I awoke to a murmur downstairs. It sounded like two men talking. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and groaned loudly, stretching the tiredness away. I finally slid off the bed and made my way to my feet. I walked over to the closet, grabbed a hoodie, and pulled it over the big t-shirt I was already wearing. I glanced at Harry's slippers in the closet and smirked as I slid my feet into them, enjoying the soft fur gliding along my feet.
I walked downstairs, the voices getting louder. I heard an unfamiliar bright laugh and furrowed my eyebrows. I turned the corner into the kitchen and saw Max sitting at the island and Harry talking to him on the other side. I noticed another person sitting next to Max. He had brown hair and lots of tattoos along his arm.
"Good morning." Harry chirped with a smile. Max and the man turned their heads, both smiling at me. Oh, is that Liam?
"You must be Sadie." He held out his hand to shake mine, and I yawned as I shook his hand.
"I'm sorry." I chuckle and cover my mouth as I yawn even wider this time. "You're Liam." I pointed at him.
"I am." he laughed. "I was just talking to your brother, he's a great kid." he nudged Max's arm and Max giggled. "Sorry to intrude, but I was in the city and gave Harry a call, wanted to stop by and catch up." He rested his back against the counter.
"No, no." I shook my head. "This is Harry's house, not mine." I waved him off as I walked around the counter, opening up the fridge to grab a bottle of iced coffee. "I promise, I'm usually more pleasant, but I seriously need some coffee." I laugh as I twist open the bottle, taking a long sip.
"No, worries. Harry's the same way." Liam chuckled. "One time he hit me in the face for waking him up on the tour bus." Liam raised his eyebrows up and down at Harry.
"Okay, we haven't quite gotten to the embarrassing teenage stories yet." Harry laughed. "I'll have you know, I've become quite the morning person, Payno." Liam laughed at that.
"Oh, so she got lucky, huh?" Liam laughed. "Sadie, Harry was just telling me that you're a photographer. He showed me some of your photos. They are incredible!" Liam praised me and I couldn't help but smile.
"Thank you! That's actually how Harry and I met. My boss wanted a photo of him and her at the coffee shop." I explained my and Harry's meeting.
"That's great." Liam smiled widely. "Are you living here?" My eyes widened at the question.
"Kind of, yeah." I nodded. "I was in the process of getting a bigger apartment, but then a few things went kind of haywire and I just don't have the time to fill out the paperwork, so we've been staying here." I smiled at Max. Max's head was lowered at the mention of our recent situation. "But there's a pool here, so I think Max prefers this." I attempt to brighten the mood.
"Does your house have a pool?" Max's face lightened up.
"No. I hate the chlorine." Liam shook his head. "But I've got a basketball court, and I think that's better." Liam smiled widely at Max.
"A basketball court? Sadie, can we go?" Max looked over at me eagerly.
"Liam doesn't live very close, but you'll have to ask him if it's okay if we're ever in the area." I pointed to Liam, making sure I wasn't giving Max permission without Liam's approval.
"I think that would be so much fun, kid!" Liam fully turned to Max. "I've got a little boy. He's five. I'm sure he'd love to have some company if you guys are ever in town!" Liam was fully enthralled by Max. I could tell he was great with kids.
"Where do you live?" Max spun back and forth in his chair.
"I have a house in England and New York," Liam explained.
"Woah! That's so cool!" Max bounced in his seat happily.
"I'd love to have you some time buddy." Liam smiled gently as he turned back to Harry. "Have you talked to any of the boys recently?" I could tell Liam was a happy person, and if he wasn't, he did a damn good job at making people around him smile.
"I haven't gotten the chance to talk much lately, with the work of the new album, but I talked to Niall briefly on the phone a few days ago. I've wanted to reach out to the others, but life has been crazy." Harry explained calmly. "We need to all meet up for dinner or something. It's been too long." I could tell Harry genuinely wanted to see his bandmates again.
"I know, man." Liam shook his head. "Everyone's doing pretty well as far as I know." Liam nodded his head. "I miss you guys," Liam said fondly.
"We've all grown so much, but we'll always be a part of each other. We wouldn't be here if it wasn't for each other." Harry shrugged. "I'm guilty of not talking much, but I think we just grew apart over the years. I'd love to change that though." It's nice seeing Harry talk about the band. We haven't talked about them much, but I can tell he misses them.
"We'll seriously have to find a date where we can all meet up and catch up." Liam nodded.
"I agree." Harry smiled. "I'm glad you got to meet Sadie." Harry put his hand on my shoulder.
"Me too, mate." Liam smiled at me. "You seem to make Harry super happy." His words were sincere and meaningful to me. "He's always been a lover boy at heart," My heart melts at Liam's words.
Seeing Harry with an old friend made me feel so much comfort. Harry and I haven't gotten to the point where we know a lot about each other's past. It's nice to hear from someone who knows him so well talk about him before I knew him. I hope that I get to meet the rest of the boys so that I can know Harry on an even deeper level. I know how important they must be to him, which makes them important to me too. I hope that Max can be surrounded by kind men so that he knows they aren't all as cruel as my father.
I hope they like me as much as Liam seems to like me. I hope we can spend some more time with Liam while he is here so I can hear all of the stories from the One Direction days.
Knowing Harry is knowing his past, his present, and the future I wish so deeply to be a part of.
~~
I hope you all enjoyed this short chapter. After hearing the news of Liam's death, I was shocked and felt like a part of my childhood was left with him. I know that he may not have made great decisions before he passed, but I hope this chapter can shed some light on the boy we all saw performing on stage.
