Falling into You

Chapter 12: The chaos of working together

The lads were all gathered around the kitchen table, each of them nursing a cup of tea—or in Harry's case, half a cup of sugar with a dash of tea to make it more "palatable." The air was thick with the usual morning madness—voices clashing, the sound of toast popping from the toaster, and the occasional curse from one of them when they couldn't find their socks.

"Where's my phone charger?" Louis snapped, holding up a tangle of wires that didn't belong to him. "If anyone touches my stuff again, I'll have to start tagging each item with a bloody name."

"Louis, you're holding Zayn's charger," Niall muttered, only half paying attention as he tried to find his own.

"Right," Louis replied, unfazed. "My bad. But seriously, Zayn, is your charger alive, or are we all just pretending it works?"

"I'm starting to think it's a metaphor for our lives," Zayn said dryly, sipping his tea like he was already done with the chaos.

"Alright, I'm out of here," Niall grumbled, grabbing his bag and heading for the door. He didn't have time for this nonsense.

"Where you off to, Niall?" Liam's voice stopped him mid-step, and Niall cursed silently, pretending to not have heard the question.

"Just... you know, getting to the studio early to warm up."

Liam raised an eyebrow but said nothing, giving Niall a strange look before shrugging it off.

Of course, Niall didn't really want to be alone. What he really wanted was to not be constantly thinking about Liam—how the hell could he get the boy's handsome face out of his mind?

The man had an aura about him that was damn near impossible to ignore. And Niall was pretty sure Liam knew it. The guy was effortlessly gorgeous, and that little dimple of his could make anyone lose their train of thought. And those damn brown eyes. Niall had caught him staring a few times, and every time, he had to look away quickly because it felt like he was doing something wrong.

But the chaos of the morning kept Niall busy. He got his stuff together, hoping to clear his head before heading to the studio. By the time he grabbed his jacket and headed toward the bathroom, though, there was Liam, looking all casual with that stupid, sexy smile on his face.

"Need a shower?" Niall asked, trying to sound nonchalant as he walked in.

"Yeah, mate," Liam replied. "Let's get it over with. I'm dying here."

Of course, there were only two bathrooms, so they had to share, like always. Niall tried to ignore the fact that he was standing way too close to Liam in the cramped space.

The entire situation was a mix of chaotic and intimate. With a loud sigh, Niall stripped down, trying not to notice how Liam had done the same, and stepped into the shower. The two of them tried not to make eye contact too much—though that was impossible with the way the water made Liam's skin glisten.

"So, how's the whole not thinking about me thing going?" Liam asked, smirking as he leaned against the shower wall, acting like it was no big deal that they were practically in each other's personal space.

"I'm not thinking about you," Niall muttered, though it was a lie. He tried to keep his thoughts about Liam from wandering, but it wasn't working.

"Sure, mate. Whatever helps you sleep at night." Liam's grin only made things worse.

The whole situation was starting to feel like a damn bad dream. Every moment, it felt like his mind was slipping further into territory it shouldn't be in, and the worst part was that Liam seemed completely unaware—or maybe he wasn't unaware at all. Niall couldn't decide.