Liam
"Papa?"
Liam woke up, not nearly enough hours later, one arm thrown around Niall's waist and his nose pressed into his shoulder, opening his eyes only to immediately wish he hadn't. Fighting the urge to go back to sleep, he pulled himself away from Niall and turned to face the reason he was awake in the first place, smiling somewhat sleepily as he saw Chloe stood in the doorway.
At some point in the middle of the night, she'd wriggled out of her jeans and was wearing only her t-shirt, her curls tumbling messily over her face, her brown eyes framed by dark smudges indicating that she hadn't quite gotten enough sleep. Liam was still thrilled that she was there, having missed her, his little girl, more than he could possibly have imagined. "Chlo."
"Papa," Chloe repeated, fidgeting a little in her spot in the doorway and staring uncertainly at Liam for a moment as he sat up, watching her with equal intensity before he got up, reaching for a t-shirt and pair of pyjama trousers from the floor and pulling them on with a glance thrown behind him to Niall before he turned back to Chloe. He waited for just a second, silently checking that they were still on good terms like they had been when he'd still been at home, before he picked her up, hugging her and spinning her round, eliciting a giggle from the seven-year-old that made him smile until they both remembered Niall.
Thankfully, he didn't stir, only making a sound that might've been a groan as he retreated further into the duvet, and Chloe pulled a guilty face as Liam shushed her, still carrying her, taking her through to the suite's living room before he spun her round again, eliciting another string of laughter. "God, I missed you poppet."
"Missed you too, Papa. Really missed you." Clinging onto Liam, Chloe let herself be hugged for a while before she squirmed to be put down, giving Liam a tentative grin before she padded over to the window and peered out, looking back up at him, thrilled, as she said, "We're really in Florida? Like, Florida, Florida?"
"Florida, Florida. Really." Liam joined her by the window, pulling the curtains aside and wincing at the bright sunlight before he took her hand and pointed out the few landmarks he could actually recognise. "If you look right over there, that's the arena me and Louis and the others are performing at. And, over there, obviously, is the beach. And there's a marine life centre, I figured we could go if you wanted before we leave for Orlando."
"The beach sounds fun. I've never been to the beach. Not really. There was a trip with school, but we just collected pebbles." Chloe reached up on her tiptoes and strained her neck to see where Liam was pointing, grinning as she properly took in the stretches of sand. "You have to help me build sandcastles. You will, right?"
"Of course. Why do you think I wanted to go to the beach?" Liam grinned, the look on his face nearly identical to Chloe's, letting the curtain drop back to the floor as he followed her away, showing her how to work the hotel TV before he grabbed her a drink, happily settling down onto the sofa to watch whatever cartoon she'd found with her.
The two of them were still sat there, Chloe's head resting against Liam's chest as she leant against him, when Niall emerged, wearing one of Liam's t-shirts, padding lazily out to join them and slotting himself into the space next to Liam. Liam pressed a kiss to his cheek and grinned as he noticed the t-shirt he was wearing, a grin that Niall returned before he nestled closer to Liam, murmuring an apology to Chloe as her hair got caught between them. Chloe huffed a little but went back to watching the TV, squirming and taking over more of the sofa, elbowing Liam in the process.
Wincing, Liam shifted again so Chloe was leaning more against the sofa than him, leaving him free from the risk of having his lung punctured, and meaning he could wrap an arm around Niall as he meant in closer to Liam, both of them pretending to watch whatever crap was on the TV. Liam was only pretending to watch because, in reality, he was too distracted to focus on the TV, too acutely aware of all the places he and Niall were touching, from the brush of Niall's knee against his to the hand Niall had gripping Liam's t-shirt. It didn't help that, before he and Niall had ended up falling asleep, somewhere around four am local time, he'd followed Niall into the shower and the smell of his shampoo in Niall's hair might actually be the end of him.
Niall could only pretend to watch whatever cartoon that was keeping Chloe happily occupied, not only because Liam was there, occupying nearly every thought he had, as he often did, but because something nagging at him, one of the few thoughts that wasn't occupied entirely by Liam and how much he'd missed everything about him, reminding him that he'd done something stupid, risky, something that he'd probably come to regret, only he wasn't sure what the fuck he was supposed to do about it, and the warmth of Liam's body behind his and the familiar feeling of Liam's fingers tracing over his hips meant his thoughts kept wandering on to less crucial matters.
Eventually, after an episode and a half more of whatever they were watching, Chloe got bored, sitting up and swallowing the rest of her drink before she turned to look at the two of them and asked what they were going to for the rest of the day.
Liam had to think for a second, sharing a look with Niall who'd shrugged almost imperceptibly, leaving the ball in Liam's court. He checked the time on the TV, mentally running through the plans he'd made to think of something that wouldn't really conflict with him effectively being on lockdown and that would appeal to the seven-year-old before he said, "Well, poppet, it depends. It's eleven am, practically lunch time, and the beach'll be too busy now. I have sound check at four, so we have to be back by then...there's a diner, though, across the street from here that I think you'll like, we could go for lunch, and then there's the hotel pool you two could go to whilst I'm at soundcheck. Sound okay?"
It took a second for Chloe to think before she nodded, standing up and allowing herself to be corralled in the direction of the shower and her clean clothes, wrinkling her nose as she padded back into the living room, intending to ask how the shower worked and overheard her parents' conversation.
"Are you okay with that plan? We can do something else, I just thought we'd start off relatively relaxed, leave the bigger things for when we have more time."
"It's fine, Li. Really. And relaxed is good, I think the jet lag gods are going to kill me, honestly, how do you cope?"
"Experience and coffee. And they won't kill you, I forbid it. The jet lag gods can fuck off...like the hangover gods. You're definitely onboard with lunch then the pool, yeah?"
"Yes. And even more so if it means I get to see you in you in swimming trunks."
Niall had his arms around Liam, grinning as he leant into him, reaching up to kiss Liam, who had one hand sliding into the waistband of Niall's underwear, only to practically jump backwards when he noticed Chloe stood there, awkwardly both looking and not looking at them. Trying to contain his embarrassment and surprise, Niall coughed, refusing to meet Liam's gaze as he asked, "What is it, Chlo?"
"I...don't know how to work the shower." Shifting from one foot to the other, Chloe bit her lip, still not fully able to look at them even as Liam brushed his hair out of his face offered his help. "I'll come and show you, it can be tricky."
Liam followed Chloe into the bathroom and helped her with the shower, leaving Niall stood there, red-faced, reasoning that it wasn't that bad, they were only kissing and Chloe had seen them kiss before. It wasn't like she walked in on anything else, really they hadn't even been kissing. After a while, he pushed the experience from his thoughts and hunted down the suitcase of his and Chloe's belongings, digging out shorts and underwear and a t-shirt of his own and checking through the pile of Chloe's stuff to see what she'd chosen to wear, replacing the tartan skirt she'd chosen to wear, a hand me down from one of the girls on the estate, with her floral top for a pink one that didn't clash quite as horribly.
It took some doing but they were eventually ready to go out, brave the sunny Miami day and the crippling twenty-nine degrees Celsius heat. Chloe had skipped off down the corridor in search of the lift the second they'd headed out and, after his attempt at shouting after had failed, Niall had allowed Liam to link their fingers together and lead him towards the in search of their seven-year-old. They took their time, reasoning that security would be watching the lifts and would hang on to her until they got there, and Liam used the time to revel in the feeling of Niall's hand in his, it hitting him only then how much he'd missed something so simple.
He'd already managed to clear it with Paddy that, whilst he was on lockdown, avoiding the press who were keener than ever to get a shot of him with Niall, though no one had quite worked out how it was known that Niall would be visiting, a short, unannounced trip to the diner just down the street would be allowed, meaning that no one raised an eyebrow as he walked past the security guys watching the lifts, ushering Chloe along with them and thanking the guard who'd stopped her from taking the lift without them.
He'd briefly explained the current situation to Niall, an explanation squeezed in between getting Chloe out of the shower, helping her with the buttons on her top, and braiding her hair, one that hasn't really made much sense but did actually help a little. Currently, it was pretty much common knowledge that Liam Payne was Not Straight, but the word bisexual or gay was yet to actually be said, and whilst all evidence and reality pointed to Niall being the guy involved, an idea supported by social media, interviews where Liam didn't deny anything, and the fact that most people weren't stupid, his name had yet to be confirmed. Chloe's existence was still being kept under wraps, and whilst Liam hated the idea, if she was noticed, she was some relative of the interns currently hanging around.
Niall was against that idea too, but he also loathed the idea of her privacy being taken from her simply because so many people had no concept of boundaries, though Liam had then argued that such boundaries didn't really exist for people in the spotlight.
It was also explained that the Current Situation meant that, at some point, Niall and Liam were meant to be seen publicly, without Chloe, and, later, Liam would finally admit in an interview with the others on The Ellen Show that, yes, it was Niall, and, yes, he was the same boy he'd been 'best friends' with in the very early x-factor days, years ago though they might have been. The freedom everything was building towards meant Liam didn't have to lie anymore in interviews and didn't have spend hours holding hands with someone he had no interest in whatsoever and didn't have to worry about whether he looked happy when he was supposed to or whether he was going to slip up, forgetting a fact about him and Sophia he should have known or forgetting about her entirely.
That had happened more than it should have, in the early days, when One Direction was no longer new and unknown but earning their place in the arenas and on stage, but now Liam didn't have to worry about whether he looked happy or not because he genuinely was and there really wasn't a thing about Niall or the two of them that he didn't know.
He kept hold of Niall's hand as they made their way outside, the bright sunlight making both Niall and Chloe squint until their eyes adjusted and Chloe stopped grumbling about it, leading them down the street to the diner he and Louis had discovered on the last tour they'd done before going on break, having stumbled into it after sneaking out on a night out, hiding in their drinking coffee and eating the best food he'd ever found in a diner until they were sober enough to go back and face Paul.
It was still just as Liam remembered and he grinned as they stepped inside, letting Chloe choose the booth they sat and then apologising to the waitress who Chloe nearly ran into in her haste to get the table by the far window, which had a view of the beach. Liam looked only mildly concerned about the window, years of experience telling him that sitting by the window increased the chances of someone recognising him and putting an end to the trips outside without Paddy and three other guys, but he kept quiet, sitting with his back to the window, unwilling to make a fuss and cause Chloe's smile to disappear.
He relaxed a little as a they were brought menus, reaching out and brushing Chloe's fringe out of her eyes and tangling his feet with Niall's under the table, laughing not unkindly at Chloe's pronunciation of some of the words on the menu and shaking his head apologetically when she reached across the table and poked him in the arm.
All three of them were still smiling as they left, with Chloe already clamouring to go to the pool, the ever-increasing temperatures getting to her, though of Liam was honest, an hour in the pool sounded almost heavenly, and he and Niall acquiesced, letting her drag them back to the hotel and dig out swimming costumes and towels before finding the pool.
Liam, having never gone swimming with Chloe before, was alarmed when she approached the edge of the pool and dived into the deep end without hesitating. Niall didn't seem as worried, simply dropping his and Chloe's towel onto sun loungers, giving Chloe a grin when she chose to resurface, having already swum half the length of the pool. Liam on the other hand, was staring at her as though he'd expected her to be half-drowned on the bottom of the pool, having to remind himself that she was probably a better swimmer than he was before he set his own stuff down and joined her in the pool, gritting his teeth and barely holding back the, "fuck," the coldness of the pool water elicited.
Niall didn't succeed in keeping in his surprise at the temperature of the water, the "fucking hell," that slipped past his lips making Liam grin and prompting Chloe to stop the underwater backwards roll she was attempting and chime, "Swear Jar!"
It was only after they'd spent best part of an hour in the pool, letting Chloe play dolphins on Liam's back and challenging Niall to a series of increasingly difficult underwater races, and the arrival of Paddy, that Liam remembered he supposed to be in soundcheck and had to jump out of the pool, shaking his head when Chloe pleaded with him for him to stay for, 'five minutes more,' and meeting Niall's more understanding gaze before he left, his towel wrapped around him and leaving damp footprints behind him like a trail, calling out over his shoulder, "I'll come find you guys later, yeah?"
___________________________
It's a miracle. An update. That didn't take me a million years to write.
Wow.
But here we are. And I'm actually surprised I got this done, given that I've spent the last week obsessed with John Wick. I should warn you now, I've been looking at my ever-expanding plan and this story seems like it's not going to have an ending anytime soon. Or at all.
Anyway...
Thoughts on the chapter?