A Story Of Love And Struggle (Liam Payne)

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Liam sat at the counter waiting for Ariana but she was unusually late.

Why? Today of all days you chose to be late? He asked himself while the butterflies in his stomach fluttered incessantly at the thought of her. He stayed looking out the window towards the backyard wondering what he would say to her when he saw her.

He was brought back to reality when his intercom buzzed loudly, so he got up from his stool and went to pick up the intercom.

“Hello…”

“Mr. Payne? Ariana’s here”

“Roy… You know you’re supposed to let her in every time” He said

“Mr. Payne you need to come to the front gate… There’s something you need to see” He said

“Alright… I’ll be there shortly” Replied Liam feeling curious

Why would Roy want me to go to the front gate? And what does Ariana have to do with anything?

He grabbed the keys to the house and left on the way to the front gate. A few minutes later he met Roy a few meters away from the gate, just before the entrance to the booth on the side of the gate.

“Mr. Payne… Something happened to Ariana…” Said Roy

“What?” Asked Liam, taking in Roy’s worried expression “What happened to her?”

“She wouldn’t tell me what sir, but it looks like she was attacked” Explained Roy

“What?” Asked Liam with concern “Where is she?”

“In there…” Said Roy pointing at the booth behind him

Liam moved past him and walked quickly to the booth, feeling how his heart dropped when he saw the state she was in.

There were bruises and dried blood on her face. Her lip was split and bruised, her face looked dirty and her hair was disheveled. Her clothes looked dirty and there were scraps on both of her arms and hands.

“Ariana?”  He said trying to draw her attention towards him as she had been staring at the ground the whole time

She was sitting in a chair by the entrance of the booth and she looked up at him from the chair when he called her name.

“Ariana what happened to you?” He asked kneeling next to her so he could look at her face to face

She didn’t say anything, she just looked at him while her eyes filled with tears

“What happened? Come on… Tell me” He urged taking her hands in his, noticing the small cuts on her fingers and the blood under some of her fingernails

“I can help you… Just tell me” He said, feeling helpless for not knowing how to help her

“I…” She whispered as a couple of tears ran down her face

“It’s ok… You can’t tell me… I’m here for you”

“I can’t…” She whispered again

“Do you want me to call someone?” He asked “Maybe we should go home…. Yeah? What do you say?”

She looked at him and nodded lightly so he stood up and took her hands to help her get up. Her movements were slow and she seemed to be in pain.  But she assured him she could walk to his house.

“Don’t you think it’s best to call an ambulance?” Asked Roy as he helped Ariana out of the booth

“Don’t worry, I’ll call someone when I get her home… Thanks Roy” Nodded Liam as he Led Ariana towards his house