Niall
Niall was having a bad morning.
Well...
It wasn't really a bad morning, just a long one. A very long one.
He'd worked overnight, puling a double shift and spending all sixteen hours restocking the storeroom and fixing up instruments, not even surprised when he went to take a break somewhere around four am and found the coffee maker in the back room to be broken.
It was always fucking broken.
He'd pushed through, though, working until his boss arrived to open up the shop at eight am and had then sent him home, and then he'd caught the bus back to his end of Brixton, intending to go home and nap for an hour until Jessica dropped Chloe off after her swimming lesson. That plan had gone out of the window, though, when he remembered the mountain of house work that had been piling up, jobs he'd been neglecting to do all week, the time he'd usually spend doing said jobs having been taken up by Liam.
Not that he was complaining.
Not about Liam. God, no.
But spending all but one evening a week with Liam meant that he was so far behind on all the everyday jobs that Chloe wold have no clean clothes for school next week and his laundry bin was beginning to overflow.
So...no long overdue nap for Niall.
But what did he expect?
Working overnight on a Friday never really worked out for Niall, though. When he'd first dared to work the night shift, leaving Chloe with Jessica overnight for the first time, Chloe had taken it upon herself to fall down two flights of stairs. Niall had nearly had a heart attack when he'd answered heard Jessica's voicemail during a brief break, only to be told that his daughter, his barely just turned three-year-old daughter had tumbled down two flights of stairs. Chloe had been fine, of course she had. She'd come out of it with no more than a scraped knee and bruised elbow.
But it still set the tone for most of the night shifts Niall would work. Even the time where nothing horrible happened, afterwards he'd be left to deal with something or other. Like the time he'd gone to pick Chloe up from Jessica's the morning after, they hadn't been there, he'd gotten no phone calls to explain and had been this close away from freaking out when a neighbour told him they'd 'popped out to buy some cereal'.
This particular morning, though, it wasn't an impromptu shopping trip or minor hear attack that meant he was in for a long, long morning and an even longer day, but a mountain of laundry and a weeks worth of ironing and then, the proverbial cherry on top of the ice cream sundae of shitty chores, there was dusting and hoovering to be done. And no time to sleep. And that was before he even considered the thing...the meeting he'd agreed to with Liam and his bandmates.
He didn't have it in him to worry about it anymore, though. He'd spent Wednesday night worrying about finally meeting them and had come to the conclusion somewhere around three am last night whilst he was working that worrying about it was pointless. Chloe, Chloe had almost been bouncing around out of anticipation, had been ever since Niall had explained to her who Liam wanted them to meet, ever since Niall had explained to her what exactly Liam did for a living and that it was very important that she maybe didn't tell everyone at school. She'd nodded at that, only really asking if it was the same One Direction that got played at the school disco.
She didn't necessarily like One Direction's music, Niall had never really made her properly listen to it and school discos only ever played the oldest songs—songs older than she was—but Niall's eyes had sparkled when he'd told her about One Direction and Liam and he'd seemed proud so she'd decided that maybe she wanted to meet them.
Chloe's swimming lesson had finished by the time Niall had managed to load all the washing into the machine, and he was just working up the willpower to start on the pile of ironing when Jessica brought Chloe back, the clamouring of an excited seven-year-old throwing a wrench in his plan to actually have their flat presentable for once, and meaning that he found himself calling Liam and double-checking when he wanted them over earlier than he'd originally planned on.
Liam, it turned out, was already waiting for them, had been waiting for Niall's call, and, given that Louis, Harry and Zayn were all there, with Louis' two youngest siblings in tow, it was definitely time that they headed over there as well.
******
By the time they'd gotten to Liam's apartment, Niall's earlier 'there's-no-point-worrying-about-it' mentality had gone out of the metaphorical window and, if it wasn't for Chloe and her nonstop chatter, he would probably have changed his mind and chickened out. But there was Chloe, who was blessedly unconcerned, constantly chattering on to Niall about how swimming had gone and how Jessica had let her watch the fourth Harry Potter film, at least until it got too scary and Jessica had made her turn it off, her obliviousness and enthusiasm making Niall feel a tiny bit better about the whole ordeal.
Not that it should be an ordeal. It was simply him and Chloe, joining Liam and his bandmates at one of their get together's and it shouldn't be an issue. But somewhere between his flat and the posh bit of South Kensington where Liam's flat was, he'd managed to convince himself that it was an issue, that Liam's bandmates, who were practically his brothers, would hate him or judge him and Chloe.
And it was stupid, the rational part of his brain, the part that dealt with PTA meetings with sneering mothers and judging nannies, knew so. The rest of him, however, was too busy wondering if they'd care that he was still in the jeans he'd worn to work, with dust stains on the knees from the storage room floor, wondering if they were as curious about him and Chloe as Liam had made out and wondering if they'd even like Chloe. He could handle it, if they didn't like him, he'd dealt with much worse from various people over the years, but Chloe, Chloe who was so exited to meet them, more excited than she'd been when he'd told her they were going to Uncle Greg's for Christmas or that he'd found a way for her to go on the school trip in February after all, and if, for some irrational reason, they didn't take to her, he was pretty sure that would be the end of everything.
Maybe, maybe not, but still.
Niall was still bricking it as he and Chloe knocked on Liam's front door, the seven-year-old slipping her hand into Niall's and looking up at him, much like she'd done when they were about to meet Liam's parents, only this time, she squeezed his hand and said, "It will be fine, Daddy. They're Liam's friends, you said so, and Liam said that they've been wanting to meet us for ages."
He'd was about to pull Chloe in for a hug, about to brush her hair back from her forehead and say a million different things, ranging from the ever simple 'oh Chlo' to 'you break my heart sometimes, you do' to 'when did you become so great', when Liam's door was opened by someone who was not Liam. They didn't stick around, though, and, after calling out for Liam—"You were right, Li, you should've been the one to get it."—, they turned and headed back down the hallway, leaving Niall and Chloe stood in the doorway until Liam appeared, shouting behind him at the person who'd just run off. "I told you so, you arsehole—Niall. Hi. And Chloe."
After a moment, Liam seemed to remember that Niall and Chloe were still stood on his doorstep and he ushered them inside, taking their coats and hanging them up on the coat rack by the door before he gave them a grin, trying not to seem too shocked as Chloe surprised him with a hug.
He was also surprised when Chloe tugged on his sleeve and muttered, 'swear jar' but his surprise faded as he caught sight of the look on Niall's face, immediately pulling him in for a hug and running his hand across Niall's back as Niall hid his face in Liam's shoulder. Chloe didn't seem fazed, either by the hug or the screeching coming from Liam's living room, instead waiting until Niall had eventually let go of Liam before she asked, "Where's Loki?"
"I think...I think he's in the living room with everyone, Chlo. Give us a sec, and we'll go through, yeah?" Ruffling Chloe's hair as she exhaled loudly, Liam shook his head, grinning at her faintly before he turned back to Niall. "You alright?"
Nodding, Niall gave Liam a small smile, nodding again as Liam seemed to remain unconvinced. "I'm okay. Been a long morning, s'all. Kind of being a bit stupid. It's fine, Li."
Momentarily ignoring Chloe as she tugged on his hand, the seven-year-old finally getting tired of waiting, waiting for them to get their shit together, waiting to go and find who she considered to be her dog, Liam watched Niall for a few more seconds before looping his hand hand around Niall's waist and pulling him along, pressing a kiss to his cheek before he gave him a more teasing smile. "You ready?"
"No." Keeping his tone purposely light, Niall returned Liam's smile, ignoring Chloe as she rolled her eyes and leaning closer into Liam's side for a moment, almost laughing as Liam propelled them along his hallway and said, "It'll be fine, Ni. They're harmless. Well, mostly."
Liam said that last part as they entered his living room, walking in to see Zayn pinning Louis onto Liam's sofa whilst Harry ignored them, sitting on a blanket spread out on the floor along with Louis' youngest siblings, having a tea party whilst Loki laid alongside them, occasionally wagging his tail and upsetting the little tea pot.
Once they noticed Liam, Niall and Chloe, Zayn let Louis up from the sofa, Harry dropped the miniature china tea cup he'd been holding and Loki jumped up from his spot at the tea party, earning a disgruntled whine from one of the children Harry had been playing with, who Niall would place at about the age of four, running over to Chloe and making her smile as he dropped at her feet.
His arm still wrapped around Niall's waist, Liam bit his lip as he glanced around at his bandmates, well aware of the looks on their faces as he cleared his throat before saying, "Guys...this is Niall and Chloe. Ni, Chloe, this is Louis, Harry and Zayn. And the two munchkins over there are Louis' little brother and sister, Ernest and Doris."
Niall tried not to look away as Liam spoke, focusing on Chloe and deliberately pretending not to notice as one of them, Louis, he thought it was, the one who'd opened the door, slumped onto Liam's sofa and tried not to openly stare as he muttered, "Shit."
Another, Zayn, Niall thought it was, mumbled something about a DNA test, sharing a look with Harry before he managed to say, "It's nice to meet you guys, didn't think Liam would ever let us."
Niall managed to give him a smile in return, looking down at Chloe once more, the seven-year-old still very focused on scratching that one spot behind Loki's ear, before he looked back over at Zayn and said, "It's nice to meet you too. Been long enough, I reckon."
Harry was the first one to actually get to his feet, approaching Niall with an awkward hug and handshake type thing, clapping Liam on the back and giving him a smile as he looked down at Chloe before looking back up at Niall. "It's great to finally meet you two. Long overdue, though. Definitely."
Eventually letting go of Loki, Chloe stood back up, looking up and Harry and giving him a smile as she took in his bring pink shirt with white polka dots, staring at him for a second before she blurted out, "Your shirt's pretty."
Both Harry and Louis burst out laughing at that, Louis muttering something under his breath that Niall didn't catch whilst Harry tugged on the hem of his shirt, giving Chloe another smile as he said, "Thanks. You should tell Lou that, really. I think your top's pretty cool too."
And with that, Niall started to relax a little, the tightness in his chest lessening as Harry invited Chloe to join him and Louis' siblings with their tea party. Ernest and Doris had seemed uninterested in Niall and Chloe's arrival, only paying attention as Chloe sat down with Loki, causing them to shift over. Doris then offered Chloe a tea cup and saucer, watching the older girl's movements for a second before she made Harry move so Chloe could sit next to her.
Louis smoothed his hair down, tugging on his t-shirt and pushing Zayn out of his way only to pushed back as he made his way over to Niall and Liam, giving them both a conspiring smile as he said, "Ignore Haz. He's only hurt because I let Doris borrow another one he has just like it to use as an apron for painting."
Taking his cues from Liam, who didn't seem surprised by Louis or the shout of protest his comment received, Niall nodded, glancing over at the little girl who was already babbling away at Chloe, taking in the little girl's copper curls before he looked back at Louis and gave him a half-hearted smile.
It didn't get much better for Niall than that, really. Chloe ended up playing with Harry and Ernest and Doris, who Niall eventually figured out were twins, and after that spending her time with Zayn or Louis, both of them listening to her intermittent chatter as though it was the most interesting thing they'd ever heard, and for her, it was all fine. Niall's earlier fears regarding Chloe had been completely unwarranted.
But he'd known that, really.
For him, on the other the other hand, it was more of a struggle. It wasn't that Louis, Harry and Zayn were...were like most of the parents at Chloe's school, it was the complete opposite. It was just that...he had no idea how to talk to them. They were about as far removed from his life and the life he had been living for nearly eight years as you could get, and it showed. It seemed that it felt the same for them as well. Every time Liam tried to start a conversation between Niall and Louis or Harry, it seemed like they were unsure of what they could say around him.
And it sucked.
Okay, so Niall might have been making it out to be worse than it was, but, by that point, he wasn't sure anymore. He was running on fumes, having not slept for what felt like an eternity and he couldn't help but feel out of place. It didn't help that even throughout the week when Liam had ended up telling Niall about Louis, Harry and Zayn, he hadn't gone into too much detail and hadn't told Niall what exactly Louis, Harry and Zayn knew about them, or Chloe. It left Niall feeling like he didn't know where he stood.
It got better, or so he thought, after he'd had several cups of coffee, sitting in Liam's kitchen and giving Liam a smile every time he came out to the kitchen to check that he was okay, that everything was alright, that he didn't need anything. Niall began to feel somewhat human again, and was able to 'join in', if you could really call it that, with them all when they began telling funny tour stories, asking them if the stories Liam had told him were true, and then him telling them stories of Liam when they were kids, stories they'd probably heard before from Liam's parents or sisters but didn't mind Niall telling them again, especially when it came to the story of the goat in the boys' changing room at school.
At some point, whilst Liam and Louis were arguing over which child-friendly film they were going to watch, sometime after they'd ordered pizza for lunch and one of the twins had ended up grooming Loki's fur and tying bows onto his collar, Niall slipped out back into the kitchen, helping himself to one of the cans of cola in Liam's fridge and taking a minute to just enjoy the silence, Zayn joining him and grabbing a beer from the case he'd brought and had been left on the worktop.
Zayn had let the silence continue for a bit, watching Niall's expression carefully before he said, "I wish we'd met you back then."
"You do?" Trying not to sound so surprised, Niall couldn't help but frown, taking a sip of his drink and using it as a distraction for moment before he asked, "Why?"
"Just 'cause, really. You...you seem like someone I wished we'd known back then. And Chloe...well, all of Louis's siblings, all of mine, even our old stylist's daughter...we're all kind of like that." Pausing, Zayn set his drink down and held one hand up, crossing his fingers and, for a second, Niall had swallow down a slight twinge of envy at what Zayn was saying, his frown fading as Zayn continued. "It's understandable, really. We've been one big group for nearly eight years, and you and Chloe should've been a part of that."
"You wouldn't have wanted me around back then, it would've complicated things." Ignoring Zayn as he shook his head, Niall couldn't even believe they were having that conversation, giving Zayn a wry smile, deciding not to bring up how one of the band members being a dad would have fucked up One Direction's chances of ever going anywhere, letting out a quiet sigh before he said, "And, anyway, we'll never know."
"At least we've met you now. I thought Liam was going to hide you guys forever. And...well, you've met most of us. One of the group." Glancing back in the direction of the living room, Zayn tried to hide his smile as Louis screeched out, 'Toy Story? Really, Liam? It's like you have no taste', taking a sip of his beer and wrinkling his nose as Ernest seemed to join in the argument. "You're stuck with us. Hazza seemed pretty taken with Chloe. She complimented his awful taste in shirts—I think he'll want to keep her. God knows what Lou'll say. And anyway, I think it's a good thing you're around. Li seems happier."
"He does?" Leaning against one of the work tops, Niall struggled to think and see if Zayn was right, shrugging slightly as he came up blank.
"Yeah. Aside from the obvious—the end of all that bullshit with Sophia and Danielle and not being himself—he's just...less, I don't know. I can tell you he never shuts up about you or Chloe once you get him talking. And...I would never have thought this would be how he became a dad, but Chloe, and you, I think he's found something he cares more about than music. And if you knew him before, you know how he can be." Swallowing another mouthful of beer, Zayn looked over at Niall to see him nodding, his grip on his can of pop seeming deathly tight, his smile more forced than it had been five minutes ago.
Worried that he'd put his foot in it, Zayn tried to backtrack, stumbling over himself as he spoke. "We...we know it wasn't necessarily your choice, that we never got to meet you back then. It's just...I'm glad we met you now, that's all. And I'm glad Liam got his shit sorted before tour starts, I mean this in the nicest way possible, but he's a miserable bastard when he's got something on his mind."
Zayn relaxed slightly as Niall let out a quiet laugh, taking a sip of his beer as he looked back in the direction of the living room, not noticing how Niall's smile fell and his eyes clouded over as he asked, "Tour?"
"Yeah. There's a month until rehearsals start, in January, and two until our first concert." Finishing his beer, Zayn ran a hand through his hair, thinking for a second before he shook his head. "It's longer, I think. Our first show is March, so...Three months? No. We have a promo tour before that...I don't know, then. I think it's two months—Harry's the one who normally has everything memorised."
"Two months?" Niall fought to keep his voice calm as he looked over at Zayn, trying not to sound as surprised as he felt as Zayn nodded. "Yep. You...didn't know?"
No.
No he fucking didn't.
Niall struggled to keep the rising wave of outrage under wraps as he thought about what Zayn had said. Two months. Two months and then Liam would be gone, away on tour for months on end. That shouldn't be an issue, and it wasn't. It was the job, and Niall knew that. But. But Liam hadn't said a word. Two months, and Liam hadn't felt the need to tell him.
Fuck.
Niall managed to nod and did his best to not look like he was about to fall apart. Two months. He could only nod and try not to cause a scene, though there would be one, sooner or later, because Niall was tired and over caffeinated, but with just enough self control to not cause one at that moment. He forced a smile and listened to Zayn as he rattled off a few of the far flung locations tour would be taking them, managing to contain it and keep calm as they were summoned back to the living room to watch the DVD Louis and Liam had finally agreed on.
He sat with Chloe on the armchair she'd commandeered, making room for Doris as she clamoured to sit with Chloe as well, running his fingers through his daughter's curls as he pretended to watch whatever film they'd put on and managing to smile whenever something vaguely funny happened on screen, Chloe's laughter and Doris' giggles prompting him to half-heartedly join in.
Niall managed to keep up the pretence until everyone eventually decided to leave, Louis briefly hugging him before he picked p a sleeping Ernest, Harry grabbing Niall's phone, barely making a face as he saw the battered old Nokia, and putting his number in Niall's phone, rolling his eyes as Niall protested. Harry followed Louis out of the door, cradling a sleeping Doris as he left. Zayn left after promising Chloe she could go to his studio and paint with him sometime, heading off to get ready for a night out. Niall's smile faded once it was just him and Liam, after Chloe had wandered off in search of Loki, the Husky having hidden away in one of Liam's spare rooms after Louis' siblings had tried to groom him.
Liam gave Niall a grin, seemingly not noticing the look on Niall's face as he said, "I'd say that went pretty well, wouldn't you? Louis' siblings don't usually come when we do this, but they're in town with Louis and Harry for a few days and I thought they'd be okay with Chlo."
Making a noncommittal 'hm' sound, Niall shrugged, leaning away from Liam when he tried to reach out and pull Niall into a hug, glad Chloe was out of the room when he turned to face Liam, the glare on Niall's face causing Liam's smile to fade, a questioning frown forming on Liam's own face as Niall said, "Two months."
_________________________________
And that's chapter forty.
Probably not what you were expecting...
But oh well.
Thoughts on the chapter?