012.

Niall is happy. He's happy because he hasn't seen Liam in a while and here he is, at his door, ringing the doorbell. Niall wipes the non-existent dust and dirt off his clothes, straightening them out in the process. It's not like he had anything special on, just a plain white t-shirt and some black Calvin Klein boxers. He opens the door anyway.

"Liam?" Niall feigns surprise as if he hadn't been looking out of the peephole for two minutes.

"Yeah, sorry to bother you, but, would it be a problem if I stay here a while, just until I can find somewhere else?"

Why would he be sorry? Niall thinks. He can stay here for the rest of his life and I wouldn't mind. "Sure, come on in." he says instead.

He welcomes Liam in, shutting the door behind him. He's quite giddy so he tells Liam to take a nice long shower while he finishes cooking. Except he has this idea to have a little more than just a dinner.

After Liam has gathered clothes from Niall's bedroom and has stepped into the shower, he wonders just why he hears the noise of someone moving all around the place and the clanking of glass. He finds it quite odd because only said he was finishing dinner, yet he sounds to be in a rush. As if Liam was someone to rush for.

But Liam is someone to rush for according to Niall. Everything has to be perfect because he's lonely and if he was being honest with himself, Liam was really good looking. He had wanted him to stay longer the time before when he was over but the lad had to go and he couldn't push him into staying any further.

Niall thought that if he set everything right, he would come off to Liam as someone more than a friend. And he could only hope that Liam was at least bi because all he needed was someone he could wake up to. 

It gets quite lonely living in a house all by yourself, and since Liam has come back, all this must be a sign of some sort. Maybe him and Liam were meant to be together and this was fates way of it happening.

Niall finished cooking the spaghetti, mixing it in with the Ragu sauce. After all, spaghetti was pretty romantic or so Niall thought. He'd seen it in all the movies that the couples ate pasta in their dinner, and what a pleasant surprise it was that Liam just so happened to come while he was making it.

He puts a new cloth on his dining table, a deep red one, and he sets the wine glasses on top right in front of the plates he's set. He searches through his cupboards and cabinets to find the 2010 Louis Jadot Beaujolais-villages. It's a classic with its fresh red fruits and a hint of dark cherry. He pours it in the glasses once he's found it.

He brings the pot of spaghetti over to the table, nearly throwing it on the plate in the middle of all his urgent haste. He's proud of what he's done with the table, it looks beautiful, but to make it absolutely perfect, he runs in search of his lighter and candles, almost slipping on the rug as he does.

Now everything's perfect, he thinks. The lights get dimmed to make the candles shine brighter than they would in the light. And he sits and waits patiently, glad that Liam took his advice when he told him to take a nice long shower. Otherwise, he wouldn't have gotten this much done.

Liam cuts the shower off, he's been hearing so much commotion coming from the living room that he just has to see if Niall's alright. Now that the water is off, he doesn't hear anything. Only silence. He wonders if it was all just his imagination, thinking he's hearing something since he's in the shower. He actually contemplates stepping back in but then thinks how Niall must be waiting for him.

When he steps into the living room, hair still slightly wet, he notices how dark it is. what the hell? He sees the candles and is confused even further. "Niall, what's all this?"

Niall's head snaps up from gazing at the table, he hadn't noticed Liam coming in. "Oh just a regular dinner, I always do this." Lie and Lie. He never does this. But Liam's so good looking, how can he not?

"Oh." Is all he can say. If he was being truthful, he'd say this was quite creepy, but he ignores that, maybe Niall is right. Maybe he does do this all the time. Who knows?

Niall is nervous though, nervous throughout the whole dinner. He barely says anything when Liam complements him on his cooking. He has no idea what to say or do. He hadn't even changed his clothes since liam came and he looks like a downright slob. What kind of guy has a romantic dinner in his boxers?

"I'm sorry, let me go change", Niall says after dinner. Liam doesn't see no point in it though. Why would he change when he's been in those close for the majority of the time that Liam was here? It made no sense whatsoever.

"No, no, stay. No need for you to change." Liam smiles, to let Niall know he doesn't need to go through a whole lot of trouble for him. He seems comfortable and Liam wants to keep it that way.

They're in the living room, watching whatever was on the television. There's not much to watch, so they just sit enjoying each others company while some character flashes across the screen. Niall looks at Liamn from the corner of his eye, and relocates closer. Just a little bit to where Liam won't notice.

Liam does notice how ever, he can feel the movement, and the bending of the couch below them both. He says nothing though, thinking Niall's only trying to find the right spot to rest. Though when Niall not-so subtly moves even closer, he knows exactly what Niall is trying to do. That would explain the dinner.

Liam turns, just in time to be met with Niall's lips. He pulls back fast. "N-Niall, what are you doing?" It would feel terribly wrong to kiss Niall. Especially with his feelings for Zayn. Yes, he knows he's stupid for ever running away in the first place, but he wasn't ready for the serious 'L' word, he just wanted all the feelings to stop, and now here Niall is trying to kiss him.

"Look, I know you probably don't like me, but I'm lonely, I have no one, so all I'm asking is for you to kiss me and maybe wake up next to me in the morning." Liam gives in. Maybe it'll get Zayn off his mind for a bit. God, he's so stupid.

Liam's lips meet Niall's again, and this time, things go a bit further. Niall tries so desperately to get the kiss heated, grabbing at Liam's shirt, or rather his shirt, and lifting it up a bit to rub at the skin underneath.

And the kiss does get heated. Liam's pulling Niall's shirt off of him, laying down beneath Niall. He doesn't bottom,  however, so he leads them towards Niall's bedroom. He's really, really stupid.

-

Liam wakes up. He's naked, he can feel it. But he can also feel the fact that Niall's naked too. He panics. God, what was he thinking? What happened? Did they? Did he? Oh my God. Then Niall, who had his back facing towards Liam, turns around. His eyes are still closed, indicating that he's still sleeping.

Liam doesn't know what to do. He really hopes he didn't do what he think he did. Because if he did, he thinks he would punish himself forever. And, with Niall? How could he? How did he? Why would he? 

"Niall." He whispers. He has to know. And the only way to know is to ask the man himself. He's not ready for the answer to come. He's really, really, not ready. Niall's eyes open just in the slightest. He mutters something under his breath.

"D-Did we? Did you and I? Did we ha-" 

"No, Liam, we didn't. You kinda passed out in the middle of what we were about to do. Guess you were tired, it's OK. Thank you though."

"For what?"

"Waking up next to me."

And Liam is relieved, though he doesn't want to know what they were in the middle of.  He smiles as Niall drifts off back to sleep. one thing is for sure, however.

He misses Zayn.