“Niall! Liam! You're back from Ha-wee-waa!” Louis screams, rushing up to their jet. “It's about time you come back, you've been gone for a week, and we haven't been able too reach you!”
Niall gathers all of their bags under his arm as Louis hugs him, and rushes to hug Liam.
“We tweeted a few pictures though! You didn't see them?” Liam asks, and Louis shakes his head.
“Oh! Crap, sorry Li, I forgot to tell you that the wifi wasn't working in the hotel. I'm sorry.” Niall pouts a little, frowning at his mistake and Liam takes his hand.
“It's okay love, we're home safe now.” He says to Niall and Louis. “Where's Harry and Zayn?”
“Well.. Perrie left Zayn for a guy she met on tour, so he's home. He's not as sad as I thought he would be, turns out they've been broken up for about a month. He just never told us, he didn't want anyone worrying.”
Louis sighs, and he feels a hand on his back as Harry approaches.
“Maybe that's why he's been so quiet..?” Harry says from behind Louis.
Liam walks up to Harry, and gives him a tight hug. Before letting go, and intertwining his fingers with Niall again.
The awkward silence is almost tangible as Harry's heart clenches at the sight of Liam holding hands with Niall. He gives Liam a painful smile before nodding at Niall,
“Hey Ni.” He addresses him, and Niall smiles.
“Hey Hazza.”
They all walk to Louis' car silently, and Liam feels relief wash over him.
He hugged Harry, and didn't feel any pain. It felt GOOD to hug Harry without a second thought, or a trip down memory lane. He smiled to himself, and looked over at Niall.
He was ready to move on with Niall. He was ready to forget Harry.
“I love you Ni.” he whispers to Niall, and Niall stops briefly, but regains pace. He looks over at Liam, and just stares at his face. There are no signs of regret in Liam's face, and he doesn't look like he'll be taking it back anytime soon.
Maybe Liam just wants to replace Harry, temporarily. Maybe once Liam sees that Niall's no Harry, he'll leave him. He tugs his hand free from Liam's and earns a confused glane.
The drive is short, and Niall reaches in his pocket when he feels it vibrate.
From: The Cheeky One
You alright lad? You seem a bit out of it.
To: The Cheeky One
Yeah, m'fine. Just tired, long flight.
From: The Cheeky One
Alright lad, I'm here if you want to talk. I'm sorry about what I said the other day, I wasn't over Liam. But I see how happy you make eachother, so I'm not going to stand in the way. Make him happy Niall.
He doesn't reply, he just reads it over and over again. He pulls the Twitter app up, and begins a tweet.
@NiallOfficial:
I've loved you for so long, but you only love him.
He closes twitter, and closes his eyes, hoping to sleep for the two hour ride back to Liam's flat.
Liam looks over at Niall, his back facing him, curled in a ball. He hears soft snores slip from his mouth and smiles, moving closer. He lays his head on his back, and reads Niall's most recent Tweet.
He's loved him for 'so long'?
He'd never even thought about the possibility of Niall loving him. But then again, he never thought that he would ever be separated from Harry. He sighs at the thought, and shifts closer to Niall.
Harry let him go, he didn't fight for him. Niall had always been there for him, even when he and Harry had fights about the smallest things. He'd always made Liam feel special, always made him feel safe or wanted.
He knew Niall would make him happy. He just had to trust him.
But trust works both ways.
