[Liam's P.O.V.]
I woke up to loud clash of thunder and a mild whimper that caused me to jump. Another whimper sounded from the side of me and in a groggy state, I realized that it must be Niall.
"Niall?" I whispered as another clash echoed around the room and he cringed closer into me.
I pulled the boy closer to me and he shivered against me. I gently scratched at his ears and more thunder clashed loudly as it nearly lit up the entire room.
"What is th-that?" Niall whimpered.
"It's called thunder, Ni," I whispered. "It happens when it rains."
"Do not like."
I felt bad for the boy. Normally when a child was afraid, they'd go to one of their parents. But Niall didn't really have parents, he just had me. I looked down to the shivering boy who had managed to wrap his entire being around me. I held him impossibly tighter and pressed a small kiss to his forehead.
"You're safe, Niall. It's just a storm."
"Do not like," he repeated.
"I know, love. I know."
I rubbed small circles onto his back until the storm died down and I could feel the small puffs of air emitted from Niall's mouth, signalling that he had fallen back to sleep. I looked down at him again and brushed some of his hair back. He was some sort of beautiful and I briefly wondered where he had came from. He had once mentioned something about a Dr. Shell person but I didn't know. It didn't really make sense to me. I didn't want to push him because clearly it was traumatizing for the boy but curiosity was getting the better of me. I pushed the thoughts from my mind for a later time before closing my eyes and letting the sleep take over.
When I was awoken again, there was a mass sprawled out across the top of me. I smiled, knowing it was Niall, before reaching to poke at his side. He let out a small groan and shifted a tad. I poked him again in hopes of getting him to squirm off of me so I could get up and go relief my bladder that was threatening to burst. After a few more pokes, I managed to roll him off enough so that I could squeeze out from under him before quickly walking to the bathroom. When I returned, Niall was grabbing at the blankets where I had been laying as though he was looking from me. I smiled at him and he lazily opened his eyes. He panned them around the room until they fell on me. He gave me a sleepy smile as he reached his arms out to me.
"Cuddle?" He said in a sleep filled voice.
I immediately crawled back into the soft bed with him and he snuggled close to me, causing warmth to spread where he touched me. His soft snores were nearly luring me back to sleep before I heard my phone going off. I let out a small groan as I reached for it, hitting the answer key.
"Hello?"
"Liam! Hi! I didn't think you'd be up," Louis' voice chattered through the phone.
"If you didn't think I'd be up, why'd you call me?"
"I um. Guess I didn't really think that through. Um, I need your help?"
"With what?"
"I just need you to come into my work real quick."
"Alright, I'll be there soon."
I untangled myself from Niall and lazily dressed myself. Niall stirred and opened his eyes, "Where are you going?"
"I've got to go help Louis with something. I'll be right back. Go back to sleep, darling," I responded in a soft voice.
"Want to come with," he murmured in a groggy voice as he began to roll out of bed.
"Stay here and sleep," I insisted. "You're tired."
"Want to come."
"Go back to sleep, love. I'll be back before you wake back up, okay?"
Niall nodded in agreement and snuggled back under the blankets. I pressed a kiss to his forehead before grabbing my keys and exiting my flat. I mindlessly drove to Louis' work to see him waiting for me at the curb, I pulled up and went to turn my car off as he opened the passenger side door. I gave him a puzzled look as he climbed in.
"Hi?" He offered.
"Is there a reason you're having me pick you up about an hour after you're supposed to start working?" I asked as I drove through the parking lot.
"I um. I was a couple, 20 minutes late and Rob was in a mood and just sent me home," he looked out the window.
"Nice lie. So what really happened?"
Louis huffed out a sigh, "Kyle and I got into it when he dropped me off this morning. Because he stayed the night last night and he needed a car for the day. So I just let him borrow mine because I was already late."
"What was your fight about this time?"
"You make it sound like we fight all the time," he muttered, a tad defensively.
"Because that is all you, Louis. The only time I've ever seen you guys, you're fighting. Do you know how many times you've slept on my couch because you two fought?" I asked him, looking over at him due to the light that had just turn red.
"No."
"More than you'd care to think about."
"So what are you saying?"
"I'm saying that I don't like him. And I'm starting to wonder if you do too."
Louis fell silent after that as he slightly glared out the window and I began to drive toward our flats, "I don't want to go back to my flat."
"Then come to mine."
"We never spend time just me and you anymore."
"Probably because you're always fighting with Kyle."
"No, because you never want to leave the house anymore."
"You can't seriously be blaming Niall?"
"Well-" Louis cut himself off.
"Well what?" I asked but Louis didn't respond. "Well what, Louis?"
"Well maybe I am. You always want to spend time with him instead of me."
"I take care of him! He can barely even talk at the level of a year 1, let alone be left alone."
"I just miss you, okay?" Louis shouted suddenly. "Is that what you wanted to hear? Damn, Liam. You're so dense sometimes."
I was shocked. Louis hadn't really ever expressed emotion to me, he was always just... Louis. Happy, silly Louis. He didn't often show emotions these days.
"Oh," I murmured as an almost uncomfortable silence fell over the two of us. After a few moments, I broke it, "Do you... Do you want to go out to eat or something?"
Louis looked up at me and a small smile formed on his face, "Yeah."
"Where to then?"
"How about some breakfast? I'm starving."
"To the tiny little cafe for some muffins!"
Louis thrust his fist in the direction of the cafe and it caused me to laugh. When we got there, we ordered our drinks and some food to go sit at one of the tables in the corner. We talked a little about everything and I didn't realize how much I had missed my best friend. We caught so almost everything we could think to talk about. After we were done in the cafe, Louis decided he wanted some new shoes. So that's where else we went for the day. Two pair of TOMS for Louis and a pair of shoes for Niall and I each, I seemed to realize the time.
"Crap! It's like noon!"
"And I'm hungry again."
"You sound like Niall," I muttered with a small laugh.
"He is always hungry," Louis chuckled.
"I better pick up something for him on the way home. What's something that he'd like?"
Louis gave me a smirk, "You're totally in love with the dog boy."
"Oh shut up."
Louis laughed loudly as we climbed into the car and drove to Nando's for a carry out. Nearly half an hour later, we were headed back to our flats. I parked out in front of Louis' flat as he stared almost grudgingly at the door. He huffed out a small sigh and reached for the door.
"Today was fun," he muttered.
"It was. Let's do it again sometime, okay?"
"Yeah."
A few moments passed and Louis was still sitting in my car, "Louis, I love you and all but what the hell are you still doing in my car?"
He cracked a small smile before meeting my eyes, "I think I'm going to break up with Kyle."
"If that's what you want."
"It's what you want."
"Lou, you know that I'm happy if you-"
"But I don't think... I don't think I am happy, Li."
"You deserve to be happy."
"Okay," he said then exited my car.
"Louis!" I shouted as the door slammed shut. I rolled down the window as he raised an eyebrow. "I love you."
"I love you too, dork," Louis rolled his eyes and I smiled widely to him.
I rolled up the window and drove the few houses down to my flat. I grabbed the food and the bag of shoes for Niall. I locked the door and I opened the front door after I had walked to it. I looked up to find that the flat was completely trashed. Papers were scattered, blankets were thrown, and pillows weren't even in sight. I cautiously put the bags down and walked further into the house. I quietly moved through the house to find more things scattered. So far I had yet to find anything that was permanently broken but then again I had yet to find Niall either. I slowly opened the closest door to find it empty.
"Niall," I whispered out.
There was no answer and my heart beat slowly began to speed up. What if someone had taken him? What if that Dr. Shell person had gotten him back? What if I never saw him again? That last question hurt me more than I'd like to admit. But as I traveled through the house I continued to whisper his name. I reached the bedroom to find the sheets tossed every where and the pillows on the ground.
"Niall?" I choked out.
I heard a small whimper come from my closet and I ran to the door to fling it open to find the blonde boy curled into himself. He was shivering as hard as he had been when the storm was going on. I bend down to his level and gently ran a hand through his hair. He looked up at me with scared eyes and a wave of relief washed over him, causing him to tackle me. He laid on top of me quietly sobbing as I hugged him close to me. We stayed like that for several minutes before Niall mumbled something against my shirt.
"What was that, darling?"
"Th-thought y-you h-had l-left- f-forever," he repeated, still muffled against my shirt.
"Not forever, lovely. I promised I wouldn't."
"W-was g-gone."
"I know, I'm sorry. I had to go pick up Louis and I spent the day with him. I'm so sorry, Niall."
He looked up at me with wide eyes and I brushed a few tears off his reddened cheeks. I pushed his hair back enough to run my fingers over his soft ears and his eyes fluttered shut as he leaned into the touch. I petted his ears for a few more minutes until I was absolutely sure he was calmed down.
"Do not feel good," he mumbled.
"Don't feel good where?"
"Tummy hurts."
"It's probably because you were upset."
"Tummy always hurts after Liam leaves for long time?"
I immediately felt bad and brushed a soft kiss to his forehead, "I've got a surprise for you, love."
"Sur-surplise?" Niall asked.
"Surprise."
"Surprise!" Niall smiled widely.
"Good job. You're such a quick learner!" I returned his wide smile.
"What is surprise?"
"C'mon, I'll show you."
He rolled off of me and stood up as I did too. I grabbed his hand and pulled Niall along with me, he happily trailed along. I grabbed the bags and we walked into the kitchen. I pulled out the shoes and handed him the box containing them. He stared at it confused at first before I told him to open it. He did as told and revealed the pair of black Converse that I had bought.
"Go on feet, right?" Niall asked.
"Yes," I chuckled. "But we can try them on later. Right now, it's time for lunch."
A large smile placed itself on Niall's face and he put the shoes on the table, forgotten quickly at the mention of food. I pulled out the Nando's box and placed it on the counter in front of him. His eyes widened and he grabbed the box to pull closer to him. I handed him a fork and he immediately dug in. I smiled at the hybrid boy before pressed a small kiss to the top of his head before exiting the room to go clean up the living room. I fixed the blankets, papers, and pillows, which I found behind the couch, and put them back in their designated place before moving back to the kitchen to find Niall with an empty box in front of him.
"Already done?"
He nodded and stood to hug me, he pressed a clumsy kiss to my lips as he continued to cling to me. He buried his face in my neck and mumbled an apology.
"Why are you sorry?"
"House is dirty now."
"That's alright. You were scared."
"Did not like that. Do not like when you are gone."
"I won't be gone that long again with out telling you again, promise."
"Plomise?"
"Promise," I corrected with a small smile.
"Promise," he nodded slightly.
"How about you watch some television while I finish cleaning up the house, yeah?"
"Yeah."
Niall trotted over to the couch and plopped down on it before turning on the telly. I picked up the rest of the random things that Niall had made a mess of. He definitely had some dog features. The toilet paper was all over the bathroom and the towels were hidden behind the toilet stool. I chuckled a tad as I finished picking up the things scattered around the room before moving to the bedroom. Luckily, only the bed was dismantled in here so that didn't take very long. When I had finished cleaning, I found my laptop and opened it up to that document that I had been writing about Niall on.
'Even if I was falling for the hybrid, it looked like he needed me just as much as I was beginning to need him. He has a lot of dog qualities. He likes to destroy things and he can't be left home alone for long without freaking out. I found that out the hard way.'
I laughed at my little joke and continued to type a tad more before saving. I closed my laptop and walked to the living room to find Niall waiting for me. He smiled widely to me as I sat down and he snuggled up to me. I didn't really pay attention to the show, I paid more attention to the beautiful boy across my lap. I realized that if all my crazy afternoons ended with this adorable little goofball curled up to me, I wouldn't mind. I wouldn't mind at all.
[A/N] I'm so sorry. I'm so so so so so so so sorry for the long awaited update. Elsie and I just started school but hopefully I'll be able to finish this up soon. There's still at least like 10 chapters left but still. Again, I'm super super super super sorry the update took so long. I love you. I really do and thank all of you for readin this and not just stopping because I'm a loser at updates. xD Until next time, which will be soon. ♥ Sophie