Liam
Normally, he hated airports.
He'd been to so many that they all kind of blurred together, and, generally, airports were, at least for him, associated with months of hard touring, early morning flights and pap walks that he'd hated.
Today, though, he was considering changing his mind. No one knew he was there and he wasn't catching some godawful red-eye to wherever they were supposed to be performing next. Today, he was waiting, somewhat anxiously, admittedly, for Niall and Chloe's flight to get in. He'd missed them, really fucking missed them, and, if he was honest, picking them up from the airport was his escape from the latest shit storm brewing on the horizon.
He'd been granted a brief respite over the holidays, but now Liam was expected to give crisis resolution his full attention, answering phone calls and emails and deciding what he wanted his PR team to do about the stupid photo some fan had taken of him and Niall. If he had it his way, they'd do nothing. It was just a photo, and a fairly conservative photo at that. There was nothing in the photo to say there was anything between the two of them, it wasn't like there was a picture of him and Niall kissing, but there were apparently repercussions. And Liam knew that.
He and Sophia were yet to officially call it, though it was hinted everywhere and his Twitter and Instagram were being scrubbed clean, probably as he waited for Niall and Chloe, but this, the photo could apparently jeopardise that. His management team hadn't necessarily been thrilled about the action he planned on taking after finishing with Sophia — taking Harry and Louis' advice and finally, finally coming out — but they were unable to do anything but nod and sort that for him. The photo, apparently, could change all of that.
Then, of course, there were the repercussions for Niall and Chloe. Liam didn't need to be told how the could affect them, he'd been in the spotlight long enough to know how it turns on those around celebrities and how any privacy, privacy that Niall and Chloe were used to, could be taken away, and it didn't take a genius to work out that, that would be the last thing Niall would want.
The day after Boxing day had marked the end of the brief holiday respite and he'd been dealing with the photo and everything for only a couple of days, and yet he was ready to scream. So the airport was a nice distraction. Not only did it mean his two favourite people were coming home, but it gave him a break from answering questions and making decisions he didn't want to have to, and generally taking responsibility for something that could have just been ignored.
Even as he waited, his phone buzzed with emails and missed calls, and he was so distracted by them that he almost missed Niall and Chloe's arrival, the seven-year-old flinging herself at Liam the second she saw him and clinging to him until he picked her up. "Papa!"
"Chlo!" Setting her down, Liam pulled Chloe in for a hug, looking over the top of her head at Niall and grinning at him before he asked, "Good trip?"
"Very. Christmas at Uncle Greg's is great." Chloe pushed her hair out of her face as Liam let her go, watching him with a small smile as he pulled Niall in for a hug and hid his face in Niall's shoulder, muttering too quietly for Chloe to hear, "God, I missed you."
"I missed you too." Niall eventually pulled away, giving Liam a soft smile before he took Chloe's hand and directed both her and Liam over to baggage claim, letting Liam take their bags once they were spotted on the conveyer belt and grinning as Chloe sat with the bags on the trolley, giggling as Liam pushed the trolley along diligently, the smile on his face making it obvious for anyone to see that he didn't mind.
It took some persuasion to get Chloe to stand up once they'd made it out to where Liam had parked his car, but she eventually stood up, rolling her eyes and whining a little before she helped load the bags into the boot, calling Liam 'Papa' again as she did so.
The change made Liam grin whenever she said it and, honestly, he'd almost given up hoping he'd be anything but 'Liam' when Chloe had made her mind up, and it might have been one of the best things he'd ever heard. The smile he'd make whenever Chloe called him that hadn't gone unnoticed by Niall, either, and that would make Niall smile in turn, reaching up and pressing a kiss to Liam's cheek before he turned to help Chloe into the car, sending Liam to return the luggage trolley.
The car ride back to Liam's flat was spent mainly listening to Chloe's chatter, the seven-year-old rambling on about the plans she and Theo had made and how she couldn't wait to go back so they could put them into action. Her chatter continued on for a while after, only pausing momentarily as she waved at the concierge who helped them with their things as they entered the apartment building before she was off again, making Liam promise to watch the Disney DVD's she'd gotten with her and asking if they could try baking as 'Aunty Denise let me make cookies and it was so fun'.
Chloe's plans for the afternoon kind of went off track, though, when she made her way into what was now definitely her room, dropped onto the bed and promptly fell asleep. Liam went in to check on her when she hadn't emerged after a while, stopping in the doorway and smiling softly as he saw her, surprised. He called out to Niall, summoning him to come see, laughing softly before covering his mouth so as not to wake Chloe as Niall sighed, sounding almost relieved. "Finally. She hasn't slept properly since we left for Ireland. She'll be out all night, probably."
Liam nodded slowly, watching as Niall tucked Chloe in, easing the duvet over her and her head onto the pillow, pressing a kiss to her forehead before he closed the blinds and lead Liam out of her room, letting Loki in on their way out. Niall was about to go back to the bags he was sorting through when he changed his mind, biting his lip as he watched Liam for a second.
Looking up at Liam, Niall couldn't quite keep the smirk off of his face, reaching up and wrapping his arms around Liam's neck as he leant in and kissed him before repeating the words he'd already said. "I missed you."
Instead of replying, Liam swept Niall off his feet, laughing as Niall let out the least manly of squeals and clutched at Liam, giggling as Liam carried him through to the bedroom.
*******
Still tangled in the bedsheets, Niall couldn't help but let out a whine as he felt Liam get up, taking a moment before he followed his example, pulling on one of Liam's t-shirts and following Liam through to the kitchen, hesitating once he'd realised Liam was arguing with someone over the phone. He waited outside the kitchen for a moment, deciding whether to enter or not, about to turn and go back to bed when Liam called, "Ni, you're not exactly invisible."
"Sorry..." Niall smiled a little as Liam waved the apology aside, dropping into the chair next to Liam's and thinking back to their own little Christmas, when Liam had been so twitchy about his phone before he asked, "Am I allowed to ask who that was, or are we not talking about the angry phone call?"
"You can ask, always. And it's work." Liam relaxed a little as he glanced over at Niall, Niall's choice of t-shirt making him smile, his smile flickering as Niall studied him for a moment before asking, "Work, as in...?"
"My PR company. There's a minor...problem. They're handling it." The same frown he'd worn whilst on the phone made it's way back onto Liam'a face and it took a moment for Liam calm down enough to give Niall the full answer he deserved. "Before Christmas...there's a fan photo of you and me and people are starting to talk on social media. My team...they aren't happy about it, and we're struggling to resolve it."
"Oh." Niall's response made Liam smile a little more, opening his phone to find the first email he'd received about the subject, highlighting a part of the text and showing it to Niall as he said, "That's very tame compared to the first response I was given. Trained professionals, who's jobs are to handle shit like this, had the response of 'fuck'."
Setting his phone down, Liam stood, grabbing a beer from the fridge and offering one to Niall, who nodded, taking it from Liam and swallowing a mouthful before he asked the questions Liam's team had been trying to figure out the answer to for days. "What does this mean? For you, the band, us? Chloe?"
Liam took a minute to respond, running a hand over his face and taking a sip of his beer before he answered. "For the band? Nothing. We've had far more damaging photos of us released and they've had no effect. For us? Whatever you and I decide. Whatever we want it to mean. This can be swept under the rug, made to go away or passed off as me going for coffee with an old friend. Or it can be the start of something. For Chloe? The balls in your court, though everyone recommends we keep her out of this, and I agree. For me...they want to use it as a reason to hold off the break up. With Soph. They want to wait longer and keep her around and that's what we're currently arguing over."
"They can't do that, can they? You said that your contract-" Niall's protests were short lived as Liam cut him off, nodding as he said, "Makes it impossible for them to force me. They can, however, advise me and attempt to 'act in the best way for my reputation and the band's image'. If I fight hard enough, they can't do shit. I...I want to use this photo. Break up with Soph, be who I am. I've put this off too long, I don't want to hide anymore. You don't have to be involved, though. They'll keep your name out of it, but it'll be PR and will start to hint that I'm not quite what people think."
Nodding slowly, Niall didn't quite know what to say or how to say it. He took a moment, thinking through what Liam had just said before nodding again. "Chlo...what do they know about Chloe? 'Cause, if possible, I want to keep her out of it. You can use me, though, if you need to. I don't mind. I've never made much of a secret about myself."
"They don't know that much about Chloe. Or you, for that matter. They know of you and they are well informed about who you are to me, but that's about it. They'll probably want to meet you, after this. And thank you." Liam leant into Niall's side, pressing a kiss to Niall's temple and wrapping his arm around Niall's waist, kissing Niall softly before he asked, "What did I ever do to deserve you?"
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And I'm back, finally.
I've been a little bit busier than usual recently, so it's taken me slightly longer to update, so I'm sorry about that, guys.
But here we are, and the plot is finally starting to pick up a little.
And it's no longer Christmas. Which kind of makes me sad.
I'd love to see what you guys think of the chapter...