Count On Me | Niam

Chapter Sixty-Two

Niall

"Chlo, come on. You need to get up, poppet. You've got school."

Sighing as Chloe shook her head, snuggling further into her duvet, Niall shook his head, internally debating whether or not to force her out of bed for a moment before he changed tack and joined her, squishing himself under her covers and wincing as Chloe elbowed him, turning so she was cuddled into Niall's side. Niall ran his fingers through her hair, pressing a kiss to the top of Chloe's head before he tried again. "Come on, poppet. School. Let's get you ready, yeah?"

Chloe remained adamant, retreating further back into her covers and putting her hands over her ears when Niall persisted. Eventually, he gave up, and got up from her bed, leaving Chloe laid there, her face hidden in her pillow. He was on the verge of doing what his mum had used to do when he wouldn't get up for school; pull her duvet back and force her out of bed that way, but he couldn't quite bring himself to upset her like that. After he'd gotten back the previous afternoon, the seven-year-old had spent her evening unusually quiet, remaining in her spot on the sofa and only moving when Niall carried her to bed, the seven-year-old acting so unlike her usual self that Niall wasn't quite sure of how to handle it.

One part of him, the sensible, PTA facing, teacher fearing part of him, knew that Chloe should really go to school, start dealing with Liam's absence as they meant to go on, but another part of Niall, the part that would have like nothing more than to crawl back into Liam's bed, preferably with Liam, understood and won out. Niall ended up letting Chloe be, though the decision didn't quite sit right with him, and he called his boss, giving vague details about Chloe being ill, pleading for a couple of days off, promising to work extra shifts and weekends, swearing as he hung up.

He half expected to hear Chloe chime, "Daddy, swear jar," and he dropped a quid into the jar even when she remained silent.

Chloe's misery hung around the flat and it made Niall dread the inevitable time, years away, maybe, when his little girl, all grown up, would stumble across the first person to break her heart, and he'd have to see her similarly hurting, only probably feeling a thousand times worse, and leaving him stuck on the outside and unable to help, as he felt now. Niall was also dreading the days when Chloe would grow up, becoming a teenager and leaving his usually cheerful little girl behind.

He spent most of that Monday sat on his sofa, catching up on shitty daytime TV, something he hadn't had the opportunity to do for years, the phone call from Liam and multiple texts, mot of which were transcripts of his and the boys' conversations, including Harrys apparent confusion regarding the difference between France and Wales. That made him smile, an actual, genuine smile, until Chloe refused to talk to Liam when Niall popped his head around her door, peeled back her duvet for a moment, and asked. Liam seemed a lot less okay at that point, and it took nearly everything Niall had to keep from asking him to come home. He couldn't ask, they'd spent days dancing around each other before he left to keep from asking or being asked that question, or having to truly answer it, and to break down and ask Liam that question after less than twenty-four hours of him being gone could not happen.

It just couldn't.

Which left him rattling around in his much too small flat, doing housework and jobs he'd let pile up in an attempt to distract himself in between attempts at cheering Chloe up. She had really taken exception to Liam leaving and it was breaking Niall's heart. Eventually, having all but run out of ways to distract himself, Niall knocked hesitantly on Chloe's bedroom door before letting himself in, sitting at the foot of her bed and trying for a small smile as she noticed him and emerged ever so slightly from her duvet.

Niall reached out and pushed some of Chloe's hair out of her face, somewhat surprised when Chloe surged forward, throwing herself into Niall's arms. Eventually, Chloe calmed down enough to pull away from Niall and she looked up at him, sniffling slightly. It took her a while but she managed to say, "I miss Papa. I don't...didn't want him to leave."