Summary: Niall has some confidence issues and Liam proves to him how amazing he is with and without his flaws. Based on the fluff of “Little Things”.
-0-
“Lee-yum! Have you got my tea? You know I can’t sleep without my tea! And honestly, none of that Yorkshire Tea crap that Louis shoves down his throat like what is he even doing?! Just some Tetley’ll do the job, babe.”Niall sighed and flopped himself back onto the bed that he shared with his boyfriend, Liam Payne.
An impatient creature, Niall had barely opened and closed and reopened his eyelids twice in the form of a blink before bellowing out his boyfriend’s name again, getting restless and agitated with the lack of hot liquid down his throat.
“Liiaaammm!”
Liam chuckled and rolled his eyes upwards and let the spoon he’d been stirring in Niall’s favourite mug - okay, Liam’s favourite Batman mug, but what was his was Niall’s and vice versa - clatter to the counter with a metallic bang.
“I’m coming, Snowflake!” He called as he walked patiently up the stairs with a knowing smirk on his face with the knowledge that Niall was probably going to be angry with him for taking longer than usual.
Awaiting on the bed still was Niall but instead of his usual flopped out state, he’d curled up into a ball like a scared hedgehog.
“Niall?”
“No, Liam. No. You kept me waiting and now…now… I’m gonna starve to death, you idiot!” Niall’s lip actually trembled and Liam wasn’t sure whether to laugh at his boyfriend’s dramatic tendecies or to put down the hot cup of tea and fold him into a Payne hug.
Liam’s mouth opened and closed repeatedly in the small distance of time while he assessed the situation, looking helplessly like a confused goldfish. Or just a goldfish.
“Not that it even matters…because I’m fucking fat..” Niall muttered, frowned deeply and curled inside to himself, hiding himself from the worried stare of his concerned boyfriend.
“What?” Liam spluttered incredulously, setting the cup of tea on the bedside table. He couldn’t understand what was wrong with the blonde-haired boy curled up defensively on the bed, his beautiful face hidden. Barely an hour ago, he was laughing and poking Harry everywhere he could with the knowledge that it was a pet peeve of the younger lad.
And now… Who was this curled on the bed? It couldn’t be Niall, not Liam’s Niall. Liam’s Niall was bubbly and laughing and happy and loud and … Niall.
“I’m fucking fat! And ugly! And my braces make me look like an idiot! And my accent makes me seem retarded like I can’t speak fucking English but I can! I can, Liam! But I’m not fucking perfect and I need to be, fuck, I need to be but I’m not and everyone hates me and … oh God…” Niall’s mini rant ended on a sob and both hands covered Niall’s mouth, leaving Liam utterly shocked and stunned to his spot. Fat tears rolled down Niall’s rosy cheeks and it cut through Liam’s heart, to have to see his baby cry.
Was Niall really this insecure? Liam didn’t want him to be. Of course not. Niall was beautiful. His accent was smile provoking and honest and despite the amount of food he ate, Niall certainly wasn’t fat. The exact opposite, in fact. Anyway, who exactly hated Niall? The same Niall that laughs at everything and thought a pet peeve meant describing which animal he favoured the least.
Whoever it was, surely couldn’t be human. Or real.
Settling himself cautiously on the edge of the bed before scooting up to lay next to his sniffling boyfriend, whose tears were marking the sheets of the bed, Liam smiled faintly and applied a hand to his boyfriend’s hair, stroking the small hairs behind Niall’s hair softly.
Exhaling softly and shakily, Niall whimpered and shuffled closer to his calm boyfriend, grasping onto the fabric of Liam’s sweatpants.
“Soft,” he murmured, defeat evident in his voice.
Liam decided not to speak and allow Niall to just breathe while the dim light peered in through the blinds, casting luminescent shadows across the bare skin of Niall’s back. Smiling faintly at the modest beauty, Liam continued to stroke the soft spot behind Niall’s ear as his boyfriend breathed softly onto his leg, hands holding tightly onto his as though as if he let go, he would die.
The notion was alarming yet comforting and flattering at the same time.
“Who said you weren’t perfect, Nialler?” Liam finally broke the silence with his small voice, still not halting the calming movements on Niall’s body. But beside him, he felt his boyfriend tense up and still.
“Does it matter?”Niall whispered.
The question made Liam pause on his next word which surely would’ve been “yes”. Because, did it really matter? The fact was that Niall was upset and that it was probably a group of hateful so called “fans” on Twitter that made him doubt himself and how valuable he was to everyone. To the band. To the world. To Liam.
“I suppose not..” Liam frowned and exhaled softly. “But what is important is that you’re perfect in every single fucking way, Niall James Horan, and the idea that you would let anyone doubt that is downright disgusting and kind of annoying. I love you, okay?”
“Bu-” Niall protested before Liam let out a low hiss, silencing him. An uncharacteristic move for Liam.
“No, Niall. Let me talk.. Please.” His voice broke with desperation. He had to make Niall see that no matter what anyone said, he was beautiful, perfect, wanted, loved and worth it. Worth everything. Clearing his throat, Liam blinked rapidly and smiled aplogetically downwards at the gaping boy whose head rested comfortably on his torso.
“Niall James Horan. You are perfect. You are funny, bright, loud, beautiful and .. Irish.” Liam grinned down at Niall who smiled lightly, the corners of his mouth puckering upwards at his boyfriend. “There’s nothing wrong with being Irish, it’s what makes you, you and I certainly love you for it. I mean, here’s me with my crappy English accent and then boom! Here comes Nialler with the Mullingar charm.” Liam giggled and pressed on.
“You think you have imperfections. And you do. I do. We all do, Nialler. But your imperfections are barely there and they are what make you beautiful. I mean, I’m a huge prude but that makes me the apparently nice person I am. You think you have fat thighs and stomach but you don’t which is a miracle considering all you do is eat.” Liam paused to chuckle. “I like your dimples at the bottom of your back too. They’re adorable..” Liam smiled faintly and traced the traced lightly with his left forefinger, creating invisible swirls and figure eights and indents upon his boyfriend’s perfect, pale skin.
“Li-”
“I’m not finished, Niall.” Sighing lightly, Liam squeezed his eyes shut. The fact that he had to do this pained him but he knew it was vital. His boyfriend deserved to know how amazing he was. “You’re addicted to your nighttime cup of tea - Tetley’s only, I know - and it’s cute. I love you, Nialler. You laugh a lot and you laugh at just about everything which puzzles me because not everything Louis does is that funny. I like how your jeans hang low on your hips and make me stare because even though you always get the wrong size when buying clothes for yourself, it always seems to be just right and be…you. But I swear to Ed Sheeran, Niall James Horan if you ever doubt yourself and how much I love you for just being you, I’ll never make you a cup of tea again and even if I do, it’ll be fucking Yorkshire Tea, all right?”
It was silent for a few long moments as Liam calmed down from his rant, chest heaving and fingers digging into Niall’s skin before releasing the pressure and instead stroking the bare skin softly. Then a loud laugh escaped from Niall’s thin lips.
“What?” Liam growled.
“You just - did you - did you say ‘I swear to Ed Sheeran’, Leeyum? Oh baby, you’re so cute.” Niall grinned, his white teeth beaming up at Liam and he chuckled, shaking his head.
Niall was back. At last.
“He’s like God, Niall! Have you even, like… Ugh, just shut up!” Liam muttered in a protest before quieting down and blushing roughly.
“I love you Liam.” Niall giggled.
“I love you Niall. You’re perfect, okay?” Liam sighed with a faint smile.
“Okay.”
“Good.”
“Good.”
“Kiss me, please.”
“Yes, sir.” Liam grinned and pressed his warm lips to Niall’s, revelling in the contact between the pair, covering himself in the love that they both felt for each other.
