by Jae
“Liam, stop.” I beg, reaching out and pressing my hand to his chest where my daisy is tattooed. “Please, just stop.”
“You need to forget about him, Daisy.” Travis says, causing me to turn around and look at him.
I don’t know if it’s the way his spats the harsh words, the disgusted look he’s giving Liam, or just the bit of alcohol that’s left running through my system that makes me move closer to Travis, but whatever it was, it’s enough to make me slap him hard across his face. The force is plenty to make his head turn to the side and everyone in the room to fall silent. Some type of anger begins to build in my body as Travis slowly turns his head back to face me and I faintly hear Liam chuckle behind me.
“I’m so sick of people throwing their preconceived ideas about him at me. Sorry to break it to you and whoever else, but you don’t know anything about him.” I seethe, my eyes burning into Travis’. “So please, don’t you dare try to begin to act like you do.”
A few moments later, Connor and the other guy escort Travis out of the house and the party falls back into full swing like nothing ever happened. I close my eyes and take a few calming breaths before turning around to face Liam. I sigh when Tony and Jack release him and I catch his chin between my fingers, trying to inspect the bruised side of his jaw, split bottom lip, and a bloody cut above his eyebrow. I can tell that he still has plenty of fight left in him by his heavy breathing, but his eyes stay focused on my face while I check out all of his injuries the best I can with groups of people moving around us. I let out another sigh before dropping my hand from his face and he leans his head against my shoulder, his gradually slowing breathing cooling my neck.
“Do you want me to take him home?” Tony asks as Ella, Zoie, and Taylor move to stand beside their boyfriends.
“No, I’ll take him.” I respond, reaching into Liam’s front pocket and pulling out his keys. “Just help me get him to the car.”
Tony and Jack grab a hold of Liam’s arms again and pull him away from me before guide him out of the house and to his Rover while we girls and Connor follow in tow.
“How come it seem like we can never go anywhere without someone getting into a fight?” Taylor asks as she leans her head on Connor’s shoulder and he wraps an arm around her.
“Where’s the fun in that?” I ask sarcastically, running a hand through my hair. “So much for a fun party binge weekend, huh?”
When we get to the Rover I unlock it and Liam is heaved into the passenger seat while I climb into the driver’s side. After I turn on the ignition, I roll down the window and tell the girls I’ll call them. I prop my elbow on the doorframe and rest my head in my hand while I drive down the streets that lead to Liam’s apartment.
“That’s my shirt.” Liam mumbles when I stop at a red light.
“What?” I ask, turning my head to look at him.
“You’re wearing my shirt.” He says louder, reaching over and brushing his hands against the fabric bunched up at my elbow.
“Do you want it back?’ I ask, looking at him confused.
“No, it looks better on you.” He slightly shakes his head and lets out a sigh. “Hell, all of my clothes look better on you.”
I silently watch his hand slip from my arm and land on my thigh, giving it a gentle squeeze as the light turns green. It takes me a second to find my brain before I press on the gas pedal again.
When we arrive at his apartment, I put the car in park and then hop out to help Liam out of his seat. Liam does his best to keep as little weight as possible on me while we walk from the parking lot to the building. Liam leans against the wall while I unlock his door and then I tug him inside. I bring him into the kitchen and set him down at the table before grabbing a couple pieces of bread and a glass of water, making him eat and drink all of it. Surprisingly enough, it seems to actually sober him up quite a bit. Then I help guide him to his bathroom and make him sit on the toilet lid while I get the shower started. Once the water is warm enough, I grab the hem of Liam’s shirt and gently tug it over his head. I make him stand up and then inspect the bruises forming on his stomach and sides.
“Sorry.” I say when he flinches beneath my fingers. “Can you do the rest?”
Liam stares at me for a few moments before nodding his head and then unbuttoning his jeans.
“Daisy.” He says when I move to walk out of the bathroom.
“Yeah?” I ask, turning around to face him.
“Will you stay in here till I’m done?”
Everything inside tells me to say no, but the pleading look in his eyes is enough for me to say okay. I sit on the toilet lid and stare at my hands while he finishes taking off his jeans and boxer briefs and then steps into the shower. Liam instantly whines about how the water makes his cuts sting and I have to force myself not to laugh at him and instead tell him to suck it up. After ten minutes, Liam turns off the water and I walk out of the bathroom, shutting the door tightly behind me. When he exits, I’m sitting at the foot of his bed staring at my hands again. I listen to Liam move around his room, getting dressed in a pair of navy blue Calvin Klein boxer briefs before tossing his towel back in the bathroom and then climbing into his bed.
“Daisy?”
“Hmm?” I respond, still looking at my hands.
“I’m sorry for fighting.” Liam tells me softly. “I just… I didn’t like the way he grabbed you and I… I just couldn’t help it.”
“I know.” I answer, looking up at his dresser and seeing a picture of us still there. “It’s okay.”
Standing up, I pick up the frame and look at it while running my fingers over the glass. It’s a close up of us, I’m sitting on Liam’s lap and, though you can’t see it, his arms are wrapped around my hips. I’m slightly leaned to the side and looking at Liam who’s looking at the camera with a big cheesy grin on his face. Tears sting the back of my eyes as I place the frame back where it was, remembering the day it was taken like it was yesterday. I slightly turn and give Liam a small, sad smile before moving out of his room. As I’m walking towards the front door, I pull my phone out of my back pocket to call Ella and ask her to come get me.
“Daisy?” Liam says from behind me. “Where are you going?”
I turn to see him standing at the opening of the hallway, his hand pressed against the wall to keep him steady. His bare chest and the shine of his necklace catch my attention, distracting me for a moment.
“I’m going home.” I answer, looking back at his face to see him now shaking his head.
“Stay here.” He says, his voice begging again.
I squeeze my eyes shut for a moment then put my phone back in my pocket and walk to Liam, taking his outstretched hand in mine. I follow him back to his room and tell him to get back in bed while I shower. I take my time under the warm water and try to process what’s happened tonight, everything feeling like a huge blur at this point. Why did I agree to stay so easily? When I exit the bathroom, I’m surprised to see Liam’s still awake watching TV. I quickly dig around in his drawers and get dressed in one of his t-shirts and a pair of my underwear. Liam pulls back the blankets and then shuts off the TV after I’ve crawled in. I’m instantly pulled into his side, my head resting on his chest and his arm wrapped around me.
“Daisy –” Liam begins but I immediately cut him off.
“We can talk tomorrow.”
Liam nods his head while I reach up and take hold of his necklace, fiddling with the pendants until I fall into the deepest, most relaxing sleep I’ve had in what feels like forever.
Chapter Thirty-Two
I wake before Liam and quietly climb out of his bed to use the restroom and brush my teeth. When I’m done, I go into the kitchen and start a pot of coffee. I’ve just finished putting the creamer in my cup when Liam comes rushing in, a panicked look on his face.
“What’s wrong?” I ask, my eyebrows coming together in concern.
“You weren’t in bed when I woke up, so I thought maybe you’d left.” He answers
quickly, running a hand through his curls and making them a bit messier than they already are.
I shake my head no, giving him a small, reassuring smile. “I was just making some coffee.”
Liam nods his head, his eyes shifting to the coffee pot for a moment when I point to it. When he walks out of the kitchen to go to the bathroom, I move into the living room and sit on the windowsill, which I’ve officially decided is arguably my favorite spot in the apartment. I’m so consumed in staring out the window and sipping my coffee that I don’t even notice Liam’s come back in the room, leaning on the doorframe watching me. A sad smile touches my lips when I spot an elderly couple walking down the street holding hands, engrossed in a conversation. I’m not sure how long it is before I realize my cup of coffee is empty and I leave my spot to go sit on the couch with Liam. I set my empty cup on the coffee table and then pull my legs up to my chin and wrap my arms around them. Liam and I sit in silence for a long time, neither of us seeming to know where to begin. I note that he’s put on a pair of black basketball shorts, but is still very much shirtless and barefoot.
“Where have you been?” I finally ask, breaking the silence that’s beginning to feel deafening.
“I went to visit my Mom and Grandma.” Liam answers, his eyes shifting from my face to his hands in his lap.
“Did you get my voicemails and texts?”
He nods his head.
“Did you listen to the messages or ready any of the texts?”
He nods his head again.
“So, you chose to ignore me then?”
Liam’s eyes shoot back up to my face and I’m almost positive I see him cringe at the hurt written all over me.
“I was just trying to figure my head out. That’s why I went there, Daisy.” He tries to explain.
“That isn’t good enough, Liam!” I exclaim, smacking my hand against the back of the couch in frustration. “I begged you to call me over and over again for days. Do you understand how worried I was about you or how scared I was not knowing where you were?”
“That wasn’t my intention.” Liam tries to defend but I don’t let him continue.
“I don’t care what your intentions were, Liam! This past week has been like hell without you here. I’ve literally felt like chunks of my heart have just been ripping away every single day. God, Liam, it was like I could hardly breathe and all I needed was a phone call or a simple text to tell me where you were – just something, Liam, anything to let me know that you were alright.”
“But I wasn’t alright!” Liam exclaims, shooting up from his spot on the couch. “I wasn’t alright, Daisy, and that’s why I left. I had to get away from here, away from you, so I could figure out what the hell I needed to do next.”
“You didn’t have to leave to do that.” I say softly, looking away from Liam. “If you would’ve just stayed, we could’ve figured it out together.”
“I asked you to marry me and you said no.” Liam responds with a bitter chuckle. “I think that gives me some sort of right to get away for a little while.”
I stare at Liam for a long moment, feeling like I’d just been punched in the stomach. Finally I say, with tears threatening to fall from my eyes, “I never said no.”
“You never said no?” Another bitter chuckle falls from his lips. “Well, you sure as hell didn’t say yes, now did you?”
“You never gave me the chance!” I shout while springing up from the couch and shoving Liam back by his chest. “You just dropped that damn ring on the table and told me to leave before disappearing into your room, you coward!”
Liam stares at me with wide eyes, clearly not expecting my outburst. I pick up my cup from the table and walk into the kitchen, feeling an extreme need to put some type of distance between Liam and I before something that we’ll both regret is said or done. While I’m rinsing out my cup, I suddenly realize how much the old Liam has rubbed off on me; his quick temper and some sort of physical violence. The thought shakes me to my core. Maybe Liam and I are becoming more bad than good for each other.
“Daisy.” Liam says, his hands brushing the back of my shoulders while I grip onto the edge of the sink.
“What are we doing, Liam?” I ask, feeling a sob wanting to break free at any moment.
Liam’s silence is enough to make the tears spill over.
“I think one of the worst parts about you being gone was having no idea where we stood. Were we still together or did we break up? And what sucks even more is that I still have no idea. I don’t see or hear from you for a week and then all of the sudden you turn back up and I can’t decide if I should be pissed at you or just happy because at least I know you’re alive and in one piece.”
“I didn’t mean to worry you, Daisy.” Liam tells me, gently turning me around. “I just had to get away so I could think straight again.”
“Why couldn’t you do that here, Liam? Why couldn’t you just talk to me? How do you expect me to marry you if you’re just going to run off like that? Do you remember how upset you were with me after I got attacked? How you wouldn’t talk to me and hardly even look at me? I do. And you know what, it was horrible. I absolutely hated every minute of those days.” I question, feeling anger building up inside me again. “You could’ve just as easily left to ‘clear your head’ or ‘figure things out’ or ‘try to think straight again’, but you didn’t. You stayed here and we did all of those things together. So why did this time have to be any different?”
“Because your leaving, Daisy.” Liam finally confesses, taking a few steps back while running a hand through his hair. “I would’ve been able to handle you turning down my proposal and handling it together if it was just because you felt like you weren’t ready to make that kind of commitment right now. That would’ve been fine and completely understandable. We could’ve easily worked through that and I never would’ve left because at least you would still be in this country.”
I stare at Liam, taking in all of his words and the defeated expression on his face and somehow it makes me love him even more. I close the distance between us, wrapping my arms around his neck and pulling his lips down to mine. Liam instantly reacts, picking me up and wrapping me legs around his waist before moving into his room. Our connection never separates as we fall onto the bed, everything becoming skin and lips and legs tangled together. All of our emotions – the longing, the missing, the anger, the worry – disappear until the only thing that is left is our love for one another. This love that we both know is without a doubt special and is a once in a life time kind of love that we need to hold onto and cherish forever.
“Tell me to stay.” I say to Liam later on that day when we’re lying in bed, his arms wrapped around me while I trace patters on his chest. “Tell me to stay, Liam, and I will.”
Liam is quiet for so long that I have to glace up to make sure he hadn’t fallen asleep. But when I do, our eyes lock and somehow I know Liam isn’t going to give me the answer I’m expecting.
“You can’t stay, Daisy.” Liam sighs, running a hand through my hair. “As much as I want to keep being selfish and tell you to stay here with me, I can’t. We both know you have to go to Paris. Even though watching you go is going to hurt more than anything in the world, I know you’ll be happy experiencing this opportunity. All I ever want is for you to be happy, Daisy, because you deserve it.”
“Liam,” I sigh, sitting up. “Of all the people in the world who deserve to be happy, it’s you. You have gone through so much in the short amount of life you’ve lived so far and if there’s anything you deserve to have when everything is all said and done, it’s a never-ending amount of happiness.”
My heart swells at the sight of Liam’s eyes filling with tears. When I reach forward to wipe away a single tear that falls from his beautiful green eyes, Liam grabs ahold of my hand and places a gentle kiss to my palm.
“You are my happiness, Daisy. You being happy is what makes me happy. That’s why you have to go to Paris.”
“I
love you.” I grin, placing a kiss to his lips.
“I love you too.”
Liam and I spend the rest of the night wrapped up in each other and making up for the time we spent apart. Before I fall asleep with Liam’s arms wrapped protectively around me, I realize that I can’t imagine spending the rest of my life with anyone else but him.
Chapter Thirty-Three
“Oh my God, Daisy!” Mom says when she and Dad appear in my doorway, taking in the disaster that has become my bedroom.
“What?” I ask innocently, looking around at all of the clothes and suitcases covering my floor.
“It literally looks like a tornado came thru here.” Dad comments with a bit of disbelief in his voice.
“It’s not that bad.” I protest, rolling my eyes.
“It’s pretty bad.” Liam says from my bed, which is also covered in clothes.
“I didn’t even see you there!” Mom exclaims, causing her, Dad, and Liam to bust up laughing.
I smile taking in the moment of my parents and my boyfriend having a good laugh together. I’m going to miss this so much. Feeling tears begin to sting my eyes, I maneuver my way into my closet which isn’t in any better state than my room. How am I going to leave them and my friends?
“Your parents left to go run a few errands.” Liam informs me when I walk back into my room.
I nod my head while moving to the foot of my bed to start folding some of the clothes there.
“You alright?” Liam asks, turning down the volume on my TV.
“It’s just weird to think I’m packing up all of these clothes to take with me to a completely different country.” I shrug my shoulders. “Like, I’m really excited to go, but at the same time I’m absolutely terrified. What if I just end up absolutely hating it there? What am I supposed to do then? I mean, this is going to be my home for the next two years.”