End Up Here (Ziam AU)

Chapter Fifty

Chapter Fifty – Liam

Liam frowns as he rolls over in bed to find Zayn not there, tapping his phone, he squints against the light to see the time, and it's too early to be awake. Wondering where Zayn could have gone Liam pushes himself up so he's sitting, and that's when he hears it, the muffled crying coming from down the hall, and Zayn's hushed voice as he murmurs to Bella. Frowning Liam climbs out of bed, walking down the hall and stopping in front of Bella's room, the sight in front of him, breaks his heart. Arabella is awake and sobbing into Zayn's chest, fingers clutching desperately at his shirt, in an effort to keep him with her. Zayn is mumbling into her ear all while rocking her gently, and playing with her hair, Liam watches as Zayn realizes he's there, looking up and smiling slightly in Liam's direction, before directing his attention back to Bella. "Hey, what happened?" Liam murmurs, stepping into the room, Bella lifts her tear streaked face out of Zayn's chest to blink up at him, "scary Daddy" she mumbles, before hiding in Zayn's chest again. "She had a nightmare" Zayn whispers, as Liam moves so he's sitting beside Zayn on the edge of the bed, Liam pouts, nodding his head, "you're okay Princess, want to talk about it?" he murmurs, leaning over to press a kiss to the top of her head. Bella sniffles, before rubbing her face against Zayn's shirt, and looking up at Liam, "mean men, hurt Bella. Too loud, scary" she mumbles. Liam frowns, before he realizes what she probably means, "did you have a nightmare about what happened, at my office the other day?" he asks slowly. Bella pouts, gripping Zayn's shirt tighter, before nodding.

Liam whines, bumping his shoulder against Zayn's, "can I?" he asks, gesturing towards Bella, wanting to hold her in his own arms. Zayn bites his lip, nodding his head, "of course" he murmurs. "Bella you want to go see Daddy?" Zayn coos, and Bella nods, sniffling again, before reaching out for Liam who carefully pulls her into his own lap, where she immediately snuggles into his own t-shirt covered chest. "You know I will never let that happen to you again, right?" Liam asks, Bella whimpers and nods her head, "promise?" she mumbles and Liam sighs "yes, I'm going to make sure you never get hurt like that again" he murmurs, and he means it, because Liam would rather die than let anyone hurt Bella, or Zayn for that matter, again. Arabella yawns, rubbing her face, "sleep Baba, Daddy?" she mumbles, and Liam looks to Zayn who shrugs, before nodding, "of course, come on" Liam says, standing up, shifting Bella around so he's supporting her with one hand, his other reaching towards Zayn, the younger taking it and following behind them to the bedroom.

When Liam wakes up again, he's alone, again, but he can hear Bella giggling from somewhere else in the apartment, and Zayn's tired voice speaking to her. He can't make out what they're saying, just that they're both enjoying the morning together. Liam stretches before climbing out of bed and heading down the hall to find them, he finds them in the living room, a few of Bella's toys strewn around the carpet, and soft music playing quietly. "Morning" he yawns, grinning when Bella whips around to face him "Daddy! Come dance!" she exclaims, running over to him, Liam's glad to see the stitches in her knee aren't affecting her at all really, she limps slightly, but it's hardly noticeable. Chuckling Liam moves across the floor, before twirling Arabella around, as she giggles, "how long have you two been up?" Liam asks, Zayn shrugs "about an hour" he murmurs, "someone couldn't sleep anymore" Zayn adds. Liam laughs shaking his head, as he dances alongside Bella and Zayn, "what are we going to do today?" he asks, Zayn frowns, biting his lip, "I have a bunch of schoolwork I need to finish" he mutters. Liam laughs nodding his head, "what if I take this one to the park for a bit, give you a chance to get some stuff done?" he asks, gesturing to Bella, where she's now dancing by herself. Zayn nods "that would be amazing, are you sure?" he asks, Liam chuckles, "of course, I'm gonna have to take her somewhere again eventually, right? And the park is pretty harmless" he reasons. Zayn grins nodding, "thank you Li" he murmurs, before leaning over to kiss Liam, it becoming a little more passionate than probably intended but Liam's pretty sure neither one of them actually cares.