Count On Me | Niam

Chapter Fifty-Three

Niall/Liam

"Ni? You ready?"

Rolling his eyes as Liam asked him that for the fourth time that morning, Niall stopped brushing his teeth long enough to shout, "Nope. Give me five minutes."

He then went back to brushing his teeth, turning the taps on to drown out anything else Liam might've tried to say, only turning the taps off when Liam joined him in the bathroom. Niall chose not to speak, gesturing to the toothbrush in his mouth as his excuse, meaning Liam was in charge of any possible conversation. He chose to wait a moment, watching Niall with a nervous look on his face and debating over what to say before he finally, finally spoke. "You don't have to do this, you know."

That wasn't really what Niall had been hoping he'd say. Well, it was, but it wasn't. Hearing Liam give him an out was great, but it also meant there was no way in hell he could take it. Niall spat into the sink, rinsing his toothbrush and deliberating for a second before he looked up. "Yeah, I do. And I want to."

"Are you sure?" Liam had asked him that question no more than seven times since Niall had agreed to a meeting with his PR team, and, even though Niall's answer hadn't changed, he couldn't help but ask again.

"I'm sure. Liam, it's a meeting. With people who only want what's best for you. How bad could it be?" Rolling his eyes, Niall leaned back against the sink, briefly wondering if it would be worth changing his mind and saying he wouldn't go, simply to see how Liam would react, a faint smile flickering across his face as Liam shook his head. "They're not people. They're hungry wolves who want what's best for my career. Not what's best for me."

"Overly dramatic, much?" Niall snorted, the smile on his face prompting Liam to smile in return, shaking his head at himself and holding his hand out to Niall, glancing down at his watch before asking one last time. "You sure?"

Niall simply nodded, taking Liam's hand and leading him towards the front door as he said, "Yeah. Let's do this."

*******

Confession: Niall wasn't so sure he wanted to do this. He didn't want to walk into that boardroom and face the assembled group of people, people Liam had likened to animals, and let them discuss what was best for him. He'd been nervous enough, but standing there, outside that meeting, waiting for them to call him in, he wanted to cut and run.

Working an extra shift had never seemed more appealing. Facing Chloe's teacher, who was now looking at him like he was some shitty kind of father, one who just let his daughter be injured, had never looked better. (He'd dropped Chloe off at school that morning before heading back to Liam's to have breakfast with him, and Chloe's teacher, the greying old battle-axe that his daughter professed to hate, had raised an eyebrow at him, patting Chloe's shoulder before sending her into the classroom and promising to 'keep a close eye on her injuries in the future'. Which was just great).

Hell, Niall was pretty sure he'd rather have root canal, or go into labour again than walk into that room. Liam, though, seemed to have picked up on how he felt, slipping his hand into Niall's as they waited and giving him a hesitant smile, unable to find the words to ask if Niall still wanted to go through with the meeting.

Eventually, they were called in, seating themselves around the opposite side of the table to the members of Liam's team, only one of whom bothered to introduce themselves, holding their hand out to Niall before muttering their name, 'Meg. Meg Masters.' The others simply nodded, giving Liam looks that could have been smiles but far more closely resembled sneers or grimaces before they shuffled papers, a tired looking guy in his mid-thirties giving Niall a once over before he began to speak. "Liam, Mr Horan, it's nice of you to come in."