Warrior

Chapter Fourty Six

Liam

Satey had changed me for the better; that, I was certain of.

She brought the good out of me, the parts I had driven away to submerse myself into the wall of ferocity that became my persona. I could feel again.

And I loved her.

Somewhere inside, I always had, and I wish it hadn't taken being trapped with the monster of my father for me to realize it.

She deserves far better than me, than what I put her through and I'm sure she knows it, but she remains; sleeping beside me and willingly kissing away the nightmares I have of that horrible kidnapping.

But on the nights like tonight, the ones where it's me staying up and comforting the images away from her memory, I feel like the necessity to her she tells me I am.

She was shaking against me, clutching the tshirt material into her tiny palms as she slowly breathed in and out.

"You're okay," I told her again, "I've got you."

Satey was silent for another moment, breathing deeply, before her tearful eyes opened up to look at me.

"I love you," she whispered.

I lifted a finger to wipe a tear away from her cheek.

"I love you too," I told her and she smiled before closing her eyes and sighing against my chest.

I watched her carefully as her content state lulls her back to sleep. Slowly, her hand released the grip she had on my shirt and her breathing became even and her face relaxed.

"You're an angel," I whispered when I was sure she was asleep.

But her mouth parted into a smile as she hummed in appreciation.

"No, you're an angel," she replied without opening her eyes.

I furrowed my eyebrows in stubbornness as I rest my head back down on the pillow to stare at her closed eyes.

"I'm not having a cliche argument with you at three in the morning."

Satey laughed, eyelids crinkling. "Nothing about us is cliche. I think we're just about as bizarre as they come."

"I dunno," I whispered, reaching up to move a hair out of her face. "I'd be willing to do a lot of cliche things if it made you happy."

Satey opened her eyes then, exposing their surprised blue depths with a pop.

"Who are you and what have you done with Liam Payne?"

I laughed. "You'll have to ask Satey Andrews, she's stolen me away and turned me into sensitive sweetheart."

"Hey," she frowned at my sarcasm.

"It's okay," I whispered, thumb pulling down her bottom lip. "I like it."

She smiled softly. "You're still Liam," she said, "you'll always be Liam. You're just less... Dark."

"I'm not big and scary anymore?" I asked her, more as a joke than anything.

"No, you're still big," she laughed, taking my hand away from her face to twine her fingers with mine. "You're just not scary anymore."

"I thought you weren't scared of me?"

"I wasn't," she assured me, "but I was scared for you. I didn't know what you were gonna do half the time, you were so impulsive. But now you're stable, and you're here. And I feel safe knowing that you feel safe."

I hummed, squeezing her hand before stretching forward to kiss her softly.

"I love you," I mumbled against her lips.

"And I love you," she said in return before curling into me again.

I stared over her head out the window, watching as the stars and moon made their long crawl across the sky. I felt better; all the anger and anxiety I had towards my father was diminished, my sisters had happy and satisfying lives for themselves elsewhere, and I was finally content with the girl I loved.

For someone who never truly felt like I belonged anywhere, I knew.

I was home.

THE END

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Epilogue soon xx ;)
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