Count On Me | Niam

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Niall

"Good day, poppet? You've been gone for ages."

Closing the door after thanking Chloe's friend Toby's mum, Niall gave Chloe another hug, ruffling her hair as he let her go, sighing as she kicked her boots off and tidying up after her as she ran into her bedroom, dropping her jacket onto her bed and pulling on her slippers before reappearing in the narrow hallway. "The best. We went to the petting zoo and they let you play with goats, daddy. It was amazing."

Looking down at Liam's shoes, neatly left by the door, Niall glanced back in the direction of the other room, deciding to act like an adult as he heard Liam cough awkwardly. Giving Chloe another hug, Niall lifted her a few feet of the sound and half-heartedly span her round before he set her down. "I can tell...you smell like furry animal, Chlo. I think it's bath time for you before dinner. And then, since Liam's here, maybe we can watch a DVD or something."

"Liam's here? Why? Did he bring Loki?" Playing with the bow on her t-shirt, Chloe tried to look past Niall in the direction of the living room, giving Liam an awkward smile as she spotted him before looking back up at Niall. Following Chloe's gaze, Niall gave Liam a brief smile, gesturing for him to give him a minute before he turned back to Chloe. "He's here 'cause we have some things we need to talk about, Chloe. And no, he didn't bring Loki. You can talk to him in a bit, poppet. You need a bath, come on."

"No." Pouting, Chloe squirmed away from Niall, making a break for her bedroom and squealing in protest as he caught her and pointed her in the direction of the bathroom. "Yep. Bath time. It's such a chore, I know, but you smell like goat Chlo."

"No..." Pouting up at Niall with the look she normally saved for dinner times involving broccoli, Chloe brushed her hair out of her face, hovering by the doorway and pulling a face as Niall said, "Yes, Chlo. Bath, then we can watch a DVD and have dinner. It's not negotiable. Liam will still be here when you're done."

Sighing at Niall, Chloe huffed before doing as she was told, looking over to where Liam was sat and giving him a pleading stare, sighing again as he simply shrugged, leaving her to follow Niall into the bathroom and let him start running the bath for her. Leaving Chloe to it, Niall gave Liam another smile, gesturing for him to turn the tv on as he sat down next to him. The earlier moment of ease between them having passed, they fell silent for a few minutes, pretending to watch crappy TV that neither of them had any interest in as they tried to think of something to say.

Finally being the one to break the silence, Niall kept his gaze on the TV screen as he thought back to their earlier conversation, Liam's earlier confession prompting him to ask, "Why were you even with Sophia? I mean, I get that it wasn't real or whatever, but I don't understand why you're...you're supposed to be together. You keep saying stuff that you shouldn't, stuff you used to say to me years ago, but...I mean, you're engaged. Real or not, you kind of are. There was Danielle and, and this can't be about us..."

"I know." Following Niall's example, Liam kept his gaze on the TV, ignoring whichever soap opera was on screen as he struggled to think of a way to phrase what he needed to say. "Okay. Technically, as far as the public and the fans know, we're engaged and have been together for years. I hardly speak to her, apart from whatever our contract mandates and some social media crap we have to post every so often. We...I meant it when I said you didn't have to worry about her. I decided a few days ago, after you first let me see Chloe, that I was going to end it."

Running a hand over his face, Liam didn't once look away from the TV, ignoring the waver in his voice as he forced himself to continue. "After we won X-Factor, way back then, Ni, we got signed and you knew all that, but our management, they weren't very accepting if you were anything but straight. We were a brand and they had to sell us, and they were convinced no one would want One Direction if we were anything but the boy next door. Haz and Lou got the worst of it, and after I watched them break those two, they started on me. They started on me before Haz, getting me to take Dani home for the holidays but they never actually said anything and I never really said anything about you until it was too late. They didn't care that I loved you, they just wanted to make money and so I agreed, they'd made Harry and Louis after all, and I was so much easier to get to. After Danielle, I was apparently 'too obvious' so Sophia was brought into the picture. I had a contract that meant I had to go along with whatever."