Always Come First

Chapter One

“Niall, let’s go man!” yells Liam up the stairs. “Danielle is not going to be happy if we’re late again!”

Niall rolls his eyes. Silly, naïve Liam. Danielle is almost always happy. I’m not, he thought to himself. Sure, he loved Danielle. And yeah, Liam was his best friend. But he really didn’t want to tag along to another one of their dates. Like, really, who would want to sit there and watch them gush and mush and just be all around adorable? Niall would much rather stay home with him, and do things with him instead of them.

“Why don’t you take Louis and Harry? They would love to double date with you guys” Niall shouts back down to Liam.

“Nah, I already asked. Something about underwear shopping... “Liam says, as Niall can hear him walking up the stairs.

“Just come with me dude. Zayn and Brea are in London for the rest of the week, and I want to actually spend time with you. Recently all you’ve been doing is stay in, and avoiding me.” Liam states, as he walks into Niall’s neat and tidy room. Niall and Liam have only lived together for a couple months, but you would think that they have been in the same house for ages. They decided to live together after Niall and Abbie, Niall’s last girlfriend, broke up.

“No. If you want to spend time with me, just stay here. I’m not leaving.” Niall says with anger rising in his tone, sitting on his bed with his arms crossed defensively.

“Okay” Liam says with a sigh. “I’ll call Danielle, and order a pizza. Ever since you left Abbie, you’ve been really cold Niall. I’m worried about you.” Liam crosses the room, and gives Niall a hug. Niall feels like sobbing, because Liam didn’t realize he was the reason Niall didn’t want Abbie anymore.

“Great. I’ll be down in a sec.”

Liam leaves the room, while Niall just sits on his bed, thoughts swimming. Liam, Liam, Liam. All Niall could think about recently was Liam. He stood up, smoothed out his bed, and went down stairs. Liam was still on the phone, so Niall quieted himself and strained to listening closer.

“I know Danielle, I’m sorry. I love you, but I need to stay with Niall tonight. He’s upset about something, and I’m not sure what. He’s been … off since him and Abbie split and the least I can do is spend a night at home with him. Danielle, no, please don’t be mad. Babe? I love you, and it’s not that I’m choosing him over you, he needs me. Danielle? Ugh.” Liam chokes up, and places the phone on the counter.

“Hey Li? You okay?” Niall asks, walking into the kitchen.

“Nialler! Yeah, I’m fine. Pizza’s on its way. Let’s pick a movie out while we wait.” Liam says, obviously trying to avoid talking about Danielle. She must be upset, but Niall will always come first. He has always come first.

“How about Toy Story? I know how much you love it.” Niall asks, already pulling the disk off the shelf.

“Sure Nialler. I’ll be right back.”

Liam slips out of the room, and heads up the stairs to Niall’s bedroom. He pushes open the door, and scans the room. He probably only has a few short minutes, but that’s enough.  He goes straight to the garbage. The first thing he sees in the wad of blood stained Kleenex. No, not possible Liam thinks. Niall’s better than that.  Probably just had a nose bleed or something. Liam tried pushing the thought out of his head.

“Liam? Pizza’s here!” Niall calls up the stairs. Liam leaves the room, hoping it looks the exact same as it did when he entered.

“Coming!”

After Liam pays for the pizza, he brings it in the living room where Niall has Toy Story all set up.

“I’m thinking a marathon, like all three. You cool with that?” questions Niall.

“Sounds great.” Liam responses,  a little less enthusiastically then Niall, but he doesn’t seem to notice.

Niall sits on the couch, and Liam sits beside him. On their couch, there really isn’t enough space for two teenage boys to sit comfortably, even considering the fact that Niall is small for a young man. So Liam shifts, and Niall lies across him. Head in Liam’s lap, with his arm draped across his shoulder, Niall thinks ‘This is all that I wanted.’

They both ended up falling asleep in each other’s arms. Niall woke with a start, the DVD screen playing the same tune over and over. Niall sits up carefully, making sure he doesn’t rustle Liam. Niall gazes down at Liam, seeing his peaceful slumber. All of the stress seems to have faded from his face. Lately Liam hasn’t been sleeping well, and not feeling up to anything during the day. Fighting with Danielle sure doesn’t help, and then keeping an eye on Niall 24/7 probably makes it worse. Niall reaches over, and covers Liam’s long body with a light blanket. He presses his lips to Liam’s forehead, and walks up to his room.  He flicks on the light, and strips down to his underwear. He walks to the long mirror, and stares at his reflection.  His developing muscles bugling under his light, soft skin, almost glowing bright blue eyes and his airy, wispy blonde hair is all clearly there. But all Niall can see is his flaws. His not quite there six-pack, his crooked teeth, his short stature, his big feet … his mental list could go on for ages. No matter how many times Liam tells him that flaws make a person, no matter how many times Abbie would run her hands through his hair and tell him she loved him, no matter how many times everyone else said he was amazing and loved, Niall would never believe it.