The Sound of Waves (Book #3 - Liam Payne Trilogy)

Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7

Liam was out for the day. I know this because when I woke up he wasn't anywhere. I eventually got out I bed and found my brother sipping coffee in the kitchen. "Good morning, sleeping beauty," he teased, knowing I hated the way I looked in the morning. "Shut up, Josh," I said. He laughed, "Liam made us breakfast, but since you were still in bed, I ate anyways. But he did however prepare a little fruit salad for you." I nodded my head, food seemed like a great idea. I opened the fridge and just as Josh had described it, I found a small bowl of fruit waiting for me. I pulled it out and couldn't help but smile. The perks of having Liam know everything about me was that he could make me a fruit salad with all my favourite fruits. He put the cantaloupe, the watermelon, the strawberries and even the green grapes that I loved. I couldn't hide my smile as I sat down at the table with Josh. "Why so smiley," he said to me over his paper. I shrugged my shoulders, "I don't know," I said, not taking my eyes off the delicious fruit. "He's a good kid," Josh said. I looked up at him, "What?" "Liam," Josh said, "He's a real gentleman to you. I've always liked him." I chuckled, "That's probably a lie." Josh smirked and shook his head, "Hey!" "You're supposed to dislike him at least some time," I said, putting him at ease. He smiled, "True. But after these couple years, I know I like him better than any other guy you've brought home." "Where are you going with this?" I said, raising an eyebrow at him as I took a piece of fruit to my mouth. "I'm just saying, that if you two ever got bak together, I wouldn't be against it." "So you would be in favour of it?" I asked. "Not necessarily," he said, folding his news paper. "Josh," I said. "I just think," he said, "That you two are good together." "You want me to date him don't you," I said with a raise of my eyebrow. "If I said yes, would I be a bad brother." "Nope," I said, looking away casually and eating my fruit. "Brooklyn...?" Josh said. I smiled, "It makes you equivalent to mom and the negative reciprocal to dad." He sighed, "Always the nerd I see," he said, leaning back in his chair, folding his arms across his chest, "Do explain, little sister." I rolled my eyes but couldn't help but smile, "You and mom both want me to date Liam. You both say he and I were so happy together and that I had never been so happy before, etcetera, etcetera. But then we have dad, who seems to be holding the world against Liam. He does not want me dating him, being friends with him, he barely even let me stay here in London, even with you here." "Sweetie," Josh said, "That's just who he is." I got up and put my empty bowl into the sink, planing to clean it after that conversation was done. "I don't like who he is," I mumbled, slowly returning back to Josh. He sighed, "He's different around you now isn't he..." I nodded my head. "Yeah," Josh said, "He was the same way when I got into my late teens. He is always picking fights with you, pissing you off, making you feel terrible and criticizing every single thing you do." "Yeah... How do you know?" I asked, genuinely concerned. "He did all the same things to me," he said. "But why?" I asked. "Because he knows your growing up and he knows that soon you won't be his little girl in school. He knows you will eventually find love, get married and start a family of your own. He dislikes Liam because he knows you two were in love, and he's scared that Liam will be the one to give you all these things. He wants you to be single because then you still have nowhere else to go but home. You have a mapped out future." I blinked a few times, processing it all. "We're the only children he has and will ever have, and now that I'm gone, he wants to do everything to get me back, because he's been there every step of the way since the beginning. He has been a father for 34 years straight. It's hard to let go of that part of his life." "Mhm," Josh said, nodding his head. "It makes sense now." "I'm going to go watch some TV, want to come?" Josh asked, as I sat there processing it all. I gently shook my head and he stood. As he walked by me, he squeezed my shoulder. I looked up at him as he walked away. I decided I needed to go take a nice hot shower, those were the best places to think.

And let me tell you, I got a lot of thinking done. My mind was working over time, but it felt like I was trying to finish a puzzle without all the pieces. One thought made me jump out of the shower and wrap myself in a towel, dashing to the living room to confront Josh. "Dad thought Liam and I would get married and start a family together?!" I asked, running into the living room with only a towel covering my soapy body. Josh turned to me from the couch as I skidded to a stop. As I looked further into the living room, I noticed Liam siting in the love seat. "Oh," I said, holding the towel tighter around me, "Hi." "Hi there," Liam said. I felt so much heat rise to my cheeks that I was certain that Liam and Josh felt the heat as well. "Yes he did," Josh said casually, "I mean look how Natalie and I turned out." "He saw a future with you two?" I asked, shocked. Josh nodded his head. "But you only got married," I said, "You didn't start a family." "I know," Josh said, "That's because he liked her too much. The less he likes someone you date, the further he sees you getting in that relationship. All because he is scared to lose you, so he hates on your chances at forever." "Good to know," I said nervously, not even daring to look at Liam. "Go get dressed," Josh said, nodding towards my room. I slowly nodded my head, then slowly turned around, trying not to make a bigger fool of myself than I already have. But I his behind the wall and listened to Josh and Liam. "Sorry about that, man," Josh said, "I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable." "Don't worry about it," Liam said, "Kind of made me happy to feel like that again. I kind of felt like she was still mine." I heard Josh sigh, "It must be hard," he said. Liam was silent for a while, "Yeah," he managed eventually, "It feels like we're back to the beginning." "Well not entirely," Josh said, "You can still tell her about the memories." "Yeah, but it's hard, telling her about the memories is nothing like experiencing them for the first time," Liam said. "Then re-create them," Josh said. "I don't think I can," Liam said quietly, "I can't relive all those moments knowing she and I are both on different pages." "Well then make new memories," Josh suggested, "Forget about those two years, move on and act like you're falling in love with her all over again. Because if your emotions are real and not already developed then you make it easier on her to fall as well." "Do you think she would actually fall for me again?" Liam asked. "She fell once, she will fall again. There is something about you that she loves, and who knows," Josh said, "Maybe it's everything. But I know her, she's my sister and she follows her heart." I felt heat travel to my cheeks again. I felt it travel up my neck, then my cheeks and even my ears. My brother was right, ever since I was little I followed my heart. It's just that now, my heart is telling me that I like Liam. I took a deep breath and hesitated before sneaking off to my room.

Where was all this coming from? A couple days ago, Liam had been a mere stranger, and now I was living with him and admitting that I like him. I couldn't figure out what caught me though. Was it his personality? His smile, his aura?

I came out of my room an hour and a half after I was utterly embarrassed. I walked into the living room to find it empty. I found Liam in the kitchen, "Hey!" He said, "I was about to come check on you." I smiled nervously, "Don't worry, I didn't die." He chuckled slightly and I realized I liked his laugh the most. The way it sounded, the smile that came with it and the way his eyes squinted shut, that was what got me. I liked him from the beginning due to his laugh, and then I started to like him more when I got to know him. Josh was right, I fell once, I could fall again. "Brooklyn," Liam said, "Are you okay?" I tore my eyes away from the wall I had been staring at unknowingly. "You became silent for a while, is everything all right." "Um, yeah," I lied. Things were quickly consumed by awkward silence. "So I was thinking," Liam said, "We could either get takeout for dinner or I could attempt to cook." "Wait! It's already dinner time?!" I exclaimed, searching the kitchen for a clock. "Yeah, it's 5:30," Liam said. "Oh god! My day just wasted away. I did NOTHING productive today!" "It's okay though, love. You need a break once in a while, you've been pushing your body to the limits." "I know," I mumble. He sighs, coming up behind me and taking my shoulders gently massaging them. "How about I cook tonight," Liam suggested. "But I'm the chef," I said looking back at him. "I know," he said, "But I want to see if I can attempt to make you something almost special." "Almost special?" I asked, turning around. He shrugged his shoulders, "At least one thing will go wrong, guaranteed."