Moments- A Liam Payne Fan Fiction

Eight

The next morning, the sun seemed to shine a little brighter. My dream about Cora lulled me into a sense of ease and content that I woke up earlier than usual and decided to invite the boys over for breakfast. I made a promise, and they were going to help me keep it.

About half an hour later, as the bacon popped in grease and the eggs sizzled in the frying pan, I heard them come in the front door. I wondered if they had driven together, “kitchen,” I called out to them when they asked where I was.

“How ya feeling, man?” Zayn asked, grabbing a slice of cooked bacon and biting off a bit as he sat down at the breakfast island. I was surprised he was so awake this early without caffeine, but then the faintly dark circles beneath his eyes tipped me off that perhaps he hadn’t even gone to sleep last night.

Pointing him in the direction of the coffee maker, I shrugged a little. I didn’t know how to answer his question exactly because I didn’t know how I felt. Not one word seemed to be able to justify the way I felt just then, so I settled on two.

“Lighter,” I replied, nodding, “Better.”

The grins on their faces were something I’ll never forget, filled with relief and pure happiness.

“That’s really good to hear, we’ve been worried about you for a while,” Niall said, eyeing the eggs carefully, “You’ve been acting really off lately, but I can tell. You look different, although that could be because you’re not passed out in a cemetery.”

Harry chuckled and Zayn looked up from the coffee he was pouring with a frown, “Wait, where was I when this happened?”

“I wasn’t passed out, I’d just fallen over. I was about to get up,” Ignoring Zayn’s comment, I turned to Harry, “Are you going out tonight?”

He nodded almost immediately, “Yeah, since we don’t have to worry about being hung-over tomorrow, I planned on bar hopping quite a bit tonight. Why? Do you want to come?”

“Yeah, I think it’s about time I stopped living in the past.” Putting the eggs on the table, I sat down and began to fix myself a plate, and borrowed a line from Cora, “I think it’s time I let go.” As the words left my lips, I was met with encouraging smiles and agreeing nods.

~~~~

This was a bad idea. The music was too loud and the girls were too eager. They clung to Harry like some type of parasite, and although he acted like he didn’t mind, he knew it was partly because of who he was and that kind of annoyed him. Kind of. He was puttering around the club with the biggest smile on his face, and he kept checking up on me to make sure I was having fun as well.

At first, I hadn’t been. I’d been plagued by so much guilt the moment I could feel myself having fun. Why do you deserve to have fun when Cora is rotting in the ground? Those thoughts haunted me and put me in a terrible disposition. The buzz kill, that’s what I was and could hear people calling me, maybe not out loud but definitely in their thoughts.

Then I remembered my dream and how Cora told me to let go, that I needed to move on. So I did, I let go of my inhibitions and started having fun because I knew I deserved it. I danced around and drank and talked with people I’d never met before. It was easy and fun and I wondered why it’d taken me so long.

The last club we went to was newer and owned by one of Harry’s friends. It was in the thick of London, everything else surrounding it like it was the central point on a map, the place to be. The bass could be felt a few blocks away, and seemed to live inside your body as a separate entity when we went inside. Colored lights flashed in time with the beat, reflecting off the glistening bodies of the people dancing and the liquid in their cups.

I walked with Harry to the bar, greeting people and smiling as he introduced me to people I knew I would never remember. We ordered drinks, and just as I was about to down mine, I saw the most beautiful thing in the whole world and momentarily forget where I was.

Sitting a few stools away, a slender girl swayed slightly to the music, her long caramel-colored waves brushing the small of her back rhythmically. She was conversing with some other girl, and when she tossed her head back to laugh, I knew I had to know her.

“Harry, who is that?” I whispered loud enough in his ear to be heard over the music, nodding in her direction. He shrugged as his green eyes flicked along her body, and I tried my best to squelch the strange pang of jealousy at the sight.

“I don’t know, should we find out?” He grinned at me, and I realized he was going to keep the promise he made me earlier, the promise to be my wingman. We made our way over to her, my heartbeat pounding loudly in my ears, seeming to get even louder with each step.

When we were close enough, she turned to look in our direction as we approached. She had large hazel eyes that seemed both skeptical and kind at the same time, and they made things even more nerve-wracking.

“Hello there, I’m Harry and this is my friend Liam,” Harry introduced smoothly, gesturing toward me with a slight nod of his head.

“We know who you are,” the girls’ friend said, her eyes locked on Harry, “I’m Lara and thi-”

“I’m Chloe,” she interrupted, her voice carrying over the music though I swore it wasn’t louder than a vague whisper. Her eyes locked on mine, brightening as her lips curled up into a smile that melted both my nerves and my heart.

“It’s nice to meet you Chloe, can I buy you a drink?” I asked. I wasn’t really sure about this whole thing, and when I glanced over at Harry and Lara, they were already in conversation. Silently, I cursed him for his charisma.

“I’ve already got one,” she answered with a slight giggle, taking a sip out of her cup to demonstrate. Okay, maybe not all of my nerves were melted by that beautiful curve of her lips.

“However, I do love this song, and I would enjoy a dance partner,” without waiting for my offer, she dragged me out onto the dance floor and we moved easily together. She was an amazing dancer, and I just knew how to interpret her moves and the beat and somehow know what I was supposed to do. It was easy and I didn’t have to think about it. Before long one dance turned into seven, each song melting together into infinity.

With aching feet and flushed cheeks, Chloe wrote her phone number beneath her name on a napkin with a cherry red stain. I gave her mine on the back of a crinkled beer wrapper. We parted with cheek kisses and promises to call, and I watched her walk out of the bar with shoes dangling from one hand and a small smile thrown over her shoulder.

The next day, I lay on the couch with her number resting on my stomach that churned with guilt. How could I have done this to Cora? How?

“Just call her!” Louis encouraged, for about the hundreth time in the past ten minutes. “You can’t take the girls number and not call!”

“Yeah,” Niall agreed, “Plus, she has your number, and you’re going to have to talk to her eventually. You can’t run from her with your tail tucked between your legs.”

“I’m not scared!” I defended, sitting up and watching the paper flutter to the ground, “I just, what if I was wrong and I’m not ready? I can’t stop thinking about...” I trailed off, I still couldn’t say her name out loud. It still hurt.

Zayn picked the number off of the ground and handed it back to me, “You can’t let that hold you back forever. You’ve got to move on, she wouldn’t want to be the reason for you to stop taking chances.”

 “Yeah, Liam, you said it yourself the other day. You’ve just got to let go.”

With one final breath, I did it. I let go as I heard the first ring.

{[AN:]} Hey Lovelies :) How is everyone? I hope you guys are enjoying everything so far! I'm Happy with the feedback. Its wonderful. Thank you! We're really close to our 400th read :) Exciting stuff. Please vote, fan, comment, share with friends, etc. Anything is welcome. AGAIN Thank you all for all of the support it's greatly appreciated. <3 Ashley