he don't like the lights ♡ ziall/zustin/jiall au [COMPLETE]

nine

niall loves having both of his boyfriends home. the past few months have been absolutely magical, and niall doesn't want them to end. unfortunately, he knows that soon both justin and zayn will be off touring again, and he'll be at home, by himself. the thought makes him more miserable than he's willing to mention, and he doesn't bring it up to them mostly because he doesn't want to think about it.

"what are you thinking so hard about?" zayn's question is gentle, and presses a kiss on niall's forehead before laying on the couch, his head in niall's lap.

"nothing," niall answers quietly, always the bad liar. running his fingers through zayn's hair makes him feel better, though, somehow. "how is the new music you're recording coming along?"

zayn grins. "really, really good! i can't wait for you and justin to hear it. i think you'll be proud."

"you always make us proud," niall murmurs gently, and he means it, but he's also scared he's going to cry, and he really doesn't want to do that. so he chokes it back, tries to force it down, though it's not easy by any means.

"aw, sweetheart." zayn takes one of niall's hands and kisses the palm. "i love you so much."

niall's entire chest is butterflies. "i love you, too." zayn starts to hum, head still in niall's lap, and niall starts to play with his hair again. he likes that their relationship is so close they don't even need words -- they can enjoy the other person's presence in silence. niall can still feel the urge to cry, sore and achy in his throat, but it's manageable now.

justin gets home not too much later. "sup, nerds!" he bellows as he makes his way into the house. that makes niall laugh, like it always does, and justin is smiling into the kiss as he greets him. "hi, baby."

"hi," niall blushes, which makes justin's grin widen. justin kisses zayn, too, and drops himself on the couch next to niall.

"the stuff we're recording is incredible," justin tells niall.

"he knows. i was telling him," zayn nods. "i can't wait to hear your stuff!"

"i know. i can't wait to hear yours, either. i can't believe it's only a few weeks until we're back on the road!"

niall doesn't mean to, but a tiny whimper leaves him at justin's words. both of his boyfriends look over at him, and he buries his face in his hands before he starts to cry. he wishes there was a way he could laugh this off, or something, but it's too late, and a soft sob escapes him.

"oh, no," he hears zayn say, and then he feels justin pull him into his lap.

"sweetheart, what's the matter?" justin's voice is very soft, and it only makes niall cry harder.

"baby..." zayn's voice sounds so sad, and justin's so worried, and it just makes niall even more upset. no matter what, if he tells them the truth, they'll inevitably be upset, too, and everything is a mess. he feels terrible.

"baby, you've got to talk to us." justin's voice sounds frantic, and he can feel zayn trying to pull his hands so he can un-bury his face.

"please," zayn begs, and it's that broken sound that has niall coming out of hiding, wet-cheeked and sniffling.

"hi, baby boy," justin says softly, giving niall a small smile. that fond expression on his face makes niall want to cry again. he's going to miss them so much he can feel it in his throat. "can you talk to us?"

"yeah, what's going on?"

"i -- i --" niall is at a loss for words for a second, and all he can manage to say is the simple truth. "i'm just going to miss you both so much."

"oh," zayn and justin exhale in unison.

"and i know -- i know it's not the same," niall babbles out, just desperate to have them stop staring at him with so much worry in their eyes. "because you guys will have each other, and i'm happy about that! really! i just --" he pauses, "you will be wherever you are and together, and i will be here. and alone. and i think that just makes me sad."

"we were going to ask you..." zayn begins, and he looks over at justin.

"we want you to come with us," justin finishes, "if you wanted to. we could come out, even. all three of us. we could stay together. being without you would be very hard for us, too, i think."

niall pales a little. "i...are you serious?"

"of course we're serious," zayn laughs.

"you...you want me to come?"

"of course we do," justin replies. "we'd probably be worrying about you non-stop if you were here by yourself, no offense. we want you with us now. why wouldn't we want you with us then?"

"okay," niall beams shyly, and the next few months has seamlessly fallen into place.

- - -

i promise the next chap will have angst!! i just wanted to set it up :)