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

Chapter 16

CHAPTER 16

We left the hotel soon after that. It was a short ride home, but even with the news I had received I was still contemplating how I was going to talk to my father. I didn't know if I should let Josh handle it, or if I should say something. I don't even know why I was brought into it. Sure it was my boyfriend they were fighting about, but I really had no say and I wasn't the one who brought it up. When we got to the house, I found my mother out on the back deck as usual, sipping her morning coffee. "Hi guys!" She greeted us when she saw us, I shared a glance with Josh. It was like she didn't care about what happened last night. "Hi mom," I said, distractedly hugging her. "How was your night?" She asked as the four of us stood awkwardly around. We all stayed quiet as we tried to speak using only our eyes. "Oh, I get it," my mother said with a smirk, "I'm the mom. You can't tell your mom things like that." She turned away and smiled at the ocean, "Your father is in the kitchen, Joshua, if you'd like to talk to him," she said before sipping her coffee. I looked over at Josh but he was already heading towards the door. "Wait!" I called, stopping him, "Just... Just know that I'm proud of you no matter what. Standing up to him is something I've feared for so long." He smiled, "It's okay, I'm here for you no matter what. Brooklyn, you can always count on me." I smiled, "Good luck," I said as he opened the door. "Thanks," he replied. I turned back to Morgan, my mother and Liam. "So what now?" I asked. lWell would any of you like to join me?" My mother asked. "I'd love to!" Morgan said. "I think we'll pass," I said. I loved both Morgan and my mother to death, but I didn't want to put Liam and myself through the torture of listening to them go on an on about nothing. "Want to go for a walk?" I asked, looking up at Liam. He shrugged his shoulders, "Why not!" I smiled then took his hand and led him down to the beach. "I actually love this beach," Liam said as we strolled towards the water. "It's definitely been a place for unforgettable events," he said, stopping where the tide rolled in. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. I watched him silently, knowing that two summers ago, he did fall in love with me, but he also fell in love with the beach, and I've always wanted to be with someone who loves this beach as much as I do. "Speaking of unforgettable. You forgot to tell me about that dream/memory from last night." I pursed my lips as I watched the boats out on the water. I let go of Liam's hand and fell to the ground behind me. The sand was nice and warm on my bare legs. Liam carefully followed me down to the ground. "Okay, so this time I was in an airport, it wasn't the one in Canada, nor the one in London, trust me it wasn't even close to the one here, but it was really busy. All I saw were businessmen and Starbucks." "Okay," Liam said, signalling to continue. "So I was walking through the doors into the airport, but I was saying good bye to someone. It was a guy with blonde hair and greed eyes. He seemed so ?heart broken that I was leaving. I pulled him in for one last hug like we were old childhood friends. After that, I pulled away and...he kissed me." I didn't look at Liam to see his reaction. "But he pulled away so fast, he kept apologizing, he left me there in the middle of the airport, having just been kissed." I completed my story and let my hands fall into my lap. Liam had a stare of concentration off in the distance. "Liam?" I said,"Was it a memory or a dream?" Liam looked back at me and studied my face, "Sadly, that was a dream, love." "Oh-well okay," I said. Part of me was hoping it was a memory so that I could start piecing my life back together, but the other part was happy that I hadn't been with anyone else behind his back.   We sat in silence for a while. My mind was churning, thinking of everything. I reached up and touched my collar bone as I did sometimes when I was thinking and something struck me. "Liam," I said, looking over at him as I kept my hand on my bare skin, "I-I um found a necklace in my duffle bag when I was at the hotel." "Ann probably wanted you to look good," he mumbled. "This wasn't an ordinary necklace, Liam," I said, letting my had fall and turning towards him. He scrunched his eye brows. "See, it seemed like it meant a lot," I said, looking down at my moving hands as I explained, "It was engraved and it just... It wasn't some necklace meant for fashion purposes only. It had meaning to it." I seemed to have his attention now, "What did the engraving say?" He asked. "Well that's what stumps me. I found the same words engraved, on a piece of paper in...in your bedroom." "What did it say, Brooklyn?" Liam asked, turning to me. "Forever and always," I mumbled, "But I don't get it! What is 'forever and always' is it a relationship, a friendship, family, a decreased loved one, lyrics?" Liam held a hand up and stopped me, he closed his eyes and shook his head, "Stop," he said, "Let me explain."  "Two summers ago, we got into a fight. Things happened and we ended up thinking our trust with each other was broken. You thought I was flirting with another girl while we were out for dinner, so you left in a huff, I never got a chance to explain. I quickly got out of the situation and went after you. That's when I found you on the beach, but you were with some guy. It looked like you barely knew him, but you still hugged him. And I guess we both really liked each other and didn't know it yet. This was a few days after you fell, and I know I felt terrible after what happened on the board walk. Then later that night when we weren't really talking to each other. I went out for a run. I found you at the end of my lane way, wincing in pain. I saw it was your wrist and I asked if it hurt and with the look we both gave each other, it was suddenly evident that we both really liked each other. After that, I took you up to the house and got you one of my sweaters because you were cold. I slipped in the necklace with a small note of apology, then I walked you home." "So that's where the necklace comes from," I said, "But were the words already engraved on it? Because that sure is something powerful to say if we only liked each other." "No," Liam said, "We got it engraved last summer in London. You wanted something about that necklace to have something from the summer before and that summer." "Oh," I said, "That's actually really sweet of you." I smiled at him and I swear I saw a hint of red appear in his cheeks. "So where did the note come from? I mean, the one that I found in your room?" I asked, still working off the smile. "It was some stupid thing we did. Whenever we caught ourselves thinking of the other, we would find a piece of paper and write 'Forever and Always' on it and leave it where we were when we thought of the other." "Oh!" I said, finally getting it. I leaned back in the sand and looked up at the sky with a laugh, "It all makes sense now!" Liam smiled at me as I sat back up. "We were adorable," I said with a small laugh. He smiled even wider, "You still are." "Cheese ball!" I said with a laugh. He chuckled and we both fell silent. His eyes kept jumping back and forth between mine. "Brooklyn, I'm not too sure how this works, because this isn't our old relationship anymore, but I really want to kiss you right now." I smirked, "Stop asking," I said, leaning forward and grabbing his shirt, pulling him towards me, "And just do it." He smirked right before closing the gap between our lips.