Liam’s POV

“You kissed her?” Niall asked with widened eyes.

“Almost,” I corrected as I sat down on the couch in my living room of my flat I shared with my friend Andy. It had been nearly a week since Melody and I went to the movies, and I was still embarrassed about the kiss that never happened. How could I have not known she has a boyfriend?! “She stopped before I could do anything.” I shrugged and looked down at my phone in hopes of a text message from Melody. Nothing.

“From the way you were telling the story, it sure seems like she wanted to kiss you.”

“Which is why I went for the kiss, but she’s got a boyfriend.”

“Ouch.”

“Yeah,” I sighed, running my hands over the little hair I had left in frustration. “I dunno, man. I kinda like her and I thought she kinda liked me too. I guess I was wrong.”

“Ah come on, she’ll leave her lame boyfriend for you, just you watch. You’re a catch, my brotha.” Someone’s been talking to that Bieber kid too much. “Right, I’ll never say that again, but really, she’d be stupid not to like you.” Niall’s tone had a positive ring to it. I nodded and went to reply, but was stopped by my mobile buzzing in my hand. It had finally lit up with a text message from Melody.

Mels: Yeah, no problem.

“I gotta make a phone call. Be right back.” I pushed myself up off the couch and walked into the other room, dialing Melody on the way. The phone rang twice before she picked up.

“Hello?” Her voice sounded thick as though she had just been crying.

“Hey, are you alright?” I asked, shutting the bedroom door behind me to keep others from listening. “You sound upset.”

“I’m fine, it’s just been a long day.” She sniffed, letting out a short sigh. “What did you need to call about?”

“Oh, I just wanted to talk, but it seems to me that you need some sort of distraction from today.”

“More like from life.” Melody sighed. “What did you have in mind?”

“Well, maybe I could come visit you on campus and—“

“No!” The sharpness in her tone surprised me. “I mean… not today. Maybe sometime this weekend, but I can meet up with you somewhere if you’d like.”

“Uh… sure. Sounds okay.” I said cautiously, not knowing when she’d yell at me again.

“There’s a small park right by the college we can meet at if you want.”

“Sounds like a plan. See you at four?”

“Sure! See you then!” Click.

If that wasn’t the weirdest phone conversation of my life, then I’m not sure what is. I walked back out to the living room where Niall was watching a football match and took a seat back on the couch, watching the time.

Melody’s POV

I paced the room after making plans with Liam. What was I going to wear? Would he care how I looked? Why should I care how I look for a guy who isn’t even my boyfriend? Speaking of which, my cheek still stung from the slap he gave me for lying to him about the movie. I walked over to the mirror and examined the fading red handprint. I traced my fingertips over it, wondering if this was how it was supposed to be with someone you loved, or with someone who loved you… could I have it better?

Of course not. Just like Mitchell says, no one could possibly love me except for him. Sure, Liam liked me, but there’s no way he could love me. How could he? I was just… average. My hair is constantly a mess, I have freckles covering nearly every inch of my skin, and my personality is dull. How could anyone else love me?

“Knock, knock! I hope you’re decent, babe.” I quickly grabbed my makeup and started applying it to the red area as Quin walked in. “So, I brought us Chinese for lunch,” Quin explained as she placed two bags on her bed. “And we’re going to drown ourselves in chick flicks for the rest of the day.”

“Actually, I have plans in about three hours.” I shrugged as she handed me my lunch.

“With Mitch?”

“Liam, actually.” I smiled and finished applying my face makeup.

“Another date, then?” I looked over at my best friend who had a stupid, hopeful grin plastered across her face.

“He knows about Mitchell, Quin.” I rolled my eyes as she let out an annoyed sigh.

“Why don’t you just admit that you like Liam? I know you do.”

“So what if I do? I love Mitchell and I’m not going to throw away four years for some guy I met at a night club on my birthday.” I fixed my eye makeup and looked down at my phone for a text from Liam.

Liam: Can we meet a bit earlier and somewhere else? I’m quite ready for lunch if you’d like to join me.

Melody: I’d love to. Where do you want to meet at?

“Change of lunch plans, Q.” I smiled apologetically. “Liam wants to meet up for lunch, but we can have dinner! I swear!” I grabbed my car keys and my sweater before heading out the door and to the parking deck.

~*~

I pulled up to Mangino’s, a local Italian restaurant, and sat in the parking lot for a bit, debating on whether or not I should actually go inside. Liam had gotten there about ten minutes before me, so he was probably already seated and waiting for me. I quickly checked my face makeup once more before getting out of the car and walking into the building. I took a deep breath and stepped inside, looking around for Liam. When I spotted him, I walked over to him with my head down, just in case Mitchell was around. “Hey.” I greeted him, taking my seat immediately.

“Hey… are you okay?” Liam asked, cocking an eyebrow at me. I nodded and looked down at the menu. “Are you sure?” I nodded again, checking my phone and resting my hand on my cheek, flinching as I hit the sore spot on my cheek bone. “Okay.” He said skeptically.

“Have you already ordered?” I asked, closing the menu, planning on just having a glass of water and a small serving of spaghetti.

“Nah, I was waiting on you.” I smiled and waited for our waiter to come by. “So how was your day?” Liam asked, folding his menu shut.

“It could have gone better.” I shrugged, crossing my arms in front of me and resting them on the table.

“Oh my god, what happened to your face?” Liam asked horrified as he reached across the table. I instantly moved back, my hand flying to cover the bruise across my face. “Mels, seriously, what happened? That looks bad.” Our waiter decided at this moment to come up and take our orders, so after placing them, I thought the subject would change, but I was wrong. “Melody, that looks really bad. I could ask for some ice if you’d like—“

“No, it’s nothing.” I smiled. “Honestly, I’m just really clumsy. I tripped over my hair dryer cord and hit my face on the mirror. I’m surprised I haven’t broken a bone yet.” I shrugged as our drinks were brought to us. That was a shit excuse.

“Okay…” He sighed and took a drink of his cola. “I’ll be right back, okay? Gonna run to the bathroom.” I nodded and checked my phone as he walked towards the restrooms.

Mitchell: I’m sorry about earlier, baby ): you know I love you, right?

Mels: I know. I love you, too (:

Mitchell: Good (: I’ll see you next week, okay? I’m helping my mom move into her new place. We’re almost done! Love you lots!

I don’t know why I suddenly became so paranoid, but knowing that Mitchell wasn’t on campus lead me to believe that Mitchell could drop by here, or see me here with another guy. I gathered my belongings and ran out of the restaurant, texting Liam on my way out.

Melody: Sorry to run out on you so quickly… something came up and I had to go. Any way we could reschedule? Xx

I unlocked my car and climbed into the driver’s seat as quickly as I could, slamming the door shut and gripping the steering wheel. I could feel the panic rising in my chest as the thought of Mitchell catching me with another guy (even if he was just a friend) entered my mind. How badly he would hurt me, how much hell there would be to pay if he ever found out, and if anyone were to find out what happened behind closed doors. What would they think? Would they think I was weak?

A tapping on the window pulled me from my thoughts. I looked up to see Liam standing at my window, smiling at me and waving. I rolled down my window and pulled myself together the best that I could. “I was just going to bring you out your food… I saw your car was still out here, so…” He handed over a small take out box with a small smile on his face. I took it from him and placed it in the passenger seat. “Hey, Mels?” I looked back over at him, refusing to make a sound knowing it would bring on a whole new wave of panic. “I don’t know why you’re crying, but I hope it gets better.” I hadn’t even realized I had been crying until Liam pointed it out. I quickly wiped the wetness from under my eyes.

“Thank you.” I smiled at him as he backed away from my car, allowing me to roll up my window and back out of the parking lot.

~*~

When I pulled back into the school’s parking garage, Quin was already waiting for me at my usual parking space. “How was your lunch with Liam?” She asked, crossing her arms. “I heard you left before you even got your food.”

“How did you know that?” I asked, grabbing my food from the passenger’s seat and climbed out of the car.

“I stole Liam’s number from your phone the other day.” She shrugged and kicked herself off the wall she had been leaning on. “Anyway, why did you leave?”

“Personal reasons.” I shrugged as we walked towards our dorm rooms. “It doesn’t matter, we’re rescheduling for another day… I think.”

“Well, you might want to do it soon before you boyfriend gets back.”

“What?” My heart started racing. Did she know?

“You know… so when he gets back you don’t have to worry ditching Liam.”

“Right!” I sighed with relief. “Yeah, we’ll… we’ll reschedule for sometimes this week.” I bit my bottom lip to keep myself from saying another word.

Notes

Next chapter! Yay! I really hope everyone's enjoying it :)
Xx