True love is forever

Chapter ~ 29

"To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all."  

― Oscar Wilde

- Liam -

"Hey Babe where you going?"

Danielle stood at the end of the stairs, her beautiful curly brown hair tangled and falling loosely onto my old 'Killers' t-shirt.

"Just going over to check on Harry and" I hesitated looking down. I couldn't even say her name.

Dani smiled at me sadly and walked over to embrace me in her arms. I blinked back warm tears. I needed to be strong.

"Are you sure your ok, I can check if you want"

We both knew she would be no better than I in this situation so I shook my head and quickly kissed her before leaving the door to drive over.

This was probably the fifth time I had gone to check since Harry left. It was unnecessary and he'd only asked me to check once or twice but there was something comforting about seeing her smiling face on the wall along with Harry's.

When we first found out the truth about V, the four of us and Perrie, Danielle and Eleanor all sat in their apartment for hours, saying nothing but silently comforting each other.

God works in mysterious ways, my mum kept saying but I didn't make any sense to me. Why would someone as selfless and down to earth as Viv be given such a horrendous curse I just couldn't fathom it.

The house was as I'd expected, empty and as I'd expected, dark and dreary. It felt like an abandoned fun house, a place where laughter and joy used to live but now all I could since was the echoes of sour memories.

This house meant nothing any more.

I'd talked to Viv a few times after we found out but I always came away feeling selfish and arrogant. I'd end up bursting into tears and have to be comforted by the cause of my weakness. I wondered how Harry must be feeling, slowly waiting for her to go.

I briefly scanned each room, my fingers running along the glass pictures. I was leaving the master bedroom when I heard someone come in.

"Liam?" Louis voiced echoes the empty hallway as he reached the bedroom.

"Hey" I said dryly

Louis smiled meekly "I was just on to Harry, he said that him and Viv are driving to Cheshire and are stopping off here on the way back, we need to do something for Viv"

"Like what?"

Louis' grin changed cheekily. Then he patted one finger against his nose.

- Viv -

I giggled. "I'm not peaking!!"

"Just a few more steps, trust me"

He could be leading me off a cliff and I'd still trust him. I thought happily, secretly wanting the surprise to last longer. Then the tension where his hands covered my eyes loosened and he let my eyes adjust. When they did, I didn't believe what he was showing me was real.

"We'll this isn't you house" I muttered half-heartedly.

Harry chuckled "gold star for Viv"

I took one step into what I could only guess to be the biggest room in one of Cheshire's fanciest hotels. The room was the perfect size, decoratd with dark scarlets' and mauves'. The back of the room had a large glass windows over looking the city and luxurious curtains on either side, clipped with gold rope. In the centre was a circular shaped bed on a platform, surrounded by a four post and curtains on either side. It possibly the biggest bed I had ever seen and it was dressed to the nines, with crimson and gold cushions that had tussles and frilly edging.

A childish laugh escaped my lips and I took a leap onto the bed, sending cushions flying. Harry laughed at me and copied, his hand taking mine as we lay next to each other.

"Is this all for me?" I asked.

"It's all for you Viv" he confirmed.

I liked that Harry had gotten us a room. We needed a night away from the watching eye of our parents and to be honest, I hadn't felt the warmth or the weight of his body on mine since before he knew the truth. The days were long in Framlingham so I was always too tired for anything in the evenings. Tonight would be different, we were going to Harry's mums and then to the annual firework festival, I could already tell it was going to be romantic.

I smiled to myself and yawned loudly, then with sweet thought roaming my mind I drifted off for a nap, happy as Larry.

***

Harry ran a hand through his hair and winked at me. "You look beautiful"

I blushed and flattened out the white lace dress Harry had insisted I wore. "Thanks"

"So I'll see you at the festival then, you don't mind going with mum"

I shook my head and pecked his cheek, "nope, but tell who ever your sneaking off to that I will not be impressed if my boyfriends late"

Laughing, Harry pulled off and I walked into get that yea Anne had offered. She smiled at me as I took the tea and leaned against the counter, across from her.

Anne's eyes softened. "How's he doing?"

She didn't need to say anything else. I wasn't able to relate to her. I had no idea what it was like to have a son give up everything for someone he'd met less than four months ago. I wondered if she resented me or if she just worried all the time.

I sipped my tea and said what I myself had been worried about. "Anne he's amazing, better than amazing, he's been my rock these last few weeks and... He understands me. But" I took one deep breath "I'm worried about after"

Anne looked down. They all did when I said things like this.

"After?" She mumbled

"I'm worried he'll shut down, forget about the boys and what's important. I don't want him to give up Anne I'm really scared that I'm doing the wrong thing here."

Tears trickled down Anne's face, mirroring mine.

"Viviana" she said "I've never seen my son so crazy about someone in all the years I've been his mum. Everything about him changes when you walk into the room and when he told me about you. It broke my heart. All I want is for him to be happy and if taking care of you does that then your doing the right thing"

I laughed feeling stupid and Anne laughed with and in that moment I felt like a part of me was fixed, one less person to worry about.

"You've been like a daughter to me Viviana" Anne suddenly whispered in my ear "I'll never forget that and I'll never forget you"

I stood back to see that she truly meant it and sniffed "let's get going or Harry will kill us"

The festival was in the centre of homes chapel village and Anne and I walked, discussing the greatness of flat shoes. I loved Anne, she was exactly like her son, down to earth, easy to talk and a genuine person. It was people like her that made this world hard to leave.

I was surprised at the large turn out in Harry's small village and even more surprised at the sizable portion of people who came up to tell me they admired me and were praying for me. I was in shock, no one had ever shown me that much interest.

Harry showed up just before the begging and wrapped his arms around me as we watched the colourful bombs explode into the night air. Anne was a few steps behind us with Harry's stepdad and Gemma and her boyfriend, in fact most people were with their loved ones and it was quite beautiful.

"Thank you for being me here" I said to Harry cupping his cheek with my hand.

"And thank you for being the most incredible person I've ever met" he leaned in to softly kiss my lips and I suddenly felt light headed.

"That escalated quickly" I teased him, waiting for a smirk but he grew serious and then his lips were millimeters from me ears. He was whispering words I never thought I'd hear.