Five Lovestories
Chapter Twenty-Seven, "Smile Through Tears"
(If you want to, open up a new tab and listen to this while you're reading the chapter, hehe.)
"I was born with two kidneys, but only one was working. The other one was.. basically gone." Liam sobbed. "I was also born three weeks early.. From age one to four, I was in and out of the hospital, taking tests and watching the doctors trying to figure out what was wrong with me.."
I put my hand on his, and he squeezed it.
"Suddenly, they discovered that one of my kidneys had scarred, it didn't work.."
He took a deep breath for what he was about to say next.
"32 injections, morning and night. It was awful." He spoke quiet. "I had never felt worse in my life, it was always in and out of the hospital.."
It was heartbreaking to see him cry. Sure, I could probably handle to see Harry or Zayn cry, but Liam.. He was like a puppy you needed to take care of.
"I basically lived on the hospital. I had never time to make any friends, my damaged kidney could take my whole world away in a minute if I wasn't careful."
He looked at me, with big tears in his eyes.
"I was dying, Kath. Half of my life, I spent my days in a hospital, being dying. Fading.."
I felt tears in my eyes as well.
"When I finally was getting better, I was barely aloud to go to school. My mum was being super-protective. But she sent me to school.."
Liam started to tear up again.
"But it was too late.. I came too late.. The gangs had already been made up, I was just the last member in the game Musical Chairs. There was no chair left for me. I was all by myself, alone in the classroom, on the breaks, and after school.."
I honestly didn't know what to say.
"Maybe it wasn't that bad..?" I tried.
But Liam snapped away his hand from mine.
"You don't understand, Kath! I saw my classmates run home after school with friends around them, laughing, joking and having fun. In the hallways, I got shoved in the lockers and got spit on! Everyday in the classroom, when you would pick a friend to work with, I sat in a corner, by myself, trying to fight my tears back. They said I was a freak, because of my one and only working kidney."
I looked at him. This was emotional memories for him, anyone could see that.
"I'm so sorry, Liam.." I whispered and felt a tear on my cheek.
"The worst.. The worst part was.. It didn't get better.." He whispered and closed his eyes. "It got worse. The pushing got harder, and the laughs got louder.. The stares got longer. People who didn't even know me started to pick on me.."
He looked like he had pain in his eyes.
"One day.. I got punched. It was a few days before my birthday. I got punched in my stomach and in my face. The ironic part is that they asked for forgivness the next day, they said that they didn't mean it. There I was, with the whole bully-gang in front of me, and they asked for being forgiven. I was just a scared kid, who wanted to be accepted and liked. That was all I wanted, someone who would like me. It's sick.. I forgave them. I freaking forgave them, and you know what? I was stupid enough to think that they would want to hang with me.."
"Maybe they did? You know, wanna hang with you?" I asked.
"No, you haven't heard the whole story yet. They asked if they could come to my fifteenth birthday. They said that they would bring the whole school, like a way to say 'Im sorry'. I can't believe I bought it. I believed the guys who had made my life a nightmare. But I got home, I got dressed in my favourite shirt and waited. Do you know how much stuff I persuaded my mum and dad to buy? They bought cake, chips, Coca Cola, and a lot of other things. A-and.. And.."
Liams voice almost went away, he was red in his face. But he clenched his jaw and breathed in and out slowly, looking strong.
"No one.." He started slow. "No one showed up."
I felt more tears sliding down my cheek.
"Several times, I didn't wanna.. stay, you know.. But I decided to fight through it, and it pissed off the bullies.. But, confident, I ignored them, and tried to focus on school. I slowly got closer to the end of the school-year. I had senior high left, but without them. So when I finally could turn my back to them, not being worried about what they would do, I felt better than ever. And that's when I.." He started smiling.
That moment was pure happiness, seeing him smile through his tears.
"That's when I met the lads.. They mean everything to me. They don't know my past, I thought it would ruin my friendship with them.. Because.." He cried. "I have been growing up with people around me saying that I was worthless, that I can never have friends, that I was a mistake in the world.. Those words got stuck. So when I, so easily, got friends with Harry, Niall, Zayn and Louis.. I finally started to realized that their words was just lies. It was absolutely amazing."
But his small smile disappeared suddenly. When he opened his mouth to speak again, a tear left his right eye.
"They're back, Kath.." He whispered. "They are back.."
It all made sense now. How scared he looked when he saw them, and why he didn't drink when we went to the mall.
"Oh, Liam.." I said and hugged him while crying in his arms with him.
"You have to tell the boys.." I said in his shoulder.
"I will, I just wanted to tell you first."
He pulled away and looked at me. Staring at my face. At my lips. I didn't wanna ruin anything. Don't kiss him, I thought, even though it was tempting. Instead, I pulled him in for another hug, a hug that lasted longer and was harder than the last one.
"Thank you." Liam mumbled in my shoulder.
"For what?"
"For being here. For being my friend. For.. Mattering to me. You mean so much for me, Kath."
I smiled, and he smiled. I hugged him harder, feeling my sweater getting wetter by Liams tears. Then I looked outside, it was getting lighter.
"You should go to sleep. I don't wanna keep you up." Liam said.
It was crazy, how he had turn out to such a sweetheart, after all that had happened to him. Unbelieveble.
I put my hand on his face, and swiped away some tears.
"I'm not leaving you here." I smiled. "Either we could stay here, you could give me some booktips, or we could leave the building and go do something fun."
"In the middle of the night?"
"Yeah, we can go and be a litte crazy."
"Crazy..?"
Slowly, the sun was rising. Above the trees, houses and up on the sky as the most beautiful view I had ever seen. It was 5:37am, I was on a cold roof, with Liam. Probably the most relaxing thing ever. The train station we were at, was one of the biggest in England. So it was big.
"This is amazing.." Liam said with closed eyes.
The wind was playing with our hair while the next train went by. Other than that, it was quiet.
"Yeah.. This is quite something." I said and admired the view once again. "This is really something.."
"I was born with two kidneys, but only one was working. The other one was.. basically gone." Liam sobbed. "I was also born three weeks early.. From age one to four, I was in and out of the hospital, taking tests and watching the doctors trying to figure out what was wrong with me.."
I put my hand on his, and he squeezed it.
"Suddenly, they discovered that one of my kidneys had scarred, it didn't work.."
He took a deep breath for what he was about to say next.
"32 injections, morning and night. It was awful." He spoke quiet. "I had never felt worse in my life, it was always in and out of the hospital.."
It was heartbreaking to see him cry. Sure, I could probably handle to see Harry or Zayn cry, but Liam.. He was like a puppy you needed to take care of.
"I basically lived on the hospital. I had never time to make any friends, my damaged kidney could take my whole world away in a minute if I wasn't careful."
He looked at me, with big tears in his eyes.
"I was dying, Kath. Half of my life, I spent my days in a hospital, being dying. Fading.."
I felt tears in my eyes as well.
"When I finally was getting better, I was barely aloud to go to school. My mum was being super-protective. But she sent me to school.."
Liam started to tear up again.
"But it was too late.. I came too late.. The gangs had already been made up, I was just the last member in the game Musical Chairs. There was no chair left for me. I was all by myself, alone in the classroom, on the breaks, and after school.."
I honestly didn't know what to say.
"Maybe it wasn't that bad..?" I tried.
But Liam snapped away his hand from mine.
"You don't understand, Kath! I saw my classmates run home after school with friends around them, laughing, joking and having fun. In the hallways, I got shoved in the lockers and got spit on! Everyday in the classroom, when you would pick a friend to work with, I sat in a corner, by myself, trying to fight my tears back. They said I was a freak, because of my one and only working kidney."
I looked at him. This was emotional memories for him, anyone could see that.
"I'm so sorry, Liam.." I whispered and felt a tear on my cheek.
"The worst.. The worst part was.. It didn't get better.." He whispered and closed his eyes. "It got worse. The pushing got harder, and the laughs got louder.. The stares got longer. People who didn't even know me started to pick on me.."
He looked like he had pain in his eyes.
"One day.. I got punched. It was a few days before my birthday. I got punched in my stomach and in my face. The ironic part is that they asked for forgivness the next day, they said that they didn't mean it. There I was, with the whole bully-gang in front of me, and they asked for being forgiven. I was just a scared kid, who wanted to be accepted and liked. That was all I wanted, someone who would like me. It's sick.. I forgave them. I freaking forgave them, and you know what? I was stupid enough to think that they would want to hang with me.."
"Maybe they did? You know, wanna hang with you?" I asked.
"No, you haven't heard the whole story yet. They asked if they could come to my fifteenth birthday. They said that they would bring the whole school, like a way to say 'Im sorry'. I can't believe I bought it. I believed the guys who had made my life a nightmare. But I got home, I got dressed in my favourite shirt and waited. Do you know how much stuff I persuaded my mum and dad to buy? They bought cake, chips, Coca Cola, and a lot of other things. A-and.. And.."
Liams voice almost went away, he was red in his face. But he clenched his jaw and breathed in and out slowly, looking strong.
"No one.." He started slow. "No one showed up."
I felt more tears sliding down my cheek.
"Several times, I didn't wanna.. stay, you know.. But I decided to fight through it, and it pissed off the bullies.. But, confident, I ignored them, and tried to focus on school. I slowly got closer to the end of the school-year. I had senior high left, but without them. So when I finally could turn my back to them, not being worried about what they would do, I felt better than ever. And that's when I.." He started smiling.
That moment was pure happiness, seeing him smile through his tears.
"That's when I met the lads.. They mean everything to me. They don't know my past, I thought it would ruin my friendship with them.. Because.." He cried. "I have been growing up with people around me saying that I was worthless, that I can never have friends, that I was a mistake in the world.. Those words got stuck. So when I, so easily, got friends with Harry, Niall, Zayn and Louis.. I finally started to realized that their words was just lies. It was absolutely amazing."
But his small smile disappeared suddenly. When he opened his mouth to speak again, a tear left his right eye.
"They're back, Kath.." He whispered. "They are back.."
It all made sense now. How scared he looked when he saw them, and why he didn't drink when we went to the mall.
"Oh, Liam.." I said and hugged him while crying in his arms with him.
"You have to tell the boys.." I said in his shoulder.
"I will, I just wanted to tell you first."
He pulled away and looked at me. Staring at my face. At my lips. I didn't wanna ruin anything. Don't kiss him, I thought, even though it was tempting. Instead, I pulled him in for another hug, a hug that lasted longer and was harder than the last one.
"Thank you." Liam mumbled in my shoulder.
"For what?"
"For being here. For being my friend. For.. Mattering to me. You mean so much for me, Kath."
I smiled, and he smiled. I hugged him harder, feeling my sweater getting wetter by Liams tears. Then I looked outside, it was getting lighter.
"You should go to sleep. I don't wanna keep you up." Liam said.
It was crazy, how he had turn out to such a sweetheart, after all that had happened to him. Unbelieveble.
I put my hand on his face, and swiped away some tears.
"I'm not leaving you here." I smiled. "Either we could stay here, you could give me some booktips, or we could leave the building and go do something fun."
"In the middle of the night?"
"Yeah, we can go and be a litte crazy."
"Crazy..?"
Slowly, the sun was rising. Above the trees, houses and up on the sky as the most beautiful view I had ever seen. It was 5:37am, I was on a cold roof, with Liam. Probably the most relaxing thing ever. The train station we were at, was one of the biggest in England. So it was big.
"This is amazing.." Liam said with closed eyes.
The wind was playing with our hair while the next train went by. Other than that, it was quiet.
"Yeah.. This is quite something." I said and admired the view once again. "This is really something.."
@nafalovesonedirection
Yes, I felt so too. But hey, if you wanna check out my new fanfiction, please do! It hasn't as good updating as this one had, but it's only because I want every chapter to be inspired, good, and well - perfect. I've only written one chapter but I'm working on my second. x :)
http://www.wattpad.com/42873493-distance
4/27/14