Single Father (Ziall Horlik) AU

Chapter 13

Niall's POV

A few weeks had passed since Zayn and I had officially made us a couple and we once again found ourselves at my flat. We had pretty much learned each other in and out. I knew all his likes and dislikes and the same went with him. I learned that he genuinely hated broccoli and loved it when there was a silent moment that didn't feel awkward. The small details were the ones I tried to hold on to the most because the big picture ones made my heart hurt too badly for him.

His family didn't speak to him and even if he played it off like it didn't matter, he was hurting. He missed his sister's and wanted nothing more than to try getting them to talk to him, but he was afraid of feeling more rejected. I learned that he had nightmares about Laila getting taken from him. There were things that Zayn did that he didn't want to be praised for. Like one morning after he had slept over, he cleaned my whole entire flat for me and made breakfast but when I tried to think him he just shrugged. He doesn't like when people say he's incredible for what he's doing for his daughter because he knew it was the only option there was. There were so many more little things I had come so close to knowing, but the one that stuck out to me the most was that he loved to quietly watch me with Laila. He had a smile on his face and he would just watch before leaving the room.

"Niall, is there anything specific you want to cook?" Zayn asked me once I walked back into the kitchen with the bouncer seat to place Laila in. It kind of became our thing to cook together almost every night. Him and Laila would come over when he got off work and I would leave the shelter. That was one thing that I felt guilty about.

Ever since Zayn and I became a couple, I had been spending less time at the shelter. I would work my shift at the grocery store then go to the shelter for a few hours and leave. I now only helped serve lunch, clean up after lunch and help make dinner before I left. Anne said it was perfectly fine because I had my own personal life that I could take care of now, but I still felt so selfish for that.

"Everything that's in the refrigerator is up for grabs. I'm fine with whatever." I answered once I got Laila into the bouncer seat. Zayn got some chicken out and pasta to cook. I begin defrosting everything and boiling some water for the pasta. Zayn came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist. His lips kissed at my neck causing shivers to run through my body.

"What are you doing?" I asked him quietly. Honestly, touching was always a minimum thing in our new relationship. Call me what you would like, but intimate touches always got me nervous. Zayn probably realized that so anything he did do was always very slow. By the end of both our days, we were too tired to do anything but cook and eat then fall asleep if they stayed the night before Laila needed to be fed. It was actually a rare thing that they actually ever spent the night here. When they did, I helped with the night feedings because those would always be the nights Zayn decided he was too tired to even drive home. As far as super physical activity, it wasn't something either of us had the energy for. We kissed, but never once even snogged. I think having Laila around kind of made us both cautious about what we actually did.

"Just wanted to kiss you up a little bit. You look tired." He mumbled against my skin. It was true though. I was exhausted, but only because holidays were coming up and that ment we were getting allot of donations in at the shelter that needed to be sorted through. It was stressful and even more so when the Styles family practically pushed me to leave the shelter to go home so I don't ruin this relationship.

"I'm alright. Do you think you both could stay tonight?" I asked him, turning in his arms. He nodded and gave me a smile that made my tiredness seep away. He kissed the tip of my nose and went to help me put together dinner.

Both of us laughed at a few jokes we were saying. Zayn was kissing my cheeks a little more than usual and was trying to get me to smile. Once we finished cooking, we sat at the table and begin eating. He told me about his best friend Louis finishing classes this week and he wanted to get to know me. I felt a little special about it because the way Zayn talks about Louis is like he's a family member. I told him how things were at the shelter and how hard things have been because of how many people we're coming in.