Arranged Marriage (Liam Payne AU)

Chapter 5

I take a deep breath as I lean against the elevator. That crowd was too much.

"Who am I?" Liam repeats somewhat annoyed for the tenth time since we got inside the hotel.

I roll my eyes, still trying to calm my breathing in the corner.

Liam hits the top floor button and the elevator glides smoothly upward. "Honestly Emma." He scoffs.

"What the heck is the matter with you!" I say. "Is your ego so big that you just assume I should know who you are?"

He looks at me and opens his mouth to say something, but instead looks away shaking his head. "Don't start something Emma, we're here to have a nice dinner okay."

"You're the one who-" I stop myself. Whatever.

The elevator doors open and I follow Liam through an empty restaurant and onto an outdoor seating area. "Whoa." I say when a gust a wind hits me. Thank god I wore this jacket.

"Thank you." I say when Liam pulls my chair out for me. He sits across from me. 

I look out to the view over Wolverhampton. "So." Liam says. I avert my attention back to him. "I'm assuming you have a couple questions."

"Well, ya." I say, "Were those paparazzi?"

He nods.

"Are you, like...really well known?"

He nods.

"Are you some sort of...prince?"

He nods again.

"Well...can you please say something!"

He stands up and walks over to the railing of the restaurant. "You want me to sum it up for you then?" He asks.

"Yes." I say meeting him at the rail. My gaze is fixated on him while his is still looking down at the Wolverhampton traffic.

He's silent for a moment, only his breathing and mine competing for noise against the wind. "Basically, " He says, "My name is Liam James Payne, I'm 24, and bluntly, I grew up in in a palace. My uncle Robert is the King of England because he was the first born of him and my dad. They're only 4 minutes apart, but the first born in the monarchy becomes the heir to the throne. After my grandparents died he became King. My dad continued living in the palace while he started seeing my mum, at the time she just worked in the kitchen. He says he just couldn't help but spend every second of the day with her, just watching her cook. They got married and soon later had me. Mum stopped working as a cook, but they continued to live in the palace. I was born there, around the same time that my Uncle Robert got married. My parents had two other girls while we lived there, my sisters Rebecca and Lucia. My Uncle Robert and Aunt Amelia never had children. Aunt Amelia got pregnant a few years ago, and she and the baby...died, in the delivery room."

My heart sinks as I look at his face. His nose and cheeks pink, and his eyes starting to redden as he resists crying. "Liam it's okay, you don't have to-"

He shakes his head and continues, "Her...her funeral was nice I guess, but uh, something about seeing her coffin next to a baby coffin is just..." He tries to even his breathing for a minute, I look down so he doesn't feel like I'm staring at him.

"As of right now, it's just my Uncle Robert in power, so if anything were to happen to him, my father would become King. After my father I'm next in line, and than my sisters."

I'm about to say something before he continues. "My mum, uh...she lives on the other side of town. We moved out of the palace when I was 15, and I spent the remainder of my teenage years living over there with her and my dad. She became really ill, and she...she has been for a while now. My dad thought there would be less stress for her if we moved out of the palace because it's so hectic."  

I look up at him again, his cheeks have a few tear stains. "I'm sorry Liam." I say.

He nods, and it's quiet again. 

"It's not very safe you know." He says. "My life. And the more important you are," He continues, "the more danger you're in."

"I'd say you're pretty important." I mumble.

He shakes his head, "Not compared to my dad, mum, and uncle. It's just-"

He stops talking, his face either frustrated or sad. Maybe both. "Just what?" I ask.

"My mum...like I said, she's been ill for a while. And my father is just so...so attached to her." Tears gleam in his eyes. "I mean I just don't know what he'd do...what he will do when she-" He brings a hand up to his face and turns away from me.

"Liam?" I say after a moment. He doesn't respond, but turns his body so he's leaning against the railing instead of facing it. Reluctantly, I shift towards him and wrap my arms around his waist, leaning my head against his chest. I can feel his uneven breaths as he breaks. His arms wrap around me and a silent sob escapes him.

"It's okay." I whisper.

I stand there with my arms around him for a while, deciding to take some of the weight off of him and say something.

"Um..." I start, "I grew up in Southern California, around L.A." He pulls away from me and I take a step back. "I spent my first few years in a small home, just my mom and I. My dad worked in the army, so I didn't meet him in person until I was 4...I remember the first time we went to pick him up at the airport. I knew very well who he was, and I was so excited to see him. It was like I'd grown up with him, even though I hadn't, I felt as close to him as my mom." My eyes start burning with tears as I relived the memory, so vivid and real. I walk to the railing and look away from Liam. I feel him move next to me, his arm brushed up against mine. "I remember the exact moment from when he walked though the doors, to the moment he ran to me and picked me up."

A tear rolls down my cheek when I blink.

"Liam." I sob, "How could they do this to me?" I turn to him, not even caring that he's the one who did this, I just talk to him because he's there. "I-I thought they loved me!"

"Emma they do love you they-"

"Obviously not!" I cry.

This is not how I planned the evening to go.

"Just...just hold on." I say walking away from him.

"Emma." He says.

"Wait." I choke on a sob.

I stop close to the building and lean behind a plant, wiping the tears away and evening my breathing out. "Damn it." I whisper, "get it together Emma, get it together." I close my eyes, trying to console myself. I'm tough. I'm brave. I'm okay. I'm okay, I'm okay, I'm okay.

"Okay." I sigh after a minute or two.

I walk out and Liam looks over to me. "Emma-"

"We should eat." I say.

He looks at me for a moment then nods, "Okay."