I could see light just barely starting to creep into my room. I felt a hand on my waist and knew that someone was with me, but who? I was a little groggy still and when I looked at the clock, I realized it was just after six am. I looked behind me to find Liam sleeping peacefully. His lips parted and a little bit of drool on the pillow below his angelic face.
Slowly, I peeled his hand from my stomach before raising myself out of bed, all the while being careful not to jostle him. I put on a clean pair of underwear, my favorite batman boy shorts, followed by a baggy shirt before I grabbed the two, now cold, cups of tea on my dresser. The flat was disserted with the exception of Liam and me. Maggie never came home.
In the kitchen, I started some breakfast. Miraculously, there was actually coffee in the cupboard for me to make. Once I had a piping hot cup of coffee in my hands, I could think about breakfast, but not before I had downed my first half-cup of caffeine. So I started my coffee maker, adding the coffee grounds as well as a teaspoon of vanilla extract and a few shakes of cinnamon, just the way I like it before starting a full pot. Not sure if Liam would be wanting any or if I would have the pleasure of drinking the whole thing myself.
With a cup of black coffee in my hand, I began cutting up some fresh fruit to put in my yogurt. I was never much of a breakfast person, but when it is six in the morning, what else are you going to do?
I could hear Liam in the room begin to stir as the bed began to moan and creak. Quickly, I attempted to make myself look a little more presentable; being sure that my hair was a mess.
His feet padded across the hardwood floor and as he rounded the corner into the living area, he stretched and yawned allowing me to see all of his tattoos.
“Good morning stranger” he said. “Mind if I have some coffee?”
“Good morning, and help yourself” I said, slowly sipping my own coffee.
He planted himself in the chair across the table from me, coffee in hand, looking like a freaking God and not like he had just rolled out of bed, complete with a devilish grin.
“Did you sleep okay?” I asked trying to be the polite host.
“Except for the fact that I actually slept, yes. Probably better than I have in weeks. Only problem, I didn’t get to enjoy you as much as I had been planning” exclaimed Liam.
“Well, it is probably better that we did sleep” shyly, I continued on, “I am not normally the person who brings someone home on the first date, if we can even count last night as a date. I mean, I hardly know you.”
“I count it as a date, hopefully the first one of many and why don’t you get to know me. Ask away.”
“How are you so perfect?” I exclaimed before I even realized what was coming out of my mouth.
“That wasn’t really a question.” he calmly replied, though it was easy to see he was laughing on the inside.
“Okay, how about you tell me who are you?”
“Well, my name is Liam Payne. I am a singer in a boy band and we have been together for quite some time now. I am from Wolverhampton in the West Midlands. I like dogs and I hate spoons. I think that pretty much sums it up.” He rattled off like a list, like nothing even mattered.
“That is all good and all, but that tells me nothing about you really. Who are you? How did you grow into the person that you are?”
“You know, I don’t think anyone has taken the time to ask me anything like that. Most people I meet are interested in me just because I am famous.” He retorted.
“Then clearly, I need to make sure it doesn’t go to your pretty little head.” But then I realized that I was not going to get anywhere with my questions, so I said, “Why don’t you ask me something?”
“Tell me about where you are from.”
“Where I am from, well I guess you can tell that I am American. I was born in rural Wyoming, in Glenrock. It is a small community of about twenty five hundred people. I grew up on a dude ranch where my family still raises buffalo and stallions while hosting people who want to life like the real cow boys did. But that is bull crap because we offered them showers and hot breakfast and air conditioning in their tents. But that is besides the point.” I added quickly since I knew that I was giving way too much information, like normal. “I am the fourth child of six. I went to University in Washington, D.C. at Georgetown where I got my degree in Medieval Studies. Now I am here, working on more of my education. My family and I are still very close since growing up rural you tend to only have your family and never the option of going somewhere else.” Taking a big breath I continued, “And I think that is about it.”
“Six kids, that is a lot and you said you are still close to them? Tell me about them.” Liam said sounding honestly interested in my family life.
I stood up to refill my coffee before I started, knowing that family was a touchy subject since I was still dealing with my homesickness of being so far away from them. “My oldest brother is Landon, he is thirty two and he is a rancher like my father. He still works for my dad. He and his wife, Linda, live next-door to my parents with their three kids. And then there is Donna, the rebel of my family. She is not planning on settling down anytime soon since she has just recently extended her time living abroad and working for the Peace Corps in Africa. Alison and Amanda are the youngest, they are twins and are turning eighteen in just three weeks.” Taking a deep breath, trying to steady my voice since I have become a bit worked up, I began to talk about my best friend. “Lastly, there is Griffin. He is just ten months older than me. It is really hard being away from him, since we have always been together. We even went to universities that were close so that we could still see each other every weekend. Grif is going to be proposing to his girlfriend in the next few weeks.”
“I am close to my family too.” He reached out and took my hand, adding, “I know how hard it is sometimes being so far away from them.”
“I feel like an idiot, being a grown ass woman and yet still crying when I think about how far away I am.” I blubbered, attempting to suck it up, as Grif always told me.
“No, don’t hide from your emotions, it is refreshing to have someone be so real with me.” He squeezed my hand. “Why don’t I ask you some more questions to get your mind off of it?”
I nodded and he side. “Alright, what is your favorite band?”
“Oh goodness, I don’t know. I am not someone who listens to music very often, and when I do, I prefer classical music.”
“Honesty, I like it. Ok, how about your favorite movie?”
“Now that I can answer, I do enjoy watching movies.” I exclaimed. “I am a huge fan of all the Star Wars and Harry Potters, but if I had a choice to watch that or a Disney movie, I would almost always choose Hercules or Beauty and the Beast.”
“You like Disney, which is good. So then you must like Toy Story.”
“I can’t say I have ever seen any of them, nor Bambi or the Lady and the Tramp, or Dumbo. A good majority of them my mother always said was not appropriate.”
“Wait, whoa, go back. You have never seen Toy Story?!” he exclaimed sounding almost hurt, like he had just been slapped across the face. “We need to fix that and soon!”

Allie and I sat at her kitchen table for several hours, talking about everything. Me still in my boxers, her in just a shirt and a pair of underwear that I had notices had the batman symbol on them. Oh, if she only knew what I wanted to do to her and those underwear. But all good things must come to an end.
“I really should be going” I said when I noticed the clock read 10:42. She was silent. I stood up and went to put my clothes on, which she had folded at some time and were now sitting in the bathroom.
While in the bathroom, I noticed her phone on the sink. I couldn’t help myself, so I put my number in, calling myself quickly with it, and then proceeded to change the ringtone just for myself.
When I came out, she had pulled on a pair of jeans and changed into a top. “Thank you.” I said before kissing her on the mouth. Not too hard, but not gently either. For some reason she looked disappointed, like I was missing something.
She walked me to the door, but before I let her close the door, I turned to her and said, “I am going to take you out on a proper date. Soon, and not one where we just shag.”
“If you insist,” was all I got in return before she shut the door.
In the elevator, on the way down, I replayed much of the previous night. Red hair, the wall, her piercing green and blue eyes, unlike anything I had ever seen before. Just thinking about it, I began to get a slight hard on.