A One Direction Christmas

Chapter 22 | Liam

Liam and Elise walked down Main Street and towards one of the nearby neighborhoods, gloved hand-in-gloved hand. It was the day before Christmas Eve, and Elise had insisted that they needed to go look at all the town's Christmas lights. She even planned a route for them: they'd start at the town square and work their way through the neighborhoods until they made their way back to the Archers' house.

It was the perfect night, full of the light snowflakes that Liam had grown accustomed to, and they each held a hot chocolate (which was, according to Elise, a mandatory item when looking at Christmas lights).

"My family and I do this every year during Christmas time," Elise said as they headed into their first neighborhood on their route. "Normally we drive around and do it, but obviously that's not an option this year." She glanced up at him with a smile. "But it's fun that we can do this together. Ooh, look at that house!"

They moved down the street, careful not to slip on any patches of ice, pointing out their favorite houses and light features. Liam loved the way Elise's face lit up with excitement anytime she saw something she loved – he could never get tired of seeing that look on her face.

"So, what are you most excited to do when you get home?" he heard Elise ask quietly.

Liam turned to her, feeling sorrow in his chest at the idea of leaving Pleasant Valley, of leaving Elise. "Can we not talk about that?" he asked. "Let's not ruin the Christmas lights."

Hurt flashed across Elise's face, but she nodded. "Sure, if you want."

"Elise," Liam said sadly.

She avoided his gaze, pushing on down the street. "No, you're totally right. We don't need to talk about that. That would be silly."

"That's not what I meant," Liam started. "I just meant–"

"I know what you meant," Elise said softly. She had stopped and was looking at some of the Christmas lights, but the joy that had previously been in her face was gone, replaced by a distant melancholy.

Liam had spent the last few days trying to think of ways that they could make things work when he went back to the UK. Since he had come to Pleasant Valley, he felt a peace and happiness unlike anything he had experienced before – he suspected it had a lot less to do with the actual town than with the kind, beautiful nurse at his side. So far, he hadn't come up with a plan that seemed sustainable, but that hadn't meant he wasn't still thinking about it. It was pretty much all he had been thinking about when they weren't together.

Before he could say anything, Elise was on the move again, moving further ahead and increasing the distance between them.

"Elise," Liam called, walking after her. "I didn't mean to make you sad. I just want to enjoy the time we have together as much as we can."

"Don't say that," she called over her shoulder, still moving as she crossed the street into the next neighborhood. "'The time we have together'– don't say that. You're acting like there's no possible way that we could make this work. You know we could."

She turned on her heel and stopped suddenly, her brown eyes watery. "Unless I'm the only one here that thinks that."

Liam opened his mouth to reassure her. "Elise–"

The world suddenly shrunk to a slow-motion, frame-by-frame scene as Liam's eyes shifted from Elise to the pair of headlights that had appeared from around the corner as if from thin air. He yelled her name and moved towards her, but it was as if each syllable took forever to reach her, as if his feet were in quicksand. He watched in horror as the car slid across the ice and hit the woman he suddenly realized he loved.