Baby Boy | Zustiall AU [COMPLETE]

Sixteen

"Niall, baby, wake up." Justin's voice at his ear, an arm shaking gently.

Niall lets out a whine, scrunches his face. "Five more minutes..."

Justin can't help but laugh, Niall is so damn cute. "Sweetheart, we're here."

Niall opens an eye. "Where?"

"You gotta get out of the car to find out."

Niall frowns, clearly not wanting to move, but sits upright, rubbing his eyes. Justin gently grabs him by the elbow, helping him out of the car, and Niall lets out a loud gasp. The car is parked by the beach, a row of shops behind them. Niall can't help but run forward and bury his feet in sand. When he turns, Justin is standing against the car, smiling fondly.

"C'mon!" Niall chirps, putting a hand out for Justin. "You should've told me," he adds, "I would've brought a swimsuit."

"It wouldn't have been a surprise if I told you," Justin points out, which Niall nods at. To further Niall's surprise, the beach is mostly empty, what with it being so early in the morning. Niall's heart flutters with excitement at the sight of the waves hitting the shore, and he lets go of Justin's hand to go jump and splash in the waves. After splashing for a little while, he turns around, squinting, looking for Justin. He doesn't see him, and confusion causes his smile to fade a bit before he's suddenly scooped up in someone's arms.

"Justin!" Niall shrieks, but then Justin is spinning him in circles, and Niall is laughing too hard to say anything else. Justin stops before Niall gets too dizzy, leaving a few kisses on the boy's forehead. Being around Justin and Zayn has Niall feeling free, uninhibited. Free to be the soft, somewhat childish person that he is, and the warm feeling in his chest has Niall hugging Justin around the neck, nuzzling his cheek against Justin's shoulder.

"You okay, sweetheart?" Justin questions, concerned. He can't see Niall's face, can just feel the sweet boy trembling a little.

"I'm good," Niall assures him, and Justin sets him down in the sand. They splash in the water a little longer, hand-in-hand. "I'd kill for a Popsicle right now."

"Me, too," Justin nods. "I think there's an ice cream shop over by the other stores. It's no Popsicle, but..."

"Ice cream!" Niall cheers. A few minutes later, they're sitting in an ice cream shop, looking stupidly in love to any bystander that can see them. It's like they're in their own little world where it's only them (and Zayn, of course). "Wait. What was in the backseat?" Niall asks, halfway through his scoop of strawberry.

Justin grins. "I was wondering when you were gonna ask that."

"So what is it?"

"I'll show you when it's time."

It takes considerable effort for Niall to keep from pouting, so he resorts to just glaring at Justin.

"Aw, baby boy, don't be mad. You're gonna like it, I promise."

Niall sticks his tongue out at Justin, which makes him laugh. Justin's keys are sitting on the table next to his dish of ice cream, and Niall makes a decision. He snags the keys and runs out of the ice cream shop, giggling a little when he hears Justin curse from behind him. He's fumbling for the unlock button when he's suddenly tossed over Justin's shoulder.

"You little brat," Justin says, but Niall can hear a laugh in his voice, and untenses when he realizes Justin isn't really upset. "Drop the keys, sweetheart."

"I wanna know what the surprise is!"

"I'm not even sure you deserve it after this little stunt," Justin responds.

Niall lets out a loud whine. "No fair!"

"Then drop the keys."

"...No."

A spank, harder than all the others, makes Niall jolt and let out a cry. "Drop the keys, Niall."

Niall realizes he really doesn't like it when they call him by his actual name and not a pet name. Niall obediently drops the keys in Justin's waiting palm, and Niall avoids Justin's gaze when the older man puts him down.

"Hey," Justin says, voice very, very gentle. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that without talking to you about it first." His thumb traces Niall's cheek.

"No...it's not that," Niall mumbles, cheeks pink, squirming a little. "I...You mentioned it before, I...I'm okay. And okay with it." He still can't look Justin in the eye, and stupidly enough, tears are forming in his eyes.

Justin gently tilts his chin up. "Baby...please tell me what's wrong. I can't fix it unless you tell me what's wrong."

Niall chews on his lip. "Are...are you mad at me?"

"Baby boy," Justin coos, and then leans in, raining kisses on his face. The kisses have Niall giggling, pretending to squirm away, but really absolutely loving the onslaught of affection. "No, baby, I'm not mad at you. I was never mad at you. You're so good, baby." He genuinely has to fight from saying, I love you so much, which is actually terrifying. He pushes the thought away and holds Niall closer.

"Promise you're not mad?"

"Would I be giving you your surprise if I was mad?"

Almost instantly, Niall's teary eyes have disappeared and he's practically bouncing up and down, beaming. "What is it!?"

Justin unlocks the car. "Go have a look, doll."

Niall scrambles into the backseat, smiling like an idiot. Covered by a blanket is a picnic basket full nearly to the brim with all of Niall's favorite kinds of candy. Laughing loudly, he closes the basket before noticing the card taped to the top. The card is plain other than saying, "Can't wait to meet you!"

Niall raises an eyebrow at Justin. "What does this mean?"

Justin grins. "Part two of the surprise!"

"There's more!?"

"We want to spoil you, sweetheart. Of course there's more," Justin smiles, leaning in to kiss Niall quickly.

Niall does pout that time. "Who can't wait to meet me?"

"You'll find out," Justin chuckles, kissing him again, making a point of biting his lip, loving the way Niall makes a soft noise into the kiss.