Behind the Mic (Liam Payne fanfic)

Chapter Twenty

The rest of the afternoon with Liam was like a montage in a rom-com movie. It was full of giggling, kissing, sweet looks, as we went around town just window shopping, sipping coffee, and getting to know each other. He told me about his family, about his friends growing up, about how becoming famous at such a young age changed his world view so quickly. I told him about how close Violet and I were when we were younger, I told him about how Riley and I met, about how I loved to sing when I was younger but never pursued it.

"You could be an opening act for us," Liam said, holding the door open for me as we entered a French bistro for a late lunch.

"You're joking, right?" I slid past him into the entryway, immediately overcome by the smells of fresh pastries. I walked up close to the display case, taking in all the options. As I stood there, eyes wide and flicking between the chocolate croissants and the scones, Liam wrapped his arms around me from behind me and gently placed his chin on the top of my head. I settled into his hold.

"No, Rose," he murmured. "I heard your singing a few days ago, you're really good. Especially for someone who hasn't done loads of training."

"Liam, I don't think I could actually open for y'all," I turned slightly to look at him. The shadows in the bistro made his eye look a lot more bruised than it was, but I still reached out and touched it lightly. The swelling had gone down significantly, thank God, but it was still dark. He winced slightly as my fingers grazed his temple, but he didn't pull away from my touch. "Training or not, I don't think I have the stage presence to be up there in front of all your fans." He gently grabbed my hand, kissed it, and held it as we moved up in the line.

"You never know," he said lightly. "Besides, when you tour with us, you could take lessons with our vocal coach and see if it's something you really want to pursue." He squinted at the menu behind the cashier and furrowed his brow. "Do you know what you want?"

"I don't," I replied, shifting back to look at the menu with him. "It all looks so good. I don't think I can choose just one thing."

"Then don't," he smiled. "Get whatever you want. Leftovers, right?" I felt my face warm up at the thought of him remembering I liked having leftovers, even though I mentioned it once and in passing. He remembered a little thing about me. As a response, I simply leaned my head against his arm and squeezed the hand he was holding slightly. I felt my phone start to buzz in my purse, but I ignored it. We scooted up in line again.

"Hi, what can I get for you today?" the cashier asked us, a blank stare in their eyes.

"I'll do a medium drip coffee, room for cream," Liam started. "And a lemon scone. And whatever she wants." He looked down towards me.

"An iced vanilla latte, please, and a chocolate croissant, a cinnamon roll, and two blueberry scones. All to go." I started to reach for my wallet in my purse, but before I knew it, Liam had handed his card over. I glared at him slightly, peering through my brows. He just smirked at me. The cashier handed him his receipt and the number for the order, and we moved out of the way. "Are you ever going to let me pay for a meal?" I jokingly poked at him.

"Oh, of course," he replied. "But we're still in the 'I gotta show off to you and be a macho man' phase of our relationship, so. Not anytime soon." He kissed my forehead lightly and butterflies turned in my stomach. Relationship. Surely that's where we were headed, and of course it's what I wanted with him. But it was still so soon after Riley and I broke up, and I still haven't talked to my sister, and Liam and I had only known each other for less than a week, and even though it's been great and we're clicking so well, there's so much that could go wrong, and he wanted me to up and leave my apartment, my job for him, and how was it going to be on the road, with everyone in our business the whole time, I mean, the tabloids had already made a big deal of the one picture they got of us, and what if --

I was cut off by his lips pressing against mine. I could feel the cut on his bottom lip, more evidence of my last relationship bleeding, literally, into this one. He pulled away slowly.

"What's going on in your head?" He asked, his voice soft.

"I..." I started to answer, but I didn't know where to start. "A lot."

"Do you want to talk about any of it?" I sighed.

"No, but we really should." He nodded solemnly. "I'm just... I guess I'm overthinking some things, but it's hard not to. There's a lot to think about. There's a lot going on." Behind me, I heard our number get called out, and we broke the moment to grab our things. As we were walking out of the bistro, I felt my phone buzz again. I ignored it a second time, carefully putting my pastries on top of it in my purse.

"So let's break things down," Liam said. He took a small sip of his coffee and offered his hand to me. I took it, interlacing my fingers with his. Our fingers fit together like a puzzle, and I felt supported and safe in his hold. "What's one thing bothering you?"

"Riley," I started. "Besides the fact that he beat you up and I could be in huge trouble for getting you all bloodied. It's only been a few days since we broke up. And I'm never going back to him, ever." I squeezed his hand for reassurance. "But it's still new, it's still raw. We were together for years. And it's not like he's just gone, you know? He's hanging around for whatever reason, and he's supposedly in love with my sister. That's not going to be easy to navigate." Liam nodded, taking another sip from his coffee. We turned the corner, and I realized he was leading me towards downtown. I decided to just let him lead and continue talking. "There's still something that has to be discussed, if not between Riley and I, then me and Violet, some sort of agreement or understanding. Of course I don't want to lose her, but the fact that she thought it was okay to pull all this shit behind my back is just so disrespectful. It pisses me off to no end. I don't know how long it'll take me to get over this. And I don't know if I'll ever support the two of them together, because of how it happened, and I don't want that to be a reason to lose her either. I just don't know what to do, or how to even begin to heal from all of it. I don't want to be putting it all on you, too, you've got enough going on in your life you don't need my petty drama."

"It's not petty," he interjected. "And if it matters to you, it matters to me."

"I appreciate that," I said softly. "It just doesn't seem fair. You don't deserve to deal with my bullshit on top of your bullshit."

"Rose, did you think about the fact we could deal with each other's bullshit, together?" I stopped in my tracks. He turned to face me, concern on his face. "Did I say something wrong?"

"Together," I repeated. "Liam, it's been a long weekend. But it's also been only a few days. This is just happening so fast. It's a lot to work through, and I don't want to feel rushed or pressured, or--" He let go of my hand and took a step back.

"Is it too much?" The pain in his voice was subtle, but there.

"Yes," I started. "But, not in a 'I don't want to do this' way. In a, I need a minute to adjust, way. I want this. I want you and I want to travel and I want to move on fully from Riley before I do it. Does that make sense?" He nodded slowly, not breaking eye contact with me. "And Liam, I do want to travel, and with you, and I would love to be a part of the team and work with the band. It'd be a dream to work on the technical side and see you all perform and be able to visit different venues. But I worry about leaving my life here. I can't just leave my apartment, I signed a lease. And I have friends here, and my parents are close. And what happens if we aren't what we want to be, and I'm stuck on the road, or we don't get along, or what if I can't handle the spotlight like you can? I'm worried about this, that it won't be like the time we've spent already. It won't be easy and fun and making out and Chinese food and goofing around. What if it's hard?"

"What if it is?" He questioned me. "Do you think it's worth it? Trying?"