Home Sweet Home

It had been about a week since I’ve been in London and I was currently cleaning up around the flat since Tom and Lou rarely had time since Lux and the lads kept them moving all the time. I had my earbuds in my phone and I was singing along to Midnight Memories. I was dancing in the living room as I was dusting and picking up Lux’s toys from this morning when I heard a movement and I spun around to see Liam trying not to laugh. I blushed hardcore from embarrassment and quickly took off out by earbuds.

“So. . .um. . .How much did you see?” I asked a bit embarrassed and Liam grinned widely.

“Let’s just say enough to know that you’re a good singer and a horrible dancer,” he replied and I groaned.

“You know you’re supposed to let people know when you’re in their flats,” I said and Liam chuckled.

“I called you name like ten times but you never answered,” he said and again I blushed.

“Well what can I help you with?” I asked, “Lou and Tom are out on a family date with Lux.”

“Well I came to see you actually,” he said sheepishly, “I was wondering if you wanted to go out to lunch with me.”

I was a bit taken aback with the invite because after meeting Liam the night I got into London, he’s been pretty invisible to nonexistence. The boys and their girlfriends were always over now because I was now here except Liam. I always asked about him because I was worried for him and they all told me not to worry that he was just busy with other things.

“Sure,” I smiled lightly, “Let me go get changed into some clothes and then we’ll head out?”

“Yeah sure,” Liam said and I could feel him physically relax.

I then walked into my room and quickly threw on a pair of pants and a shirt. I grabbed my hat off the dresser and walked out to find Liam sitting on the couch in the living room watching some TV. When I walked in I saw it was one of those trashy gossip shows and I looked at Liam to find him engrossed in it.

“And in today’s One Direction’s news is Liam Payne the new bad boy of the group?” the woman on the TV asked, “Liam was seen just two nights ago stumbling out of a club with a few girls. Does Daddy Direction need a new babysitter now or will he be gone? Stay tuned and find out.”

“You know they don’t know a thing about you right,” I replied quietly and Liam’s head snapped to me and he quickly shut off the TV.

“They’re right about me though,” he replied, “I’ve gone off the deep end.”

“Can I ask why?” I asked as we walked out of the flat, “And if you don’t want to tell me you don’t have to. I know we don’t know each other very well and I just meet you a week ago so I understand if you say no.”

“I’ll tell you why if you tell me the real reason why you moved back,” he replied and I frowned.

I didn’t want to indulge into the real reason why I moved back to London. My parents were the only ones who knew and that was because they saw the bruises and scars on my body when I didn’t think they did. They were the only ones to know the reason why I moved back to London was to hide from my abusive ex-boyfriend. I weighed by options and took a deep breath.

“Deal,” I replied quietly, “But can we wait until we get to where we’re going?”

“Of course,” he said as we walked over to his car, “Do you like diner food?”

“Best type of food if you ask me,” I smiled lightly at Liam smiled at me.

He helped me into the car and then walked over to his side and then started driving away from the flat complex. On the way to the diner, Liam had the radio on lightly and I was humming to The Script and I saw out of the corner of my eyes that Liam smiled lightly when I started humming.

“Do you know who this is?” he asked me and I smiled lightly.

“The Script,” I replied, “I like a few of their songs. I still have bought the new album but I loved the first two so the third one has to be brilliant.”

“I have it if you want to burn it,” he said, “Or I can burn it for you if you want.”

“I’d like that,” I replied and smiled at him, “Is this the new album?”

“Mmhmm,” he replied and I nodded my head.

We then pulled into the parking lot of the diner, and I got out of the car and Liam frowned.

“You know I could’ve gotten the door,” he said and I smiled lightly.

“I didn’t want you to run around the car,” I replied, “It’s fine Liam. Come on, I’m starving. I danced way too much.”

This caused Liam to chuckle and I grabbed his hand and dragged him into the diner.

“Hi can I have a table for two with no spoons on the table? Thanks love,” I replied to the boy who had to be sixteen standing that the host stand.

The boy looked at me confused and then I smiled lightly at him.

“I don’t really like them,” I replied and he nodded his head.

“Just give me a second,” he replied and walked off and Liam gave me a weird look.

“What?” I asked confused.

“No one’s ever done that for me before,” he said, “asked for a table with no spoons and then told the host it was a fear of theirs.”

“It’s not a problem,” I replied, “They are a weird utensil.”

Liam just smiled lightly at me and we followed the teenaged boy back to a table in the corner and I smiled at him and thanked him. Once we had our drink orders, Liam looked over at me and I could tell he was trying to figure me out.

“So who do you want to start?” I asked.

“How about we start with twenty questions?” he asked and I nodded my head.

“Full name,” I said.

“Liam James Payne,” he said, “Yours?”

“Beatrice Mae Teasdale,” I said and he smiled lightly, “You can’t tell anyone else because I hate my full name.”

“Okay,” he chuckled.

“Favorite color,” I said.

“Purple,” he said, “You?”

“Blue,” I replied, “Favorite animal?”

“Dog,” he said, “Favorite food?”

“French fries,” I smiled and that’s how lunch was for the first half, Liam and I just getting to know each other.

We both had similar taste in music and movies which made him excited because he said if I went on tour with him and the lads that we would be movie buddies. By the end of lunch I felt like I had known Liam for years and I could honestly say he was the first person I had completely opened up to. He was the first person since I had moved from home. He was the first person to truly know Beatrice Mae Teasdale. We both had finished lunch and I was pulling out my wallet and Liam scoffed and I looked at him confused.

“What?” I asked.

“You’re not paying love,” he said, “I invited you. It’s only right that I pay.”

I smiled lightly and sighed.

“I’m not going to win on this am I?” I asked.

“Nope,” he said and stood up to go pay.

I just sighed and grabbed my purse and pulled out the tip and left it on the table. I then walked over to Liam who was just playfully glaring at me.

“You wouldn’t let me pay for my half,” I said shrugging my shoulders.

“You’re just like your sisters,” he said and I just laughed as we walked out of the diner.

We both got in the car and he started driving.

“So I figured we could talk at my flat if that’s okay with you,” he said, “We won’t be bothered in there because the lads think I’m out running errands today.”

“Okay,” I said playing with my hands because I was nervous.

The ride to Liam’s flat was completely quiet and I think both of us were both trying to figure out what and how were going to say the next words that were going to come out of our mouths. Liam parked the car in the car park and he quickly rushed around and helped me out of the car and we saw paps sitting in the front of the building.

“Come here,” Liam said quietly and pulled me into his side and handed me his sunglasses, “This way they can’t find out who you are.”

I nodded my head and kept my head down so they couldn’t get a good picture of my face and we walked through the group of paps around the door. Liam had a protective arm around me and for some reason I felt completely and utterly safe for the first time in years. Liam and I made it to the lift and he pushed the button to the eighth floor.

“All the lads and I live on the same floor but we all have our own flats,” Liam said as I handed him his sunglasses.

“That must be nice,” I replied, “That way the boys can help you out if you need it with anything and thanks for protecting me from the paps. Are they always that rude?”

“Pretty much,” he replied, “And it was my pleasure. I don’t get to do that for pretty girls often so I didn’t mind.”

I smiled lightly and blushed at his comment and I saw him smile lightly at him. The lift doors opened and Liam grabbed my hand and led me to his flat. He shut the door and told me to just follow the hallway straight and I would find the living room he was going to go make each of us a cuppa. I nodded my head and I walked down the hallway and into the living room and found that this flat wasn’t very decorated. It just had a giant couch, a telly on a stand, a picture of Liam and his family but other than that it was bare. I looked over to find a liquor cabinet with most of the bottles empty and I frowned slightly. I hoped Liam hadn’t tried to drink his problems away. He was a talented lad who had a really long life ahead of him and I could tell that his friends were worried about him. I walked over to the single photo on the telly stand and smiled when I saw a picture of Liam and his family in a before picture and after picture that they used in the “Story of My Life” video. I was holding the photo when I heard Liam walk into the room and I put the picture down and turned to smile at him as he handed me a mug.

“You like a little milk and three cubes of sugar right?” he asked and I nodded my head.

“Thank you,” I replied and he smiled lightly at me.

“No problem,” he said and we sat down on the couch, “So do you want me to start or do you want to start?”

“It’s completely up to you,” I replied quietly, “Do you still want some time?”

Liam nodded his head and I took a deep breath and set my cuppa on the coffee table. I played with my hands trying to find words to explain everything. When I looked up at Liam, I could see concern written across his face.

“Liam you have to promise me that the story that I am about to tell you can’t leave here,” I replied quietly, “You can’t tell Lou or any one of the lads because they don’t know the truth either.”

Liam nodded his head but I could tell he was apprehensive about it.

“I promise Tris,” he replied and I nodded my head.

“Well I moved away from home because I had gotten into the EI School of Professional Makeup in Hollywood,” I started, “And while I was there I took night classes at another school for hair. I was doing great my first year. I was passing all of my classes, I had a decent flat, I had a lot of friends and life was great. Then I met Adam. Adam was a student like I was at the EI School of Professional Makeup. He was charming and sweet and funny and we were always partners when we had class projects. He asked me out on a date about the third month of classes. I said yes because I thought he was cute and I thought he was a good person. We went on a few dates and after about a couple of months of dating casually we made it official. He asked me in the cheesiest way by spelling out be my girlfriend with makeup boxes and equipment at school in front of everyone. Of course I said yes and things were good for a while.”

I took a deep shaky breath because the next events I tried to push out of my head.

“I had taken Adam to meet Lou, Sam, Tom, and my parents for Christmas the first year I was gone and they had all loved him,” I said, “He had my parents loving him and everyone thought he was a good guy. Once we got back to the states though, he changed. We started fighting more and he became secretive. He stayed out later and soon I was accusing him of cheating. I guess that’s when things became horrible. He started losing his temper around me and started the abuse.”

I closed my eyes and I opened them to find Liam’s eyes harden in anger and I blinked back the tears.

“I’ve been everything thru being told I was never going to make it and I was a horrible person to being beaten to almost unconsciousness,” I whispered quietly as I pulled my legs up to my chin and closed my eyes, “I’ve been through it for four years.”

“Did you break up with him?” Liam asked quietly and I nodded my head.

“He wasn’t too thrilled about it either,” I replied, “Hence why I made such a rash idea to move back here. I left him while he was on vacation with some of his guy friends. After putting up with it for so long I was just tired of not fighting back.”

I then felt the couch dip down next to me and Liam pulled me tightly into his chest.

“I am so sorry you had to go through that Tris,” he whispered, “I’m going to make sure he doesn’t ever hurt or touch you again.”

“Don’t promise something you can’t control,” Liam whispered looking up at him and he frowned.

“I will promise something I believe I can do and I believe I can protect you,” he said.

I just quietly nodded my head and he took a deep breath.

“I guess it’s my turn huh?” he asked and I just shrugged my shoulders.

“Yeah,” I replied, “I guess.”

Liam took a deep breath and I looked up at him.

“So I had a girlfriend in between Danielle and Sophia,” Liam started, “Her name was Hannah and to be honest, she was kind of a rebound at first. I had met her at a pub while I was just being miserable because Danielle and I had just broken up. She and I started talking and soon talking turned into dates and dates turned into being boyfriend and girlfriend. The lads loved her, Lou liked her, heck even Lux thought she was cool. She was slowly fixing my heart and putting pieces back together. I guess you could say I was slowly falling in love.”

I then looked up to see Liam’s eyes get glassy and I gave his hand a reassuring squeeze and he smiled lightly down at me.

“Well she had other ideas,” Liam said and I could see the coldness in his eyes, “Turns out she was just using me and only wanted fifteen minutes of fame so when I announced we were dating she broke up with me about three weeks after claiming she couldn’t handle my lifestyle. Then I dated Sophia about a few weeks after and I guess I wasn’t over Hannah I was still hurt about all the other breakups. I’m still not over it really. It’s a reason why I go out to clubs and get pissed almost every chance I can get.”

“Liam,” I said quietly and he looked down at me and I smiled lightly, “I think we’re going to become good friends. We can help each other mend.”

“I think so too love,” Liam replied, “I think so too.”

Liam I then spent the rest of the afternoon just talking quietly on the couch and getting to know each and every little thing we could possible know. We just told stupid jokes and had mindless TV on as background noise. Liam excused himself to use the bathroom and I sat back and thought about my words I had spoken to Liam. I truly believed my words. We were going to close friends. We had gone through things no one wanted to go through so we could relate to each other’s pain in some weird way.

Notes

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