Ready to Run Part 2

Chapter 23

Liam

"You can't show this to him Niall." I hear Louis say when I'm halfway down the stairs. I stay where I am, knowing if they see me they'll stop.

"I have to! We've let this go on for too long. You tried to convince me, Lexie tried to convince me. But they aren't going to work this out on their own. We have to do something." Niall argues.

"It's none of our business. Besides. He's just starting to get better. This will put him back on his downward spiral. And it will probably be even worse this time. What do you think Harry?"

"I don't know. On the one hand I know seeing this will absolutely crush Liam. But to be honest, I don't think he's doing as well as you think he is. He's been cooped up in his room for the past four days. It's not good. Maybe this will wake him up." I hear Harry say. He sounds conflicted. What the hell are they talking about?

"I just don't think it's a good idea." Louis says. I've heard enough.

"What's not a good idea?" I ask while I walk down the stairs the rest of the way.

"Hey Liam. We didn't know you were up." Harry says. They all look at me with varying expressions. Harry is calm as always. Niall looks pissed and Louis looks concerned.

"Yeah I know you didn't. What are you talking about?" I ask bluntly. I don't need any more bullshit.

"I was just trying to convince these two grandmas to go to this party with me tonight. Please say you'll be my wingman?" Louis lies smoothly.

"Niall, what did you want to show me?" I ask, ignoring Louis. Niall starts to hand me his phone but Harry stops him.

"I don't know if you want to do that." Harry warns. Their warnings are only making me more curious. While Niall and Harry exchange a look I snatch the phone from his hand.

When I type in Niall's passcode I see that Instagram is open. And the first picture I see is one of Liv. Just seeing her puts a lump in my throat. She changed her hair. It's shorter and lighter. It frames her delicate features perfectly. She looks beautiful. Even better than the picture I've had in my head. And she looks happy. It takes me a few minutes to realize why. I was too distracted by her at first to notice the guy in the picture. His arm is around her bare shoulders, pulling her closer to his body. And his lips are pressed against her cheek.

As much as I want to, I can't look away from the picture. More specifically, I can't tear my eyes from where his skin is touching hers. Who the fuck is this guy anyways? Who does he think he is? I should be the one touching her. And kissing her. And making her look so happy. She does look really happy. There's a sparkle in her eyes and her smile is so big her dimples are visible. Her nose is scrunched up slightly and she is leaning into him easily. She's absolutely stunning. It almost hurts just to look at her. When I tear my eyes away from the picture I see the caption says first date. Well there it is. She's moved on. Already. While I've been avoiding and drinking to numb the pain she's going on dates. The picture was posted three hours ago. I don't even want to think about what they could be doing now.

"Let's go to that party Louis." I say, tossing the phone back to Niall.

"Liam. I don't think that's such a good idea." Harry says cautiously.

"Why not?"

"You're upset. We get it. Don't go shut yourself down again." Niall tries to reason.

"Shut up Niall. Forget it. I'm going by myself. Nobody try to fucking stop me." I say before storming out the door.

I end up at a club with Andy. He doesn't know Liv so he hasn't been up my ass about making things right with her. I'm grateful for that. He knows something is up with me tonight but doesn't point it out. He just drinks with me. And I drink. A lot. It isn't long until I'm drunk again. But tonight it isn't helping. It's making things worse. I keep throwing back shot after shot, hoping the anger boiling up will calm down but instead, it only intensifies.