of ceiling tiles, again hoping that Liam would take the hint.
"Why?"
"Because we don't need to." Not looking up from the floor, Niall took a sip of what was now cold coffee, once again choosing a well-rehearsed lie over the truth.
Putting a lot of effort into not shouting, Liam sighed, watching as Niall looked anywhere e but at him before saying "Niall. We do."
"We don't!"
"Why don't you want to talk about it? We broke up, but we never actually said why. My family don't know why we broke up and I'm willing to bet only Louis really knows why." Exasperation getting the better of him, Liam rolled his eyes, sighing again, only looking up from the floor when Niall began to talk. "I think we did talk. We broke up because you were going places and I couldn't be the one to hold you back but I couldn't sit around waiting for you every time you decided to forget we had plans."
"You forgot one reason."
"Don't."
"Fine. I won't say it. But you know the other reason. You know what you did. We don't have to talk right now, if you don't want to. But at some point, we have to talk."
Liam's sanctimonious tone beginning to really piss him off, Niall shifted closer, his foot connecting with Liam's shin before he muttered "Fuck you, Liam."
"That's why you don't wanna talk. You're still angry." Raising an eyebrow, Liam reached down, rubbing his shin before looking across at Niall, blue eyes meeting his brown ones before Niall looked away.
Focusing on his empty coffee cup, Niall bit his lip, thinking back to previous arguments as he said "So are you. You're just better at squashing it down."
Shaking his head again, Liam sighed, remembering once again how he'd acted towards Niall the day before, leaning forward and rubbing at his shin once more before saying "I wasn't yesterday. Niall.... I know you don't wanna talk about it, but what happened to us?"
"That. Is..... That's a good question." His shoulders tensing, Niall sighed, resting his head against Liam's shoulder for a moment before he realised what he was doing and leant away.
"Exactly." Pretending not to notice Niall's action, Liam glanced over at Niall, his blue eyes clouding over as he pulled his knees up to his chest, thinking for a moment before he said "I don't know what happened exactly. But something did. Something we weren't prepared for, Liam."
Shaking his head at Niall's answer, Liam sighed,tapping his fingers against the bottom of his coffee cup, glancing over at Niall and taking in the serious expression on his face before he smirked slightly. "No shit, Sherlock."
"Fuck you, Watson." Unable to stop himself, Niall elbowed Liam in the ribs as he replied with what had been their customary reply, shooting a smile at him before standing up, offering Liam a hand up from the floor at the same time. "Truce?"
Accepting Niall's hand, Liam gave him smile, a rare, genuine smile, one that was pure amusement, a smile that he hadn't really used in a while and used to be reserved for Niall, running a hand through his hair before he stood up, nodding. "Truce."
_____________________________________
Someone say double update?
Ta-daah.
Niall and Liam finally actually talked, sort of.....
Anyway... Thoughts on the chapter?