More Than This

Chapter 7

What the hell has the last two weeks been?

Someone please tell me because I am genuinely lost.

The last two weeks have been eventful to say the least. Harry got released from the hospital about a week and a half ago, joining us at school last week. Nick has seemed to stay clear of Harry but unfortunately for me, he has not stayed clear of Sophie. Though to be honest no one has. New girl halfway through first term tends to cause some drama. We're lucky though, Sophie seems to just answer all the questions before smiling as they walk off. Speaking of Sophie, HOLY SHIT. She is gorgeous, her brown hair falls just above her shoulder and her blue eyes seem to light up whenever someone mentions reading. Don't even get me started on her smile, I want to be the reason for that smile. She honestly adds this positivity to the world that I can't explain. I've never felt this way about anyone before and to be honest I'm not sure what to do.

"You good there Lima" Sophie asks looking up from her newest book.

"Yeah, I'm fine just tired" I say smiling, she smiles back but it doesn't quite reach her eyes.

I let my gaze shift over to the rest of cafeteria, my eyes landing on Nick's gang. He smiles wickedly over at us before rising and walking over to our table. I turn and lock eyes with Zayn his eyes going wide, the mood of group shifts becoming extremely uncomfortable. Out of the corner of my eye I see Sophie get physically tense, her eyes frozen on Nick's figure. As I expect he goes and slots himself between Niall and Soph, the action sends a sense of rage flowing through my veins. She looks so uncomfortable, begging me with her eyes to save her. I nod, a way of letting her know that I won't let him do anything.

"Hey Soph, how you doing" Nick says, flinging his arm around shoulders. Sophie tenses under his touch, her eyes seem glossy like she going to cry but refuses to let him see.

"I'm fine, just reading" she chuckles nervously, trying to get the interaction over with as quickly as humanly possible. Failing.

"What do you say we leave these fags and find somewhere more...private" Nick attempts to flirt. I look to my right and see Louis and Harry mimicking gagging, Zayn and Niall laughing at the pair. Sophie takes a deep intake of air before flicking the pages of book between her fingers, her anger and discomfort even more obvious.

"No, thanks Nick I think I'll stay here" her reply filled with sass, going back to reading her book. I'm starting to get worried now, Nick doesn't like when people say 'no'.

"Oh come on love, don't be like that. You don't want to be infected, do you?" Nick pushes. It makes my blood boil. I mean come on, has he not seen the tea video.

"I think that's enough mate. She's obviously not interested, just leave her alone" I say, Sophie catches my eye and mouths a 'thank you'. I just nod in reply.

"I don't believe that your opinion was asked for Liam" Nick says dismissively before turning his attention completely back to Sophie. His arm tightens around her shoulder, he leans over a places a kiss on her cheek. That breaks Soph, she slams her book shut before getting up and storming out of the room.

"Nice job Nick you really fucked up, but I guess we shouldn't be surprised" Tommo snaps, looking straight at me and nodding.

"Fuck off Tommo" he goes to say more but I can't hear. I'm running out of the room to try and find Sophie, I need to find her.

I run to the only place I can think to find her. Behind the big oak tree on the opposite side of the soccer field. She says it's calming, a quiet place she can escape to whenever life gets too much. As expected there she is, knees pulled up to her chest, tears running freely down her checks.

"I thought I'd find you here" I say, alerting her of my presence. What? I'm not a creep who watches his crush cry because 'oh she's still pretty when she cries'.

"Liam?" she quickly wipes the tears from her face "oh God this is so embarrassing"

"why babe?" oh okay, I'm going with pet names now "what Nick did is so extremely fucked up"

"It could've been worse, so I guess I'm o-okay" tears falling down her cheeks once again, I can't help myself, I run and engulf her into a hug making sure to hold her close. She loses it, sobbing into my chest, fists wrapped up in my shirt. "why? Why is he going for me?"

"Because you are the most beautiful girl in the world. It fucking sucks seeing him do...that. Fuck, I just wanted to punch him the face"

"You think I'm beautiful?" she questions, and it breaks my heart to see her question how beautiful she is. When in my eyes no one could be anywhere close to the level of beauty that she holds.

"no" more tears escape, and she goes to push off my chest "I know you are"

There's that smile. The smile that makes me fall for this girl, that I met two weeks ago, even further. The smile that makes me believe in hope. That makes me believe in fantasy when she rants about how dumb the two main characters are in her book. The smile that gives me a reason to smile.

"Take a photo it'll last longer" she chuckles through her tears, I hadn't even realised I was staring

"maybe I will" I say, causing a genuine laugh to erupt from my beautiful girl's mouth. I want to be the reason she laughs, like genuinely laugh.

We end up skipping the rest of the day, instead spending the day laughing and talking about books. I'm no reader but I love the way Sophie looks when she gets passionate about books. It's as though nothing else in the world matters in that moment but the way the guy didn't kiss the girl when she made it so obvious, she wanted to kiss him (when in actuality she was so subtle and didn't make it obvious at all). By the time we finish talking its dark and turns out Sophie's phone has been blowing with texts from her brothers and parents, stressing on her whereabouts.

"I should really get home before my mother actually decapitates me" she says, looking down at her hands which are fiddling with her copy of All the Bright Places

"I'll give you lift" I say without hesitation, if she's getting in trouble then I want to be there to take the blame.

"Please" she says, smiling up at me "Thank you for this I really appreciate it Liam. It got my mind off...well, you know"

I do know and it fucking pisses me off. But I can't focus on that. All I can focus on is how beautiful Sophie looks with the moonlight flowing through her hair and the slight glisten in her eyes from crying of laughter only a few minutes ago. I promised myself I wouldn't move too quickly, with the fear of breaking her, I couldn't do that to her. It would kill me. Saying that, I want her. I want to call her mine, protect her from dicks like Nick. I want to walk into school with my arm around her waist, not as a possessive gesture but as a way for her to know that I've got her back and she doesn't have to go through anything alone. I want to pick her up and take her to watch the sunset and read whilst I sing to her. I want to write her a song. I want to write her an album to show her how amazing she is. I need her to know that nothing can stop her, that she is genuinely terrifying when she gets annoyed and that makes her so real. She is so genuine and honest with us, she's not afraid to say what she thinks. She's so inspiring that I can't believe its only been two weeks of knowing this perfect girl. I can see why Niall wants to keep her close now because so do I. I never want to let her go. I want her happy and safe. I want her to be mine.

"We should probably go, before you get murdered with me" she giggles. FUCKING GIGGLES! Her eyes looking down at my lips for only a second but it's enough for me to notice. My eyes follow her movements, looking down at her lips imagining what it be like to feel them on mine. Her gaze draws me in, making me wonder if she's thinking the same thing I am. I fucking hope so.

Just do it Liam. You'll regret it if you don't.

"Sophie"

"Hmm"

"Can I kiss you?"