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

Chapter 17

CHAPTER 17

"Brooklyn?" I heard Liam's voice, somewhere in my mind. "Brooklyn!" Now I felt a subtle shaking on my arm. I slowly opened my eyes and saw Liam standing over me. "W-What?" I mumbled, blinking a few times as I looked up at him, "Am I at your place?" Liam cleared his throat and stood up straight, "Yeah, I think you stumbled in here last night and i guess you fell asleep." "Oh," I said sitting up, "Wait... what time is it?" I scrambled to my feet. "Eight thirty...why?" Liam asked. My eyes became wide, "I-I have to go!" I grabbed my hoodie I had somehow managed to throw off and ran for the door. "Wait! Where are you going?" Liam ran after me. "Home!" I yelled to him as I dashed down the stairs. "Why? Whats wrong?" he was still running after me. I wasn't looking where I was going, being in too much of a hurry to get back to my house that I nearly ran into Talia. That was strange, she never used to be an early riser. "Oh, sorry!" I said, steadying myself. "That's fine!" Talia said, smiling at me. "Brooklyn?" Liam came jogging to my side, "Why are you running off like that?" he asked. That seemed to pull me back to reality, "I have to go home." I said, and turned around to begin running again, but Liam grabbed my arm. "Why?" he said in a stern voice. "You know my father!" I exclaimed. "Yeah, but-" "Liam, please, you have to let me go. I have to get back before my father wakes up!" "Brooklyn!" Liam protested. "Just talk to Talia, I'll come get you later when my father isn't on red alert," I said, nearly begging him with my eyes to let me go. "What?" Liam said looking at Talia, "Since when did you two like each other?! Last summer you were both at each others throats!" "I know, I know," I said, needing to hurry. "Brooklyn, I feel like something else is going on here," Liam said. I sighed and closed my eyes, "Nothing is wrong Liam," I said, looking up at him calmly. "Then why-?" "Liam, just trust me?" I said. I could see him hesitating. It was the biting of his lip that gave him away. But then he nodded his head and I managed a small smile then reached up and gave him a quick peck on the lips before running off down the beach saying, "I'll be back later! You two catch up!" I didn't know if that was a good thing to say, or if I just set myself up for disaster. But that didn't matter. What did matter, was getting home in time. 

My family must have had a long night last night, because when I got home, only my grand parents were awake. "Oh, hello dear!" I was greeted cheerfully by my grand mother. "Hi," i said slowing down until I reached her. "Were you out for a morning walk?" She asked. I bit the inside of my cheek and decided that was my alibi and nodded my head. "It's such a beautiful island," my grandmother said. I nodded my head again, "hey, grand ma," i said. "Yes, dear?" she replied, keeping her eyes on the water front. "Is dad up?" I asked. She cocked her head to the side as she looked up at me, "No, not yet-" "Thanks grand ma!" i said, and quickly fled into the house, not giving her the chance to ask the questions i knew she was holding back. I walked into the kitchen and ran up the stairs, not stopping to check if anyone else was awake. I opened my bedroom door and decided i was lucky to be sharing my room with four other teenagers. That meant they would all be sleeping in. I tip toed around them and made my way to my closet. I grabbed a fresh pair of clothes and dashed for my bedroom. I took a shower and when I came out, i was happy people were starting to wake up. Me being in the shower when they woke up seemed more believable than me walking through the house super early in the morning. "Hey, girlie!" My cousin Tanya said to me as i walked out of my washroom with a towel holding up my wet hair. "Morning," i said. "Where were you last night?" She asked, climbing up onto my bed she had been sleeping beside on the floor. "Oh, i took a midnight walk," I said, pulling Liam's hoodie back on. "Bull shit," she said. "Excuse me," I said. "Where were you this morning?" She asked, ignoring my blunt hint of disapproval. "I went for a walk," I told her. "Bull shit!" She said again, folding her arms across her chest and raising an eye brow at me. "Tanya!" I said. "Who's sweater is that?" she asked with a nod towards Liam's hoodie. "Liam's," I said casually. "Who's Liam?" She asked. "Who are you, my mother?" I asked. She pursed her lips, "Who. Is. Liam," she said again. I sighed, "My- um..." I stumbled. "You better not say your 'friend'," she said, putting air quotes around her last word. "I wasn't going to say that!" I exclaimed. "So he's your boyfriend?" She asked, already knowing the answer. "Yes..." i said quietly. "So, you were at his house last night," she raised a mischievous eye brow at me. "Get your mind out of the gutter Tan!" I said and she smiled, "Wait until the guys hear about this!" I shook my head at her, "You really are the evil one." She jumped to her feet and walked to the door, but she turned back to me, "Don't worry," she said, "I wont tell your dad about it." "Thank you," I breathed. "But I can't promise you Oliver will keep it a secret!" Tanya said about her 21year old brother. "No!" I said, but she was already running out of the room. I chased her into the kitchen and I was surprised to see so many people up. "Whoa girls! Don't worry, there's enough of me to go around!" My cousin Oliver said as we nearly crashed into him. "EW!" both Tanya and I said at the same time. "What?" Oliver said. "I'm your sister!" Tanya screeched. "And I'm your cousin, dude. That's disgusting," I added in. "Hmm," Oliver said, as if that thought had never crossed his mind, "Brooklyn! Got any hot girl friends?" "Well..." I tried but Tanya jumped in. "She has a hot boyfriend though!" She announced. "Tanya you don't even know what he looks like!" I complained, but already my cousins were starting to crowd around me, asking me questions and congratulating me. Only a few of the guys made comments like 'Get some' and so forth. It was a scary moment when my father appeared at the top of the stairs though. All 11 of us older cousins fell silent immediately. "What are you guys blabbing about?" my father asked. I was one of the few with my back to him, so i gave my cousins the death glare, hoping they would get the hint. "We're just so excited for the wedding!" Tanya exclaimed and i let out a deep breath I had been holding in when the rest of the cousins joined in on the subject. I managed to escape the rowdy crowd and found my brother. "So," I said with a smile as i fell down to the couch beside him, "Tomorrow's the big day!" He puffed out his cheeks and rubbed his hands together as he leaned forward. "Josh," I said, noticing the first signs of nerves off the bat. He bounced his leg up and down and i rested a hand on it so that he would stop and look up at me. "Josh, you're not getting cold feet are you?" I asked. He looked up at me and blinked a few times. "Joshua!" I exclaimed. "I'm not!" he said with the same level of anxiety. "Then whats wrong?" I asked. He looked back down at his hands, "What if I'm not good enough?" he said. "Shut up," I said. "No, but what if she deserves better," he said. "Shut up, Josh," I said. "Brooklyn, I'be been married once, I don't want to mess this up again," Josh said. "Shut up and listen to me Joshua Darren. You are going to marry Morgan tomorrow, because you love her, and she loves you. You are marrying your best friend. Trial and error is the only way you were ever going to find your soul mate and you've found her. So I want you to get rid of this fear and anxiety and I want you to realize that tomorrow is your special day. We're all here to support you and share the love that you and Morgan have, even if it's just for a moment. Don't think of it as a second try, think of it as a final draft. Josh everything happened for a reason, and I need you to see that nothing like that will ever happen again. If I dare say it, you two are more in love than Liam and I were last summer and the summer before." He looked up at me, " I thought you didn't remember." "I know things," I said, resting my hand on his shoulder, "But I want you to remember this day for the union of you and Morgan, I don't want you to have this memory playing in the background of your wedding story. Except if it's my amazing speech," I said with a teasing smile, "Then you can keep that on replay." This made him smile and i felt like I had accomplished my task of being a sister. "Thank you," Josh said. I smiled, "No need to thank me," I said. "Brooklyn, shut up I'm thanking you," Josh said with a smile and hugged me.