Count On Me | Niam

Chapter Fifty-Four

Liam

"Liam? Are you ready?"

Forcing his eyes open as one of the interns gently shook him awake, Liam let out a sound that could possibly have been a yes, but sounded more like an incomprehensible groan, ignoring Louis as he mimicked him and sitting upright, struggling for a minute to remember where he was.

The hustle and bustle going on around him helped him to remember, and the mug of tea Louis handed to him, made in one of the promotional mugs they were always given on morning talk shows reminded him that he was five minutes away from being live on Good Morning Britain. He wasn't supposed to have fallen asleep, but they'd been there since four, going through questions Liam was allowed to be asked and to answer so it wasn't that unusual he'd ended up falling asleep in the lull between wardrobe and going on.

He headed over to join Zayn and Harry, grimacing a little as the make-up artist pulled him to one side and applied make up to the faint mark along his collar bone, pulling at his shirt collar until another intern came along and attached his microphone before allowing him to sit with the rest of his band mates on the sofa, all of them dropping into their usual order without needing to coordinate themselves. It was habit, after so many years, for them all to sit in a certain order, no matter which sofa it was or which talk show.

Liam ended up sitting closest to where the host would be, with Louis sat next to him, then Harry and Zayn. Someone took his mug of tea away from him, and then he was on autopilot, greeting the host with a grin and an awkward, sat down handshake before they were made to listen to the usual spiel. This time, the person interviewing them was a woman, chatty and far too wide awake for this time in the morning, Susannah something or other.

She seemed to spend the first five minutes flirting with Harry, though everyone knew already that that would get you nowhere. Louis couldn't help but smirk all the way through that, something Liam would originally have given him shit for but, over the years, he'd gotten to know enough of Louis' frustration to let it slide. Zayn didn't, though, and reached around to elbow Louis not so subtly when Harry began to smirk too.

She eventually got around to asking them questions; asking Zayn first about his art and any possible new solo material before turning to the rest of them; asking the same questions. Louis answered with a laugh and shake of his head; letting Harry bring up their joint projects. "Lou and I...after tour, so not for a while, we're releasing an EP, of just the two of us. It's titled that, I think. At the moment, anyway."

"You and...Lou. That sounds fascinating. I'm sure your fans will love it." Susannah's smile faded a little then and she gave an almost imperceptible shake of her head when Louis opened his mouth to speak. That didn't stop him, though, and Louis gave Harry a grin as he said, "It's going to be great; working together."

It was eventually Liam's turn, and he gave a shrug, smiling a little. "Apart from tour and whatever me and the boys put forward next, not much. I've been busy, with other things, other people, you know?"

That seemed to be all the prompting Susannah needed to get onto the topic she'd been especially briefed to ask Liam about, turning so she was facing him with a wolffish smile on her face, adjusting the hem of her skirt as she asked, "I'm sure you have been. You've had a very busy Christmas, haven't you? We were all so sorry to hear about you and Sophia. And the timing...ouch."

Shrugging a little, as if to say 'what can you do?', Liam sat up straighter, remembering to look suitably upset for a moment before he answered. "It was tough, yeah. But, after so many years together, you just know if something's not working anymore. We're both better off for this, though."

"Rumour has it you're much better off." Susannah gave Liam a knowing smile, and Liam forced himself to smile along with her, leaning into Louis' side, and relaxing slightly, not necessarily for his sake but for Niall's, given the fact that Niall had promised to find the time to watch the interview if he got the chance. And it wasn't like that wasn't true.