Niall
"Chloe, come on, you'll be late."
Watching with a fond smile on his face as Chloe helped to serve a customer, assisted by his boss, Niall gestured towards the door, swinging her swimming bag in his hands as he waited for the seen-year-old to jump down from behind the counter and pull her coat on. Slipping his hand into hers, Niall gave Chloe a smile as they headed towards the door, allowing Chloe to tug him down the street and towards the bus stop before he asked, "Looking forward to going back, poppet? Coach said when I called you didn't miss too much and should be able to go straight back to the group."
Nodding, Chloe stopped pulling Niall towards the bus stop and slowed down to her normal pace, taking her swimming back from him and swinging it around as she walked. "Yep. I haven't been in ages, though. What if Coach changes his mind and moves me back down?"
"He won't, Chlo. You'll be fine." Letting go of Chloe's hand to find his wallet as the bus approached, Niall tucked one of her curls behind her ear, catching her hand before she old run onto the bus ahead of him and making her stand along with him as he paid before they found seats, sighing imperceptibly as the seven-year-old grabbed the window seat. "And anyway, if you do get moved down to the other group, it's not the end of the world, there's plenty of other kids your age in the lower group..."
Making a face, Chloe nodded again, kicking her legs beneath her seat and staring out of the window before she asked, "Didn't you say that Liam was coming to practice and was going to watch with you and the other parents?"
"I did. That's not a problem, is it? He's your dad and he wanted to come along, so I figured it'd be okay." Watching Chloe to judge her reaction, Niall gave her another smile as she shrugged, taking her apathy as a good thing and wrapping his arm around her, turning to stare out of the window with her and taking up his daughter's usual hobby of spotting other buses and beating her at her own game, letting Chloe win after she began to frown at him.
*********
Releasing Chloe's hand as they entered the swim centre, Niall let her run on ahead as he paid for her lesson, looking around for any sign of Liam and checking his phone before he sighed and began to follow after Chloe. Wincing as the familiar scent of chlorine hit him as he entered the changing rooms, Niall waited outside the cubicle with Chloe's school shoes peeking out from under the door, taking her bag from her once she emerged in her swimming costume and fumbling for locker money before he followed her down to the pool, watching for a second as she jumped into the pool, grinning over at Chloe once she'd resurfaced only to have her stick her tongue out at him and gesture for him to retreat upstairs to the viewing balcony with the other parents.
Checking his phone again as he made his way upstairs, Niall smiled slightly as he noticed a text from Liam, detouring and heading back to the main entrance to the swim centre to find Liam hovering around the entrance, Paddy stood hanging around behind him sheepishly. Electing to ignore Paddy for the time being, Niall gave Liam a small smile, slipping his and into Liam's and trying to not overthink things as he said, "It's great to see you. Chloe's already down in the pool, but you're free to stay and watch the lesson with me and some of the other parents..."
"Yeah, that sounds good. It's great to see you too, by the way. Mum and Dad wanted me to say hi for them — they've gone back to Wolverhampton now, but I think they're planning on coming up again soon to see Chloe." Tightening his grip on Niall's hand, Liam followed him through to the viewing balcony, trying not to noticeably stare at him as they sat and Niall pointed out which group Chloe was part of, looking away as Niall caught him only to have Niall grin at him and shuffle his chair slightly closer to Liam, regardless of the way Paddy was still hovering around, having found a chair of his own.
Ignoring the stares coming from the other parents hanging around, Niall leant in towards Liam, for once not feeling like playing the game where he let Liam in but only so far, gesturing over to Chloe's group and explaining random things about the class to Liam in between the random snippets of conversation they ended up having, random little conversations about Liam's parents, Ruth's passing anniversary, Niall's family and brother, the discussions about work and restocking the store for Niall, and the string of meetings Liam suffered through on a near-daily basis, the stream of chatter only being interrupted as Niall brought up the ages of the other children Chloe was swimming with — mostly ten/eleven-year-olds who were all about the same skill level the seven-year-old was, or the prospect of Chloe eventually getting to swim competitively, the only awkward moment occurring when Liam asked why Chloe's costume was different to everyone else's, all of the other children being dressed in identical black costumes whilst Chloe's grey one stood out.
Coughing slightly, Niall glanced in the direction of the vending machine, not meeting Liam's gaze as he said, "The other kids are in the standard costume they all wear for competitions. I...couldn't quite afford the new costume at the time so Chlo didn't get one. It's no big deal, though, I spoke to her coach and they've made an exception."
Nodding, Liam let them fall into silence for a moment, waiting until Niall looked back over at him before he suggested, "I could buy her the costume, if she needs one, you know, so she matches the other kids..."
"It's fine, Liam, you don't need to." Looking down at Chloe's group, Niall watched for a few minutes as they appeared to be racing each other, watching as Chloe seem to come third, out swimming most of the older children in the class, well aware of the look on Liam's face that meant he wouldn't drop the issue. "I don't mind, Niall. She's my daughter too, and it's only right that I chip in for the things she needs...you pay for her lessons, right? As well as everything else. So let me buy her this one thing, yeah?"
Sighing, Niall nodded, relaxing back into Liam's side and biting his lip before he said, "If you can, that'd be great. I'm sure she'll appreciate the new costume."
*********
Leaving Liam waiting upstairs as he went to fetch Chloe after the lesson ended, Niall gave Chloe a smile as she finally climbed out of the pool, wrapping her towel around her and ignoring the smell of chlorine as she leant in for a hug. Propelling her back along to the changing rooms, Niall squeezed her shoulder as he asked, "Good lesson? I saw you do really well compared to some of the others at one point, Chlo."
"Yeah. We did some practice on side-stroke and then had some races. Next week , we're going back to diving." Letting out a soft yawn, Chloe leant against Niall, struggling to her feet and raging her bag of dry clothes behind her and into a changing room, reappearing after a while in soft leggings and a t-shirt and taking her hand into Niall's as they made to leave. Stopping suddenly half way up the stairs, Chloe tugged on Niall's hand, looking up at him to ask, "Is Liam here? You said he was going to come watch."
"Yeah, he is, Chlo. He's waiting for us upstairs. He was watching earlier, too. He was really proud of you." Prompting Chloe to continue, Niall shot a passerby an apologetic shrug as they pushed past, squeezing Chloe's hand gently as they reached the top of the stairs and gesturing over to where Liam was waiting by himself, at some point having given Paddy the slip.
Clinging to Niall's hand, Chloe awkwardly ducked out of the hug Liam offered and hid behind Niall, not noticing as he rolled his eyes and sighed at her, his frown softening slightly as the seven-year-old let out another yawn. Giving Liam another smile, Niall wrapped his arm around Chloe and began to steer her towards the exit, glancing back every so often as if he was checking that Liam was still following them. Letting Chloe have a pound to spend at the vending machines, Niall watched after her for a second before he turned to look over at Liam, pausing for a second before he asked, "Do you want to come back with us for dinner? It's won't be much, probably just chicken nuggets, but you're welcome, if you'd like."
"If it's not an issue then, yeah. How are you two getting back, you took the bus here, right? I can drive you if you want..." Nodding, Liam felt for the keys in his pocket, glad he'd insisted on driving and hadn't let Paddy call him a taxi, the brief awkwardness between them disappearing as Chloe returned, tucking her hand into Niall's and offering both Niall and Liam a square of chocolate.
*********
Smiling again as Niall shifted closer to him, Liam relaxed back against the sofa, taking over the space Chloe had occupied before Niall had sent her to bed, wrapping his arm around Niall's shoulder's as they ended up curled together, half-watching whatever show was playing on the tv, half-watching the other.
Occasionally glancing over at Liam, Niall traced over the exposed parts of his tattoos, tracing over the curve of his wrists where the skull ended or walking over the chevron stripes he'd gotten years earlier, absent-mindedly pausing every so often in the spaces Liam was yet to fill. Stopping after a while, Niall bit his lip as he looked over at Liam, hesitating for a second before he asked, "What made you get them? You used to hate needles, if I remember correctly..."
The corner of his mouth quirking up, Liam pulled his sleeve further up, shrugging slightly as he said, "I got over that...after a while. Most of them were important at the time, though. The chevrons, they represent the boys. It was after out first few tours that I got them, and then I got the others after."
Twisting his arm free from Niall's grip, Liam pointed down at his ankle to where the two tiny screws were and shifting so they were more visible before saying, "Those were the first. They hurt like hell, if I'm honest. The boys and I got them together and they might be one of my favourites, though. My mum thinks some of the others are slightly naff, though."
"They're different, and if they mean something, that's pretty cool." Giving Liam a grin, Niall brushed his fingers back over the roses, shaking his head I response to Liam's unanswered question. "'Course I don't have any. I wouldn't know where to begin with getting a tattoo."
"I think you'd suit a tattoo." Cracking a smile at the dubious look on Niall's face, Liam shook his head, wrapping his arm around Niall's waist and stifling a laugh as Niall stared at him.
Still staring at Liam as though he'd lost it, Niall was about to say something when Chloe stumbled through to the living room, dragging one of her stuffed bears behind her and pulling on the hem of her pyjama top. Shifting away from Liam and reaching out for Chloe, Niall brushed her hair out of her face as she crawled into his lap, giving the seven-year-old a concerned look as she hid her face in his shirt. "I put you to bed over an hour ago, poppet, what is it?"
Her fingers gripping tightly to the material of Niall's t-shirt, Chloe didn't look up at him as she mumbled, "I had a bad dream."
"Oh, Chlo." Pressing a kiss to her forehead, Niall ran a hand through Chloe's hair, looking over the top of her head to give Liam a small smile. "You need to go back to bed, poppet...you want me to check for monsters?"
Nodding, Chloe finally looked out from Niall's shirt, pushing her fringe out of her eyes as she looked up at him and asked, "Can I also have a story? Please?"
"Yeah, 'course. Though Liam might be the one to read you a story." Taking Chloe's hand as he stood up, Niall led the little girl back through to her bedroom, sitting her on her bed and checking under it before he turned and did a cursory check of her wardrobe and behind the door and in her toy chest. Gesturing for Chloe to get back into bed, Niall pulled her duvet up to her shoulders and pressed another kiss to her forehead. "I think you're good, Chlo. No more monsters to be seen."
Turning to see Liam hovering in the doorway, Niall took one of Chloe's favourite books from her little bookshelf and handed it over to Liam before leaving the room and leaving the two of them to it.
Gingerly sitting down next to Chloe, Liam took her shifting over to mean he was allowed to sit closer and did so, opening the book Niall had given to him and flicking through it before he began to read, stopping every so often to read ahead and let Chloe look through the pictures. Before they were finished reading through Big Dog and Little Dog Go Flying, Chloe had more or less drifted back off to sleep, leaning against Liam and sighing every so often, still clutching her teddy bear.
Tucking her duvet in around her, Liam stood up, propping the pillow's underneath Chloe's head and placing the book on her bedside table, turning the bedside light off and hesitantly pressing a kiss to Chloe's forehead before he left, finding Niall curled back up on the sofa, half-watching the TV. Looking up as Liam sat down next to him, Niall gave him another smile, one that Liam returned, wrapping his arm back around Niall, picking up their earlier easy conversation and laughter.
Eventually, once he'd realised the timed how late it was, Liam ended up prising himself away from Niall, pulling his trainers and jacket back on before he headed to the door, stopping as Niall tugged on his sleeve. "We never talked about...about what happened last weekend. In your kitchen. I kissed you..."
"We didn't..." Shaking his head in an attempt to hide the smile covering his face, Liam was about to continue and say something, only to be cut off by Niall reaching up and kissing him again, allowing Liam to pull him closer before they pulled apart. Giving Liam a shy smile, Niall tried to catch his breath as he asked, "That was okay, yeah?"
Instead of answering, Liam pulled him closer and kissed him back.
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And she finally returns.
As always, this took me a stupendously long amount of time to update, but, hopefully, soon things will get better for me and updates will take less time.
But quite a lot happened in this chapter anyway. Chloe as always is cute and is slowly coming round, Niam and quite fluffy Niam at that.
Sorry this took so long, guys...
Thoughts?