Count On Me | Niam

Chapter Sixty-Nine

Niall

The flight felt like it simultaneously lasted too long and not long enough. Chloe was a horror for the duration of the flight, too awake to sit quietly or sleep like she normally would when they flew to Ireland, and Niall drifted half in and out of consciousness, letting Liam and Louis struggle to entertain Chloe for the hour the flight to Orlando took. Louis gave up trying to understand her in-depth explanation into Pokémon after five minutes and left Liam to it.

Liam's grin seemed to become more and more strained as time went on, eyeing Niall, who was curled up in his seat, somewhat jealously, taking another sip of the coffee someone ad brought him before he tuned back into Chloe's seeming endless stream of chatter. "...that, Papa, is why a Chimchar isn't as good as a Piplup, no matter what Toby says. He's just bitter—that's the word, right?—'Cause I beat him and made him give me his Chimchar card. I beat him fair and square and he cried. He's beat me loads of times and I don't cry."

By the time Niall had forced his eyes open, reluctantly sitting up as a stewardess asked him to prepare for landing, Liam was sat nodding along to Chloe, able to understand what she was saying perfectly and follow along as she described the inner workings of the Pokémon trading card system, his smile seeming far more genuine and understanding than it had when Niall had closed his eyes somewhere over Miami, and he was holding a selection of Chloe's favourite cards somewhat reverently. Niall simply shook his head at the two of them, stretching his legs out as best he could from his seat, reaching a hand out to steal the last of Liam's coffee and wrinkling his nose at the barely lukewarm mouthful.

The coffee Liam bought for him from a Starbucks near the airport's exist was far better than the last dregs of coffee he'd stolen on the plane, and, by the time they were all being escorted into the hotel they'd be staying in, he was awake enough to actually comprehend what Chloe's mindless stream of chatter was about and managed to change the subject, suggesting he took her to the hotel's restaurant for a proper breakfast, not just the sweets she'd been fed by someone on the plane whilst Liam figured out where their bags were going. Chloe was more than happy to agree, slipping her hand into Niall's and skipping along as he figured out where they wanted to go.

She didn't even complain when Paddy insisted they were accompanied by one of the guards, which she'd taken to doing, not understanding why she and Liam couldn't go to the pool without one of them, or why they'd even escorted her to the toilet when she'd woken up in Liam's dressing room during a show and had needed to go. Her lack of comprehension had left Niall unsure of how to tell her that it was for her own safety without explaining the reality of Liam's job and shattering the illusion she probably saw it as, and her current obedience left him thanking his lucky stars that he could, for once, just take her somewhere without fighting her on the matter.

They settled into a table at the hotel's restaurant and Niall gratefully accepted the coffee the waitress brought over, barely having the chance to take a sip before Chloe started clamouring for the most expensive item on the menu she could find, still pressing for the meal even after Niall pointed out that she didn't like half the things it contained. "Come on, Chlo. Be reasonable. You don't like tomato. Or that kind of cheese."

Chloe pouted, fidgeting in her seat and refusing to choose something else until Liam joined them, Paddy trailing behind him, sliding into the seat next to Niall's and picking up the menu. "What are we having?"

"God knows." Niall slumped over his coffee, shaking his head in response to the quizzical look Liam gave him and gesturing towards Chloe. In return, Chloe pouted, taking the menu from Liam and gesturing at the meal she'd wanted, looking at him with big, sad eyes. "Daddy said no, but please, Papa? I will eat it, really. Please?"