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While the tour was over and One Direction was on a sort of break, it didn’t mean that Liam Payne was taking a break from his job as worrier of the group. In fact, it seemed like since they didn’t have the tour, his stressing had gone up to a whole new level. He worried about every little thing; whether the boys would get up in enough time to hit the studio, if they had enough songs for the new album, if the lyrics he had written done the song justice.
Niall had seen his boyfriend stressed before, but this was new. He was used to him fussing over little details, but not like this. It had gotten so bad that Liam was stressing out him, and Niall was usually the carefree one. It had gone on for far too long now and he had to figure out how to get his lover to relax without stressing himself out in the process.
So when he had woken up early this morning, Niall had made up his mind that today was the day to give his boyfriend the day off from everything. It was one of those weird days where they all had the day off and didn’t have anything planned. The boys pretty much had free time to do whatever they wanted, and Niall was going to make sure Liam didn’t do anything pertaining to work. Liam usually spent these days writing or paying attention to every little detail about the next world tour that was months away. Well, Niall wasn’t having any of that today. Today, Liam was his and he wasn’t going to take no for an answer.
After some resistance from his boyfriend, Niall finally got Liam up and out of bed and now they were walking out the door. He hadn’t told security that he was leaving the house, and normally they left the boys alone when it was their day off. Of course if they needed them, they’d come, but Niall wanted Liam away from anything pertaining to work, and security would just remind the older boy that there was things to do.
Niall had planned the whole day, and was very tight lipped about everything. “But you know how I hate surprises.” Liam had whined when he had let him on that he wouldn’t be telling him any of the details. Niall had just shook his head and laughed, leading the Wolverhampton boy to their location.
It wasn’t anywhere super special, just the park. Luckily it wasn’t very crowded; in fact Niall had found a mostly secluded spot where to take Liam so they could have some privacy. As two fifths of a hot boy band, privacy was a big issue for them, so whenever they found a place outside of their own apartments that they could enjoy without being interrupted to sign autographs or be flooded by the paparazzi, they took it without hesitation.
Another whine from Liam brought Niall back from his thoughts. “Ni, please tell me where we are going.”
“Li, it wouldn’t be a surprise if I told you. And anyway, we’re here.” Niall smiled, waving his hand to the blanket and basket of food he had prepared for them while Liam had been asleep.
“Oh, wow.” Liam smiled at Niall, and without any reluctance sat down on the blanket and began thumbing through the goodies in the basket. Niall quickly followed, sitting opposite of him, watching him with affectionate eyes. Only once Liam picked up a bag of chips, opened them, and stuck one in his mouth did either one of them speak again.
“You did this for me?” Liam asked, looking over at his boyfriend as he popped another chip into his mouth.
Niall nodded. “Yes, you needed to get away. And what better place to get away than here. So I don’t want to hear anything about work this whole day.” He warned, giving Liam a knowing look.
“And if I break this rule? What of it then?” Liam countered, his eyes growing dark at the question. He was probably seeing how far he could push the blond.
As he watched his boyfriend’s eyes grow dark, he felt something in his lower region stir. Damn it all to hell. Liam had this way about him where he could be this loving, adorable, puppy and the next be a devilish, sinister, tease. And this seemed to be one of those times. Without thinking, Niall leaned in, whispering, “Guess you’ll just have to find out if you break the rules. But I’m warning you, you won’t like it.” He saw Liam smirk, and the older boy was leaning the rest of the way in, taking the few inches between the two boys’ lips in a mere second and crashing their lips together.
No more than their lips meeting did they hear the loud click. Liam was the first to pull away, his brown eyes returning to their normal color instantly and widening. It took Niall a minute to realize what was happening, and turned to look at what Liam was now staring at. There, standing like they had just discovered gold, which Niall guessed in a way he had, was an older man with a camera glued to his face.
Niall sat frozen in place, the situation and consequences of what had just happened sinking in. While Niall was having a mini panic attack, Liam, who had always been the one to jump to the aid of the others, including Niall’s, whenever the paparazzi shoved their cameras in their faces, leapt into action. It was Liam who was now waving his arms out like a lunatic and telling the man to scram before he called the police. The man got the hint and hurried away, but not before yelling behind his shoulder at the two a smug ‘thank you’.
The blond didn’t notice when his beau shook his head, and turned to look at him. Dread filled Liam’s face as he recognized what Niall was doing. He was freaking out, and trying to figure out how they could rectify the situation.
“Hey, hey, come on,” Liam tried to reassure the Irishman, “Everything will be okay. Come on, let’s just get back to the apartment and we can decide what to do from there.”
All Niall could muster was a slight nod; all the conformation Liam seem to need, as he stuffed all the food back into the basket, and pulled Niall to his feet. The brunette grabbed the blanket last and put it in the basket, taking both the basket and his bewildered boyfriend in hand back to their shared apartment.
But before the boys could close the door, Liam’s cell phone was ringing. With one quick look, Liam confirmed his suspicions. He gave Niall an apologetic look, not that Niall was registering anything at the moment, as he hit the ‘answer’ button and managed to get out a ‘hello?’ before the shouting started.
Liam tucked the sandwiches and drinks back in the refrigerator for later, his right ear begin to ache from the loud words in his ear. He quietly motioned Niall to eat some of the chips from the bag Liam had opened at the park while he sorted out what the person on the other end wanted. Liam kept his voice low as he walked out of the room where Niall was standing to keep from stressing stress the blond any more than he already was.
After a few minutes Liam dropped the call and walked back to the kitchen, finding Niall snacking on one of the sandwiches he had packed. Niall was hungry, seeing as their lunch had been interrupted and he hadn’t eaten since this morning when he had been rushing around to pack the goodies for the outing. Starving didn’t even begin to cover it. However, when he saw the look on Liam’s beautiful face, he dropped his food on the counter and walked over to his lover.
“What’s wrong?” he managed to ask through a full mouth of bologna and cheese sandwich.
“You might as well take that with you, Ni. That was management. They want to see us. All of us.” Liam’s tone was enough for Niall to understand that it was serious. And it wasn’t much of a coincidence that the call had come moments after the disaster in the park.
Swallowing quickly, the reached out. “I’m so sorry Li. I didn’t mean-“ Niall was cut off by Liam’s finger against his lips.
“Don’t. Everything will be okay. We have each other, and that is enough for me.” He gave him an encouraging smile before grabbing his hand and leading him to and out the door, where a car was parked to take them to the meeting that management had called for all of the boys.
Niall was quiet the whole ride to Zayn’s apartment, they had deemed location of the meeting to take place. Liam had tried to snuggle up to him, but to no avail. The blond kept scooting away from him. He knew it couldn’t be because of the driver, or anyone else. The car had tinted windows, and the driver, well they had done much worse in this car than snuggle.
Finally, after the third attempt, Liam managed to slide a hand onto Niall’s leg without him flinching away. Squeezing it reassuringly and whispering ‘everything will be okay’. It seemed, though, not to have any effect on the blond, he was just as tense as ever. Liam’s ‘daddy’ trait was kicking in and he wanted to protect Niall from anything and everything that caused the boy discomfort, even if it had been himself that had caused it.
Liam had been the one to kiss Niall. If he hadn’t let his guard down, none of this would have happened. And right then and there, it was Liam who was beginning to loose is cool. He didn’t lose it often, but when he did, it was not pretty.
Once all the boys had been assembled and was now gathered on Zayn’s couch, a girl, whom the boys had dealt with many times before, by the name of Olivia, made her entrance. Olivia was part of their management team, who mostly dealt with press related things. If one or all of the boys messed up in public, she was the one to fix it, spin it, and make them ten times more famous than before. She had a natural talent for it, which was why Liam had guessed that she had gotten the job. She was just damn good at it.
“Good afternoon boys,” she began. “It has come to our attention that two of you today made a huge step in the PR campaign for the band without telling us or any of the other boys about it. Kind of selfish, don’t you think?”
Liam wanted to die at that very moment. Niall seemed to still be frozen. The three boys who didn’t know what was going on looked about at the rest, probably trying to figure out who they were talking about. But if they had any sense at all, they would realize it was the only two that seemed to be caving in on themselves.
“Yes, I suppose you know who you are; Liam and Niall. We got a call and an email about a certain picture of the two of you in the park earlier today.” Olivia pulled it up on her iPad, showing it to the rest of the boys.
Now, it wasn’t like the other boys didn’t know about them. No, in fact, they were the first told, after their families, once the two figured out what was happening between them. They had been supportive. Louis even stating, “Ha, I knew it! Hazza, you owe me twenty bucks!” But it was still shocking to see that they had flaunted their relationship so carelessly in a place where anyone could and would see.
“Now, while we will deal with the two of you separately of course, the matter is that the source of the picture has set a deal for you. If you give him an exclusive interview and pictures with the band, he won’t release the photo or the story to the press. I- Management thinks that this is a small price to pay and have agreed his terms. All of you are to be at the studio tomorrow bright and early to fix what the two of your band mates have done. In the meantime, and for a while to come, we will advise you all to keep the touching to a minimum. No heavy petting, no overly done flirting, and god forbid any hand holding or kissing, even if it’s a joke.”
Liam’s stomach clinched. The band was getting off rather easily it seemed, but it made him wonder what added instructions he and Niall would receive. Before he could say anything, Harry piped in.
“As much as this seems like the easy way out, and as much as I wish that Niall and Liam could control themselves out in public, I don’t see how this is going to help. Our fans thrive off us being ourselves, and with no disrespect, what you are telling us to act like, well, that isn’t us.” Harry seemed pretty proud of himself.
“Urm, what dear Hazza is trying to say is: We all fully support Liam and Niall’s relationship, no matter what stupid situations they get us in. They should be happy, and clearly what I saw in that photo, they are.” Louis smiled and then looked over to the two boys who had caused the entire ruckus.
“You guys are like my brothers,” he continued, “and I just want to see you happy. Don’t let someone scare you away from what makes you happy.” Zayn was nodding in agreement as Louis finished.
It was Niall’s turn to chime in, and he looked squarely in Liam’s eyes while speaking. “I-I think that we should just make a public statement and come out on our own terms. I think we’re ready.”
What Niall said hit home. Liam hadn’t realized that Niall was capable of words until now, and the ones he was hearing sounded like something out of a dream. Liam nodded, and that was all the confirmation Niall needed before he turned his head back to a bewildered Olivia and slide is hand into Liam’s.
“We’ll keep the interview with the guy. Let him think he’s won, and with the support of the lads, we’ll make our relationship known publically.”
Olivia was looking from Niall to Liam, from Liam to Niall, and then to the rest of the boys, who were giving her grins and nods of agreement. Once One Direction had their minds made up, there wouldn’t be any way to persuade them to do something different. And while she wished that Niall and Liam would hold off coming out to the world until after the band had long since separated, hopefully after years and years of successful music together, she was a sucker for romance. “Alright, alright, tomorrow it is. But don’t make me regret this, okay?”
All the boys nodded and murmured ‘okay’s’ as Olivia stood with a smile. “Okay boys, see you tomorrow, bright and early. Get some sleep, I need all your beautiful faces to be perfect.” And with that, she was gone.
Later on, after the two boys left Zayn’s apartment and staggered in their own door, it was Niall who noticed how quiet his boyfriend was being. Stress was radiating out from his body, as the boy mumbled a few words before throwing, what looked like his phone, across the room. Niall looked at him in sympathy.
There weren’t many times when Niall did the comforted, in fact, Liam had comfort him the entire day. Liam had been the one to try to get Niall to calm down on the walk from the park, the ride to Zayn’s, and even in the management meeting they sat through afterwards. Liam comforted him when Niall needed it, and it seemed like Liam was now in need of some soothing words of his own.
Coming up behind him, but making enough noise not to scare him and get himself elbowed in the face, Niall wrapped his arms around the brunettes middle, planting a soft kiss on the nape of his neck.
“Quit thinking so loud babe, you’re gonna end up giving me a headache.” Niall whispered against the taller boy’s skin. He could feel the older boy relax into his touch, and smiled inwardly that he could do this to the boy who was always way to stressed to worry about relaxing.
“Ni…” he trailed off, and while Niall couldn’t see his face, he could imagine that his eyes were closed now, trying to figure out what to say to him as not to offend him. Niall knew this boy better than he knew anyone. He knew that Liam was freaking out about tomorrow; he knew that Liam wasn’t in control of the situation, and that was what was stressing him out to no end.
“Babe, it’s going to be fine. Tomorrow is going to be fine. We are going to be fine.” Niall took the opportunity to turn Liam around so they were face to face. Niall’s hand brushed the taller boy’s cheek softly. “You have me; we’re going to get through this. Everything is going to go brilliantly.”
At that moment, those brown orbs were open and looking down at Niall. “I know, I mean I know that I have you, and I’m so grateful, but- but what about the fans? What if this will ruin the band? What if-“
With that, Niall leaned forward and planted a soft kiss on Liam’s lips to shut him up. “Liam, stop with the ‘what if’s’. You can’t let those control your life, or you won’t do anything fun at all. I think our fans will be super supportive. I think that if the rest of the band felt like that, or they wouldn’t have agreed to be there when we told everyone. They even supported us with management. So, please, Liam, stop worrying so much. You’ll get wrinkles on that pretty little face.” He smiled, laying small, soft kisses on the wrinkles that stress was causing on Liam’s face.
All of a sudden, Niall felt it was like his job to chase all those stress lines away with his kisses. He kissed around his cheeks, beside his mouth, around his eyes, on his eye lids, his forehead, and lastly around and on his noise. His efforts were rewarded with giggles escaping from the older boys’ mouth.
With that, Niall pulled away a few inches, smiling. “Now, let’s get your mind on more important things.”
A twinkle in Liam’s eyes made Niall’s heart pound. “Like?” the older boy questioned.
“Me, of course.” He retorted, pushing Liam until the back of the boys’ knees hit the bed and he fell on the bed with another giggle.
NIall loved this boy, and after tomorrow, he wouldn’t have to worry about being sneaky. He could kiss him anytime, anywhere. And that was perfectly alright with Niall.