Baby Boy | Zustiall AU [COMPLETE]

Ten

Niall wakes up the next morning to the alarm on his phone. He sits up, rubbing his eyes, cheeks reddening as he remembers how it felt when Zayn and Justin kissed him the night before.

"Hey, you up?" Liam calls from the other side of the door. "Your alarm is still going off."

"Yeah, I'm up," Niall calls back. His voice sounds off, though, and Liam knocks on the door. "Come in," Niall sighs. He should've known Liam would be able to tell something was up.

"What's wrong?" Liam asks immediately, sitting at the foot of Niall's bed. Niall's curled up in a ball at this point, laying on his side. "Cupcake, what's going on?"

Niall shakes his head. "I can't face them again! Not...Not after they kissed me!" he cries. "I wouldn't be able to look them in the eye...oh, God...maybe it was a mistake, Li. It's so stupid of me to date my bosses! What if someone finds out!? What if it doesn't work out between us!?"

"Okay, calm down," Liam says gently. "First of all, who cares if anyone finds out? They're the bosses, Niall. They're not going to get in trouble. Secondly, if it doesn't work out between you, I really don't think they'd fire you or anything like that. They don't seem like assholes."

"I need this job..."

"I know you do. It's going to be okay, Ni. You shouldn't be thinking about it that way anyway. Do you want it not to work out with them?" 

"Of course I want to work out!" Niall gasps.

"Then just calm down." Liam's calmness about the situation does help Niall to feel better. 

"Will you stay home with me today?"

Liam sighs, pulls out his phone. "I'm such a good friend to you," he mutters, but he pulls out his phone and calls off. Niall grabs his own phone and texts Zayn and Justin, saying he doesn't feel well and he's staying home. He quickly shuts his phone off before they respond, worried about what their responses will be.

"You can't run from them like that," is all Liam says, clearly disapproving. He doesn't say anything else about it. Niall scoots closer to Liam until his head is resting in his best friend's lap, and with a fond eye roll, Liam gently strokes his hair. "What do you wanna do today then?"

Niall shrugs. "I don't know."

"Well, I'm starving. Let's eat something," Liam suggests, making his way to the kitchen. His phone, that he left in Niall's bed, vibrates.

"Harry texted you!" Niall calls, a giggle in his voice.

"What did he say?" Liam calls back.

Niall unlocks his phone, and then shrieks at the content of the text.

"What?!" Liam runs back in the room, snatches his phone out of Niall's hand.

"He wants to go to the movies!" Niall yells, and Liam rolls his eyes.

"Oh my God, Niall, you scared me," Liam chuckles. He responds to the text, and then Niall follows him to the kitchen for pancakes.

- - -

"Just turn it back on," Liam suggests, rolling his eyes. Niall has been fiddling with his phone all day, but refuses to turn it on, too scared of receiving angry texts from Justin or Zayn.

"Nooo," Niall whines. He's laying in Liam's bed now, watching as Liam tries to decide what to wear to go to the movies with Harry. "That sweater's my favorite," he adds.

"Yeah? Should I wear it?" Liam questions, looking down. It's white and soft, cable-knit.

"Definitely," Niall beams. Liam debates a few more minutes in the mirror before realizing he's going to be late picking up Harry if he doesn't leave soon.

"Okay, I'm heading out," Liam says. He kisses the top of Niall's head on his way to the door. "I shouldn't be back too late. Call me if you need anything."

Niall shoves him out the door. "Liam, I'm not four years old. Get out of here," he giggles, and with one last goodbye, Liam leaves. Niall settles back on the couch, cozy under a blanket. He's just gotten invested in an episode of The X-Files when he hears a knock at the door. Confused, he gets up to answer and peeks through the peephole; his heart nearly falls out of his chest when he sees that it's Justin and Zayn.

"Oh, shit," he mumbles to himself, more than prepared to go hide in his bedroom until they go away until Zayn speaks.

"We know you're in there, Niall, we ran into Liam on the way up. He let us in." Zayn doesn't sound angry, not really, which makes Niall feel a little better. Slowly, he turns the lock on the door, and then scrambles back into the kitchen. That doesn't do much, though; Justin and Zayn are crowding his personal space within what feels like seconds. 

"Why are you ignoring us?" Justin asks in a voice that's way too soft, and Niall feels even worse. This would almost be more bearable if they'd been angry, but they aren't.

"I --" Niall pauses, takes a deep breath. "It seems stupid now..."

"Baby, this is only going to work if you talk to us," Zayn says softly. "Communication is key, yeah?"

"I got scared," Niall finally answers, eyes squeezed shut tight. "I...I got scared, because you guys are my bosses, and I need this job. And...and I like you, both of you, a whole lot. And I want it to work...but...but I don't know, I've never even dated one person...and what if it doesn't work? Are you gonna fire me? I need this job!" 

Niall is surprised at himself. He's usually very bad at expressing what he feels, and he's surprised that he was actually able to be honest with these two men about his fears.

"You shouldn't have been embarrassed to tell us that, baby boy. That's a very valid concern," Justin says gently. His hand touches Niall's cheek, and Niall leans into his touch. "We'd never fire you just because it didn't work out between us, right, Zee? That would be unfair."

"He's right. We'd never do that," Zayn confirms.

"What...What if someone finds out?" Niall questions next.

Justin shrugs. "I honestly don't give a fuck. It's not like they could punish us, we own the company."

"What if they punish me?"

"How would they punish you, doll? Do you really think we'd let anyone do anything bad to you?" Zayn asks again in that stupid soft voice, and Niall is blushing again.

Niall thinks about Nate touching his leg, and Justin telling him to stab his hand with a pen. "No..."

"We only want to be with you if you want the same thing with us, Niall," Justin continues. "If you want it to stop, it stops. The only thing we ask of you is to think of us as a package deal."

"...And we can keep going slow?" 

"As slow as you want," Zayn confirms.

"Okay," Niall mumbles, biting his lip.

"Are you watching The X-Files?!" Justin asks suddenly, delighted. "Can we watch with you!?"

Zayn rolls his eyes. "He's obsessed with this show."

"You're just a hater, Scully," Justin responds.

"I'm not Scully. I believe in aliens," Zayn retorts, and Niall just laughs at their antics. Before long, they're all curled up on the couch, Niall smushed in between the two of them, and they have a marathon until Liam gets home.