So...as life is completely shitty again, this weeks update is only like, half-done, you guys get to see this.
My collection of mad ramblings.
Some will make no sense, and if they don't just ask, and I'll explain, and some are whole chapters that I didn't quite like enough to use.
There will be an update...soon-ish, but for now, welcome down the rabbit hole.
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or they deny everything, or discredit the journalist, it hurts chloe but it's necessary, that way life goes on as normal as possible. the second baby thing happens and there's a proposal and an announcement later...
Liam finds Niall's pregnancy tests, that's how he finds out.
"Why didn't you tell me? I- You were so hurt, when I. I didn't tell you. Is that why?"
"No. I didn't- Because this is mine. It's my body, Liam. It's my fault."
"Fault? Love, it's a baby, not somebody's fault. It's our baby."
he held Niall close and noticed the difference in his shape, the slight curve in his frame, the unavoidable truth, the miracle already making its presence known. The slight tension in Niall's shoulders told him he was better off not making a fuss, still better off not saying anything so, again, he didn't.
much more gently over his stomach, fingers cautiously running over the barely there baby bump that Liam couldn't take his eyes off.
Niall froze under his touch, insecure suddenly, unsure of Liam' reaction until he found himself being kissed, a grin spread across Liam's face, lighting up his features, the word 'beautiful' spilling from his lips. Liam said it again and again,
That ship had sailed and it made Liam smile again, impossibly soft and impossibly lovely, reaching up and kissing Niall until they were both breathless and grinning.
Count on me 80
Niall/Liam
"Dad? Daddy? Daddd- Oh."
Stopping in her tracks as she entered her dad's room, Chloe stood staring at the bed and frowning for a second before she recognised her papa, at which point she flung herself onto the bed, successfully waking both of her parents as bony elbows collided with soft places, kneeing her dad in the side and sitting on her papa's legs, causing him to groan. Oblivious to the fairly minor damage she'd caused, Chloe grinned, practically shouting as she asked,"Papa's here? When did Papa get here? What-"
Liam groaned again, his eyes still very much closed as he made an aborted attempt to sit up, an attempt that was thwarted by the weight of Niall against his chest, though his lack of an otherwise coherent response went unnoticed by Chloe who was, to his tired mind, practically screeching. "You're here. You're- When? How long are you here for? Are you not going back? Is Loki back?"
Chloe jumped up and down again, moving from being sat on Liam, who heaved a sigh of relief, to being sat between him and Niall, forcing them apart, her elbow colliding with Niall's chest as she wriggled, forcing him into wakefulness. Chloe was about to fidget some more when Niall sat up, trying his best to seem awake and parent-y as he said, "Papa's back, Chlo, yes. However, that doesn't mean you get to shout. Indoor voice, yeah? What time is it?"
"I think the clock read...eight?" Chloe shrugged, twisting to sit
count on me 77
But just as Niall wanted to talk more, Liam had less time to talk than ever and the lengthy phone calls that had lasted over an hour became merely minutes. In all fairness, he was busier and he at least said so, given that there were more interviews, promo had finally started up again as the rumours surrounding Chloe and Niall finally died down, and there was talk of more writing, more recording, but it felt like he was starting to leave them behind again.
The joke of it all, though, was that Niall was starting to feel like he was seventeen again, a feeling that twisted his insides and made him feel stupid, stupid for procrastinating and stupid for allowing himself to be put in the same position again, a feeling that their phone calls only helped to reinforce.
**********
"Hey, Li. It's me...us. -just calling to say hi . See how you are... No, no you're busy, I- We get it. No worries. Talk to you tonight, Jessica's gonna be here in a minute and I gotta get to work anyway. Yeah, we love you too."
Giving Chloe a tight smile, Niall set his phone down against the work top, taking a second before he switched his attention to the mess that dominated the kitchen and began tidying, enlisting Chloe's help with the dishwasher and attempting to not make a big deal out of the call for Chloe's sake. Liam was allowed to be busy, he was working, after all, and it wasn't like he'd ignored them completely. Things were fine, they were. He shouldn't be making mountains out of molehills.
**********
"That sounds...interesting. A great night. Yeah, I can't believe it either. You can tell us everything when you're home, I guess. S'only a few more weeks anyway, right? There's actually something I need to tell you...It can wait, though. Yeah, I love you t-"
Niall flopped backwards against the pillows, sighing as he dropped his phone onto the bed next to him, purposefully rolling over so that his back was to what was technically Liam's side of the bed, clenching his jaw and ignoring the tears fighting to escape as he closed his eyes, clinging to sleep and ignoring the urge to curse Liam out, very pointedly ignoring the buzz of his phone as the reminder he'd set to tell Liam appeared on the screen.
**********
"Hello. Is this Liam, or is this Liam's voicemail? It's Liam voicemail? Wow. It's me, by the way. Your boyfriend; the one you asked to call you when it got to midnight here. You're too busy for this, right? I figured....Christ. No, no it's fine, Li. Call me tomorrow, or whenever you get the chance. I know, you're in the studio. I...love you."
Kicking the skirting board out of frustration and hissing at the pain, Niall let his phone fall onto the rug, internally berating himself and Liam. He should have said something, then, and he wished he had, but, on the bright side, the guilt he'd felt was starting to lift from his chest, being replaced with anger instead. He waited until he'd calmed down enough to breathe before he wandered into Chloe's room where the eight-year-old was sleeping, adjusting her covers as he smoothed her hair back and pressed a kiss to her forehead before padding back out to the living room.
Count on me 78
Niall/Liam
To put it simply, Niall was pissed.
He was pissed off at Liam and didn't matter that it wasn't Liam's fault because he was angry, again, and it felt like they were going in circles. Admittedly, it wasn't the same kind of anger that they'd already worked through, but was instead like the anger a person felt at history repeating itself and screwing you over again.
He was fed up of minute long phone calls and voicemails and feeling like he was seventeen and scared and alone. He wasn't seventeen anymore and he wasn't going to just...let time pass them by anymore, not now he'd finally managed to find the courage to tell Liam about the baby. He wasn't going to let things get in the way, not again.
Only now, it wasn't guilt motivating Niall anymore but anger. It was after that last phone call that he finally snapped and after a sleepless night and sulking his way through emptying the dishwasher and reloading it, the aggressive cleaning not quite managing to calm him down, he found himself calling Liam again, automatically assuming he'd gotten Liam's voicemail but talking at it anyway. "No. No way are doing this to me again. I refuse to let you do this to me again. Answer your fucking phone for once, Liam. I'm fed up of hearing your voicemail message. I need you, I need to talk to you, and I really need to stop feeling like I'm seventeen years old and watching you slip through my fingers, so call me as soon as you get this.
"You know what? Fuck it. That's what I said that lead us here. Remember? I hope you do, because it's really fucking important. I- I'm pregnant. I'm pregnant, Li, and you're screwing me over again, like it's two thousand and ten. I- I'm pregnant and I need you to call me, asshole."
Pausing to breathe, Niall almost dropped his phone when he unexpectedly got an answer, prompting him to glance down at his phone screen, realising that he hadn't gotten Liam's voicemail but Liam himself. "Say that again."
Liam's voice came out shaky, and Niall closed his eyes, regretting everything he'd just said as he listened to Liam let out a whole string of surprisingly inventive swear words. Neither of them said anything for a moment before Liam coughed, sounding completely shocked as he repeated his request. "Say that again. Niall? Did you just- Say that again. Please."
"Asshole." Niall gripped his phone tightly with one hand, pulling his shirt sleeves down over his wrist with the other, almost able to hear Liam roll his eyes at him. He put Liam out of his misery, though, and obliged. "I'm- Pregnant. I'm pregnant, Li."
"You're...when- 'Fuck it.' Yeah, that- That makes sense. You're pregnant, oh- Okay." Gasping a little, Liam swore again, a crashing noise going from his end of the line sounding to Niall as though he'd walked into something, prompting him to ask, "Li? Liam? Are you-"
"-still here? Yeah. Just- give me a minute." Liam sounded like he was possibly losing it, sounding very much like someone who'd just had the rug pulled out from under him, sounding as though he'd heard what Niall had said but didn't understand a word of it, muttering something to himself that Niall didn't quite catch. Niall let him have his minute, then ten more, sinking to the floor and leaning against the fridge as he waited, clutching the phone and hoping that every little crackle of the line was Liam. Liam returned, eventually, still sounding out of it but seeming a little more responsive as he said, "You're pregnant. I'm not- I didn't mean to- It's not two thousand and ten. I wasn't...not on purpose, I swear. I'd've...I'm sorry. This is- huge. It's- Christ."
"Yeah. It's. Christ seems to cover it." Any anger Niall had felt, all the anger he'd been running on, had sort of...drained away, leaving him feeling sort of...light, weirdly light, as he spoke to Liam, closing his eyes again and resting his head against the fridge door. "I'm...nearly two months gone. That's what the maths says. That and the doctor. It fits."
"The doctor? You...Two months, nearly. It fits. I'm sorry, you've been to the doctor?" Liam sounded more confused than anything then, that and a mixture of surprise and possibly hurt. As though he barely understood what was being said to him but wished he knew more. Niall simply nodded before he remembered that they weren't on FaceTime, the awkwardness of the exchange reminding him why he'd been so hesitant to tell Liam, given that their entire conversation was merely proof of the reasons why a phone call was not how to tell someone about their impending fatherhood, clearing his throat as he said, "Sort of. My appointment's not for a week but I made the appointment in person and the nurse I'm supposed to see sort of...gave me a check up. Not that that's the most crucial thing here, Liam."
"No...you're right. It's not...What- what do we do? What do you want to do? What...do you want me to? God- Um, how- how are you?" Liam's brain ceased functioning for a while and they fell into silence, with Niall either not bothering to respond or not knowing how to, with Liam only jumping into action when someone starting yelling for him, their conversation only audile as distinct mumbling to Niall. Liam finally managed to speak once more, only the words he said were the last Niall wanted to her. "I'm- I'm supposed to be in the studio. There's- I have to go. Niall. I have to. This- this ins't over, this discussion, we...we'll talk more, I swear, I just."
Liam knew that hanging up on Niall was the very worst thing to do, but he did it anyway. And then he numbly followed Paddy out of his room and into the hallway, halfway towards the room they'd turned into a studio before he stopped, shaking his head when Paddy tried to get him to keep walking. Instead, he headed back to his room, grabbed his wallet and a hoody and told Paddy to take him to the airport.
The flight was a blur, all eleven hours of it. Liam was aware that, at some point he must have slept, though the standard class seats were cramped and uncomfortable and there had been left for a flight to London at such short notice. Paddy had dozed in the seat next him, when he wasn't mainlining coffee or staring at Liam like Liam had just lost it. Liam wasn't so sure he hadn't.
Niall was pregnant. Pregnant. Like, expecting a baby. Jesus. And Liam..he'd. He'd acted like he must have acted eight years ago, like he had acted eight years ago, with the getting lost in work and temporarily leaving them...his family, behind. God. Fucking Christ Almighty. Liam clenched his jaw just thinking about it. It's no wonder Niall had been so pissed off at the start of that call. And he deserved it.
He still had that mindset when he stumbled off the plane eleven hours after boarding it in the late afternoon sunshine into the midday drizzle at Heathrow, looking lost for a minute until Paddy steered him towards an exit, both of them thanking their lucky stars that their presence in London was so spur of the moment that no one was looking out for Liam which allowed them to get through security pretty much unhindered. Paddy wasn't happy that Liam insisted on ditching him as soon as he'd hailed a cab, insisting that Paddy went home to his own family for a while, meaning he could see Niall without having to explain anything.
Liam gambled on Niall being at work, given that it was a Thursday and he'd not mentioned anything about taking time off, heading straight to the shop where he worked and throwing a random wad of dollars and fifty pound notes at the taxi driver in his haste. He didn't even stop to apologise or sort any change, rushing straight into the shop. Niall wasn't actually working in the shop but the girl on the till managed to let him into the back where Niall was sorting out new stock, after she'd calmed down enough to believe that it was really him and he really did need to see Niall.
It took Liam a moment to work up the courage to call out to Niall, hovering by the doorway until Niall saw him, breaking out into a grin before he caught himself, his smile becoming more restrained. He was smiling, though. And Liam took that to mean something.
Grinning a little sheepishly at Niall, aware that he'd turned up out of the blue, having flown halfway across the world simply to be there, Liam took a step towards him, unable to look away as he took Niall in, letting Niall pull him in for a hug as he said. "Hey, you."
Niall didn't say anything, clutching Liam tight, all of the stiffness and tension locked up in his muscles melting away as he his hid face in Liam's shoulder, unwilling to be the first to let go. Liam didn't mind, it was the closest they'd been in months, and he pressed a kiss to the top of Niall's head. Eventually, Niall pulled away, standing up straight and reaching up to wipe at his face before he stammered, "You...you're here. You're- you're here."
"I had to be. I...am so sorry and so- So happy, to see you, to be here, everything. I'm here and...I love you." Liam simply nodded, looking down at Niall and trying to keep the smile on his face even as Niall looked away.
liam offers to let Niall and Chloe walk away, back to normality
'everyone will forget, eventually. They will. and...we won't be..this. I'll just not be around. A secret. Like before.'
'don't be a twat."
everything changes,
'we're just careful. they leave you alone, right, most of the time. we do that. we posh and becks this bitch. only i'm becks. you're the singer, that makes you posh.'
they don't confirm or deny anything,(liam still does interviews, Chloe is a blacklisted subject) Niall and Chloe go home early, no disney land, Niam are on the rocks, their cabbie recognises them, says they look familiar but Niall brushes him off
Chloe moves schools, she has to. (what about toby? and Jessica. Jessica gets hired differently, as Chloe's babysitter and takes her to and from her private school)
move into Liam's properly. (a pipe leaks in niall's flat and means that they have to:
'why? were you followed there or something? are you alright?'
'it's just a pipe, Liam. no big deal. we're fine.')
don't confirm anything until after second niam baby is born - epilogue?
Count on me 78
Niall calls him, it's voicemail, (parallels to before), calls him once more, assumes it's voicemail but it's not, liam finds out, flies home real quick, drug metaphor.
'look at us. We managed weeks apart and were fine. Two weeks with you and being apart suddenly became so much less manageable than before."
"It's as though we relapsed. But so what?"
before he flies off again, Liam asks if they're okay, Niall say 'for once, you know, I wish we'd see each other face to face without having to ask that question.'
links directly into smut chapter with Liam heading home for slightly longer.
(Liam doesn't tell Niall Chloe got lost, doesn't tell him anything, hopes for the best and waits for the shitstorm, that way Niall can still be pissed that Liam knew and so on)
Chapter idea: whilst they're with Liam, someone from his management takes it upon themselves to gather DNA from Chloe to establish paternity since they haven't done so yet, Liam doesn't protest but Niall is furious.
Count on me ...
Niall/Liam
"Are you sure you're not gonna come down with us?"
Standing in the doorway to Chloe's room, where Niall could be seen laid flat on the floor, one hand reaching under Chloe's bed for the stuff he knew she'd have somehow lost down there, Liam gripped the doorframe with one hand and leant forward, admiring the view, grinning down at Niall and only grinning harder when Niall shook his head at him, taking a second to reach for the next item of clothing he found under the bed before saying, "I'm sure Li. Someone has to get a head start on all the packing, and Chlo only wants to go down so early 'cause she wants to play with Lux again, finish whatever they started yesterday. I'll head down and meet you backstage after soundcheck, yeah?"
"Yeah. Sounds good." Liam paused, glancing out to where Chloe was sat, waiting for him and whining for him to hurry up before he said, "I better take her down, she's fidgeting so much I think she'll break something."
Niall got up to watch them leave, shaking his head as Liam picked Chloe up and gave her a piggy back down the hall way before closing the door and turning back to the mammoth task he'd started, trying to remember when tour and flying every few days and the routine of life on the road began to seem normal to him, the realisation that this had become his new normal making everything seem further away from Brixton and work and school than usual.
He managed to get most of his and Chloe's packing done, marvelling at the way Chloe had managed to spread all of her belongings around her room, despite having only been in Orlando for four days, but managing to hunt pretty much anything, including the blue crayon from the set Harry had given her that she'd lost after colouring with them once and the sock she'd sworn she must have left in Miami. He hadn't found what had happened to the swimming costume she'd worm most recently, though after searching for a good half hour, he gave up, willing to lose that battle.
Still, he'd done most of the packing, even managing to get the ridiculously over full suitcase closed, which he counted as a miracle, taking a second to admire his handiwork before he checked the time, remembering he was supposed to meet both Liam and Chloe down at the arena after soundcheck, meaning he was probably already late. To make him even later, it was required that a member of security accompanied him if he went anywhere without Liam and Paddy, who accompanied Liam anywhere, and the guy charged with watching him today happened to be so overly cautious that what should have been a ten minute journey, took best part of a half hour.
By the time he reached his and Liam's usual meeting spot for after soundcheck, the corridor between their dressing room and the onstage entrance, he needn't have bothered tracking down there as soundcheck was long over and the stage was being prepped for the evening. Instead, Niall wandered back to the dressing room, where he figured Liam would be and chances were that Chloe and Lux would be playing together nearby.
Not bothering to knock, he entered the dressing room, expecting to find Liam and Louis, Harry and Zayn being fussed over, never dreaming to find Chloe stood in the corner glaring defiantly at one of the women from the management company he'd seen around the hotel a few times, who was trying to coax Chloe to comply and be obedient. The woman turned around the second she heard Niall enter, the look on her face suggesting she'd realised how sketchy and awkward the situation was, and when she tried to talk, Niall paid no attention, too preoccupied with the fact that Liam, who wasn't missing along with the others but had just walked in behind Niall, didn't seem quite as horrified as Niall did.
Still ignoring the woman who Niall thought might have been Meg Masters, he scooped up Chloe into his arms and only when he was satisfied that Chloe wasn't hurt or too upset, only confused, did he turn and listen to what she was saying.
"- just trying to take a sample of her DNA, as my bosses ordered. It's completely necessary, and since you and Mr Payne haven't gotten around to complying, now seemed opportune."
"Oh, really? You thought that approaching a child whilst she's alone and trying to extract a DNA sample without permission from her parents, was opportune? What the fuck?" Not caring that Paddy, the stylists and a few interns had gathered around, Niall continued to rip into her, his voice so eerily calm that Liam and the woman would both have preferred it if he'd simply yelled. "Who gave you the right to approach my daughter in such away? Did it occur to you that it was highly inappropriate, let alone threatening since she has no idea who the fuck your are or what the hell you want with her DNA? Did it occur to you that you'd need permission to even consider such a thing? You did not have my permission to touch a singly hair on her head. You sure as hell had no right to even talk to her."
The woman seemed far less sure of herself than she had when Niall remembered meeting her for the first time, and she gulped in air before stammering, "We- I had, I had permission. Mr Payne, he already knew. Well, he didn't know that's why they sent me here or, anything but he essentially gave permission..."
Meg fell silent then, when Niall's attention turned from her to Liam, the look of incredulity and anger something Liam had never seen before and he bit his lip, the, "fuck," that escaped his lips suggesting that he knew exactly what he was in for. He didn't even try to stop Niall from walking past him and out of the door, figuring that anything he said would fall on deaf ears, a thought that was confirmed as he tried to speak only to have Niall turn on him. "No. No, I don't care. Not now. Not when you chose not to tell me you'd decided on a DNA test or that you allowed a stranger near to and harass my daughter and didn't even think to tell me or be there. No."
Chloe kept her grip on Niall's hand tight as he lead her away from the dressing room and towards the exit, glancing back up at Liam with a look on her face that made him feel a thousand times shittier and he waited until they were both out of earshot, ignoring the interns who were slowly retreating and the, "damn," one of them whispered, sending Paddy after Niall and Chloe before he turned on Meg himself. "When the fuck did I give you permission to touch her like that? I never said you could. Never."
Meg, seemingly determined to regain as much of her dignity as possible, smoothed down her jacket and clutched at the container she was holding before looking up at Liam. "Both your's and Mr Horan's contracts have a clause in them giving us permission to act in a manner we see fit when dealing with the matter of the illegitimate daughter you might have fathered years ago, and when we spoke on the phone when you were in Washington, you gave me permission. The subject was broached and your answer was, 'yeah, sure,' which is enough to count. I was simply doing my job but I apologise if it seemed like too much of a liberty. And we have a sample, as well as one from you, if you remember giving us that, so I'll be in touch."
She then turned on her heels and left, having the grace to look slightly ashamed as she walked past Zayn, who, intrigued by the shouting, had dared wander over from where he and Louis and Harry had been told to wait, flinching a little as Liam strode into the dressing room and slammed the door behind him.
Anyone else who'd gathered to watch the debacle dispersed and Zayn took a moment to decide whether he was going to risk going after Liam and deciding against it, unable to recall a time Liam had ever seemed quite as pissed off.
The only time there had ever been this much shouting had been years ago, before their hiatus, on one of their OTRA tour, resulting in them cancelling a show entirely after Louis had lost it, flat out refusing to continue after their old management had lumped him with beard after beard, forcing him to go on stunt after stunt until he just couldn't.
That thought prompted Zayn to knock gently on the dressing room door, only to be promptly told to fuck off.
Niall, on the other hand, had lead Chloe to the exit, aware of the stunned silences following them, nodding to the guard who held the door open for the two of them, stopping in his tracks for a moment out of confusion as he saw one of the range rovers that seemed standard transport for anyone associated with One Direction stood by the door waiting for him and Chloe, his confusion subsiding as he saw Paddy, putting two and two together before he helped Chloe into the car.
Paddy nodded quietly when Niall asked him to take them somewhere quiet for dinner or something, his face betraying nothing and suggesting he wasn't listening as Niall turned his attention back to Chloe, cupping her cheek with his hand and brushing her hair back from her face before he pulled her in for a hug, reassuring himself that she was okay more than anything.
Chloe refrained from asking him anything until she and Niall were sat in a corner booth, a milkshake in front of her and a mug of coffee in front of Niall that his hands were trembling too much to drink. Glancing back at the booth next to theirs where Paddy was sat pretending to be busy, Chloe shuffled in her seat for a second before looking back up at her dad, daring to ask what the lady had wanted.
Her question made Niall look pained for a second, frowning as he briefly questioned his rule of never lying to her, and he clutched at the mug in front of him only to spill some of its contents and hissed as he burnt himself. "That lady, Chlo, works for the people Liam works for. She wanted some of your DNA so they can test it against Liam's. They want to do that because some of them, the people like her, aren't convinced that he's your dad. Really, they're just being over cautious. 'Cause Liam's a pretty big deal to some people, you know, they just want to make sure he's not being taken advantage of."
"Oh...is there a chance...that I'm not Papa- not Liam's?" Chloe sounded more thoughtful than anything, looking up at Niall to see him shaking his head emphatically. "No. There is not even the slightest chance of that, poppet. You are his, anyone can see that. You are so much like him, poppet."
"Why did she upset you so much then? If there's no chance she's right?" Playing with the straw in her drink, Chloe took a sip of her drink and wrinkled her nose at the taste, not sure if she liked strawberry and chocolate milkshakes or not. Niall finally relaxed enough to take a sip of coffee without spilling it down his front, running a hand over his face before he said, "To do that, Chlo, she'd have needed permission and I didn't give it. Papa did, without telling me, or she had it some other way, but she had no right to do that. That's why I'm upset. It's the principle of the matter."
Chloe nodded, testing out the phrase 'principle of the matter' in her head, taking another sip of her drink before she asked, "And that's why you're mad at Papa as well?"
Niall copied her actions, taking a sip of coffee and thinking for a second before he nodded. "Sort of. How do you feel about not going to the show tonight? We can get dinner, here or somewhere else, and I packed a Disney film, if you want. I know it's the last show before we go to Jacksonville but what do you say?"
Chloe shrugged, preferring to stay there with Niall than go back, reaching over for a diner menu and flicking through it before a thought occurred to her. "Do we still go to Disney tomorrow?"
"Before we leave in the evening? Yes. Of course. Nothing today changes that." Niall gave a smile at that, peering over at the menu and shaking his head teasingly as Chloe ever so predictably chose the closest equivalent to a chicken nugget she could find. Having dinner and then heading backwards to the hotel, watching over half the Disney film before Chloe fell asleep meant that Niall felt slightly less like throwing things, pausing the film just as Judy and Nick grudgingly agreed to put their differences aside and work together, and carrying Chloe through to her bed, easily obeying and sliding in next to her when she refused to let him go.
He fell asleep for a while, waking up after a while with a crick in his neck, disentangling himself from Chloe, wandering through to his and Liam's room and collapsing into bed, frowning ever so slightly when he realised that Liam wasn't back yet. He didn't quite manage to fall back to sleep but drifted in and out of a fitful slumber, still conscious enough to hear the hotel room door open and shoes be kicked off, sitting up as he heard footsteps passing his and Liam's room and head into Chloe's, her door creaking open.
Niall could tell it was Liam by his footsteps alone and, curiosity getting the better of him, he got up, padding out and hesitating outside Chloe's room, well aware that his eavesdropping would be unappreciated but wanting to know what Liam had to say.
Liam, it turned out, had quite a bit to say but took his time getting there, sitting on the foot of Chloe's bed and biting his lip, reconsidering for a moment before he gently shook her awake, well aware that she would probably be tired and cranky tomorrow, waiting until she had woken enough to at least open her eyes and mutter incoherently before he wrapped an arm around her, holding her close as he mumbled apologies. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. You are mine, and I shouldn't let anyone think otherwise. She shouldn't have been anywhere near you, I should have told them to get lost, poppet, not listen to them. But you're okay, yeah? You're okay, and I'm just an idiot. I'm sorry."
He pressed a kiss to the top of her head, relaxing a little as she cuddled into him, looking up and shaking his head a little before he called out, "You're not invisible, Ni."
Sighing, Niall headed into Chloe's room, raising an eyebrow at Liam and staring at him for a few seconds before he shrugged. "Sorry."
Chloe yawned, struggling to keep awake, hiding her face and clinging to her duvet, prompting Niall to reach around Liam and took her back in, waiting for Liam to get up before he turned the bedside light off, smoothing out the blankets one final time before he led Liam away, grateful that Liam at least waited for him to shut the door before he said, "Come on then. You want to yell, right? Out with it."
Niall simply stared at him, the desire to yell at him having long since passed, taking a while before he shrugged again. "You want me to yell? Shout and throw things so you can shout back? I don't. Not right now. I don't feel like yelling. So what if you didn't tell me that you, well, your management but ostensibly you, wanted a DNA test? That she, Meg, whoever, was here for that reason? What's it matter if you left my daughter alone, not even with Lux or Paddy or anyone, so that vulture could get near her? Oh, and so what if you gave your permission for Meg to approach Chloe and take her DNA? It's a long list, and I don't really feel like shouting for all of it."
Liam nodded then, rolling his eyes at Niall's insistence on not fighting whilst still fighting. It was a crappy tactic that left Liam wanting to scream, and meant that Niall automatically had the high ground, leaving Liam struggling to explain or argue back. "I- Niall. I never meant to give my permission. I didn't. I had no idea that they would try something. I should have told you, yes. But I don't want the fucking test. I knew they wanted to- Oh, come on. You're pissed. Admit it. Just yell."
"What's the point? An hour or two ago, yeah, I'd have shouted till I was blue in the face, but now...Chloe and how you seemed to think letting that happen was okay was why I'd've yelled, but you apologised to her and she'll forgive you anything, so what's the point? I don't want to fight now." Niall ran a hand over his face, half-wishing that he'd gone down there with Liam and Chloe so, instead of being stood there, they might've enjoyed the final show, brought Chloe back when she fell asleep before falling into bed together, unable to find it in him to even want to argue about how Liam didn't tell him.
Turning his back to Niall, Liam exhaled deeply, running a hand over his face. "So, you don't want to yell. I still want to explain. Don't I get that? As you said, it's a long list. I should get to say my piece."
Niall rolled his eyes but let Liam lead him through to the living room nonetheless, sitting opposite him and looking at him expectantly. Liam seemed to understand and took the pointed stare on Niall's face as his cue. "I didn't know I'd given her permission to. I didn't even mean to. It was one comment in a phone call. And it wasn't just that, there're clauses in the contracts you and I signed, random clauses that give them the right to act as they see fit in circumstances such as ours. And I don't want a DNA test. I don't. We talked about getting one, if it was needed, for the parental responsibility thing, but it wasn't necessary, so I put the idea out of my mind. I don't want one or need one. I've believed you about Chloe being mine from day one, and I know she is.
"I didn't tell you about the DNA test because there was nothing to tell; I'd practically forgotten about it anyway. So I'm sorry. And I knew, yes I knew Meg was around, but having management around is not unusual. And I know I shouldn't have left her, I knew from the second you arrived, and...I knew. But it's not like we've not let her wander round backstage alone before, you have too. And, you know what, I might have fucked up or whatever, however you want to see it, but can you stop calling Chloe your daughter. We both know she's mine as well, so lets just acknowledge that."
Nodding, Niall's features remained impassive, waiting for a moment to ensure that Liam was finished before he got up, heading back towards the bedroom, turning around and staring long and hard at Liam as he said, "I'm going to bed. You promised to take our daughter to Disney tomorrow, before we fly in the evening, so you might want to head that way too."
Ireland for Christmas again. Niall's pregnant and is almost huge - meet in airport and Niall just says 'Not a word.'
Count on me 70
Niall/Liam
"Ni?"
Shifting so he was laid on his side, facing Niall, Liam waited for the hum that would indicate Niall hadn't yet fallen asleep before he continued. "Have you ever wondered what we'd be like if we weren't here?"
"Here?" Niall, tired and still desperately wanting to actually have a nap, the very reason he and Liam had dragged Chloe back to the suite and persuaded her to lay down for an hour, tilted his head half-heartedly so he was almost looking at Liam, raising an eyebrow as he repeated himself. "Here? Do you mean, if we weren't...whatever we are or...spell it out for me, Li? I'm too tired to think."
"If we were still us, still whatever we are," Liam hesitated, making a note to address that, sliding across the bed and closer to Niall as he said, "But if we weren't here, because of One Direction. If I had staid, all those years ago, or if we'd run into each other again, only I was a teacher or walking for my dad or whatever. I know we don't talk about this stuff, leave the past in the past, but don't you wonder?"
Shifting over properly, so he could actually face Liam, Niall rubbed at his eyes before he tried to string a sentence together. "Regardless of where we leave our past, I try not to wonder. It's not worth wondering whether we'd have been twenty, living with your parents or in a shitty flat, taking Chloe to school together; I gave up on that fantasy when I did it by myself. Besides, Li, I like things how they are. Maybe not the tour bit, but I want this, what we have now."
"Yeah?" Wrapping an arm around Niall's waist, Liam grinned a little at that, letting Niall's words hang in the air between them for a while before
"I used to live for the days when you would call. Even if it was just a thirty second snatched conversation before you were gone, those calls were what would keep me going for the rest of the week."
"Ni-"
"But the days when you didn't call and you stopped calling for good, those were the days that would kill me inside. Every day, it killed me a little bit more."
[maybe rephrase]
they fly out to see Liam, at least three to four months into tour and Niall is pregnant.
"I can't believe you."
Liam stopped what he was doing as he spoke, stopped working Niall's trousers down his legs and looked up at him with a look that simultaneously made Niall's toes curl and insides melt. Taking a moment just to look at Niall, Liam repeated himself with a soft kind of smile. "I can't believe you. You...you're incredible, you know."
"I could say the same thing about you." Gripping onto Liam's collar, Niall pulled him up so that he could kiss him, kicking his trousers the rest of the way of and laughing as Liam picked him up. He reached up and kissed Liam again, both of them getting distracted for a moment before Liam set Niall down, grinning a little as Niall pushed him against the door, pressing a hand against Liam's hip to keep him in place whilst he undid Liam's belt, letting Liam's jeans drop to the floor.
Liam's t-shirt ended up being flung somewhere over Niall's shoulder as it was tugged over his head, Niall's following soon after, both of them stumbling over their clothing as Liam pushed Niall back onto the bed, reaching down and kissing Niall as he blindly felt for the bedside table, opening the drawer and digging out the lube and condoms without ever really pulling away from Niall's side.
"I'm going to miss you."
"I know."
"I mean it. I'm going to miss you."
"I know. I'll miss you too."
"What if I asked you to stay?"
"What if I said I would?"
"I'd tell you to go. It's your career, your dream."
"We've had this discussion before."
"We have. And I managed to make you go."
"Make me? You didn't make me."
"Please. You were so close to not going, not auditioning again, yet look at you now."
"Very true. I might let you have that one."
"Might?"
"Okay. You can have that one."
"Wow."
"Oh shut it, you."
"And that right there is why I love you."
"I love you too."
"I know."
"And it's not like before. I'm coming back. I mean it."
"I know."
"And you know what? I'm gonna prove it."
"You're gonna prove it? How?"
"Marry me."
"What?"
"Marry me."
"I'm sorry, but what? You just...I'm still naked and covered in...what did you just ask me?"
"Marry me. Please. I love you, maybe it's soon, maybe it's whatever, but I love you, and I'm not just saying this because I'm going, and I'm saying it because I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Marry me."
"Liam..."
"Don't make me ask again."
"Yes."
"Yes?"
"Yes."
Liam/Niall
"I know it was you."
"Oh come on! How could it have been me?"
"You were the only one in the dressing room."
"For the last fucking time, it wasn't me."
Liam couldn't help but smile as he watched Zayn and Louis' argument unfold, pretending to scroll through his twitter feed and absent-mindedly favouriting a few tweets, sharing a look with Harry as Zayn continued the argument, shouting at Louis, not caring that Harry was holding up his other shoe, having been the one to steal said shoe all along.
Eventually, Liam got bored of listening to their argument and cut in, interrupting Zayn before he could tackle Louis and steal his shoes in revenge. Ignoring Zayn's glare, Liam took the shoe Harry was holding and threw it at him, waiting for Zayn to fall silent before he spoke. "Come on, guys. Save the fighting for at leat the second performance. We're supposed to have grown up since the last time."
The others seemed to contemplate what he'd said for a second, the changing room becoming eerily quiet until Zayn shrugged, wrinkling his nose as he said, "Speak for yourself, Li."
It wasn't surprising when Zayn turned away from Louis and threw himself at Harry, tackling him to the ground and stealing his shoe from him in retribution, yelling and messing up Harry's hair, the uproar prompting Liam to go back to scrolling through his twitter and Louis to sit back and admire the chaos, a grin on his face as he said to Liam, "Haven't you missed this?"
They left Zayn and Harry to their fighting, and it seemed typical to Liam that then would be the moment that Paddy chose to show Niall and Chloe in. For everyone else's families, this was usual behaviour for the last few hours before the first gig of a tour, their way of blowing off steam and overcoming the nerves, but for Niall and Chloe the scene they walked in on was far from ordinary. They walked into see Zayn and Harry messing each other's hair and shouting at each other, Zayn waving Harry's shoe in the air with one hand whilst they wrestled.
They didn't even stop when they caught sight of Niall and Chloe, only giving it up when Liam and Louis decided to intervene and tear them apart with help from Paddy, who simply helped them both up before muttering something about their usual, ridiculous beginning of tour antics. Liam made Zayn give Harry back his shoe and told him to put his own on before he turned to Niall and Chloe, giving them a sheepish smile as he led them out of the dressing room to somewhere quieter.
Chloe simply stared at Liam, looking up at him as though she'd never seen anything quite like the scene they'd walked in on, her mouth slightly agape and one hand pushing her hair back as she tried to think of something to say. Niall had a bemused look on his face, looking back in the direction they'd come from for a second before he shook his head and looked up at Liam. "Wow."
Liam offered a hesitant smile as he wrapped an arm around Niall's waste and pressed a kiss to his cheek, briefly looking down at Chloe, who still seemed stunned before he asked, "Wow?"
"Here I was, thinking you'd be bricking it, nervous and pacing, but...wow." There was a slight smile creeping across Niall's face as he spoke, reassuring Liam a little that Niall wasn't entirely serious, allowing Liam to lean in and kiss him properly, both of them smiling a little when they pulled away. It was then that Chloe decided to speak, snapping out of whatever it was she'd been in, firstly to whine "Stoppp," puling a face at Liam and Niall, and then to ask, "Was that...Lou and Zayn?"
Liam just nodded, throwing a glance backwards to where Zayn could still be heard grumbling despite the closed door, shrugging a little as Chloe asked, "Why? What were they fighting about? Why's the shoe important?"
"It's not, Chlo." Brushing her hair out of her face, Niall pressed a kiss to the top of her heard as she opened her mouth as though she were about to ask more questions, silencing her for a moment.
Liam was eventually made to leave Chloe and Niall's side, after he'd shown them around backstage, introduced them to more people than Chloe could count and had carried Chloe part of the way, spinning her around by her ankles; being shepherded off to wardrobe and makeup or rehearsals, Niall wasn't sure which, multiple people had tracked Liam down, talking over one another before leading him away, giving Liam just enough time to shoot Niall and Chloe an apologetic look that they waved away as he left.
It gave Niall an opportunity to catch his breath, glancing around the backstage area of the O2 arena, palace he'd never thought he'd see, the surrealness of everything catching up to him for a moment and making him dizzy, the reality of Liam's life standing out to him more than ever until Chloe squeezed his hand, bringing him back down to earth as she asked him if they could find a toilet. Quickly.
Which they did, Chloe darting inside, leaving Niall to wait outside, one hand gripping onto the pass that permitted him to be there and ducking his head whenever anyone walked past. He was still stood there, waiting for Chloe, when a woman he vaguely seemed to recognise came up to him, smiling, not at all put off by the fact that he appeared to be stalking the ladies toilet.
Her smile seemed so genuine and infectious that Niall couldn't help but smile back as she introduced herself. "Hi love, I'm Jay. Lou-bear's mum. Don't tell him I called him that, he'd kill me, I'm sure. You must be Niall, we've all heard so much about you. We've all been waiting for you to make your way to our little area, but I guess no ones told you where that it is."
Shaking his head, Niall smiled again at her nickname for her son, sharing an understanding look with jay that was almost borderline conspiring as he said, "I won't breathe a word about that. It's cute, though. Lou-bear. I have nicknames like that for my daughter, luckily she's too young to be that way. And no, we've not been told about any room for...you...us all."
Jay smiled at that, tucking her hair behind her ear, any surprise at the fact that the vague details, more rumours than anything, she'd heard were actually true easily disguised as she gestured in the direction that she'd come from. "There's always a room, if it's a gig with family attending. Team One Direction. All of us. The families. That's where you fit in, with us. One of the group, though you should have been from the start. It's lovely to meet you, by the way."
Niall was about to reply but became momentarily distracted as Chloe emerged, her arrival letting Jay make a quiet exit, mouthing directions to where everyone else apparently would be and leaving an invitation for the two of them to join. Chloe slipped her hand into Niall's as they followed after Jay, at a loss as to what else to do, finding the room she'd mentioned only to enter into a similar scene of chaos they'd walked in on earlier.
A small army of people seemed to have made themselves at home in that one room, a few of whom Niall recognised, as did Chloe, who was thrilled to see Doris and Ernest again, and, listening to someone's conversation, Liam's parents were promised to arrive shortly. Jay noticed them and welcomed them in properly, introducing Niall to Harry's family, Chloe's grip on Niall's hand lessening as Gemma touched down and began talking to her, acting similar in manner to her brother.
Someone handed Niall a cup of tea and he managed to strike up a conversation with Jay, asking her if it was always this manic, at the boys' concerts.
"Not always this manic, no. And not all of us are usually here. We all only tend to arrive for the first shows, or the last, or the really big ones. When our support is needed the most, when they're the most nervous." Jay paused their chat for a second, scooping up one of the twins, the little boy Niall recognised from the day spent with Louis, Harry and Zayn at Liam's, the little boy hiding his face in Jay's shoulder and clutching at her, unwilling to let go.
Niall almost felt a twinge of something as he watched Jay and the little boy—Ernest—he thought, remembering what Chloe had been like at that age, brushing that feeling away and trying not to sound overly sceptical as he asked, "When they're the most nervous? They didn't seem very nervous earlier."
"You saw them fighting, right? That's how they deal. Their first ever tour, Zee almost pushed Louis down the steps of the first venue because Lou stole his hairspray. They'll get worse too, after soundcheck and wardrobe. Right until they actually perform, they'll be a mess." Cutting in, one of Zayn's sisters interrupted before Jay could answer, sharing a knowing look with the woman before she looked back at Niall, staring at him for a second before she nodded. "It's nice to meet you by the way, I'm Safaa. Your daughter's adorable, by the way. Should have met the two of you sooner."
Nodding, Niall raised his eyebrows a little, swallowing down his increasing annoyance at hearing people say that and instead glancing over to where Chloe was sat, playing with the necklace he thought he'd seen Gemma wearing, chatting to anyone who'd pay her the slightest bit of attention. That happened to be everyone, or nearly everyone in that room, by the look of it, Niall figured. When she wanted to be, Chloe could be charming, winning over a room full of strangers in mere moments. He was more than content to watch her at work, standing himself a short distance away from most of the people, smiling a little as Chloe seemed to persuade Trisha to let her wear the scarf wrapped around her neck, moving on to the group of teenagers all gathered together and ending up sat on the lap of one of them, holding still whilst another began plaiting her hair.
Eventually, the door opened again and one of the organisers appeared, warning that the boys' were finished with soundcheck and, once the support acts had taken to the stage in an hour or so, would have ninety minutes until they'd be on stage. That seemed to spur people into action, the ensuing movements disguising Karen and Geoff's arrival. They found Niall almost instantly, Karen giving him an awkward hug, murmuring apologies about not seeing him and Chloe again sooner. Chloe tore herself away from the pink haired girl she'd been talking to and threw herself at Karen, the only warning of her presence being the shout of 'Nana!' heard just before she arrived.
Karen seemed more thrilled than put out by Chloe's forwardness, hugging the seven-year-old back and smoothing back her hair before she let the little girl go, smiling a little as Geoff was treated to a similar hug. Everyone else moved around them, pushing past Niall and Karen as they made momentary small talk, mentioning Christmas and Chloe's impending birthday, neither of them talking about the progression in Liam and Niall's relationship, the hustle and bustle going on around them prompting their conversation to end and Niall to take Chloe away from Geoff, rescuing Liam's father from a discussion about Cinderella.
He and Chloe were once again found by Paddy, who led them over to where Liam was waiting, not in the big dressing room the boys all shared, but a smaller one of his own. Niall might have been joking earlier, but this time, Liam was pacing, breathing deeply and gripping onto the water bottle in his hand like he was afraid to let go.
Liam
He was briefly awoken when he felt the bed shift beneath him, way earlier than he was usually awake, and so he rolled over and went back to sleep.
He was woken for a second time when cold feet clambered over him, digging into his side and disturbing the duvet wrapped around him. He forced his eyes open to find Chloe's grinning face inches from his own, the seven-year-old bursting out laughing as Liam let out a groan. He managed to sit vaguely upright, leaning against the bed's headboard and yawing before he looked up to see Niall stood in the doorway, looking after Chloe with a fond look on his face, wearing one of Liam's t-shirts and carrying two mugs of coffee.
Niall shook his head as Chloe jumped over Liam and settled down in the spot next to him, accidentally elbowing Liam as she did so, waiting for her to be sat reasonably still before he handed Liam a hug, reaching down and kissing hi briefly before he turned to look at their daughter. "I believe, Chlo, I asked you to wake him nicely."
"It's fine, Ni." Yawning again, Liam gave Chloe a small smile, taking a sip of coffee and savouring it for a second before he looked up at Niall. "What time's it?"
"About seven-thirty. Chlo and I need to leave, s'why we woke you." Sitting by Liam's feet, Niall shrugged as Liam's raised an eyebrow, both of them looking over at Chloe who was wearing the previous days slightly grubby school uniform, complete with ominous green stains up the sleeves of her white shirt and crusty edges on the sleeves of her cardigan. Niall waited for Liam's slight frown to fade before he continued. "Chloe needs to get changed and ready for school and we both don't have clean clothes here. If we go now, there should just be enough time to catch the bus home and get back in time for our usual bus to be there on time. Chloe's already fed Loki, didn't you, Chlo?"
Chloe nodded enthusiastically at that, mentioning something about maybe accidentally over feeding Loki, resulting in the Husky deciding to lay down for half an hour, shifting and scrambling off of the bed as Liam got up, pulling on the t-shirt he'd worn yesterday, sporting green splatters, and a pair of jeans before he took a sip of coffee, releived he'd had the sense to change into a pair of boxers before he and Niall had gone to sleep the night before as he caught Niall's eye, smiling slightly and swallowing another mouthful of coffee. "I'll drive the two of you. That way you'll definitely make it on time and I can drop you off at work as well."
"I'm not going to work. My boss gave everyone working yesterday a few days off. He got temps in." Catching Chloe as she made to run past him but skidded on the flooring, Niall
when everything is out in the public and everyone knows, liam gets a new tattoo, 'love is love, no matter with who'.
"You are so fucked, mate. I have no idea why, but you are." Zayn had never been one to leave unnecessarily long messages, and Liam had never been less grateful for that. He was well aware of the look on Niall's face, the smile slowly melting off of his face as he watched Liam, the duvet pooling around his waist as he sat up next to Liam, watching him intently as he called Zayn back only to hang up and call his management, dropping his phone after a minute and swearing. "Fuck."
"Everything okay?" Without even looking at Liam's face, Niall figured he knew the answer to that question, biting back a sigh as Liam got out of bed and getting up with him, pulling a slight face as he realised just how early it was before he grabbed one of Liam's s-shirts and shot a weak smile his way, trying not to take it personally when Liam didn't return it.
"Uhh...no. I...don't know. Apparently there was a girl yesterday, took a picture of me and you...it- It could be an issue." Still staring down at his phone, Liam let out a shaky breath, absentmindedly picking a t-shirt up from the floor and pulling to over his head before he looked over at Niall, taking in the worried look on Niall's face before making a concerted effort to seem less stressed. "It'll be nothing. Probably over exaggerating."
Okay, so it might not be as bad as Zayn had made out, but it was still a problem. His PR team had gone into overdrive and pretty soon, any evidence of the photograph would be removed from social media, but it still wasn't great. Liam and Sophia were officially calling off the engagement just after new years, their break up explaining their absence from party's or pictures together over the festive period, and people putting two and two together about Niall was apparently the last thing anyone needed. Liam wasn't convinced that it was a massive issue, not really, but what did he know?
That's what Liam kept telling himself as he and Niall padded through to his living room, curling up on a sofa with mugs of coffee and sending anxious looks in the other's direction when they thought that they weren't looking. The tentative silence came to an abrupt end when Niall asked, "Is it my fault? That...you're dealing with this?"
"Why the fuck would it be your fault?" Niall's question caught Liam off guard and it took him a second to reply, frowning as Niall shrugged, saying, "You were out with me and Chlo...I thought...you weren't supposed to be out too much...I just thought."
"Why do you even have a swear jar?"
Still grumbling, Liam settled in next to Niall on the sofa, giving him an expectant look as Niall shook his head.
"Does it matter?"
"Yes."
"Liam..."
"Niall. I slipped up and swore once and Chloe took the contents of my wallet and deposited into the swear jar. I want to know why. You hardly swear, Chloe doesn't."
"Okay, okay. You know how I used to be...how much I used to swear. It was a habit I was still trying to cut out and we went home to Ireland for Christmas, one of the first few years when my parents were still trying, and as we're walking home from the park, Chloe, me, my mum and Greg, Chloe stumbles. She's only nearly two, only being talking for a few months and as she falls, I end up swearing and she's crying and she manages to say, "Daddy. Hurts." before she stats crying again. Later, in front of my dad, he asks her what happened and the first things she says is 'shit. I fell. it hurts." you can imagine how well that went down with my parents. Greg was practically shitting himself, but they were convinced it showed just how much of a fuck up I was and how I'd fuck up Chloe."
Liam
There was someone in his bed.
There was someone in his bed and he didn't need to open his eyes to know it was Niall.
There was someone in his bed and Liam couldn't help but smile as Niall nestled closer into his side, puling the blankets away and grumbling before hiding his face in Liam's shoulder.
Niall was in his bed and that alone was enough to make him smile.
He was still smiling when he woke up the next morning, smiling that lovely, still sleepy smile that most people could only imagine, still smiling as he tried to shift and sit up only to be held in place by the person who was using him as a pillow. He didn't mind that, though.
Looking down at Niall, who was currently using Liam's chest as a pillow and had taken over half the blankets, Liam's smile grew wider and he tried not to move, comfortable enough to lay there for a while longer, with Niall's laying next to, or on top of, him, enjoying the rare feeling of not being alone. His moment was eventually ruined by Loki barking, the dog demanding that his presence be known and his breakfast be served and that he was going to need to be walked.
Loki's barking then woke Niall, who proceeded to hide his face in Liam's chest for a moment, yawning before he moved so he was sitting up next to Liam, staring at him bleary eyed and in need of coffee as he said, "There's a dog barking."
"There is." Still smiling, Liam couldn't help but stare at Niall, taking in the spectacular mess that was his hair and how...how unfairly captivating he seemed to be, Loki's continued barking and scrabbling at the bedroom door pulling him away from his thoughts. Pulling the sheets up further, Niall couldn't help but blush under Liam's gaze, the stiffness in his back and the aching he felt telling him that there were exactly no secrets between him and Liam, not anymore, the barking of Loki giving him something else to focus on instead of the memories of the night before. "Your dog's barking."
"He is." Taking the hint, Liam tore himself away from Niall and got out of bed, pulling on a t-shirt and pair of underwear before opening the door and catching Loki before he could hurl himself at the bed, the husky barking emphatically and wagging his tail and circling Liam's legs as he led the dog back through to his basket, getting him to sit and wait as Liam filled the dog bowl, letting Loki have at it before he turned to his coffee maker, turning it on and leaning against the worktop as he waited before making himself a drink and taking a coffee back through for Niall.
Gratefully taking the drink from Liam, Niall gave him a tentative smile, shifting over to allow Liam more space before looking up at him, in danger of copying and falling into the repetitive 'so'-ing as he struggled to find something to say, everything he'd wanted to say to Liam forgotten as they sat together. Taking a sip of coffee, Niall found himself moving closer to Liam, drumming his fingers against the mug as a distraction as he said, "Last night was...last night, Li..."
Trying not to automatically suggest the words Niall was looking for were along the lines of 'mistake' or 'too soon', Liam swallowed a mouthful of his own coffee, giving Niall a small smile back and almost spilling his drink as Niall managed to find a way to get across what he wanted to say.
Reaching up and kissing Liam, Niall
Liam was having a weird morning. In the middle of the latest batch of emails and phonically regarding the latest tour arrangements and the updates on the breakdown of his and Sophia's engagement, he'd gotten an email from Myspace, alerting to a message he'd received from someone he'd almost forgotten about.
Months after h'ed originally messaged Niall's brother, a stupid, rambling message Greg had never replied to, he'd finally gotten a message back.
And not only that, but a message informing him that if he 'screwed with Niall in any way again' then Greg would 'end him' but violent threats aside, Niall's brother was 'happy for them. sort of'.
Liam was having a weird morning.
the shop floods one night and Niall is called in to help evacuate the stock and Liam is left with Chloe.
38 - morning after - mention what they remember of their first first time. mention press and liam's exposure and then maybe tour and they spend the day with Chloe.
"What do you mean, you're not coming back? Liam- the show ended, surely you can come back. I get that your parents invited you home but- Okay. Okay. Yeah, I'll talk to you soon. Love you t-"
Setting the phone down after Liam hung up, Niall cursed him out, glaring and pacing his room for a moment before crossing back to his bed and flopping face down against his cushions, careful to avoid looking in the mirror.
**********
"That sounds great, Li. They sound really cool. I know. I can't believe all this either... Any chance you're heading back this way soon? I get it, yeah, you're super busy. It's okay. I love you."
Hanging up, Niall pulled on his jumper, tugging it down over his stomach and sighing before turning back to the picture in front of him, running his thumb over the fuzzy little image, reaching up and wiping his face as his vision started to mist.
**********
"Li. Hey.... I get it, you're busy. No, I suppose this can wait. That sounds amazing, I'm thrilled for you. Your aunt asked me to send over the things you left over here, is it okay if I mail them directly to you? Great. Yeah, I love y-"
Picking up the latest onesie he'd bought, Niall ran his fingers across the material, looking down at his stomach before sighing, throwing his phone down and calling Liam every name under the sun before he calmed down enough to breathe, running a hand over his face as he turned to the bags of baby clothes he'd yet to put away.
*********
Rocking the crib with one hand, Niall reached down and adjusted his daughters onesie, tucking her blanket around her before pressing a kiss to her forehead, turning back to looking out of the kitchen window, the only window in his flat that actually had a view.
Picking his phone up from where he'd left it, Niall scrolled threw his contacts list, stopping once he reached Liam's number and hesitating before he pressed delete.
Over the years, whenever he had a quiet moment, Niall would fantasise about a possible date he would go on at some unknown, unlikely point in the future, having thought of every scenario from the date he and Liam should've gone on aged 15 but didn't - an evening at the cinema followed by dinner at their favourite local cafe and a walk back to one of their respective homes - to a date at a park with another single parent, the date involving the careful introduction of Chloe and eventually resulting in them figuring out how to step parent together.
Out of all the scenarios he'd envisaged, he never thought it would include dinner at a fancy restaurant, paparazzi and cameras and the awkward introduction of the boy he hadn't seen since they were sixteen to their daughter.
But, pulling on the only smart jacket he owned, Niall took a deep breath before opening the door to his flat, a small smile spreading across his face as he saw Liam waiting for him.
At some point Chloe goes home from school crying (after people know)
"You left, Liam. You left and never came back."
"You can't hold that over me. I didn't know. You didn't tell me..."
"How was I supposed to tell you? You weren't there and you didn't come back."
"That isn't a reason to keep me from seeing her. I missed so much."
"She doesn't need another parent. She has me and we're perfectly okay on our own. You don't need us, either."
"Niall. I have a right to see her."
"You don't actually. You might be her biological father but you aren't on her birth certificate. You don't have that right."
"Then you leave me no choice. I'll contact my lawyer."
"The press would love that, Liam Payne's custody battle with ex boyfriend over secret daughter. What would your fiancé think?"
"Niall..."
"Liam."
"Niall, please... I just want a chance."
"You want a chance?"
"Yeah, I do. Not just with her, either."
"Not just with her?"
"Not just with Chloe. I want a chance, Niall. Please."
"Not yet. You can. You can have a chance. Just... Only if Chloe wants to meet you."
"What about you?"
Scoffing at that, Niall shook his head, far too tired for the conversation at hand. "What about me?"
"I don't just want a chance with Chloe. I went so far to get in touch with you because I was curious about you, wanted to see you, and I... I'm still feel like that."
"How presumptive of you. It's been a hell of a long time, Liam. What if there was someone else?"
"There isn't. I know you, Niall. There isn't anybody else."
"You knew me. And how do you know that there isn't anyone?"
"Because you don't smile like you used to. I can't say anything for how you are around Chloe, but I can see it."
"Bullshit."
"No. It's not. When you smile, it's like it's out of habit. It doesn't quite reach your eyes, not the way your whole face would light up when you were happy." Shrugging as Niall stared at him in disbelief, Liam looked down at the drink in front of him, not finishing the sentence still at the front of his mind, about how Niall's smile used to make him smile involuntarily how he used to have the best smile Liam had ever seen and how, no matter how many times he'd seen Niall smile recently, albeit only a handful of times, admittedly, but Liam couldn't help but notice how it wasn't the same.
He shouldn't expect it to be, not after so long, but still.
Can assume that Liam went home late july after bootcamp before moving into shared accommodation with the other contestants - Niall finds out mid-late september just before the live shows, doesn't get the chance/doesn't know how to tell Liam
Chloe dislikes him at first.
Liam rents Niall and Chloe a nicer flat closer to his
(quite a while after they know each otherLiam comes out and tells bout Niall and chloe- Niall and Chloe are in Mullingar to avoid publicity, Liam flies out and whilst Chloe (she still dislikes Liam) is at Maura's - Niall and his family don't quite see eye to eye about things but love their granddaughter - Niall and Liam talk, Niall tell's him it was brave.
"That was brave of you."
Still clutching his glass of water, Liam nodded, his face slowly regaining some colour as opposed to the ghostly shade of white he was when he arrived.
Reaching out and squeezing Liam's hand, Niall gave him reassuring smile, his eyes wide and focused on Liam as he said "Really, Liam. You didn't have to. But you did. And I am so, so proud of you."
"I can't believe I did it."
"It's one thing being out at school, Li. You just came out to the entire world." Resting his head against Liam's shoulder, Niall linked their fingers together, looking up at Liam as he didn't react. "Liam?"
"I'm actually out..." Running a hand over his face, Liam gave Niall a weak smile, wrapping an arm around him
At some point Chloe spends the night at Liam's without Niall - he's working a night shift at the music store, taking in the over night deliveries and running a music class - she still doesn't like him. In the morning he gives her coco pops, she doesn't like them.
"They taste funny."
Trying a handful, Liam frowned at the seven year old, raising an eyebrow at her as he said "They taste fine."
"They don't taste like normal coco pops. These are weird."
"Chloe, they taste like normal ones. They come in the same box."
"They don't! Daddy buys the ones in the plain white box from the shop. These ones are yellow and taste funny." Pushing her bowl away, Chloe glared at Liam, almost as if she was challenging him, prompting him to nod, frowning slightly as he took the bowl away from her.
His frown deepening as Chloe refused to eat anything else for her breakfast, Liam shook his head as she ran off, shutting herself into the guest room she'd slept in, yelling for him to go away when he came to check on her.
Chloe's sick at school one day and Liam is the one to pick her up - they use the schools back exit - Chloe at this point doesn't like Liam but the experience warms her to him.
Chloe and Theo are the same age - Chloe's three months older. Chloe birthday is mid to late April
At some point chloe spends time wth Liam (she doesn't quite hate him but) Niall gets slightly jealous (chloe has a braid in her hair done by Lou teasedale or someone and Niall is uncomfortable, but chloe is not and takes her hair out and settles on the sofa to watch films with Niall.
"I could come out. Like, to the fans."
Looking up, Niall stopped carding his fingers through Chloe's hair, the eight year old making an incoherent noise but remaining asleep, frowning slightly as he said, "You don't have to. I'd never ask you to, Li."
"I know. But... I feel like it's time. Part of me is done with the lies and I want to be able to actually be with you in public... But, but sometimes... I just want it to be you and I forever." Falling back on a song lyric he'd once heard Louis and Harry say to each other, in the days when they weren't allowed to be who they were, Liam swallowed down his feeling of apprehension and met Niall's gaze, the use of the song lyric lost on him but his meaning still being heard loud and clear.
"When were you going to tell me about her?"
"When were you going to tell me about your fiancé?" Knowing his response wasn't the wisest thing to say and that he was being more than childish, Niall struggled to swallow down the feeling of satisfaction he got from hearing Liam fall silent, unable to answer him.
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Thoughts?