Count On Me | Niam

Chapter Ten

Niall

Niall had had two days to spend wondering why he'd given someone who was practically a stranger his phone number. Two days that he'd spent half hoping for the phone to call and half begging it not to. Niall had spent two days making sure Chloe never caught onto the one sided staring contest he was having with the five year old Nokia, glaring at the phone whilst he was working and trying to put it out of his mind when Chloe wanted to curl up on the sofa and watch a film on their new TV.

So when his phone rang, half way through his weekly struggle to persuade Chloe that Sunday evening's were not just for TV and that her remaining spellings and school work needed doing also, Niall had to force himself to hit the answer button, making sure Chloe was out of earshot before he picked up the phone, remaining silent for most of the call, finding himself arranging to meet for coffee the next day before he'd realised what he was actually agreeing to.

The following morning, after calling his boss and managing to arrange to use one of his rare holiday days, Niall went through his and Chloe's typical morning routine on autopilot, ignoring Chloe's questions as to why he wasn't going to work and instead allowing her to have chocolate spread on her toast as a treat before the two of them left earlier than they normally would, Chloe using the extra time to explain to Niall why Pokémon cards were no longer cool at school whilst Niall tried to figure out which bus he'd have take to get into the centre of London in time to meet Liam.

Tugging on Niall's hand as they waited for the bus, Chloe had grown tired of Niall's occasion hums in response to her, her slight frown turning into a full on pout as she continued to get only half-responses. "Daddy. You're not listening."

"I am, Chloe. You were saying that Pokémon's no longer cool because Stacy tore up Alex's cards and he cried." Noticing the state of Chloe's hair as he looked down at her, Niall shook his head, sighing as he pulled the spare hair bobble he kept from his jeans pocket and began to tie her hair up, Chloe wincing as Niall pulled slightly too hard, prompting him to apologise in an attempt to stop her from pouting.

Not waiting for Niall to pay for her ticket, Chloe ran onto the bus as soon as it pulled up, running up to the upper level of the bus and jumping onto the seats at the front, ignoring the disapproving look on Niall's face once he caught up to her, handing over her school bag as he dropped onto the seat next to her. "Chlo. How many times? You cannot run off. We've been through this before."

"Sorry." Shrugging as she said it, the seven year old caught sight of the frown on Niall's face and slumped back into her seat, pulling her bag onto the seat next to her before giving Niall one of her most angelic smiles, his quiet sigh and the small smile prompting her to straighten up, believing she was off the hook. Waiting for Niall to as the bus pulled into their stop, Chloe slipped her hand into his as they made to cross the road, both of them ignoring the people running across whenever there was a brief gap in traffic and waiting for the traffic lights, Chloe tugging her hand out of Niall's as they reached the playground.

Following Chloe into her classroom, Niall waited for her to join the few of her classmates who were already seated at various desks before he hung her school bag up on her peg in the cloakroom along with her coat, turning to leave only to come face to face with the greying battle-axe who seemed to watch out for him specifically, Niall receiving a pleased nod at their punctuality in place of the usual glare he associated with his daughter's teacher. After making forced conversation with the parents of a couple of children in Chloe's class and making plans to help contribute to the children's school halloween party, Niall headed back to the bus stop as he usually would, skipping the bus he usually caught for one further into the centre of London, checking his phone every now and then to check that he wasn't late.