Count On Me | Niam

Chapter Ninety-Eight

Liam/Niall

"Conner?"

"Zack."

"Conner."

"Zack."

"Conner. C'mon Ni, you were so on board with Conner before, why not now?" Huffing, Liam dropped back so he was lying on the floor, staring up at the ceiling, trying not to sound too much like a petulant five-year-old. His attempt wasn't very successful, though, and he winced at himself as he asked again, "Why not?"

"Because I like Zack. And I can change my opinion, Li. That's allowed to happen."

Liam didn't need to look at Niall to know that he was rolling his eyes, and he sighed again, trying harder to keep his mounting bitterness and frustration from slipping into his tone as he said, "I never said it wasn't. I'm just wondering what's with the change in attitude."

"Nothing's with the change in attitude. I just like Zack...and, and, if we're being honest, isn't naming this one with a C a bit unfair to Chloe? Just cause it's a theme or whatever." Punctuating that with another eye roll, Niall shifted onto his side so that he could look down from his position on the sofa to where Liam was laid, glancing down at his just in time to see Liam frown. "What, Li? You don't agree?"

"I don't think that it's necessarily not fair. It's just an initial. And a theme works. CA, CJ, it's nice. Conner works better than Zack, anyway. Good for nicknames."

"I still like Zack."

"Conner."

The swing in conversation back to where they'd been going in circles for the last half hour made them both sigh, and Niall turned his face away from Liam, resting one hand on his stomach and closing his eyes. After a minute or two of silence, he tentatively opened his eyes, "We've still got a month or so. Could decide later. Could choose something other than Conner or Zack."

"Not Cloud." Liam's smile took the wait out of his protest and made Niall smile to, shifting again so he was within reach of Liam and sought out his hand, squeezing his fingers gently before he conceded that point. "Not Cloud. He'd only want to change once he was old enough, anyway."

"Finally, common sense reigns." Teasing, Liam squeezed Niall's hand in return, still smiling in a way that took all the weight out of his words and made Niall smile back, regardless of his feigned outrage at Liam's words. Niall managed to get halfway through his complaint of 'Please, everyone knows I'm the voice of reason around here-' before he gave in, leaning precariously over to kiss Liam.

Such a concession was seemingly an invite for Liam to earn back his place on the sofa, causing Niall to grudgingly sit up and make space for him, only to lean back against Liam the second he was sat, sticking his tongue out childishly when Liam protested, a complaint made just for the hell of it that was somewhat undermined by the arm he wrapped around Niall and the kiss he pressed to Niall's forehead.

The relative moment of peace was broken, with Liam shaking his head and failing to smother his laughter, when Niall muttered, "I still like Zack."

**

"Marry me."

"Let's call him Zack."

The sigh Liam let out made Niall smile, though his expression sobered when Liam gave him the look Niall had previously only seen aimed at Loki when he tried to eat someone's shoes, and he tried for an apologetic smile instead, worried for a moment before Liam broke out into an unwilling grin. "For fuck's sake, Ni."

"What? It's a good name." Truthfully, Niall felt slightly bad for ambushing Liam with the same conversation again and again, but not so much that he didn't try shooting him a winsome smile as he spoke.