Not In Love With Liam

2~ The Long Way Home

♜LIAM LAWRENCE♜

Noah got up and made her way to the shower.
I really wanted her to be comfortable but I think I'd overdone it.
I should have just driven her to one of her friends' houses and left it there. But I've really missed her and I really wanted to talk.

Even though, for the first time, it was just me and her alone together, I wasn't going to attempt anything stupid. Her head wasn't in the right place and it'd be wrong for me to take advantage of that.
I walked slowly to the hallway and knocked on the bathroom door. "Everything okay in there?"
"Yeah. I'm good."
All that was between us was a door and a shower curtain, but I wouldn't dare change that.

"Okay."
I tiptoed away from the door and went back to the living room.
Uni had been really stressful lately. I needed to go out. Crashing the fashion school? I wasn't exactly for the idea initially, but things turned out pretty good on my end.

I couldn't stop thinking about the fact that Noah and I are so different. She's creative and free spirited whereas I'm more orderly and reserved. I couldn't draw to save my life, and besides, Noah seems to be into bad boys.
The fun ones who'll always give her a good time.
I'm not right for her. Even if I want to be.

I heard the bathroom door unlock and I threw myself onto the couch. I had to act casual so she didn't feel under pressure or anything.

"Um.. should I get dressed in the bathroom?"
"No, you can go to my room," I stood up and showed her upstairs.
After she'd dragged her suitcase through to my room, I told her I'd be waiting downsrairs and shut the door.

It was killing me feeling so distant from someone I'd been so close to before. Here she was, in my house, and yet I'd never felt further away from her.
I loved her so much when we were in Swanlea, but she was in love with someone else. Some bad boy she'd met outside of school.
She said she couldn't be with me, because I was only meant to be a distraction. She was in a bad way when her and that guy had stopped talking and she just needed someone, something to help her take her mind off him.

She never meant for things between us to go so far, but she couldn't carry on.
I guess she did that for me. She still needed a distraction but she didn't want to hurt me. So instead she started to drink. Not wildly like you'd expect. Quietly. Just enough to numb her feelings, but never enough to loose herself.
So the one night she'd lost herself, I was going to take care of her. I'd do that for her.

I heard her coming down the stairs and started to feel nervous. What if her staying only made everything more awkward. I pushed my uneasiness to the back of my mind and tried to relax.

"Thanks again, for everything. Your house is really nice." She said as she came through the door.

She looked gorgeous before, in her party dress and makeup, but for some reason, now that she'd washed it all away, pulled her braids up into a simple ponytail, and was dressed in joggers and a t-shirt, she looked even more amazing to me.

"It's okay. And um.. thanks." I scratched the back of my neck nervously. "So, erm.. what do you wanna do?"
"I don't mind. I'm really tired though."
"Oh, okay, you should sleep then, I'll take the couch and you can go back up to-"
"Liam, I can't sleep in your room. Honestly, the couch will do just fine for me."
I paused and looked at her. "You sure?"
She nodded.
"Okay then, I'll go up and get you a duvet."
She sat on the couch with her legs crossed and rested her head on the couch's arm.
I jogged up the stairs and into my room. The whole place smelt of her.
I quickly grabbed her some pillows and my duvet and jogged back down to the living room.

"Okay, here are-" I raised my head to find she had fallen asleep.
I turned her on her side so she was lying flat in the couch and covered her with the duvet before kissing her forehead and switching off the light.
As I approached the doorway, I heard her say quietly, "You're such a good guy." with a beautiful smile on her beautiful face.
I smiled back and shut the door.