Little Miss Payne (On Hiatus)

Chapter 7

Ashleigh’s POV

There were so many thoughts going through my head as I walked to find my brother. What was he going to think? What was he going to do? Hopefully he won’t be mad at me. What about Harry? Do I tell him that Harry knows? My mind slowed down as I stepped outside and saw Louis, Liam, and Zayn with their girlfriends. I walked up and Louis noticed immediately.

“Hey Ashleigh!” he waved. Liam looked over and it almost seemed like he knew something was up. I looked down at the sand as I continued walking. “You wanna join us? We’re about to go swimming.” Well, that would explain why their all in swimsuits.

“Well, actually I wanted to talk to Liam about something.” I looked at my brother and noticed that he was nodding and beginning to walk towards me.

“What’s wrong Ash?” he looked down at me. Curse his height.

“Um, can we go somewhere else? I don’t really want them to overhear anything.” I looked up at him with hopeful eyes. He nodded and I began to lead him to where I went with Harry yesterday. I sat down and he sat next to me, looking out at the water.

“So what did you want to talk to me about?” he looked at me, questioningly.

“Uh, you know how when you asked me if I’ve dated anyone while you were gone?” He shook his head slowly, he seemed to become slightly angry.

“You dated someone, didn’t you?” He asked with a stern voice.

“Well, kind of.” He cocked his head at this.

“What do you mean?” He was getting angry, I could tell.

“Well. It’s a long story.” I tried to calm him down. Not knowing if it’d be easy to calm him.

He took a deep breath. “Ash, I want to know. What happened?” He looked at me.

“Well, there was this guy named Andrew. I liked him a lot but apparently he didn’t feel the way I thought he did.” Liam stood up but I put my hand on his arm to keep him sitting.

“What happened Ashleigh? What? Did he cheat on you? I’ll kill him.” I wish that’s what happened.

“Uh... no. He... he raped me.” I immediately put my face in my hands and began sobbing. I felt Liam’s presence leave my side. I heard something break behind me and snapped around. It was Liam and he punched a tree. His eyes looked red, almost as though he was about to cry.

“Are you serious?! Why didn’t you tell me Ash?!” He was fuming.

“I’m sorry Liam! I was scared!” I tried to sound strong but it was a failed attempt. Liam immediately began walking towards me. I thought he was going to hit me so I put up my arms to block it. Liam’s never hit me but he’s never been this angry around me either. I felt his hands on my arm and then just on one arm. Shit. Fuck. I slowly opened my eyes to see Liam staring at the cuts.

“Ashleigh. Don’t tell me. Did you cut yourself?” He was beginning to cry. I just hugged my arms to my chest so he couldn’t see anymore. “You did, didn’t you?” I slowly nodded. I thought he was going to get even madder. To my surprise, he didn’t. Instead he wrapped his arms around me and just held me there, tighter than usual.

“I’m so sorry Liam. I swear I won’t do it again.” He began rubbing his hands up and down my back. Eventually, he pulled away and I noticed he was full-on crying now. “Please don’t be upset Liam.”

“Ashleigh, you’re my baby sister. You’re my only sister. I’d take a bullet for you. What would I do if something happened to you? I wouldn’t be able to go on Ashleigh. You’re my best friend and I can’t lose you.” I started crying harder than I ever thought possible when he said this. Liam’s the greatest brother anyone could ask for. I definitely don’t know what I’d do without him.