Half A Heart (A Dark Liam Payne Fanfiction)

Chapter 9

*Liam's POV*

I took a deep breath as I stared at the barbed wire fence surrounding the concrete building that has enclosed my father for over 40 years. Never in my entire life would I ever expect to be standing here. At least doing what I'm about to do. About the door in bold print were the words "Woodrow Prison" my father's second home. The door separating us was electronically locked. I pushed the buzzer underneath the words "push to enter" after around 5 seconds the metal doors opened and I got a view of the inside. It was all gray and black. The uniforms of the inmates clashed immensely with their bleak surroundings. There were hallways this way and that way, leading to activity rooms, showers, and doctors offices. There was a sign pointing to the left labeled "cafeteria". Lots of prisoners were heading out of it and going their separate ways. It was 1:45 so I'm guessing their lunchtime was over.

My breath was shaky as I approached the lady sitting behind the large desk. Her name tag read "Anabel" she sort of reminded me of Kay. "No Liam no she doesn't" I thought of myself. This wasn't about Kay. This was about resolving the issues with my father. Anabel was overtaken with something on the computer, and talking into someone on Bluetooth. She smiled and held up one finger signaling that she'll be with me in a minute.

I waited for pretty much that long. She said goodbye to whoever she was talking to and turned to face me. "Hi, how can I help you?" Anabel asked. "I'm here to see my father, Jim Payne?" "Ah yes Jim. Well you can't physically be in the same room with him but you're welcome to talk through the phone and see him through the glass. The call will be monitored but none of your information will be given out." "That's fine" I reply. She doesn't seem to be affected with my intimidating appearance. I suppose you get used to it working in a prison.

As I walked down the halls towards the visiting room, a voice in the back of my mind kept telling me that I should be here, locked up beside my father. Vanessa wasn't the only one I killed. She was around the fifth. I was a murderer, only I didn't get caught. I have to remember not to bring that or Kay up during the conversation.

Anabel led me to a white room fills with separate little booth things with a phone and a glass panel. She spoke into a walkie talkie and then told me, "he will be down in a minute. His guard, Alex, told me he was quite surprised he had a visitor. I didn't mention it was you though. Good luck with the meeting." She turned of her heels and strutted away down the hall. She was just like Kay, just more confident.

After waiting for what I know was longer than a minute, I saw him trudge through the hall in one of those lovely orange jumpsuits. He cut off the sleeves to form a muscle shirt. His tattoos were very visible, and he still looked like that macho guy I always knew. But there was something different about him. His eyes didn't have the same flame to them. There was still some there, but it was more of a spark than a flame. He sat down and silently picked up the phone. I did the same. It was really awkward with the guards standing behind him watching us, but I kept my cool and waited for my dad to speak.

"Why are you here?" He finally spoke.

"I-I wanted answers dad. I wanted answers. I'm tired of wondering everything and I need some sense of reason in my life. Something to be certain of." Whoa. I was not expecting that to come out of my mouth.

"What do you want to know?" Dad asked.

I sucked in my breath and said, "everything. The only thing I know about you is what you got arrested for. You have nothing to hide anymore. Just tell me. Anything." I saw his demeanor change from stiff to slightly more comfortable.

"Well Liam, lots has happened since that day. When you were little, your mom always thought I was a bad influence. She tried to keep me away from you as much as possible. When I got arrested, I don't know if you remember, but you did see it. I made it back home, and your mom tried to keep me calm. It didn't really work. As you can see, I'm not a teddy bear. I punched the cops and tried to shoot them but one of them took the gun from me. The whole time you were sitting in the kitchen with a horrified look on your face. Nobody bothered to move you. I regret it now, but it wanted you to see it. I wanted you to see who your father was. I never even wanted a kid so it didn't really matter what you thought of me." That part felt like a punch in the face. He never wanted me. No matter how tough you are, hearing your dad say he doesn't want you hurts. Bad. I listened to his story once more. "So once I got brought here there was nobody in my cell. Days later they brought this little shrimp of a guy. Well, I guess he wasn't really a shrimp, but he was small to me. Anyway, he tried to talk to me and be all social. I wasn't having it. His American accent annoyed me, and I always wondered why he was locked up here and not back across the pond. Eventually, I decided to stop being a complete bitch and talked to him. We made an impact on each other. I toughened him up a bit and he softened me a bit. He got out before me so now my cells empty again. But before he left, there was this guy named Ron who really pissed me the fuck off. One day it got to be too much so I stole a steak knife from the break room and cut his throat with it. Now I'm in here for murder too. I would've been out sooner if it wasn't for that. Now I'm here in this room wondering why my kid who's never showed any interest in my life whatsoever is here interrogating me. Can you answer that?" I looked down at the white platform. "Something just happened that's all." "What's that something?" He asked. "Nothing" I responded. I hung up the phone and ran out of the the prison. That was too much for one day.

*Kay's POV*

I sat on my couch sipping some tea. I had picked up the custom since moving here. It was the morning after the meeting. I have been trying to get the thoughts out of my head all day. As I was about to pick a movie, this time checking the cover for murderous lovers, my phone started ringing. I set my tea down and picked it up. Unknown number.

I cautiously answered it with a nervous "hello?" "Hi is this Kay Ross?" The caller answered. "Yes" I said "and this is?" "Dad" my heart skipped a beat as I said "oh hey dad I didn't think you would call." "I'm sorry should I go?" He asked. "No no it's okay I just wasn't expecting it. I actually have a question for you. When you were in jail, why didn't I ever visit?" There was silence on the other end before he answered "um I wasn't in the prison downtown. Remember how I said I moved to London, well I moved to London when got arrested. I sent the cops to gather my stuff and I moved here. You must not remember that part." "No I don't." I said. I was surprised at his response. I thought it would be because mom didn't want me seeing him or he wasn't taking visitors or something. "I have to go Kay, I just wanted to say hi. Goodbye." "Bye Dad" As I hung up the doorbell rang. I guess no one wants me to watch my movie today.

I sighed and went to answer it, praying it wasn't Liam. I looked through the peephole and saw it wasn't. Opening it, I was greeted by a woman and someone who looked to be her daughter. "Hi I'm Anabel, and this is my daughter Aubree. She's selling cookie dough for her school and we were wondering if you'd like some" "sure" I answered. "Cookies are good." Aubree smiled and said "you're pretty" "aww thank you sweetie. You're pretty too! Aubree beamed as I smiled at her mom. They looked a lot alike. Would you like to come in? I'll grab my wallet. I have some ice cream if you want?" Aubree gasped and turned to look at her mom. "Can we mommy? Pleaseeeeeee?" Anabel laughed and said okay. I invited them inside and they took a seat on the couch. I went to grab Aubree some ice cream. I gave it to her then went to my room to grab my wallet. I came back to Aubree's chocolate mustache. I giggled and the two of them joined in. She wiped it off with her sleeve. "Aubree!" Anabel exclaimed. "You gotta stop doing that honey." She smiled innocently and Anabel rolled her eyes. "So what kind of cookies can I buy?" I asked either of them. I wasn't sure which one had the order from. Anabel pulled it out from her purse and handed it to me. I looked over the list. Peanut butter, chocolate chip, peanut butter chocolate chip, pistachio, white chocolate, pumpkin, cinnamon chip, apple pie, double chocolate. They all looked so good. I finally decided on 2 chocolate chip and 2 apple pie. I gave the money to Anabel and then we just sat and talked for a bit. Aubree was occupied with her iPod for the moment. I told her about my moveand before she left she handed me her phone number. "Text me" she said as she left with Aubree. I have a friend. I thought. "I have a friend!" I shout. At least one good thing happened in this hellhole of a place.