Chapter Text
“What’re you staring at, Nialler?“ Snapping out of his headspace, Niall made sure to blink a few times, shaking his head a little as he pretended to have simply zoned out for a moment. Louis was his best friend, but there were just some things the blonde wouldn’t have wanna told him unless absolutely necessary.
“Nothing. “ Shrugging and trying to pretend to be completely unbothered that his staring had gotten interrupted, Niall made sure to start packing up his bag even though his next class wouldn’t start anytime soon. “Have you already turned in the assignment?”
“Uh… assignment?” Louis asked and it was so fucking typical that Niall would have laughed had he not known that he was going to be the one having to help Louis out in the end.
“The critical analysis thing.” Niall needlessly explained because they both knew the older boy had no bloody idea what he was talking about.
“Right… when’s the deadline again?” Probably thinking he was being unsuspicious, Louis had gotten his phone out, scrolling through it quite quickly though so Niall just sighed.
“Tomorrow midnight. I’ll send you mine when I got home, but… can you at least pretend to change the sentence structures this time?” They had gotten in trouble too many times because of their assignments being too similar, which had been fine because usually they always pretended they had thought it was supposed to be group work, but their professor had explicitly told them to work alone this time.
“I always change the sentence structures, we all have to read the same book, how different can those analyses be?” Though he was rolling his eyes, Louis seemed more relaxed now that Niall had offered to help and the blonde kinda regretted it. “I’ll only be able to write it tomorrow night anyways I think.”
“Why?” No idea why Niall even bothered to ask because he already knew the answer, the answer Louis had given him about 80 billion times during the last few months and you’d think he’d grow tired of Niall asking, but apparently he didn’t.
“I’ll sleep at Harry’s tonight and I don’t know when I’ll get home tomorrow.” There used to be a time when Niall and Louis would spend every single weekend together, pretty much every breathing second actually, but then they had gotten to uni and suddenly there had been Harry, who of course was more important than Niall because he was Louis’ boyfriend. So now Niall usually spent the weekends by himself, which was really just fine and he also wasn’t jealous or anything, he just still hadn’t properly met Harry after months. “Actually… would you mind if he comes with us later when we go get something to eat?”
“Nah, it’s fine, I’ve got something else planned anyways.” Sometimes, Niall caught himself lying to Louis without even planning on doing so and he didn’t even know why. This time though, it was only half a lie, he did have something planned for real, unlike all those times he had only been pretending to be busy when Louis had asked. “Tell him I said hi.”
“Uh, okay?” Louis was understandably confused but Niall didn’t bother adding on to his story because he didn’t want it to sound made up, it wasn’t. Ever since Louis had met Harry, Niall had started to seriously question some things, things he couldn’t really tell Louis and therefore no one for that matter because even though he had other friends, Niall barely hung out with them outside of uni. “You know… I’m sure you’d like him.”
“I like him, I already met him.” Very briefly, usually Niall always left whenever Harry came over on campus, which had multiple reasons. It wasn’t Harry himself, Niall was sure he was nice and all, but things were complicated.
“Okay, so why do you always find an excuse so you don’t have to hang out with us?” Louis half laughed when he asked, but the blonde knew he was being dead serious about this because he had never gotten a clear answer out of the younger boy.
“I don’t find excuses and anyways, you do wanna be alone with him, don’t you? He’s your boyfriend and everything.” Niall wasn’t jealous, he really wasn’t, like… maybe he had been in the beginning, but this actually had very little to do with Louis.
“We’re alone all the time anyways, you’re my best friend, I wouldn’t at all mind if you hang out with us.” Maybe that was true, but Niall still didn’t wanna feel like a third wheel and then there was the other, much bigger, problem as to why he was trying to avoid Harry as much as possible. “When did you even wanna tell me that you already had something planned later?”
“I don’t know, I kinda forgot we were gonna go eat something if I’m being honest.” Or maybe not, but how was Louis gonna know?
“Okay, so… is that not our thing anymore on Friday’s, or… ?” Okay, he was getting pissed off, Niall could tell but he also didn’t know what to tell the older boy anyways so he just shrugged, finishing packing his bag because he actually didn’t even know what to say at this point. “Are you pissed at me or something? Like… you’re acting real fucking weird, is it because of Harry?”
“I’m not pissed off, Lou, I’ve just got something else planned, okay?” Niall tried a smile, which obviously only seemed to confuse Louis more so the blonde had to go even further. “I’m sorry, we can go next week.”
“Yeah, that’s fine, I just… don’t want you to be mad or something.” Now Louis sounded genuinely concerned as he watched Niall getting up and the blonde made sure to walk around the table just to lean down and give his friend a brief hug. He was afraid that if this conversation carried on they’d start talking about other topics that were even harder for Niall to talk about.
“I’m not mad, promise. I’ll text you later.” Or maybe Niall would just wait for Louis to text him first like always. “Have fun with Harry.”
“Thanks, uh… talk to you later then?” Clearly, he was still confused but the blonde decided to ignore that as he slung his bag over one shoulder, already walking away from his friend a moment later even though he still had time until his class would start.
It wasn’t a particularly big university or campus, and though Niall didn’t know everyone of course, he knew most people from just seeing them around. Sadly, that also meant he saw his brother around a lot as well and his friends and luckily they mostly ignored each other now, but they used to have gotten into fights when they had gone to the same middle and high schools. Everyone knowing what everyone was doing in a town as small as this one was another one of Niall’s problems, which he hadn’t mentioned to Louis though and maybe never would.
Niall only had two more classes before he would be able to go home for the weekend, but the thing was, he genuinely hadn’t lied to Louis about having something else planned, something he did rather frequently even though it was stupid and wrong and no one could ever know the reason. The blonde wasn’t surprised at all when Louis texted him pretty much 10 minutes after they had said goodbye, again trying to get him to change his mind which stayed their topic for the next three hours.
After his last class, Niall tried his hardest to move as slowly as humanly possible, thinking about an excuse as usual just in case anybody was going to ask him why on earth he was walking over to the sports field just to watch the football team train at least once a week. It’s not that Niall was the only one who did it or who just sat in the stands doing something else, but he was probably still the only one to come for the reason he did.
Or maybe he wasn’t, because thinking about it, it actually wasn’t so unlikely that other people came just to stare at one single person on the team while trying to pretend they were just getting some reading done.
The reason Niall came was called Liam Payne and he was the captain of the football team and probably one of the most liked and celebrated people on the entire campus. Furthermore, Niall had never spoken a single word to him or looked him in the eyes and he had also never considered liking guys until he had properly seen Liam for the first time when they had both been freshmen two years ago.
Ever since then, Niall had struggled coming to terms with his crush, had never told anybody, not even Louis, about it. Even IF Niall had been fully comfortable crushing on a guy and obsessively checking all his social media every day, watching him train and staring at him on campus, he wouldn’t have been able to talk to Liam or even just try to be his friend.
Of course it was a further problem that Liam was the star football player of the university, but not as much as the reason why Niall had heard alarm bells going off in his head upon learning who Liam actually was when he had heard his last name in a class they had had together in their first semester.
Not only was Niall’s family somewhat conservative and strict and his brother an asshole, but they had also been pretty poor when Niall had been born and still kinda were. At some point, they had barely been able to afford food and the child protective services had come over more than once which the blonde could barely remember now though. Niall’s dad had been without a job for quite some time, years more like, after he and his business partner had gotten into a huge fight, which had ended not only with Niall’s dad being unemployed and his reputation being ruined, but also with his business partner becoming rich and successful, adding to the fuel between them.
Problem was, that business partner was none other than Liam’s dad and needless to say, Niall would have been hanged saying the word Payne at home. Unless he would have wanted to curse them of course. Niall understood his family being angry at Liam’s dad, but then again, the blonde had no idea what had really happened back then and it certainly had nothing to do with Liam because they were about the same age and hadn’t even been born.
Still, Niall felt a pinch of guilt whenever he caught himself staring at Liam, much like today, but that was quickly forgotten whenever he watched the other boy play football or laugh or hang out with his friends because even though nothing would ever come out of it, Niall was still allowed to stare and fantasize about Liam, right?
------------------------
Whenever Niall had work on Saturday’s, his whole weekend was pretty much ruined because they always gave him the late shift at the restaurant and he’d only get home by like 2 in the morning, feeling as if he had just been standing for 12 hours straight. It had usually only been 8, but working as a waiter was bloody exhausting even after Niall had been doing it for years now. Times like these, Niall was so jealous of Louis and his stupidly perfect relationship and family who loved him that he didn’t even wanna text the older boy back.
It was a busy evening and then night, as usual with kids screaming and throwing food, people calling Niall incompetent and all sorts of other things. He did usually get a lot of tip though, so that was maybe the biggest reason why Niall hadn’t tried looking for something else, but maybe also because he wasn’t sure if anybody else would wanna employ him anyways.
“Niall, can you maybe take table 24? It’s like… 5 guys and I think they’re a bit drunk.” Niall’s coworkers were nice, but they all knew Niall couldn’t say no whenever they asked him for a favor, especially if it was one of the girls and if it was because of something like this.
“Um, sure.” Pretending that he himself didn’t get nervous serving guys his age who already had had something to drink, the blonde took a quiet breath before making his way through the restaurant, almost stumbling over 2 kids who apparently didn’t have to go to bed at 11 pm and having to take a complaint from somebody else on the way.
By the time Niall got to the table, he was honestly expecting the very worst, like, somebody already puking on the table or something, but as he arrived, they all looked pretty sober and also… terribly familiar.
For just a second, Niall almost forgot he was at work and not at uni having walked up to the wrong table in the cafeteria and he wanted to turn around, just leave and ask someone else to take that damned table that apparently nobody wanted for different reasons. Niall’s heart was beating fast as he met Harry’s eyes, somehow still glad about him being here though because if he hadn’t, Niall would have probably just been staring at the boy sitting next to Harry.
Reason number one why Niall was trying to avoid Harry as much as possible, he was one of Liam’s best friends. Although, maybe not BEST friend, because Niall was pretty sure that at least Louis didn’t know Liam because then he would have surely asked Niall about the stupid fight their families were in and along with it about the blonde’s crush.
“Um, hi, what can I-“
“Oh, Niall? Didn’t know you worked here.” Harry seemed genuinely surprised but he also smiled, of course bringing his friends’ attention on Niall as well while the blonde almost broke his pen trying not to look at Liam. Never ever had they been this close and it was probably also the first time that Liam had ever looked at him as well and oh god, Niall was going to die.
“Yeah, I… I do.” Niall probably sounded like an idiot, so he pretended to clear his throat, just wanting to get it over with. Liam or his friends had never been in here before, or at least never during Niall’s shifts and the thought of them coming back more frequently was both scaring the hell out of the blonde but also getting him strangely excited. “Did you already, uh, have a look, or… “
They all ordered one after the other, none of them appearing to be drunk at all but Niall could barely pay any attention because the very last person having to order was Liam and the blonde’s heart pretty much stopped when their eyes met for the split of a second. Of course he had heard Liam’s voice before, but never directed at him and while looking like a fucking Greek god.
“I’ll just get the same as my friend. Thanks.” He briefly pointed towards Harry with his thumb and Niall almost forgot to nod as he probably only wrote down nonsense on his notepad because he actually wouldn’t have even had to write anything at all with them getting the same thing.
After that, Niall just awkwardly started to walk away, a bit faster when he heard one of them asking Harry about how they knew each other because he definitely did not want to hear the answer. He knew Harry wasn’t saying anything bad about him, that he was probably really nice and all, but the whole situation was just so messed up that Niall could barely stand thinking about it. Also, the fact that Louis was probably a lot closer to meeting Liam than the blonde had realized wasn’t really helping either.
He had known that Harry and Liam were good friends, but… he hadn’t known they were ‘Saturday night let’s go get dinner together’ friends. Just like that, things had gotten like 10 times more complicated than they had already been.
Did Liam even know who Niall was? Or did he simply ignore his family’s existence? Honestly, Niall wasn’t even sure which one he would have preferred, for Liam to actually despise him in secret or for him to simply care so little that he wouldn’t have ever spent a single thought on him. Maybe the second, actually, because at least then his feelings would have been neutral, right? And it’s not like they would have ever become friendly anyways.
Niall was so nervous after that encounter, he almost messed up two other orders, dreading the moment when he would have to go back to that table. Fuck, why did Liam come here with his friends anyways? It was a rather cheap place and the blonde was pretty sure Liam’s family had more than enough money to eat at posh places and stuff. Then again… fuck, Niall had never talked to Liam before and as pathetic as it sounded, that was surely the highlight of his month. Or maybe even his year.
Since it was so busy, each order took a bit longer and once Niall finally returned with the food after already having made a fool of himself a few minutes ago mixing up the drinks, he actually managed to fucking have a French fry drop onto Liam’s lap. “Oh my god… sorry, I didn’t-“
“It’s fine, don’t worry.” Liam simply shrugged, eating the fry anyways but Niall was pretty sure his face had never been this blotchy and red and gross looking. He needed to go, right at this second.
Without looking anybody in the face, especially not Liam or Harry, Niall made sure to walk away again as quickly as possible, not saying the usual things he normally would because he honestly didn’t care if those guys needed something or not. Surely, they’d be better off not getting it at all instead of having Niall spilling it on their laps.
Needless to say, it was a really long two more hours. Niall avoided the table as much as possible, so much in fact that another one of his coworkers noticed and the blonde was finally forced to go back, keeping his head down while internally praying that Harry wouldn’t find any of this noteworthy enough to tell his boyfriend. Who was Niall kidding though?
Shortly before the place closed down, Niall was forced to go back so they could pay and before he could have asked whether they wanted to split the bill or something, Liam had already gotten out his credit card and the blonde was dying inside. “I’ll pay for everything.”
“Um… okay.” Right, out of all the weird things that had happened, holding Liam’s fucking credit card with his name imprinted on the front was on the number one spot. Niall almost dropped that as well because his heart was beating so damn fast he could actually hear the blood rushing in his ears.
Actually, Niall never considered whether Liam was going to give him any tip or not, but he did after having paid, making it seem like nothing special of course but his fingers brushed Niall’s hand for like 0.2 seconds and the blonde kinda forgot to thank him because he was so fucking flashed by what was happening. Okay, if Liam hadn’t hated him already, he surely hated him now thinking Niall was being really rude or something.
“How long do you still have work for?” It was Harry who asked for whatever reason, right before they left and Niall had still been busy getting their empty glasses while paying the minimum amount of attention. Liam had fucking touched his hand, only shortly and on pure accident but… that didn’t change the fact that he had still done it.
“Um… 10 minutes or so.” Luckily Niall didn’t have to stay longer today to help preparing for the next day and those guys had pretty much been the last people who he had been serving, but in all honesty… tonight he wouldn’t have even cared.
“How are you getting home?” Okay what the hell? Why did Harry care about that, they barely even knew each other?
“The bus?” Niall made it sound like a question because he was a bit overwhelmed with this whole situation and while being hyper aware of Liam still being so close, putting on his jacket and fuck, why was he so good looking?
“I can wait for you and drive you if you want, the others can go with Liam.” What?!
“I, um… I’m good, I… I always take the bus.” What was Harry’s deal, honestly? Was that the real reason why Louis always wanted Niall to hang out with them? Because Harry was really desperate to be nice to Niall or whatever? Or maybe he felt guilty for spending so much time with Louis? But that was ridiculous, they were all grown ups. “Thanks though… “
“Okay, well… see you around.” Harry smiled and the blonde tried to return it before he made sure to walk away without having thrown another look at Liam, as much as he had wanted to.
After like a minute, Niall had already forgotten about Harry because all he could think about was how he had spent the last two years staring at Liam from a distance and then within two hours they had literally spoken and looked at each other AND Liam had accidentally touched him. Not like Niall was going to get anything out of it, but it would still be everything he’d be thinking about for the next few weeks probably.
Niall took way longer than usually changing his shirt and getting his bag and everything, but it’s not like it mattered because he always had to wait ages for the bus anyways. Of course there were a ton of messages from Louis that Niall briefly scrolled through without actually opening them because he wasn’t quite sure if he’d manage to have a normal conversation now after everything that had happened.
While walking out of the restaurant and looking for his headphones in his bag, Niall wasn’t paying a lot of attention to his surroundings, still lost in thoughts while actually considering never washing his hand again or spend those five pounds Liam had given him. So of course, he flinched terribly upon somebody saying his name.
“Niall.” It was Harry, AGAIN, but on his own this time and the blonde almost dropped his phone upon seeing him, like… had he actually waited for him? Why would he do that?
“Um… hi.” Niall slowed to a stop, not knowing what was going on because he had always kinda assumed Harry had no real interest in spending any time with him either, which had been really convenient for the blonde, but apparently… that wasn’t even the case.
“Sorry, didn’t wanna scare you. I just saw the bus will take like half an hour to get here and Liam drove the others so I thought maybe you’d change your mind.” Okay, this was like, a little bit creepy? Why was Harry so keen on getting Niall into his car and was Niall paranoid for actually questioning his motives?
“Uh… you really didn’t have to wait.” Was all the blonde said instead of immediately saying no because he had no bloody idea how to make Harry believe that he enjoyed sitting at the bus stop until 1.40 am.
“It’s fine, don’t worry, you’re Lou’s best friend and we’ve never properly talked to each other, so I thought… the least I could do was drive you home when I gotta go that direction anyways.” He knew where Niall lived?! “But you don’t have to, obviously.”
“No, I, um… thanks.” How could Niall have said no, honestly? Especially while Louis probably knew about this already and the blonde really didn’t wanna have to explain himself to his best friend tomorrow morning. “But only if… if it’s really no trouble, I-“
“Not at all, I wouldn’t have asked otherwise.” Somehow Harry seemed terribly happy about that decision and Niall was really weirded out by it but he tried to put a somewhat neutral expression on his face as he followed the other boy across the parking lot.
Niall had already seen Harry’s car before, it was kinda old and rusty, which was completely fine of course because barely anyone Niall knew owned a car. Well… Liam had a really fucking expensive car, but Niall didn’t officially know him and he had only seen his car because the parking lot at their university wasn’t very big and Liam’s really stood out. Just like he himself did.
“So… how often do you work here?” Okay, Harry seemed to be the kind of person to ask unnecessary questions in order to make small talk, but Niall didn’t really mind right now, he was still busy thinking about everything that had happened tonight. They were in Harry’s car now and the other boy was pulling out of his parking space while the blonde was still busy ignoring his phone because he didn’t know what to tell Louis.
“Two times a week usually, sometimes a bit more often if I have time.” Or if he needed money, but why would he tell Harry that? Sure, it would have been uncomfortable not to have a conversation while Harry was driving, but then again, it wasn’t very far anyways. “Um, I live in-“
“Yeah, yeah, I know, Louis told me.” Okay… so what had Louis NOT told his boyfriend? “I mean, this sounds super creepy, we just drove past your house once so he told me.”
“Oh, okay… “ What else was Niall supposed to say? He could barely focus on anything, he was actually seconds from asking Harry about Liam, which he really couldn’t do because he didn’t want anyone to find out about the feud between their families. Or… or maybe he aleady knew? What would Niall know about that, right? “Louis said that… that you work at some bakery?”
“Yeah, I do, usually before uni, but not every day because it gets really tiring getting up at 4 in the morning.” Harry laughed and Niall didn’t try to join but he managed a smile before looking back out the window, trying to remember the last time he had actually sat in a car. “Actually, I was gonna ask you a question.“
“Um, okay?” Niall had no idea what Harry was planning on asking, he was just hoping it wasn’t about Niall hanging out with him and Louis or something.
“I was just wondering, before in the restaurant, like… do you know Liam or something?” Oh…. God…
“I… N-No?” Fuck, Niall’s heart was beating so fast again all of a sudden and his hands were getting sweaty and thank god it was kinda dark in the car and Harry had to focus on the street. “Why… why would you, uh, think that?”
“I don’t know, just seemed like you knew each other or something and as if you were a bit nervous… that wasn’t because of me though, was it?” Now Harry sounded worried and Niall genuinely wondered if he should have maybe just told Harry it had been him so the questions about Liam would stop.
“No… I was just, like… surprised to see you is all… “ That wasn’t a lie now, was it?
“Okay, good. I know that… you know, maybe it’s kinda weird, because I know how long you’ve known Louis for and me and you have never really had much to do with each other, but it’d really be cool if we all hung out once a while.” Right, this was what Niall had been afraid of, he didn’t wanna like Harry or be friends with him, it’d all just be super weird. “Unless you don’t want to, that’s of course fine as well.”
“Yeah, I, um… I mean… I was really busy with uni and work and… “ And with Liam, but that was a whole other topic. “But we… we can do that… sometime… “
“Okay, great.” Harry sounded genuinely happy about that, he threw a smile into Niall’s direction that the blonde barely caught, already somehow regretting his answer a bit. Then again… maybe this had been bound to happen, right?
Harry stopped the car in front of Niall’s house a few minutes later and the blonde made sure to thank him as he grabbed a hold of his bag and opened the car door, about to climb out of the vehicle when the other boy stopped him all of a sudden.
“Actually… I know Louis was gonna ask you anyways, but I’m having a party at my place next Friday, so… I’d be happy if you wanna come.” He seemed to genuinely mean it, which made all of this even more difficult for Niall, so he simply nodded before fully getting out of the car, throwing the door shut before Harry was able to invite him to any more events.
The blonde’s head was spinning a bit when he finally got home, trying to be as quiet as possible because his parents would have killed him if he had woken them in the middle of the night. Niall went straight to his room, changing his clothes because showering would have been way too loud and even brushing his teeth with walls that thin was pushing the limit.
Niall really tried to purposely not think about Liam anymore while getting ready for bed even though it was kinda incredibly hard. By the time the blonde was finally in bed he decided to at least send Louis an answer to his last text message because he already felt somewhat bad for ignoring him for this long.
Louis 01:16 am
Omg can you let harry drive you home so you guys can finally get to know each other
Of course Harry had told Louis he was waiting for Niall to come outside, the blonde had to actually resist rolling his eyes to himself as he briefly texted back, at the same time feeling a bit bad about this whole situation. Maybe he really should have tried harder, but then again, this was Louis’ relationship and it had nothing to do with Niall.
To Louis 01:35 am
He’s alright I guess. Did you manage to hand in the assignment on time?
There was no need to go into detail because the blonde was 100% convinced that Harry was going to talk to Louis on the phone as soon as he got home, so he rather spent his time with his favorite activity ever, checking all of Liam’s social media before going to bed. Maybe it was really stupid, for Niall to be happy about Liam instagramming the food he had eaten before, but it felt oddly exciting to know that he had touched the plate before.
Niall did feel a bit pathetic when he finally put away his phone an hour later, after having a non-planned discussion with Louis about this stupid party and Liam Payne posting a bed selfie, but the blonde was so tired by that point that he managed to fall asleep without too much worrying.
----------------
“You have to come though, I already told Harry you’d come.” Louis was being a real pain in the arse about this whole party thing, not having stopped talking about it for almost a week now and the more he mentioned it, the less did Niall wanna go.
“You told him I’d come before you ever even asked me.” Not that Niall had any proof, but he knew Louis better than the back of his own hand. “Besides, it’s not like there aren’t gonna be enough people, you don’t even need me there.”
“It’s not about me needing you, I just want you and Harry to get along.” They did get along though, all week Niall had been forced to interact with Harry on campus because apparently getting into his car had made them official friends or something. “Also… you never go to any parties.”
“So?” It was true, but that was more because Niall never really got invited anywhere. He and Louis used to go out with their other friends when Harry hadn’t existed, but… “I don’t even like parties.”
“Okay, fine then… can you just do me the favor then? Please? Just one time, Nialler.” Now Louis was begging, which was ridiculous because it was Friday night and Niall had been lying in bed thinking about watching a movie when his friend had called just to whine.
“I don’t even know where Harry lives.” And Louis was already on his way there so they couldn’t go together anymore, right?
“I can come pick you up and we just go together, it’s fine if we’re a bit late, there’s already a ton of people there anyways.” Fuck. “Please? C’mon, I’ll be at your house in 15 minutes, okay?”
“I… gotta help my mom with something, I-“
“Your mom isn’t even home, nice try.” Both of Niall’s parents usually worked really late, especially his mother because she had two jobs which of course had always left Niall pretty much to himself even when he had been a child. To be honest though, he wasn’t sure if he had ever really enjoyed all the freedom because with it had also come loneliness. “See you in 15 minutes.”
“Lou-“
The older boy had simply hung up on Niall and the blonde cursed him under his breath as he dropped his phone on the mattress, forcing himself to get up out of bed to change his clothes. The thing was, Niall was almost 100% sure that Liam was going to be at this party and even though he made time to watch him play football, he didn’t necessarily wanna be at the same party as him. One, he wasn’t gonna be able to stare at him anyways and two, he was very well aware that Liam had a lot of admirers that seemed to be getting a lot more confident when they were drunk, so three, seeing Liam make out with people wasn’t really Niall’s idea of a good Friday night.
Now that Louis was gonna come over though the blonde didn’t have much choice anymore, so he put on some decent clothes and did his hair for like 5 minutes before his friend already texted him that he was outside. Of course Niall’s family knew Louis, but he couldn’t be mad at the older boy for trying to avoid them as much as possible.
“Dad, I’m going out.” The blonde called out as he walked down the stairs while putting on his jacket, extra slowly because Louis wasn’t gonna die from waiting a bit longer, was he?
“Take your keys.” Was all his father replied from somewhere in the living room and Niall spared himself an answer because if he hadn’t taken his keys, he simply wouldn’t have gotten back inside the house.
It was about 9 pm or something and already dark, which wasn’t really all that convenient because Niall had no idea how to get back home and he couldn’t afford a taxi so that was going to be a problem if he forgot the way. Maybe Niall should have also put more thoughts on his appearance but it’s not like it mattered, right?
“Just know I hate you for this.” Was the first thing Niall said after walking out of the front door and finding Louis sitting on the porch steps, not really looking like he had spent a lot of time picking out his clothes either so that was good.
“Why? You said you like Harry.” Louis was making fun of him now, still pulling Niall into a half hearted hug that the blonde didn’t return because he was pretending to be pissed off. Truth was, he was actually kinda terrified. “And he likes you too by the way.”
“Wow, thanks, I was so afraid he wouldn’t.” Of course it was sarcasm, Louis snorted next to the blonde but Niall didn’t bother turning his head while they were walking down his street. “How far away is it then?”
“A few bus stations, not that far.” Considering how tiny this town was, a few bus stations could mean anything, but Niall refrained from sighing out loud. Louis hadn’t dragged him out of the house after all and maybe, just maybe, Niall did wanna go to the party a little bit. “Harry will be really glad you came, he actually… you know, he thought you really hated him for a while.”
“Why would I hate him? We never really spoke.” God, Harry really was obsessed with being Niall’s friend, wasn’t he? “Why’s he want us to get along so badly anyways?”
“I think he feels bad because…. because he knows how long we’ve known each other and that we… that we spent a lot more time together before I met him.” Now Louis sounded guilty as well and Niall tried to ignore that because he wasn’t in the mood for a sentimental conversation. “But also, he does genuinely like you and he wants you guys to get along because you know… I guess… me and Harry will stay together.”
“You wanna marry him or something?” Though Niall made it sound like a joke, he actually panicked quite a bit inside because they hadn’t even been together for THAT long and now Louis was already thinking about forever?
“I don’t know, not for a few years, but like… I never met anyone like him.” Louis had been in a few relationships before, which had all been a whole lot more serious than Niall’s and it’s not like Niall had never had a longer lasting one, but that was already years in the past.
For a moment, Niall tried to think of answer but then he stayed quiet because it actually didn’t matter what he thought about all of this, if Louis was happy then that was fine and there was no need to add on to it. It was clear for everyone to see that they got along well and maybe Niall would really have to try and just accept the fact that the times where he and Louis had both been single and done whatever they wanted were long over.
Louis held true to his word, Harry’s house really wasn’t that far away and Niall was kinda really relieved once they arrived and he saw how many people there were. Honestly, he hadn’t known Harry was that popular at uni but then again, he was friends with Liam so of course that sort of made him someone as well.
Niall was half afraid that his brother was here, or any of his friends, but then again, it’s not like they would have come up to the blonde anyways. So Niall stayed with Harry and Louis for a while before talking to some people he knew from various classes once the other two started making out and then seemed to disappear altogether. Honestly, what was the point though in getting angry about that?
The blonde had maybe been here for two hours, not having seen Liam and having had only one beer that he couldn’t feel whatsoever, when he already thought about leaving again because it actually seemed like every single person here was drunk. If he left now then maybe he would still catch the last bus and would spare himself walking for at least 45 minutes or maybe even longer because he wasn’t quite sure anymore where he actually was.
Walking out of the front door which no one seemed to have bothered closing anymore after a while, Niall could still hear the music and voices from inside, which actually made him wonder whether the police was going to show up here any second. There was some guy loudly throwing up in the bushes next to the porch, so Niall made sure not to look, pulling up Google maps on his phone instead to maybe get home a bit more quickly.
“Hey, um, Niall?” Upon hearing his name, Niall almost got annoyed, thinking it was Harry or Louis asking him to stay with sad puppy eyes, but as he stopped and turn around, Niall’s mouth simply dropped open as he stared right into Liam’s face. “This is super weird, but… can I maybe borrow your phone?”
“I… “ Niall didn’t know what to say, he wasn’t even sure if he could have said anything if he had wanted to. Apparently the guy throwing up in the bushes was Liam’s friend and… wait, Liam knew his name?! He knew Niall’s fucking name and he wanted to… have his phone?!
“Mine’s out of battery and, uh… my friend puked on his and I gotta call him a taxi, so… “ What?!
“I… okay… “ The blonde still hadn’t managed to blink just once, he mindlessly handed his already unlocked phone to Liam, who had just spoken to him randomly for the second time ever, looking as if he had walked straight out of a photoshoot and he could have asked the blonde for anything right now. Was this really happening?
“Thanks.” When Liam smiled, even if just barely, the whole world seemed to stop and Niall was just staring at this point, watching the brunette talking on HIS phone without even understanding a single word. Actually, when Liam tried handing the phone back to him, Niall didn’t even manage to react immediately. “Thank you, really. Would it, like… be a problem if you waited for a moment until it gets here? The guy said he’d call again and… I’m kinda scared he’ll never show up or something.”
“No… I mean… I can… wait.” Okay, Niall sounded like he didn’t know how to talk coherently all of a sudden, it’s just… what?!
“Thanks.” Then he smiled again before leaning down to rub his friends back who was now just groaning, looking completely out of it but at least he had stopped throwing up. Not like Niall would have still been disgusted now because he could barely think straight anymore, just mindlessly staring at Liam while standing there like a fucking idiot.
How exactly had this happened? And… why was Liam talking to him like they knew each other and stuff? Did he know who Niall was after all? And if he did then why was he being so calm about this whole situation and just randomly asking Niall for his phone? Then again, barely anyone else was outside and they were all drunk and Liam had seemed desperate to call for a taxi, but…
So they waited, for about ten minutes before the taxi driver called again and Niall wordlessly handed the phone back to Liam, who hadn’t really looked or talked to him during the last few minutes. This was just feeling surreal, Niall couldn’t actually believe he was really here right now and that Liam’s fingers were brushing his hand again as he handed back the phone once more.
“Thanks again.” Niall didn’t just leave, he actually watched Liam trying to help his friend get to his feet once the taxi stopped in front of the house and though Liam surely had muscles, he still struggled.
No idea what Niall was thinking, but he somehow automatically rushed to help the brunette, all of this feeling more like a movie than real life. Liam seemed rather thankful for the help and they managed to get his very drunken friend into the back before Liam talked to the driver, who didn’t seem very happy about taking a completely smashed guy home, but Niall was pretty sure he saw Liam handing over quite a bit of money.
“Are you not… going with him?” For some reason, Niall found the strength to speak up as soon as the taxi had driven off, a part of him knowing that he really should have left, that it was none of his damn business, but another part of him didn’t want this moment to end because it still didn’t feel real.
“No, I came with my dad’s car, so… “ Okay, so he had to drive it home and he couldn’t risk anybody throwing up inside, sounded pretty logical but Niall had no idea why he had even asked.
“Okay, uh… I gotta go.” Niall awkwardly nodded before simply turning around, possibly walking into the wrong direction, for about three steps when he realized that Liam was following him.
“I parked the car down the street.” The brunette explained with half a laugh when he noticed Niall looking at him over his shoulder and the blonde felt himself blushing as they somehow ended up walking next to each other, Niall’s heart beating so bloody fast he was afraid he was gonna hyperventilate.
None of them said a word for a moment and Niall somehow wished Liam would find the car soon but then he suddenly also wished that he’d never find it just so they could keep on walking next to each other. This was never going to happen again, just because they had talked this one time didn’t mean they ever would again, in a few minutes it’d be like none of this had ever happened and Niall was already feeling upset about that.
“So… thanks again.” Liam stopped all of a sudden, next to a pretty posh car and Niall slowed down a bit as he nodded, actually questioning now why Liam was already leaving the party to go home. Also, had he ever even gone inside?
“No problem.” The blonde tried to return the smile but it just felt really fake so he made sure to quickly keep on walking, hands buried in his jeans pockets, knowing he should have probably checked Google maps again, but he could do that once he had walked around that corner. Which he never actually did.
“Wait.” The brunette seemed to have not moved one centimeter as he called out and the blonde was more than confused as he stopped and turned back around. He could only see Liam in a poorly lit street light, but it still looked like he was having an inner conflict or something. “Do you like… need a ride?”
“I… what?“ No way, he was asking NIALL to sit in his dad’s car so he could… drive him home?!
“I mean… no offence, but do you know how to get home from here?” Was he mocking the blonde now?
“Yes…?” Or actually, no.
“Really? Because the bus stop is in the other direction.” The corners of Liam’s mouth actually twitched if Niall wasn’t mistaken and he wondered whether he had really heard Liam asking him if he needed a ride or not. “I can drive you though… if it’s not too weird. But you helped me out so I guess it’s the least I can do.”
Okay, but why did everyone suddenly wanna drive Niall home? First Harry and now… now Liam. Fuck, Niall knew this was so wrong and he knew that maybe Liam was just messing with him or something because there was just NO bloody way, but he couldn’t say no because he’d forever hate himself. “It’s… it’s not… weird.”
“Okay then.” Liam simply unlocked the car, going for the driver’s side and Niall stood there for another moment, just frozen on the spot before forcing himself to walk up to the passenger side, not knowing what to think or how to feel. He was getting into the same car with his bloody crush of two years who had never spoken to him before last week and now he was offering to drive him home. This was just too much. “Where do you live?”
Niall had barely gotten into the car, of course almost falling over as he tried to buckle himself in before telling Liam his address, kinda choking it out but he was just glad that he had remembered where he lived at all. The car even SMELLED expensive, or maybe that was just Liam or something because he surely smelled amazing as well whenever he moved the air.
“Alright… “ The brunette seemed to be talking to himself, for a moment actually about to enter the address into the GPS of the car before he suddenly hesitated, getting his phone out instead. “That would have been a long walk.”
“Um… I don’t know.” Niall answered truthfully, he actually doubted whether he would have ever gotten home at all, so…
This was so weird, like, maybe the weirdest thing that had ever happened to Niall in his entire life. He had a really hard time keeping his eyes off of Liam as the boy started the car, looking all confident and not at all as if he regretted having offered to drive Niall home. So did that mean that he didn’t actually hate the blonde? Or what if… what if he didn’t actually know who Niall was? Maybe he had just known his name because of when they had seen each other at the restaurant or something, maybe-
“So, you’re a friend of Harry, right?” Liam had barely kept a moment of silence between them but Niall had still managed to zone out for a second, his hand clenched around his phone and his heart beat actually distracting him from focusing on the conversation.
“I… I guess.” Niall wasn’t really sure and for some reason, it made Liam laugh momentarily. “He, uh… I only know him because of my best friend, he’s, um… Harry’s boyfriend.”
“Ah, right, Harry told me. The short one? This really is a small town.” Okay, what was that supposed to mean and why was Liam so bloody amused by all of this? “So you’re not actually Harry’s friend and you were just at the party to be nice?”
“Why… why would you think that?” What did Liam know? Even if he was right, then… he didn’t even know Niall or Louis and apparently, he also didn’t know Harry all that well.
“Because you left really early and you aren’t even a little bit drunk.” This was ridiculous, the fact that they were having this conversation, the two of them, in Liam’s dad’s car?
“You left really early as well and… you aren’t drunk.” To be fair, Liam had obviously had the intention of driving back home.
“Oh, I never went to the party, I just came because my friend that was puking in the bushes called me.” Wait… so Liam had jumped into a car in the middle of the night just to help out his friend who had gotten smashed at somebody’s party? Damn… so he was actually truly nice? “I would have driven him home, but I couldn’t find my car keys and if he pukes in my dad’s car… I wouldn’t ever be driving anybody again.”
“Right…” That bit sounded familiar, besides the fact that Niall didn’t even have a driver’s license and if he had had one, he surely wouldn’t have been allowed to ever borrow his parents’ car. “But… you’re friends with Harry, right?”
“’course. But I really had to work on something for uni tonight, so.” Liam shrugged a bit, which somehow reminded Niall to draw his eyes away from him as he desperately tried to calm himself down about all of this. They were talking to each other as if they were classmates at uni or something and Niall was actually quite surprised by how well he was doing talking to Liam all calmly and stuff. Well, not completely calmly of course, but he wasn’t stuttering or simply keeping quiet.
Neither of them spoke a word for a few minutes and Liam actually took a wrong turn but the blonde didn’t say anything, which kinda made him feel bad but then again, he could just pretend that he hadn’t recognized anything in the middle of the night. He didn’t want them to arrive at his house, didn’t want to get out of this car and for all of this to just go away or for Liam to start pretending again that he didn’t know Niall.
“You ever thought about joining the football team?” Liam asked as if he had just randomly thought about that and Niall almost dropped his phone.
“Um, no?” He certainly didn’t look like he was good at any sports, did he? He and Louis used to go to the gym last year but that had basically been it. “Why?”
“Just seen you on the stands a lot is all.” Oh fucking hell. “I thought maybe you wanted to try out for the team or something.”
“I… I just, uh… I like… sitting there.” And stare at Liam being all sweaty and blushed and… wait, he had actually noticed Niall being there all the time?! Great, now the blonde certainly couldn’t do that anymore either. “I’m not good at football.”
“Well, if you ever do wanna try out for the team then it’s a smart idea to let the captain drive you home.” It was clearly a joke, Liam laughed at himself and Niall joined for a second just because the other’s laugh was so contagious and holy shit, he never wanted to get out of this car again. “Nah, I’m kidding, but seriously… there’ll be a lot of free spaces next year, so if you change your mind… “
“I… I don’t know… “ Niall couldn’t, even if football had been his passion or something, because being on the bloody football team with Liam, constantly being around him and yet not actually being allowed to really talk to him and stuff because anybody could have seen would have been pretty stupid. Sure, Niall’s brother wouldn’t be at this uni anymore next year when Niall was a senior but… this was a small town and the fact that Liam seemed to think that it would be a good idea for them to be on the same team kinda worried the blonde that maybe Liam didn’t actually know who Niall was.
“’s fine if you don’t want to, I actually didn’t want to either, but my parents thought it’s important to do clubs and shit.” The complete opposite of Niall’s parents then, they actually hadn’t wanted Niall and his brother to go to uni at all. “But you’re probably really busy already working at that restaurant and stuff.”
“It’s… two times a week, so it’s alright.” Also Niall really needed the money so it wasn’t really a matter of being stressed out or not. “Sorry again for… the fries.”
“Don’t worry about it, they still tasted good.” Again, Liam let out a laugh and Niall couldn’t actually believe that he had made the brunette laugh so many times already. All of this felt more like a dream. A really, really good one though.
“Do you also have a job?” Niall just blurted out with it without really thinking about it, but Liam didn’t at all seem like he was trying to keep secrets or didn’t like any questions that were a bit more personal.
“I do, kind of, but… I work for my dad, sometimes… sort of.” Okay, this topic didn’t seem to be Liam’s favorite one and Niall could only guess why because he still didn’t even know whether Liam knew who he was. What if he actually didn’t and then he found out and would get angry at Niall or really start hating him? “Is that your street?”
“Yeah, you… you passed it.” Liam hadn’t waited for an answer, he had basically just driven past and Niall was really confused until the other boy suddenly stopped the car around the corner from the blonde’s street. Turning his head to look at him, Niall was even more confused to see Liam’s face looking kind of… apologetic?
“Is it fine if you walk home from here? I don’t think… that I should really stop that car in front of your house.” Niall actually needed ages to get it, he just blinked and kept staring dumbly at Liam until the other boy seemed to think he needed to explain himself. “I mean, I don’t know if your parents are awake or any of your neighbors, but… the car’s like… and you getting out of it… “
“Oh, right, yeah, I… I can walk from here, my house is right over there.” Niall’s face felt all flushed for not having gotten what Liam had been talking about for so long. Somehow though, he also felt somewhat relieved because apparently Liam did know who he was after all and yet he had still offered to drive the blonde home. “Thanks for… the ride and… yeah.”
“No problem. Thanks for letting me borrow your phone.” Liam smiled one more time, which almost caused Niall to hesitate before reaching for the door handle, but right when his fingers touched it, Liam surprised him a little bit, his voice sounding hesitant. “You, uh… you know who I am, right? And that our… our families-“
“I know.” Niall interrupted without thinking, only throwing a quick look back at Liam before pushing the door open, feeling slightly weird. “I won’t say anything.”
“Okay.” Was all Liam said and before the blonde could embarrass himself even further, he made sure to get out of the car and throw the door shut behind him, trying not to feel affected by how quickly Liam drove away. He had to be quick after all because if anybody would see them together…
Niall’s head was spinning as he walked home for like two minutes, already having a hard time believing that any of this had really happened. He could still smell Liam’s cologne though and he still heard his laugh if he really concentrated, and the way he had said Niall’s name before when the blonde had walked out of Harry’s house.
There were no messages on Niall’s phone when he got home, seeing his dad having fallen asleep in front of the TV, so he didn’t try to be all too quiet as he went upstairs to go have a shower. It felt a bit easier to think about it while standing under the hot water, helping the blonde to relax a tiny bit and stop worrying about Liam just messing with him because he wanted to ruin Niall’s life or something.
Liam was nice, he had driven to a party just to pick up his drunk friend and get him home safely and he had offered to drive Niall home even though they had never really talked and despite the fact that their families despised each other. Also, he had been talking completely normal in the car and for a moment there, Niall had almost had hopes that maybe, just maybe, they wouldn’t go back to ignoring each other.
Of course, the blonde’s wish wasn’t going to become reality because if anybody at uni saw them being friendly around each other somebody would tell someone else and then they were both dead. Or Niall would be at least, he had no idea how serious Liam’s family took this stupid fight, but in Niall’s home, the Payne’s were cursed at least three times a month ever since he could remember.
Lying in bed that night, Niall genuinely tried going to sleep without checking all of Liam’s social media, but then he still ended up doing it of course, for way longer than he had planned. It’s just… the brunette was constantly posting selfies and bits of his life, so how was Niall supposed to just ignore that?
He had a genuine crush on Liam since two years and it certainly had not gotten any better tonight, actually talking to him and seeing him laugh and being a nice person. If anything, and though Niall wouldn’t wanna change tonight’s events for anything in the world, he had just gotten himself into even deeper trouble.