Chapter Text
A very prominent, very disturbing, striking sound was what had Liam jolting awake from his quite uneasy sleep. For a second or two he had no idea what was even going on or where the hell he was, this was certainly not his bed, in fact, those also weren't his curtains because these blinds let way too much light into the room. A room that also didn't really seem very familiar to him.
Considering the loud, annoying peeping noise though, Liam needed longer than he usually would've to use his brain and slowly realize where he was and what was going on, his heart sank a little bit just to start bumping slightly faster than before as things started to make sense again, his tiredness quickly forgotten as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes.
Right, of course this wasn't his room, he was at his new dorm now, for the first night, it made sense that he didn't immediately remember after waking up, hell, he hadn't even fully unpacked yesterday. Yet still, there was one thing Liam was very aware of, and that was that this loud noise should definitely not have been here at 3 am in the morning. It was a fire alarm.
Trying to be quick, Liam pulled the sweatpants on that were lying crumbled up on the end of his bed, thankful that he had gone to sleep in a hoodie, so it only took him about a minute to grab his keys and phone, just in case, and slipping his shoes on before stepping out into the hallway.
The weirdest thing about being here was that Liam knew not a single person even if the hallway was packed with people who obviously all knew each other, not in panic though, even if the given situation would have maybe suggested that, they all seemed just as tired as Liam, but about ten times more annoyed.
"God, I wish they'd finally fix this fucking alarm, this is the third time this year." Liam heard someone say as he walked past them slowly, not very keen on directly looking at anybody or talking to them, sure he wanted to make friends, but not while looking like he probably did right now.
Things would've been a lot easier if he had gotten a room on the same floor as Louis or Zayn, but that's what happens when you change university in the middle of the semester, you get the left over room. Not that it was so bad or anything, Liam just wished he would've had someone near him who he knew, and not having to walk outside now between twelve other people who he had never seen before in his entire life.
It was quite cold outside, so Liam was happy for his rather warm clothes, well, at least compared to what everyone else was wearing who had gathered in front of the dorms, some girls in tank tops and shorts, Liam felt quite bad, but he just got onto his tiptoes a bit, trying to spot his friends between all these people. They had to be here somewhere, right?
Yelling wouldn't have helped either, seeing as everyone was talking and then the fire alarm still going off, even though clearly, there was no fire in this building, that's something Liam had figured out already as well, maybe it was like, a test, to see whether it worked in emergencies or something.
"Li! Hey! We're over here!" Thank god, Liam spun around quickly as he heard Louis' slightly amused voice just to see him and Zayn standing a few meters away with some other boy. A very naked looking one.
While approaching them, Liam tried to figure out who that blonde boy was, but he had no idea really, when he had come here yesterday, Louis and Zayn had shown him around a bit, introduced him to some people on their floor, but this kid had not been among them. "Hi, what's going on here? Is this normal?"
"Sounds like they're throwing a welcome party for you, Payno, and everyone came." Louis chuckled before his eyes fell onto this other boy again, who was now jumping up and down with his arms wrapped around his bare upper body, making his sweatpants slipping down even lower on his rather slim hips. Not that Liam had been looking.
"Shut the hell up, Lou, this is no time for jokes, you should be worried about who's gonna be your roommate once I die!" Alright, that blonde boy surely wasn't quiet or shy, he didn't seem as pissed off as cold though, Liam tried not to stare at him too much, but it was difficult when he was being so loud and jumping up and down like a madman. And anyways, what had he just said, was he really Louis' roommate? Why hadn't Liam known that?
"Come on, Niall, it's not even that cold." Louis teased, getting a glare that made him laugh once more as he brought his attention back to Liam, still with that smirk on is face that he always seemed to wear. "Besides, Liam could just be my roommate then."
"I, uh…" Well this was rather awkward, Liam threw a look at Zayn, who had been quiet for now, but he just shrugged instead of saying something, so Liam closed his mouth again, not knowing what to say, he didn't even know whether this Niall boy really was angry or just cold.
"So that's Liam? Why didn't you say that before?" All of a sudden, Niall stopped jumping up and down, automatically causing Liam to look at him again, seeing the goosebumps on his arms as he let them drop to his sides, exposing his whole, pale upper body. He was skinny, but his muscles were a bit defined, not too much though, it still caused Liam to feel a bit blushed because he had been staring, quickly looking up then to properly look Niall in the face. That didn't make anything better.
"I don't know, I wanted to introduce you two yesterday but you've been gone the whole evening." The fact that Niall knew about him made Liam feel slightly uncfomortable, not as much as realizing how long he had been staring at his face though, it's just, his eyes were disturbingly blue and his messy hair looked really good and-
"Well, we're just gonna meet now then. Hi, I'm Niall, I'm Louis' roommate since a month and he told me lots about you." And then, before Liam could even begin to comprehend this, Niall's facial expression changed a bit, there was a little smile suddenly that threw Liam slightly off track, not so much as the fact that Niall stepped forward and wrapped his arms around him though. Well…
"I, um… nice to… meet you?" Liam tried carefully, barely even noticing Louis and Zayn cracking up over Niall's shoulder, the boy didn't let go again like expected, in fact, he just kept holding on so Liam somehow automatically hugged back, loosely, because Niall was almost naked and Liam was pretending not to notice. Maybe that's how he treated everyone? Maybe he was just overly affectionate.
"Is it alright if I keep hugging you for a bit, 'm really gonna freeze to death or something." Oh, so it was just because Liam was warm, well, that was fine right, like, it felt a bit weird, to think that they'd stay like this, but what could Liam have done, said no?
"Um, sure…" He would've given the boy his hoodie, but he wasn't wearing anything underneath, so, Liam had no choice really but trying not to look too confused or uncomfortable, and definitely not at Louis because he was just laughing the whole time and sharing looks with Zayn. That was totally not how Liam had imagined his first night to go.
They had to stay out there for a while longer before the fire alarm stopped and the janitor came outside to explain it had just been to test whether it worked and everyone cussed a lot before slowly moving to go back inside, Niall's arms slipping from around Liam's middle after about ten minutes of hugging, it almost felt weird now as he let go, the same smile playing around his lips. "Thanks, mate. Now hopefully I won't get sick."
"Yeah, let's pray he won't, he's a pain in the ass when he's doing as much as coughing once." Louis chuckled before playfully bumping his elbow into Liam's ribcage as they made their way back inside, the other boy pretended it hadn't hurt but it kinda had a little bit, not that he noticed, he was too busy trying to not stare at Niall casually walking next to him without a shirt on.
"That's not even true! I was really sick a few days ago, alright?" Then he let out a huff, he hadn't sounded too annoyed, it was like, he and Louis were just teasing each other without really being serious, they seemed to be pretty good friends and Liam wondered when exactly that had happened. "Anyways, think I won't stay at our room tonight, Louis, now that I'm awake. I'll see you guys around."
"Play safe." All of this was more than questioning, especially Louis' wink after saying that and how Niall showed him his tongue before disappearing, for some reason Liam hoped that Niall wasn't doing what he thought the boy was up to, but then again, why would he care anyways? "You guys seem to get along, that's great, it'd suck if you didn't."
"We just…" Yeah what? Liam swallowed quickly, hoping his voice sounded rather normal as they entered the building again, he could still feel Niall's arms around him somehow, also could still smell the boy's shampoo, it was kinda weird, not that Liam was scared of touches or so, just… he didn't do it with strangers. "You never told me you had a roommate, Louis."
"I didn't?" He seemed genuinely surprised, thinking about it for a second before shrugging, his arm wrapping around Liam's shoulders casually, as if it wasn't in the middle of the night, as if they were just walking around a bit. "Must've forgotten. He's only been my roommate for a month anyways, but I like him, he's funny, and Zayn and Harry like him too."
Oh, so they were like… a group thing, now Liam felt weird, like, he had known Zayn and Louis since high school, they were his best friends, but they had gone to different unis for a few months, until yesterday of course. Liam had met Harry a few times too, he was Louis' boyfriend which had seemed quite weird to Liam at first because they had basically hit it right off, started dating after only a few weeks of knowing each other, but they were together and they were happy so Liam wasn't questioning anymore, he liked Harry anyways, he didn't live on campus though but with his family because this was his home town. "Yeah, um… I only just met him so… why's he your roommate?"
"Well, you know I had a single room like Zayn but then I met Niall and we got along well and he told me about his roommate who is an complete ass and that he couldn't find anyone who wanted to switch with him because his friends were all in double rooms as well, so I told him I could do it because I didn't mind, so yeah." He shrugged, they were almost on his and Zayn's floor now, which Liam kinda dreaded, he had class tomorrow, for the first time, he was slightly nervous since he didn't know anyone.
"What about Harry though? Like…" If Louis didn't have a room to himself anymore then they couldn't exactly … do anything with Niall sleeping next to them, could they?
"I sleep at Harry's house a lot, and Niall's not that often in our room anyways, he's got lots of friends and if they're busy then… let's just say, he knows a lot of people on a lot more private basis than normal." Oh.
"So before when he left, did he-"
"He's slept with the whole dorm." Zayn suddenly threw in, but he just shrugged as Liam's jaw dropped a little, it hadn't sounded like he was disgusted by it, it had been a simple statement.
"He didn't sleep with the whole dorm, Z, he slept with a few people, that's it. You know, he's the kinda cliché popular guy, which makes sense, 'cos he really is funny and nice, so, you're gonna like him too, Li." Well, Liam didn't mind if Niall slept around, he just felt a bit weird now, like… he didn't want to understand so clearly why everyone would like Niall, or sleep with him, because he looked very… yeah. Not that Liam would sleep with him, he just got why some people might find the idea appealing. "I'm gonna go head back to bed, see you guys tomorrow or so? Text me when your classes are over, Li, I can show you around."
"Alright, goodnight, Lou." The weight around Liam's shoulder disappeared as Louis took off while Liam and Zayn remained in the staircase for a second, Liam had thought Zayn would leave too but he waited for a bit instead, studying Liam's face before smiling slightly.
"I'm glad you decided to move here too, you know. I missed you." Immediately, Liam felt a whole lot better, the knots in his stomach loosened a little as he returned Zayn's smile, for a moment forgetting about all the things going on, he was just happy he was with his best friends again, this is what he should've been doing all along. "You okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine, just…" He didn't want to complain, but Zayn wouldn't have asked without a reason and he knew Liam well so the other boy shrugged a bit, running a hand through his hair as he lowered his eyes quickly. "I'm just a bit nervous, that's all, it's like… I gotta get used to being here first I guess."
"You do. And you'll be fine, Li, don't worry about it, and you got me and Louis, right? It's gonna be great to have all of us back together, you'll see." Yeah all of them and Harry, which was perfectly fine, but Liam was slightly worried about Niall for some reason, he didn't know what it was, it wasn't that he judged the boy for having fun, it was something else and Liam couldn't put his finger on it.
"Yeah… thanks, Zayn. I'll go back to bed I think, see you tomorrow?" Now that Liam felt better maybe he could get a few hours of sleep, it'd be nice if this fire alarm wasn't a normal thing here because he wasn't a very heavy sleeper anyways, it took him hours to just drift off.
"Alright, sleep well, Li. Good luck for tomorrow." Zayn pulled him in a hug before he left Liam in the staircase, only for a few seconds though because it was weird being here in the middle of the night when everyone else had gone back to their rooms, so Liam hurried up two more floors, relieved that he hadn't forgotten to take his keys.
It had been a weird day all along, he still had to do some unpacking tomorrow, after classes of course, he didn't want to immediately text Zayn and Louis once he was done, like, he didn't mind being by himself for a while and also, he didn't want to rely on them too much either, they had a lot more friends here than Liam probably, his fault for only changing universities now.
Still, it was comforting to be around his best friends again, and to know that they were somehow happy about Liam being there too, it helped him falling back asleep a little while later, though it was gonna be a short night, Liam appreciated every minute he got.
——————
"Alright everyone, you can leave, don't forget the homework that's due by next week. And Payne, a word?" Finally, the last class of the day was over, Liam felt a bit weird as the professor spoke to him in front of everyone, but he still nodded anyways before stuffing his things back into his bag, slowly making his way to the front then from his seat in the back, waiting for the classroom to clear out of the other students. "So, how was your first day?"
"Good, thank you, sir." Well, it hadn't been that great, but Liam had enjoyed most of the classes and though he hadn't really talked to anyone besides two people to ask for the way, he didn't mind too much, he hadn't been friends with a lot of people at his old uni either, it was fine.
"Okay, so, I just wanted to make sure to let you know that I've read some of your stuff and I must say, I'm very happy to have you here, I think if you keep this up then you're gonna have great chances of being able to do just what you want after uni. And if you have any questions or whatever, don't be shy to ask, alright?" Okay, this was a lot better than Liam had expected, he was able to smile a bit, feeling proud of himself, even if maybe that was stupid but he sometimes got a bit worried and so it was nice to hear this. And on his first day too.
"Thank you so much." Maybe moving had had more good sights than Liam had thought, he said goodbye to his professor, almost taking his phone out to text Zayn or Louis right away, or both, but he settled for leaving it in his pocket instead, readjusting the strap of his backpack a bit, just enjoying that all his classes were over for the day and that none of his worst fears had come true.
The campus was really big, the building alone was massive, but then they had all these extra extensions and the dorms and a really big sports field and Liam was sure he would still see new things here even after a week. Louis and Zayn had shown him around a bit yesterday, which hadn't helped very much today when he had been looking for the right rooms, so he decided to simply look around by himself for a while, he could still text his friends later, no need to be overly clingy.
Since it was a rather nice and sunny day, a lot of people were outside, studying or just for the sake of it, also a few faces that Liam had seen in his classes today or in the hallways of the dorm, it would've been a good day to socialize probably, since he'd have to do it at some point, but Liam then decided that it could wait, tomorrow in class maybe, not now.
So instead of sitting down somewhere or trying to make some friends, he just walked around the campus for a while, trying to remember the way so he would find back later but he probably wouldn't. He also considered calling his mum but decided against it, he could still do that tonight, plus he had seen her just yesterday so there was nothing new to talk about really.
When Liam found himself at the sports field he considered turning around and going back, but there were quite a few people sitting in the stands doing whatever even if the football team was having a training so Liam decided he could sit there as well. He had nothing to do after all, he could just look through his books and see whether he had studying to do for any of his classes and if he was behind. It'd be nicer to do it here anyways than in his dorm room where he still had unpacking to do, he had the whole evening to do that, maybe Louis or Zayn would come hang out a bit later, but Liam didn't want to ask just yet.
For a while, he just watched the football team training and listened to their trainer yelling at them, they were a bit further away so Liam couldn't really see their faces or anything and once they started running laps he was too busy with this one book that he didn't even notice them anymore, also not when they all started leaving the field because they were done. Well, all but one.
Liam did kinda see him from the corner of his eyes but he had no idea who it was, a football player, yes, but Liam never considered that he might know him, or that he himself was the reason why the other guy was stepping from bench to bench just to get up to Liam. It was only when he dropped down right next to him that Liam flinched so much he almost dropped the book. What the hell, who even… oh. "Hey, Payno. What's up?"
It was Niall, in full gear, his face was dirty and sweaty from the training, some hair sticking to his forehead, but he was smiling brightly, and his nose was red, it looked a lot like a sunburn which was honestly the last thing Liam was worried about though, he was way too surprised. "I, um, hi… nothing, I guess… how do you… know my last name? And my nickname?"
"From Louis and Zayn of course." He laughed and it sent shivers down Liam's spine for some reason, he felt a bit intimidated next to Niall and he had no idea why, he wasn't normally like this, but this boy was just so smily and bubbly and straight forward. Also, last night… "So, did you watch the training?"
"Not really, I was just… reading." Wow, that sounded boring, but then again, why would Liam care if Niall got bored, he didn't even know him at all, also, he didn't really look like a football player when he wasn't wearing all this stuff, like not that Liam was able to remember last night that well, but.
"Oh. Well, maybe you should still try out for the team." Wait, what?
"Um, I'm not really into team sports…" Not at all actually, Liam had never played any sports really, the only thing he had done once a while was playing footie with Louis and he went for runs, but by himself. "Not sure if I'd qualify anyways."
"Sure, you would, you look like you do lots of sports." Had that been a compliment? Liam didn't want to turn his head to check, he just snorted before taking his backpack to slip his book back inside, just to have something to do with his hands. "I'm being serious though. I mean we're not that good anyways, I just do it for fun, we all are besides our trainer, he's nuts." Niall let out a laugh, licking his lips as Liam accidentally looked over, quickly pretending to be staring at something completely else. "Maybe you wanna think about it though, it's also a good way to get to know more people and since you're new, you know."
"Yeah, I… I'm gonna think about it." For about five seconds and those were over already, so…
"Awesome." For some reason, Niall really did seem to think that this was awesome, he put his hand on Liam's shoulder suddenly, a bit too hard, but he let go really quickly again before jumping back to his feet, he seemed to have a bit too much energy. "So, I'm going back to the dorms, are you going too?"
Well, Liam had no idea what else he was gonna do or how long he had even sat here, plus he was nodding before even thinking about it and Niall's smile was way too big as to say no, so he slowly got up as well, slinging his backpack over one shoulder while watching Niall jumping from one bench to the other down the stands. He was like a child a bit, he was having way too much fun while doing this, or maybe he was just one of those people who were always happy and always laughing, he probably was, judging by what Louis and Zayn had said about him last night, it'd fit really well. Had he really slept with so many people?
"Sorry for looking like this, I'm probably really smelly too." He laughed yet again once Liam had come back down as well, shrugging a bit because he hadn't noticed anything, his mind was somewhere else and anyways, it'd be kinda weird to agree or to say no. "So what are you majoring in?"
"Journalism." Hadn't he said Louis had told him so much about Liam? If it hadn't been the usual then WHAT exactly had he told Niall? "Um, you?"
"Maths." Well that was a surprise, Liam actually looked over to check Niall's face as they were walking next to each other, to see whether he had been joking, but his face was suddenly serious, so Liam didn't wanna jump to conclusions and think that someone who did football and was popular couldn't be good at maths.
"Oh, well, that's great, I… I suck at maths." He really did, Liam didn't think he was good at anything besides writing really, so it was convenient that his professor had told him he was somewhat good before because he really didn't know anything else to do.
"Yeah, me too." Niall sighed before suddenly looking right at Liam's face and bursting out into laughter, like really loud too, a few people walking past even stared at them, even more when Niall punched Liam's shoulder playfully. "I was just joking, you should've seen your face. I'm majoring in psychology, I'm not that good though and I know what you're probably thinking now and let's just say… you're right."
"I… what am I thinking?" Liam had no idea really, he also didn't know when Niall had become a mind reader, he actually found it was pretty cool that the other boy was majoring in psychology, but of course he didn't say that.
"That I'm lazy and that I don't study, and it's kinda true, I mean, I'm not that good at concentrating on things for too long, you know. Like not that I have anything or so, it's just me." He shrugged, suddenly waving at someone fifty meters away or so, smiling brightly at that person too, as if they could see him that well from that distance.
"I wasn't thinking that." That wasn't even a lie, Liam had been thinking nothing at all besides that he felt slightly weird for walking next to Niall when everyone knew the blonde boy and greeted him and smiled at him and then they looked at Liam and seemed to be confused, he couldn't even blame them. "I mean… you're good at football, so that's something."
"You weren't even watching!" His laugh was so bright, it almost caused Liam to crack a small smile, but he settled for lowering his eyes a bit instead, he knew why Niall was being so nice to him, one, he apparently was nice to everyone, but then two, he knew that Louis was Liam's best friend so that kinda made sense. Maybe Louis had told him that Liam didn't have so many friends and that Niall should go and be nice to him, hopefully that wasn't the reason though, that'd be awkward.
"You got on the team though." Liam defended himself, not knowing why exactly they were even having this conversations, but Niall had kinda forced it to happen, not Liam's fault.
"Almost everyone gets on the team, as long as you can run a round around the field." Chuckling, Niall waved yet at someone else, they were almost at the dorms now and Liam thought about whether he really wanted to go inside yet, he kinda had to while Niall was there, but he could maybe leave again as soon as the other boy was gone. "But thanks anyways for the complement, I'd rather be good at something else though. Something useful. Like maths."
Well, Liam couldn't really help him with that, he also didn't know what to say so he stayed quiet, which turned out to be no problem because they were already entering the building and walking towards the staircase, a few more people passing them by who probably were Niall's friends, they all said something to him, smiled, it was a bit weird, he really did seem to know the whole campus.
"What's your room number?" Maybe he was just asking so it wouldn't get awkward if they stayed silent, probably.
"546. Why?" Liam couldn't help but ask, it felt a bit weird that Niall would ask this, but the other boy just shrugged anyways, running his fingers through his still sweaty looking hair, smiling once again. He had a very nice smile, that was undeniable, also that his looks were very distracting, Liam could admit that to himself, even if he was secretly embarrassed for even thinking that.
"Just asking." So he had just asked to be polite because he shrugged and Liam got it, it was fine, it probably really had been Louis who had set Niall up to do this, who knows. "Okay, so, my room's over there, as you probably know. I'll go have a shower, but you know, if you ever need anything or so, and Zayn and Louis aren't around you can come to me, yeah? See you around!"
"Okay, I… thanks, Niall. See you." The problem was, Niall really was nice, he waved at Liam with a smile before walking away, but this whole thing had really just been more than strange, like… how had Niall even seen Liam from where he had had training? Maybe while running past or something, but then the fact that he had decided to come up so they could talk, like even if Louis had told him to be friendly to Liam, Niall could've just left without Liam noticing. Or maybe that was just him, considering he had greeted every person walking past, maybe tomorrow it'd be someone else, probably.
Liam decided to go to his room after a second of considering it, now that he was here he could as well start to unpack and maybe decorate his room a bit, surely that'd help to familiarize himself with the place. It's not that he hated it so much here, he just sometimes had a bit of trouble with change in his life. Good thing he had had two really big ones within a few months.
Still, being here was already better than at his old uni, so Liam decided to look at it from this view as he walked past a few people on his floor talking, he thought about saying hi but then didn't do it because they seemed to be really into their conversation and he didn't want to come off as weird.
His room was really small, which wasn't the problem really, the bigger problem was that the showers and toilets were on the hallways, unlike in his old dorm where he had only shared them with one other person, but Liam would live probably, Louis and Zayn had gotten used to it, he would too. Plus this seemed like a very small price to pay if in return he felt better all around.
Before he did anything about the stuff in his room that still didn't have a place, Liam decided to check his phone, kinda hoping that one of the others had texted him, but there was just a message from his mum asking how his first day was going. It was only a little bit disappointing, like, they probably still had classes, plus Zayn always forgot to text so Liam didn't take it personally, he had a lot of stuff to do here anyways.
So after shortly texting his mum back he started to first of all fill in his closet, lucky him he didn't have that many clothes because the size of any of his storage was very limited, but then again, this dorm also cost a lot less than the last one so it made sense.
When Liam was busy deciding whether it'd be childish do put posters up or not, there was a knock on his door that almost had him stumbling over his suitcase lying behind him. That was probably Louis, like, who else would knock so many times in a row, not Zayn, and then that were all the options there were. "One second."
Liam quickly put the poster he had been holding down onto his desk, needing a bit longer to get to the door because he had to step over a lot of things lying around on his floor that still needed a place, maybe Louis was here to help, that'd be nice because Liam could really need a second opinion.
"Sorry, I t-…oh." Opening the door though did not turn out like expected at all, unless Louis had suddenly died his hair blonde and changed all of his facial features as well as his height and type of clothes, that definitely looked a lot like Niall instead. What was he doing here? "I um… I thought you were Louis."
"Sorry to disappoint." Niall chuckled, his face was clean again, and his hair still damp but probably from the shower now, his nose was still a bit red and he was wearing comfortable looking clothes now, his tank top revealed a bit much but Liam was more worried about how much he noticed about the other boy within five seconds of looking at him.
"You're not, just… I didn't… I'm just surprised." Yeah, that was the right word, Liam didn't really need anyone pretending to be his friend because Louis had told them so, but he also didn't want to say that in case he was wrong, so he just said nothing at all, waiting for Niall to explain.
Instead, he confused Liam even more. "Sorry, I was just wondering if maybe you wanna hang out? Like, what are you doing, can I come in?"
Now this was more than strange, Liam's jaw almost dropped to be honest, his eyes widening automatically and he had to clear his throat but other than that, he thought he kept it pretty well together if he just ignored that smile on Niall's face. "Actually, I'm just, like, unpacking, so I don't know, it's not much fun I guess."
"Oh, have I not told you, I got a degree in decorating rooms." And with that joke, Niall simply entered Liam's room, almost promptly falling over a box, but he kept his balance somehow, a giggle leaving his mouth that Liam felt in his bones. This was not gonna turn out well, he could feel it now, he shouldn't have let Niall inside, but instead of doing something about it, he just closed the door again, watching the blonde boy scanning his room for a second."You really do need a room decorator, my friend."
"I guess I do…" Liam took a deep breath, now that Niall was here with his disturbingly bright smile and good mood and Liam wasn't gonna find out what the reason was behind all of this, he figured that he could just play along, so at least it wouldn't get awkward. "So… what do you recommend?"
Niall shot him the brightest of all smiles before hopping over an empty box, standing in front of Liam's empty wall, inspecting it as if though he really was some professional or an inspector while Liam just stood there uselessly, suddenly questioning all of his life choices at once. "Were you gonna put these up?"
"What? Oh… yeah, I… I didn't know if I should, because-"
"You should." The other boy had been referring to the posters on Liam's desk, sounding pretty firm as he looked at them, like, maybe he was setting Liam up for failure here and giving him false advice, but then again, it wasn't as if that many people would be coming into this room anyways. "But don't use tape or they're gonna have you repaint this whole wall in a few years.
"Okay, thanks for the tip, uh… " Well, Liam was just gonna have to believe this boy, Niall seemed to be pretty honest, like, not that Liam would know but usually he assumed the best about people if they hadn't proven him otherwise, it's just in this situation, he would've really liked to know how much influence Louis had had on the blonde boy.
He did put up the posters though, of course, while Niall sat on the edge of the desk and gave him suggestions like 'More left, no that's too much, more down, or no, sorry, I meant up' and Liam didn't know why but he just took all the advice and did exactly what he was told, almost forgetting how strange this whole situation was once he stepped back as they were done. It really didn't look bad at all. "Looks awesome, so what's next? You got anything else to put up, like decoration wise? It's kinda depressing living in an almost empty room, I thought I could do it, but after one week I went out and bought tons of shit." There was the laughter again, he seemed to enjoy babbling about stuff while Liam went through another box to get his DVDs out, because he figured they could work as decoration too somehow.
"Yeah, I… I didn't bring too much, but once everything is unpacked I'll see what I'm missing… you…" Liam's voice drifted off as he looked up and saw Niall going through his stuff too, he almost blushed before remembering that all his underwear was already in the closet, there was no need to be embarrassed about anything, it was just weird that Niall seemed to be enjoying himself. "You know if you're bored, then-"
"'m not bored at all." Alright… "I mean if you want me to go it's fine, you can tell me, I can take it. But I figured I wanna get to know you better."
"Oh… why?" Liam's hands felt a bit sweaty, the DVDs almost slipped out of his hands actually, but he forced himself to put them on the shelf, with his back to Niall, just in case.
"Because I'm really good friends with your friends, I figured we should get along too." Right, of course that was it, not Liam's personality or anything, why would it, he was so boring, there was nothing about Liam that was interesting, he didn't even have a secret, dark past or anything, there was nothing. "Oh, sick! Can I have one of these?!"
Turning around with his mind still working fast, Liam just nodded before even properly looking, but Niall was just holding a bag of some candy his mum had given to him yesterday, obviously something that would've been off better to give to Niall because five seconds later his mouth was full and he seemed pretty pleased with the outcome of this situation. At least one of them, because Liam still had to figure some things out here.
They were able to work next to each other for a bit without much talking, well, Niall did talk, but he seemed to not expect an answer seeing as it were just things like 'Oh, wow, that's cool' and 'Can I borrow that sometime' to which Liam made a few undefinable noises before going back to his task and unpacking stuff. Like, after a while it didn't even bother him anymore that this boy he did not know at all was here going through all of his stuff, what'd it matter anyways, it's not like Niall could do anything, they weren't even friends and 99% of the people here had never even seen Liam before.
"So… why'd you move here?" While Niall asked he was busy going through every single one of Liam's DVD's, completely bringing them out of the order the older boy had put them in before, but he bit his tongue, not saying anything and instead continuing to put his books onto the shelf, glad that Niall was probably not gonna show any interest in those too. Like not to be mean, but he didn't seem like he enjoyed reading at all. Not that he seemed to be dumb or anything, just… he had said it himself, he didn't like concentrating on one thing for too long.
"I… I missed my friends and… my other uni just didn't turn out like I thought it would and it was like really far away from home and I was…" Yeah, this was getting pathetic, like Liam was literally an open book to everyone, a pretty boring one to top it off, he kinda stopped talking randomly, also because he thought Niall wasn't listening anyways and for half a minute or so Liam actually thought he had been right, just to be even more surprised when Niall did answer after all.
"…Lonely?" He finished Liam's sentence all of a sudden, his voice had gotten a bit softer for some reason, but the other boy refused to look up to check Niall's face, his cheeks heating up a bit as he shrugged a bit helplessly, not really wanting to agree, or say anything at all to be honest. Niall seemed to get it for some reason, maybe he wasn't just laughter and smiles after all, for a few seconds at least. "But you got your friends now, right? So it'll be better, and everyone is really nice here, like I barely meet anyone I don't get along with."
"I heard that…" No idea why this slipped out of Liam's mouth, he didn't mean to make fun of Niall or make him mad, he wanted to take it back the same second it was out, but Niall was already laughing for some reason.
"Well, whatever it is you heard…" Then he stopped and Liam risked a look at the blonde boy, just to see whether he was mad or anything, but in fact he just shook his head once before shrugging, a very cheeky grin on his lips as he dead on stared into Liam's eyes for a second. "It's probably true."
And then he almost gave Liam a face red as a tomato by winking at him before pretending that nothing had ever happened. What was wrong with him? Had he just admitted to having slept with half the dorm? And what exactly was he trying to achieve by winking at Liam right afterwards, was he alright? Probably not, but Liam didn't know what to say or do so he kept his mouth shut, going back to his previous task and hoping very much that he wouldn't burst out with something as dumb as this again. Just because Niall didn't seem to have a problem talking about it, Liam couldn't go around implying these kinda things, that had been really rude, but sadly, he had no courage left to apologize.
Niall stayed for another 45 minutes or something, it was better after Liam had internally calmed down again, and they surprisingly talked about some rather normal things like some professor they both had, and then at one point Niall took his phone out, reading something before chuckling and shoving it back into the pockets of his sweatpants. "Alright, I think I should go now, I still got somewhere to be. And I mean, your room looks a lot better now, and no worries, I'm gonna take last night as payment for my recommendations today."
"Oh… right." Liam had almost forgotten about last night, a bit surprised by Niall's sudden decision to go, he pulled his sweatpants up a bit further as he walked towards the door, his tank top now 1 centimeter away from flashing Liam. Not that he would've noticed anyways right. "Well, thank you and I'm glad… I could help and… that you didn't get sick. Yeah."
"Me too, Payno." Hearing this nickname out of an almost stranger's mouth was slightly weird, but Niall didn't seem to notice or anything, he just chuckled for the fiftieth time today before reaching for the door handle, throwing another glance over his shoulder though. "I think Louis wanted us all to go hang out sometime, with Harry, so see you soon."
Before Liam could do as much as say a very stupid sounding 'Okay' and wonder how many times Niall had met Harry, the blonde boy was already gone, just like he had come, it almost seemed like some sort of imagination now, like there was no way this had all just happened, was there?
Well, Liam's wall alone was proof for that, he actually had to sit on his bed for a few minutes afterwards to let this sink in, like, this was all so weird, now instead of hanging out with his friends he had spent most of his time with some random boy who had giggle fits all five seconds. Not that he was so annoying but why would he wanna hang out with Liam if he had so many friends, and also it got Liam a bit worried, like, he had never heard the name Niall in his life yet all of his friends seemed to be hanging out with him constantly.
They probably liked Niall a lot more than him, not that Liam could've been mad about that because he really did understand that, it was just a bit depressing to think about all of them hanging out and whether he would see everyone getting along besides him. But yeah, he didn't want to jump to any conclusions, Louis and Zayn had always been his best friends, they wouldn't just replace him, they were just nice to everyone so of course they had other friends too. Which was… not that much of a calming thought.
In fact, Liam almost had to force himself to put his phone away so he wouldn't text Louis, he didn't even know why, but after about ten seconds of hesitating he had already sent his best friend a text asking whether he was busy or not. Just so his slightly upbuilding anxiety wouldn't take the best of him, he wasn't usually like this but he had just moved here and it was all new and besides, they had told him to text them, right?
Still, he needed a few minutes before he could actually check his phone after it vibrated as he received an answer, his chest feeling a lot less heavy as he realized that Louis had decided to come over within under a minute. Good, maybe now he could tell Liam what exactly he had told Niall about him, or whether he had forced the blonde boy to do this, who knows.
Since Louis always needed at least 15 minutes longer whenever he said 'be there in five', Liam used the chance to think of how to best begin this topic, he actually thought of some really clever ways to do it kind of casually, but of course the second he opened his door to let Louis in, it all vanished into thin air. Great. "Hey, Li, why'd you only text me now? It's like 4 pm, how many classes did you have?"
"Um… I was just unpacking a bit and stuff, you know." Oh, Louis actually did seem confused about Liam not having told him sooner, that was something at least. "Sorry, I didn't know you were waiting for me to text you."
"I told you last night, Liam!" But he let out a short laugh, shaking his head a bit as he walked past Liam to enter his room, immediately taking a surprised look around. "Hey, that looks a lot better, not so empty anymore, better than my room actually. Niall's the messiest person on this planet."
"Is he…" Liam mumbled to himself under his breath, not for Louis to hear of course as he closed the door, fiddling his fingers a bit as he went to sit back down on the edge of his bed. "You know actually… I wanted to ask you something."
Clearly, that had been the worst method to start this because Louis immediately turned around to face him, the smile draining off his face as it got replaced by worries. Was Liam really sounding so nervous? "What's wrong? Did anything happen, like do you want me to go punch someone or-"
"No, no, that's… that's not it." Sighing a bit, Liam quickly stared down at his feet as he felt the mattress give in a little bit next to him, well aware of Louis' stare, maybe he should've texted Zayn instead, he wasn't always jumping to conclusions like this, he just listened first.
"Then what's the matter? You know, if you don't feel okay then I'm sure Niall wouldn't mind sleeping somewhere else and you can sleep in my room if you want." Wow, would he really do that? Liam felt really bad now for everything he had worried about before, of course Zayn and Louis weren't just gonna abandon him, what had he even been thinking?
"No, it's okay, Lou, but thanks, really." He brought himself to a small smile, quickly looking away again once he realized his best friend still had that worried look on his face, if Louis only knew what he was about to say, he'd probably be laughing instead. "It's just… what exactly did you tell Niall about me?"
"Niall?" The change of topic seemed confusing for the other boy, he studied Liam's face for a second, seemingly relaxing a bit before simply shrugging. "Not much, I told him that you, me and Zayn have been in high school together and that we're best friends, nothing else really, maybe some random things, but I can't remember really. Why are you asking?"
"Just because, uh…" Right, now Liam had to say it, he really didn't even know why he was embarrassed at all, like, what was there to hesitate, right? He could just say it, even if his hands felt a bit too sweaty. "Just because I was like, walking around a bit after class and I didn't know Niall was in the football team, but he saw me on the stands and he came to me after training and then we walked back to the dorms together, but like… he went for a shower and then suddenly he came to my room and asked if we could hang out and then he helped me unpacking. I mean… that's a bit weird, isn't it?"
"Why is that weird?" Okay, alright, bad idea, all of it, Liam wished he could disappear in that hole in his wall that he had discovered before, the fact that Louis seemed so confused was honestly causing his cheeks to burn.
"I-I don't know… I mean he doesn't even know me and I'm not really… " The kind of person you'd expect Niall to hang out with, yeah.
"Liam." It sounded very serious, which was exactly why Liam kept his eyes straight down, almost tensing up when he felt an arm wrapping around his shoulders. "Just say what's bothering you so I can tell you that you're wrong."
"You don't even know that." Rolling his eyes, Liam took a deep breath, he was even more confused than ever, for some reason he found it very hard to believe that anyone would randomly want to hang out with him, but then someone like Niall, that was even stranger. "It's just weird, like, you said he's really popular and I noticed that, but then he randomly came to my room and said we should get to know each other better since we have the same friends and…"
"That is literally the least weirdest thing ever, Liam. Niall's a nice guy, I told you, and he's right, it'd be great if you guys got along well so we can all hang out together, which we really should because Harry said he wants to see you too, so how about tomorrow?" See, that was why Liam could've spared himself the embarrassment, because literally nothing was coming out of this. He didn't really know whether he could believe Louis, that he really hadn't told Niall something like 'take pity on him' or so, but then again, why would Niall have agreed to doing any of this? Maybe he really just was a nice guy.
"I guess tomorrow would work." Not like he had anything to do, Liam suppressed another sigh before simply getting up, slipping out from underneath Louis' arm, feeling a bit uneasy now whenever he looked at his wall… or at his DVDs, like, hopefully this would go away soon, Liam had enough on his plate with all the moving and trying to get used to all this, he didn't need Niall bouncing into his life giving him even more things to worry about.
"Good. It's gonna be fun, I've been looking forward for it being all the five of us, like, we never had that, and we can have it all the time now, it's awesome." Louis seemed to be really excited about this and stupidly enough, Liam once again couldn't keep his mouth shut while pretending to be cleaning his room some more.
"I didn't know you guys and Niall get along that well." Yeah, that had sounded rather stupid, but it was out before Liam could help himself. "You never told me about him. And neither did Zayn."
There was no answer for some reason, so Liam turned around even if he really did not want to do that at all, almost stumbling back into his shelf because Louis had gotten up as well, standing so close that Liam almost had a heart attack. "Is that it?"
"What?" Great, now Liam had fucked up even more, even though Louis' smile kinda didn't fit, but honestly, Liam wasn't mad that they hadn't told him, he had just been surprised.
"Are you mad that we befriended a hyperactive, talkative, football player?" Saying it like this…
"No, I'm not mad, I'm just surprised, because he's so totally different than all of us, or seems to be, I don't know, I don't know him well enough." But Liam had a feeling that he would soon, like how could he have avoided this anyways, he hadn't even managed to do it for one day. "But it's fine, I was just ask-"
"Come on, Li, you know we love you and that's not gonna change, okay?" Awesome, now they were getting emotional here, all because Liam was an idiot, but he it did feel quite nice to be told and then being pulled into a hug, like, at least his doubts from before had completely vanished. "You'll see that Niall is great and he really does fit in with us. Just don't let him get into your pants."
"Ha, ha, ha." Louis chuckled right into Liam's ear, still hugging him a bit too tightly, but it was fine, it eased Liam's worried knowing he wasn't alone, even when their conversation was on a topic like this.
"And if you do then don't fall in love with him like this girl two doors down the hall, it wasn't pretty." Yeah, right, as if that was ever gonna happen.