Baby Boy | Zustiall AU [COMPLETE]

Thirty One

"I'm sorry," Niall says immediately as his boyfriends walk into his apartment. Justin just grabs for him, cradling him close into his chest, and Niall can't help but nuzzle closer. "I'm so sorry, I —"

"Hush, angel, we know," Justin coos, leaving a few kisses in Niall's hair. It feels like it's been so long since he's held Niall and Niall's nuzzled back into him. Niall stays there for a long time, face tucked into Justin's chest. When he lets go, anxiety bubbles up in his chest at the lack of expression on Zayn's face.

"Sweetheart," Zayn begins, and then stops. He's not sure of what to say, or of what he's feeling. He loves this sweet, little, blond angel in front of him more than words can express, but you can only chase after someone so many times before you really have to question why they're running.

"I know," Niall interrupts. "I'm really sorry. This is just all really new for me, it's all stuff I've never had to deal with before. Please be patient with me. I'm sure I'm going to keep fucking up like this, but please know it's not your fault. I-It's just me, and I'm working on it. I promise you I am."

Zayn's face softens. The terror on Niall's face is so apparent, and the last thing Zayn would want is for Niall to ever feel afraid. "Come here, baby boy," he says gently, and can't help but laugh as Niall practically crashes into his chest. He leans down to kiss him, softer and sweeter than any kiss they've shared yet. "I love you," he says gently. "I'm sorry I –"

"No!" Niall yelps, going up on tiptoe to push his index finger against Zayn's mouth. "You have nothing to apologize –" He cuts himself off with a shriek as Zayn bites down on his finger, and then starts giggling. "Rude!"

"Shouldn't have interrupted me," Zayn chuckles, but he kisses Niall's injured finger as an apology nonetheless.

"Where's my hug and apology?" Liam demands, and Niall laughs and lets go of Zayn before hugging his best friend as hard as he can. "Okay, okay, enough. I asked for a hug, not for you to try and fuse to my body."

Niall squeezes him harder. "I love you."

"I love you, too, little dork," Liam laughs, kissing the side of his best friend's head.

"So, wait, tell us about this whole Alex thing," Justin says, sitting on the sofa. Zayn's jaw goes tight just at the mention of the guy's name, but he nods, clearly wanting to understand, too.

Niall cuddles up to Justin on the sofa, who's more than happy to run his fingers through his boyfriend's hair. "When you guys were out of town on your business trip, I started getting these weird, cryptic texts from this number I didn't recognize. It was just annoying at first, but then they started sending pictures of the three of you together, saying that you were all in love and that I needed to be out of the picture." Niall stares down at his fingers, ashamed of himself. "I tried not to let it get to me, but he was so persistent, and I didn't want to say anything to you both about it. I didn't want to hurt either of you, but it was hard to be close to you, too. Whenever you touched me I thought about him, and...I don't know. I couldn't shake that feeling."

Justin just cuddles Niall closer, able to tell he's not done talking, but wanting to soothe him anyway. Niall hadn't even realized he'd gone tense until Justin kisses the side of his neck and he goes soft as jelly.

"I should've said something," Niall continues, biting his lip. "I just didn't know what to say. I didn't want to lose you guys...I was just torn. So...earlier today, I got another text from Alex and I don't know. I just snapped. I snapped, and I left to go to the coffee shop around the corner and he fucking showed up! He sat at my table and was just talking and talking about how in love you guys were and how perfect everything was...and then he let it slip that the pictures he'd been sending were old. Somehow, he accidentally told me that, and the next thing I knew I'd thrown my four dollar iced coffee in his face and stormed out." Niall's cheeks flush when Justin lets out a loud laugh. "Don't laugh! It was a good iced coffee!"

"I'll buy you another one, baby boy. Don't pout," Justin responds. "I still have half a mind to spank you for not communicating with us, and for lying about how you were doing while we were gone." At that, Niall wriggles out of Justin's lap and goes to curl up in Zayn's, sticking his tongue out at Justin in the process. "I don't know why you think you're much safer over there, baby. He'd spank you, too."

"Nuh-uh. He loves me," Niall says back, nuzzling his face against Zayn's neck. Zayn is trying not to smile, but his boyfriend is acting just like a sweet little kitten and his heart is just about beating out of his chest.

"No. Zayn, stop it. You're supposed to be on my side," Justin whines.

"But he's so cute," Zayn says back, leaning down to kiss his nose.

Justin shakes his head. "Unbelievable."

"I am sorry," Niall says again. "It won't happen again."

"We forgive you," Zayn assures him, running his fingers through his hair. "Everything is going to be good now."

"Should we go get you your iced coffee to make up for the one you lost?" Justin asks, and Niall nods eagerly, hopping off of Zayn's lap. "Coming, Zee?"

"Nah, I'm good. I'll wait here," Zayn answers, and Niall nods and slips his hand into Justin's, talking excitedly about some Disney movie as they leave. Zayn smiles as he watches them, the two people he loves most in the world, leave together.

Liam sits in the spot Justin just vacated. "We're gonna go kick Alex's ass, aren't we?"

"Yeah, basically," Zayn says back, pulling out his phone and dialing a number.

- - -

"Okay, angel, you can pick one," Justin laughs as Niall tries to convince him to let him get both coffees that sound good. "You can't have both, you know that'll just make you super anxious, especially since you already had a bit of caffeine today. Choose one."

"But they both sound good! How am I supposed to choose between cinnamon roll and french vanilla!?" Niall whines.

"Well, which did you have earlier?"

"Vanilla."

"Okay, then how about you try cinnamon roll this time, yeah?" Justin suggests. Niall nods, pouting a little. "You know, just because Zayn won't spank you for pouting doesn't mean I won't," Justin adds, low in his ear, and Niall immediately starts chewing on his lip so he's no longer jutting it out in a pout.

Niall can't believe he's gone so long without spending any time with his boyfriends. It's so nice to just sit here with Justin, to laugh at his dumb jokes and just stare at his face. He's so in love it's almost nauseating, and he knows Justin is thinking something similar by how the way his face softens out of nowhere.

"We really do love you, Niall," he says, the most sincerely he's said anything in a while. "So damn much."

Niall interlaces his fingers with Justin's. "I love you both, too. I really do. I'm sorry I keep running."

"Hush. We know. It's okay. This is all new, requires adjustment for you. We have to get readjusted, too. I just want to make sure you're certain we've chosen you. We're not going anywhere unless you tell us to."

"I won't tell you to," Niall says, too softly, but his heart is full to the brim and if Justin keeps looking at him that fondly, he might start crying.

Justin leans over the kiss the top of his head. "C'mon, babe. Let's go back to your place and see if Zee wants to have an X-Files marathon, yeah?"

Niall brightens. "Yeah, okay!" He knows everything isn't perfect, but things rarely are. All he wants is for things to smooth out, and with these two as constants in his life, he's pretty sure they will.