Redemption | Niam

Thirty-four: I blame you

"It's all your fault, Harry. I blame you."

Entering the bar, the first thing Niall could hear, even over the music playing and the chatter coming from the bar's regulars, was the sound of a thoroughly pissed off Louis, the sound of his best friend travelling from halfway across the room, the screech coming from his best friend indicating that he was not happy.

Following Liam to their usual booth, Niall dropped into his seat, sliding across so Liam could sit next to him, the two of them remaining silent, both of them watching and sharing a look as Harry shook his head at his husband, pleading with Louis as he offered him the glass of water a waitress had set down. "C'mon, Lou. Be reasonable, love. It takes two to—"

"It's your fault. You were the one who... It's your fault." Shoving the glass back at Harry, Louis looked up and gave Niall a smile, noticing the look of confusion on his and Liam's face and shrugging at them before he went back to glaring at Harry. Handing the glass of water back to Louis, Harry sighed as Louis ignored it, giving Harry a pointed stare before he turned to Niall, ignoring the questioning stare on his best friends face as he asked, "What's new with you, Ni? New clients? Reconsidered that album deal? Feel like telling Harry to shut up?"

"Clients always bug me, Lou. The record deal, no, not yet. Why would I feel like telling Haz to shut up?" Taking in the frown and obvious tension on his best friends face, Niall turned to Harry, gesturing at untouched the pint in front of him as he said, "I have an issue, Haz... I don't have a drink. Do us a favour and get me a pint, yeah? Take Liam with you."

Waiting for Liam and Harry to leave, Liam giving him a brief smile and kissing his cheek before following after Harry, Niall leant back, staring at the glass of water in front of him. "What's Harry's fault?"

"This." Dropping a picture onto the table, Louis ran a hand through his hair, watching as Niall picked up, raising an eyebrow at Louis and shaking his head. "Lou..."

"Niall."

"Louis."

"Niall..."

"Lou... This isn't just Harry's fault." Hiding a smile, Niall handed the sonogram back to Louis, reaching out and giving his best friend's arm a squeeze as Louis looked up at him, one hand still playing with the ends of his fringe. "Really, Lou."

"I know. I blame Harry, though. God, I blame Harry." Frowning down at the picture, Louis ran his thumb over it, sniffing before he took a deep breath. "I don't blame him, blame him. But... You know. This wasn't part of the plan. And Anne, she's trying to be nice but, God, it's worse than her thing about the kilts. If I have to hear another word about breathing classes or Lamaze, I may... I don't even know."

"If it's not Harry's fault and you don't blame him, blame him, what's with the whole 'I'm pissed at you act'?" Giving Liam a smile as he brought him a drink, Niall let his gaze follow after him as he returned to the bar before he looked back at Louis, shrugging. "Louis. Stop being an idiot. This is a good thing, yeah? And when is it ever part of the plan?"

Giving Niall a brief smile, Louis nodded, grudgingly reaching out and grabbing the glass he'd been pushing away and taking a sip before he shifted along the seat, making room for Harry as he returned, Liam trailing behind him.

********

Watching with a fond smile as Louis led Harry out of the bar, the shorter man leading Harry along, catching him every now and then as he stumbled, Niall shook his head before he moved closer to Liam, wrapping his arm around his waist and smiling up at him. "Did I tell you how much I love you?"

"You might've done." Returning Niall's smile with one of his own, Liam nodded, sitting up and leaning into Niall's embrace, taking a sip of Niall's drink before tilting his head and staring up at him. "You might've told me once or twice. Or, you know, a million times."

Rolling his eyes at Liam, Niall sat up, letting go off Liam and mock-sighing, only for the actor to pull him closer and kiss him. Linking his fingers through Liam's, Niall let his free hand curl around the back of Liam's neck and ran his fingers through his hair, sighing as Liam let him go. "It's true, though. I love you. I love you, even you like to keep me in suspense."

Raising an eyebrow at Niall, Liam's smile turned into a smirk as the part of Niall that didn't like to be kept in suspense and didn't like having to wait emerged, the part of Niall that only appeared when he was drunk enough, the part of Niall that had appeared more frequently in the month since he'd asked him about asking him something, smiling properly as Niall kissed him again.

"I love you, even if you can be bloody impatient at times." Squeezing Niall's hand, Liam reached out and brushed some of Niall's hair back out of his face, Niall's smile turning into a slight frown as he stared at Liam, taking a sip of his drink and before he said, "If I'm being impatient, I blame you. I don't like waiting..."

"You'll just have to be patient a little bit longer, I promise. Not that much longer. Less time than it'll take for Louis to admit to Harry that it's not his fault." Helping Niall up as a gaggle of girls eyed their booth, Liam wrapped his arm around Niall's waist before he followed over to the standing area near the bar, letting himself focus on Niall completely as he began to talk, betting Liam how long it would take for Louis to give in, mentioning some of the lyrics he'd been working on and ordering them more drinks, Liam ending up so wrapped up in Niall that the two of them were there until the bar closed, Niall linking his fingers through Liam's and letting Liam wrap an arm around him for support once they eventually left.

Following Niall into the taxi, Liam ignored the obvious flash from someone's phone aimed in their direction and gave Niall another smile. "Back to mine? Or your's?"

"Might as well be mine, all your stuff's there, Li." Not missing how deep Liam's smile was, a smile that simultaneously made his toes curl and made him feel like he was the only person in the whole world who mattered, the same smile Liam had been aiming at him for over a month whenever he thought Niall didn't notice, Niall pressed a kiss to his cheek, leaning against him and returning the smile as Liam linked their fingers together.

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So... Finally an update.

I would apologise, once again for how long this took me, but it's still the same list of apologies, studying and work excuses as before and I'm pretty sure that you guys are as fed up of seeing the reasons as I am of writing them so I'll skip the apology.

(But I am really sorry.)

Anyway...

A fluffy chapter for you all. I do hope it makes sense, I've been writing it late at night whenever I get the time so it's kind of been pieced together...

I figured it was time larry made a comeback and here they were (kinda) along with some cute Niam for you all...

There's really not that much of this book left, and that makes me sad :(

I'd love to see what you guys think of the chapter...