Count On Me | Niam

Chapter Ninety-Five

Liam/Niall

"Marry me."

"I thought I already said yes." Niall's answer was punctuated with a yawn, and he closed his eyes as he pressed his face into his pillow. He mumbled something else in response, but it was lost on Liam. He thought it might have been something along the lines of, 'it's too early for this shit, Li,' but he couldn't be sure.

If that was what Niall said, he had a point.

It was way too early to be asking such questions, it was way too early for anything, but they'd both technically been awake for over an hour and were just going back to sleep, so Liam had edged his bets and asked anyway. There was no reason to ask, apart from that he liked to.

And it sort of made the whole 'being awake at half past four in the morning because your eight-year-old threw up on herself, her bed and a good five feet of her floor' thing seem slightly better.

It also made Liam feel slightly better about being crammed against the edge of their bed, given that Chloe was now asleep between them, showered and dressed in clean pyjamas and taking up more space than should have been possible. Having Chloe sleeping in their bed was like having a small furnace that kicked every so often, but Liam was trying not to complain about that. It was a novelty, really, only that novelty had worn off the first time she'd kicked him in the shin.

She was asleep and ill so it wasn't like he could even hold it against her, not that he would have anyway, but it made him feel like he was back sleeping in bunks on the tour bus that Zayn and Harry would cram into as well, and he was half expecting to wake up on the floor.

He woke up practically on the floor anyway, with Chloe sprawled only over his side of the bed, and when he saw the time, he gave in and went to make coffee, rationalising that six am on a Sunday was almost a reasonable time to get up. Tripping over Loki was an unfortunate incident that woke Niall, though Chloe miraculously slept through the thud, indignant bark and barely muffled swearing, and, ten minutes, two dog treats and a hand up from the floor later, he and Niall were sat in the kitchen, coffee in front of them, decidedly ignoring the pile of laundry that desperately needed washing.

They were sat in silence, apart from the sound their mugs made on the worktop, though it didn't last too long. Liam broke it, trying for a smile that bordered on winsome and not insane as he asked, "Marry me?"

"Are you just trying to persuade me to sort the laundry?" Niall's snort of laughter and smile caused Liam to smile too, and he nodded. "You can see right through me, can't you?"

"Always have, Li. But keep trying. It's cute." Yawning sort of ruined the blasé attitude Niall was trying for, but Liam grinned anyway.

"You think I'm cute?"

"No." Niall hid behind his mug and rolled his eyes at Liam.

Hiding didn't work. If anything, it only served to encourage Liam, and he leant forward in his seat, looking up at Niall through his eyelashes as he traced along the curve of Niall's knee with one hand, the other sliding under the back of Niall's t-shirt. "You think I'm cute. Admit it."

"Never." Niall shook his head as he leant into Liam's touch, biting his lip and shaking his head as Liam's hand moved from his knee. Liam just laughed and dropped from his seat to the floor, gesturing for Niall to stand before he made short work of pulling the shorts Niall had slept in down to his ankles.

He pressed a kiss to the inside of Niall's thigh, revelling in the slight gasp Niall made and slid one hand inside Niall's boxers only for Niall to pull away as a voice that was unmistakably Chloe's called out for them. "Daddy? Papa?"