Count On Me | Niam

Chapter Eighty-Eight

Liam

"What about this one? This one's not that bad."

Holding his phone out, Liam gave Niall a half-hearted smile, encouraging him to take it and give the article a read. His phone ended up being swapped for Niall's own and he winced when he saw the article Niall had been reading. They always said to never read the articles and comment fans made, but, for once, he'd broken his rule about not giving a shit and had dared to look, if only out of morbid curiosity.

The one Niall had been unfortunate enough to read was particularly awful and Liam clenched his jaw to keep the outrage he felt boiling up within him from spilling over. This article, in particular, was ugly and cruel and full of vitriol that no one had the right to say about anyone, let alone an eight-year-old and her father.

Such backlash had been anticipated, and was only to be expected given the bombshell they'd dropped, but still. No one should think it was perfectly acceptable to write such bullshit, especially not when, for the first time in a long time, Liam was telling the truth. Or what was mostly the truth. Maybe a few details had been fudged, but this was about as honest as he got.

This was as honest as he could get really. For once, everyone knew pretty much everything there was to know, and he'd been the one to make that choice...well, him and Niall. And the story that the world had been told was the one he and Niall had decided on. Which meant that as far as the public knew, the real truth was that he and Niall had rekindled their relationship after his split from Sophia, catalysed by his discovery of Chloe. Chloe, whom he adored and, yes, was the same girl rumoured to exist from before. The story had been free from any blame at any party, he'd rambled on and on about how brave Niall had been and how meeting each other again had come as a real surprise, but they were happy and were now adding to their family.

From there, every magazine, news website and fan had taken their news and ran with it, posting whatever bullshit they wanted. Some, like the article Liam had shown Niall, were nice, almost, and had just about passed for respectful and serious. Others, like the one Niall had been reading, were just thinly veiled excuses to rip into them.

Not that he really cared, he'd learnt to stop caring about trashy articles years ago, but Niall...well, he was still working on it. Even now, reading one that was less bitter and accusatory than most of the others, he was frowning and had one hand on his stomach, resting on the no longer barely there bump that Liam couldn't look away from.

It also didn't help that he was wearing just a t-shirt and boxers; the whole look was distracting for Liam, and that wasn't really what he should have been focusing on.

He should have been focusing on the articles and the reactions of his fans, but he was losing interest, really. It was one of his last nights at home before he'd leave again, and honestly, fuck all the people who thought that they were too young or only together because Liam felt guilty — seriously, fuck those guys — and Niall was sat next to him in bed in a t-shirt, his hair soft and looking as though he'd raked his hands through it time and time again, looking all irresistible and gorgeous and Niall, so his distraction was understandable, really.

His distraction and lack of focus weren't, however, what Niall wanted from him, and Liam had to force himself to give him his full attention as he listened to Niall string together an inventive list of swear words to describe his thoughts on the articles they'd read. It was once he got to the point of double figures in hypothetical swear jar debt that Liam cut him off and took his phone back, closing the web page and turning his phone off, silencing Niall by leaning in and kissing him until he was quiet and the frown was gone from his face.

Then, once Niall's anger had lessened, and only then, did Liam actually speak. "I know, it's bullshit and horseshit and three other kinds of fucked up shit, but it's not worth it. They don't know anything. Not really. They can say whatever, but it's not true, and you and I know that, and so does anyone who matters."