Count On Me | Niam

Chapter Fifty-Nine

Niall/Liam

"What if I don't?"

Liam's question came out sounding helpless, a plaintive cry that Niall didn't quite know how to answer. He managed to find an answer regardless, saying things he hoped he meant, hoped would make everything seem slightly more okay. "You will, you'll manage. You've managed before, you can do it again. You'll have the boys, you'll only be a phone call away, you'll be doing what you love, Li. You'll manage."

"Before I didn't have you." They were the kind of words Liam wasn't supposed to be saying, words that Niall almost wished he wouldn't say, and made Niall want to say something, anything, to make it all better, to wipe the doubt from Liam's voice. And so he did. "We'll fly out. Come and see you. Whenever we can. Flights will be tricky, but we'll do it. Fuck it."

"Fuck it. That's...thank you. Fuck..." Liam kissed Niall, his whole face lighting up as Niall nodded, kissing Liam back and repeating himself. "Fuck it."

Kissing Niall again, softly, Liam couldn't help but smile a little, pressing closer to Niall and revelling in him, the smile on his face softening into a look that simultaneously made Niall's insides melt and toes curl, letting his fingers trace over the moles littering Niall's neck and shoulders before he mumbled, "You...you're incredible. I can do this, if I get to see you more. We can manage, right?"

"Right." Niall nodded breathlessly, holding back a moan as Liam's hands wandered further, both of them losing track of themselves for a while, ending up curled around each other, one of Liam's arms thrown over Niall, holding him closer.

******

The two of them were woken much too soon after by the barking of an overly excited Loki and the giggling of a seven-year-old, the door slowly being pushed open by Loki before Chloe ran through, waking them up by jumping onto the bed, narrowly missing kneeing Liam in the stomach as she crawled up the bed and sat in between them.

Liam groaned as he opened his eyes to see Chloe sitting there, a smile stretching onto his face nonetheless as he reached out and ruffled her already messy hair. Niall hid his face in his pillow, shifting away from Liam and pulling the duvet closer around him, only looking up when he was spoken to by name. "Ni?"

"No. Yes. No." Resisting the urge to hide his face back in the pillow, Niall pushed his hair back, stifling a yawn and wincing before he asked, "What?"

Reaching dow to the floor and grabbing the first t-shirt he reached, Liam pulled it on, shrugging at Chloe and giving her a hopeful look as he said, "Chloe wants to know if we can have pancakes for breakfast. What do you say?"

"Yes. But only if you don't go anywhere near them. Pancakes shouldn't be crunchy, Li." Niall yawned again, hiding his face back in his pillow, ignoring Chloe's whines and crawling back under the duvet before mumbling, "I'll be out in a minute. You guys could always get the stuff out, yeah? Chlo, you make sure Liam doesn't cook anything."

Niall was still hidden under the covers as Liam shepherded Chloe out of the room, taking a while before he emerged from under the covers, pulling on one Liam's t-shirts and stretching in an attempt to work out some of the kinks in his back, running a hand through his hair before he padded out to the kitchen, gratefully accepting the mug of coffee Liam handed to him before he pressed a kiss to the top of Chloe's head and surveyed the pile of ingredients Liam and Chloe had dumped onto the worktop. "Chocolate chip pancakes? Really?"

"They're nicer, Daddy. Papa agrees, right?" Chloe took a sip of her apple juice, swinging her feet and resting against the breakfast bar, protesting a little as Liam spun her stool around. "When did I agree?"