Fortis // L.T.

Chapter 15 - Apologies and Hurt

I held the ice pack up to my cheek in an attempt to soothe the pain. It was nothing compared to what I felt inside but I was sick of feeling more than one pain. Liam stood beside me, apologising over and over again. This kid definitely was getting more sleep than me.

    "Lou, mate, I'm sorry, I really am," He whimpered for the millionth time, pacing back and forth while tugging at the roots of his already messy hair. He opened his mouth once ore to say it again but this time I interjected.

    "Liam, I get it! You're sorry and you actually had the right to come up here and hit me but while I was drunk? That was a dog shot, even for you. You are supposed to be the gentleman of the group but this has changed you. Fuck, it's changed all of us," I explained, praying that it would shut him up.

Apparenlty not.

   "It changed us all but I have no right to come up in here and start to accuse you of being a sook or a pain in the ass because I have no idea what you're going through. For God's sake, you lost your sister, wife, unborn child and best friend all at once and I'm sorry for bringing that up. So I'm sorry for being so caught up in my own grief to not realise that you were also hurting," Liam sighed, his head in his hands as he finally sat down in a bar stool beside me.

   "Nah mate, you were allowed to be all caught up in your pain and not notice me, I've been a mess anyway so I wouldn't expect anyone to try and hold up a conversation with me but I thank you for coming down here and knocking some sense into me. It's been almost two months and I'm still beating myself up over it," I announced, resting my hand on his shoulder. Liam looked up at me with sorrow filled eyes.

    "I was going to propose to Sophia that night," he muttered, burying his face again. I shook my head and almost fainted as a familiar back haired, round stomached female slipped in through the front door. Her eyes scanned the bar but when she caught sight of me, she examined me with a sad look in her eyes and turned back out, offering me a wave before disappearing back outside. Liam looked back up at me, his eyes zoning in on me.

   "What's wrong, Louis? You look like you've seen a ghost," He joked, examining me with his eyes.

Little did he know, I actually had seen a ghost. As the girl who I had just caught a glance of was my late wife,

Molly Tomlinson.