The Way Things Change

Chapter 27

The boys had a couple of days off and decided to just stay in. I joined them since there was really nothing else for me to do. The girls were too busy.

I just got back from a 20k run and found the house completely silent. That was weird. Whenever the boys were home you could always hear them somewhere. I guess they are just out for the day. They hadn’t said anything about it this morning though. They usually did.

When I was just finishing up in the shower, I heard a small knock on the bathroom door.

“Just a second!”

I quickly put on my underwear and wrapped the towel around my body. The boys had seen me like that a few times before, so I sort of got used to it. But NEVER anything less than this. Not like that one time…

Zayn was sitting on my bed. There was something about his posture and I immediately knew that something was wrong.

“What’s up? You couldn’t even wait for me to get out of the shower.” I chirped, probably a little to happy sounding, but I was hoping it would cheer him up.  I was walking towards my closet to find some clothes.

“Danielle broke up with Liam.” Zayn sighed. I turned around in shock, almost dropping my towel.

“She WHAT?” I couldn’t believe it. They were perfect together. And Liam absolutely adored her! This was not right. It couldn’t be right. They were so happy together. And Danielle had said nothing about it. We talked about everything so why would she keep something like this from me? Wasn’t I a good enough friend?

“So you didn’t know?” He sounded surprised, making the statement sound like a question. “We were sure that Danielle might have told you, since you are friends and all.”

“No. I most definitely did not know!” I sat down beside him. “How’s Liam?” I asked quietly.

“Devastated. We all thought it would be a good idea if you tried to talk to him. We really don’t know what to do anymore” he sighed again. He was in despair. I could see that. And I understood. One of his best friends was heartbroken and there was nothing he could do about it.

“I’ll just get dressed. Please get out, or at least don’t look, okay?”

“It’s nothing I haven’t seen before.” He winked at me.

“ZAYN!” I threw a sock at him, blushing fiercely. “Please forget you ever saw that!”

“Nope. It’s not everyday you see a hot girl only standing around in her underwear. I’m keeping that image forever!” he teased me, making me blush even more, if that was even possible. I’m sure I looked like a tomato by now.

“Stop it! And get out. I need to go talk to Liam.”

***

“Hey” I said softly, taking a seat opposite Liam in the windowsill. He didn’t look at me.

“Are you okay?” It was a stupid question. I already knew the answer. Of course he wasn’t okay. He had been crying A LOT. His eyes were red and puffy. He had his legs pulled up against his chest, making himself as small as he possibly could.

“Liam?” I tried to make him look at me.

He was just sitting there, glaring into thin air. My heart broke. It was absolutely awful to see him like this. He was one of my best friends and I knew that there was nothing, absolutely nothing, I could do to help him. I guess this was how they had felt when I didn’t talk. Now I feel even more guilty for not talking to them. I felt sick to my stomach. I wanted nothing more than to take his pain away. He wasn’t supposed to feel like that. He was the most loving and caring person I knew. I wanted to make him smile, I wanted to hear his laugh, I wanted him to be happy.

I reached out to him, putting my hand on his. Finally he reacted to my presence. I could see the pain and hurt in his eyes and it broke my heart all over again. How could Danielle do that to him? He didn’t deserve it.

“I’m so, so sorry Liam!”

And then he broke. He sobbed and sobbed. He cried out in pain and I felt the tears well up in my eyes. This was horrible. I took him in my arms and started rocking him back and forth. Just like a little baby, trying to soothe his pain.

“I-it. Hurts. S-so. Bad!” He cried between the sobs, and yet again my heart broke. You could hear his pain, you could feel his pain. By now the tears were streaming down my face also.

“It’s okay. Let it all out. Everything will be alright.”

I kept repeating it like a mantra, still rocking him back and forth, trying to make him feel better. I knew I couldn’t though. All I could do was hold him.