classic » liam payne au

art

"Hey! You made it!" Zayn grinned as his three friends approached him.

"Of course!" Niall grinned back at him with just as much enthusiasm.

"Thanks for coming," Zayn said, shaking Niall and Liam's hands, and giving Violet a quick (and slightly awkward) hug.

"I'm actually excited. I like art." Violet stated as Liam laced their fingers together. She looked down at their hands and smiled.

"You? Like art?" Zayn snorted a laugh.

"Leave her alone." Liam defended her and kissed the top of her hair and Zayn thought he might puke.

Violet's cheeks reddened immensely because not only was this the first time she and Liam were out together, but that was also the first time Liam had ever made a public display of affection. Violet wondered if he felt obligated to after Zayn's comment. What if he didn't really want to?

At this thought her eyebrows pulled together slightly. Maybe she should lay off him a bit; she didn't want to make him feel pressured.

So she loosened her grip on his hand and tried to listen to Zayn's explanation of some of the art works that were on display at this show.

Liam was confused when he felt her hand loosen in his. Had she not wanted him to give her affection like that in front of his friends? Had she not wanted them to know exactly what they were? Hell, now Liam didn't even know what they were.

"Liam, look!" Niall hissed, frantically pointing.

"What?" Liam tried to follow the direction of Niall's finger but he wasn't sure what he was pointing to.

"It's her!" Niall whisper-shouted. "It's Alyssa!"

Violet's gaze hardened immediately as she spotted the girl Niall was pointing to. Was she ever beautiful. She has extremely long, golden-coloured hair that was tousled into a perfect mess. Her face was absent of glasses, unlike Violet, and she had legs that any girl would kill for.

"That's nice." Liam replied shortly. He didn't care that his ex-girlfriend was here. His attention was reserved for Zayn and Niall, but most of all Violet.

Niall rolled his eyes at the short reply. "Hey!" He shouted.

"Niall, don't-"

"Alyssa!" Niall cut Liam off and the girl turned her head to see the group of four.

Zayn was amusedly watching the scenario unfold and he stood with his arms crossed and a smirk on his lips as he awaited the girl to approach.

And approach she did. Violet thought she might throw up because of how gorgeous this girl was, especially up close.

"Liam! Hi, it's been awhile." Alyssa said, stepping forward to give him a hug.

Did she not see Violet there? Did she not see that Violet and Liam were holding hands?Take a hint, Violet thought, and bit her lip to keep the words from spilling out.

"Yeah, it has. How are you, Alyssa?" And oh god, did Violet ever absolutely loathe the way her name sounded coming out of his mouth.

"I'm doing well, actually. Still in school." She nodded. "Niall told me you're well, also."

"I am." Liam smiled graciously and took a quick second to glance at Violet. Oh. She looked upset. He brushed his thumb over the back of her hand, hoping the action would take away any worry she had. But, the crease between her eyebrows stayed put. "Alyssa, this is Violet. My, er, friend..." He trailed off awkwardly, knowing he couldn't use the word girlfriend yet. And whose fault is that?, his conscience asked him.

"Friend?" Alyssa inquired, pursing her lips. "Hm."

Violet was feeling increasingly sick because not only did Liam's ex seem to be showing interest in him, but she was also now under the impression that she and Liam were nothing more than friends.

"Yeah, uh, very close friend." Liam said, and this time he kissed Violet's forehead. Hopefully proving the point that they were more than just friends.

"Oh." Alyssa's eyes widened for a moment and Violet tried to suppress her grin. Instead, she leaned her head on Liam's shoulder and gazed up at him.

He smiled down at her and for the few seconds their eyes met; it felt like they were the only two in the room.

"Well, I'll see you around then." Alyssa gave one last stunning smile and flipped her gorgeous hair over her shoulder before she turned around and left.

"Wow, that was so fuckin' awkward," Niall was the first to speak up.

Liam reached over to hit him across the back of the head. "Bloody idiot. Why would you call her over like that?"

"I'm sorry! I was tryin' to be friendly." Niall defended himself, and rubbed the back of his head.

"Well, don't next time." Liam said, glaring at his friend one last time. Niall just rolled his eyes and started talking to Zayn. "You alright?" He leaned down slightly to ask Violet.

She nodded and gave him a smile, leaving him unconvinced.

"You know you have absolutely no competition, right?" Liam raised an eyebrow at her. "Especially not from her."

Now Violet was really smiling. She tightened her grip on Liam's hand and walked a little closer to him. His few words had relaxed her; she tried not to think about all the other girls that had something on her, because she was with Liam right now, not anyone else.

They followed Zayn as he explained the paintings, drawings and sculptures that surrounded them. It was actually really interesting to see all of these beautiful works because someone had created them with their own hands and minds. Violet could never do that.

"Oh - Liam, Violet, look at this one!" Zayn waved them over to a painting and Liam pulled her along with him.

"What's this?" Violet asked, studying the beautiful painting.

Painted on the canvas was a piece of chocolate that had little flowers - Violet thought they were pieces of lavender - surrounding it. It was so simply beautiful and even though Violet didn't know what it meant or symbolized, she liked it very much.

In the bottom corner of the painting was Zayn's signature.

Liam looked up to his friend. "You made this, mate?"

Zayn nodded. "Yeah."

"What is it- like what does it mean?" Liam asked, speaking Violet's thoughts, too.

"Okay, like, don't laugh, alright?" Zayn warned. Liam and Violet just blinked at him. "It's kind of, like, I don't know. I guess it's you guys?" Zayn struggled for words and scratched the back of his neck.

"Us?" Liam raised an eyebrow as he pointed between himself and Violet. By now, Niall had wandered off ad was talking to some girl over on the other side of the room.

"Yeah." Zayn was blushing now. "Okay, listen. So, like, the chocolate is kind of Liam because y'know Violet is always saying how sweet you are and stuff like that and- shut the fuck up, Liam." Zayn had to stop mid-sentence to chastise him for laughing.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Go on."

"And like, this is gonna sound gay, but like your hair is kinda the same colour and your eyes and- I mean it, shut the fuck up!" Liam was laughing again. This time Violet hit his chest.

"C'mon." She said, giving him a disapproving look. Liam sighed and nodded.

"So, yeah. And then the lavender flowers are supposed to be Violet because, like, lavender is purple and another word for purple is violet, and Violet is your name. I thought flowers because Liam is always going on about how beautiful you are and how nice you smell when I'm with him."

Liam blushed and Violet looked up at him, as if to ask if Zayn was right. In response, Liam gave her a quick kiss on the lips. Now Violet was blushing.

"And I put the two of them together because, like, obviously you two are together. But the way the flowers surround it I guess kind of remind me of, like, your dynamic. Like, how you just kind of go together, like match, and there's not really a whole lot of separation." Zayn went on about the work and Violet was sure it was the absolute sweetest thing anyone had ever done.

"It's beautiful, Zayn. Magical, really. Thank you so much." Violet pulled him in for a tight hug.

"I want it." Liam said.

"Huh?" Zayn's eyebrows pulled together.

"I want it. Like I want to have it, I want to take it. I want it to be mine." Liam tried rephrasing his words so that Zayn would understand.

"Uh, you can't. You can't, like, take it out in the middle of the show. Then there'll be a blank spot and I'll get in shit." Zayn shook his head and stuck his hands in his jeans pockets.

"Okay. After the show then." Liam suggested.

"Can't. This is my best piece, Liam. I'm turning it in as a final for visual arts." Zayn said. He felt bad, but he couldn't give it up.

"Zayn, finals aren't for another three months." Liam groaned and pouted at his friend.

"Violet! Come look at this!" Niall shouted from across the room, gaining not only Violet's attention, but most of the people's in the room, as well.

Violet shrugged and let go of Liam's hand to go see what Niall wanted to show her. "Be right back," she said with a smile.

The first thing Liam did was reach for his wallet that was in his pant pocket. "Zayn, I'll seriously give you one hundred pounds right now if you let me have that. I know you, you could make something even better than that! Please, mate." Liam was practically begging now, and when he opened his wallet, Zayn knew he wasn't joking.

"Holy shit, Liam, put your fucking wallet away. If you really want it that badly, you can have it.” Zayn sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “I guess I’ll have to figure something else out for finals.”

“Ah, thanks!” Liam clapped his hands together excitedly and turned to look at the painting. It was awfully thoughtful of Zayn to create this with Liam and Violet in mind. It was alsoreally good. “Can you drop it off at mine later? Like, after the show? I want to surprise Violet.”

“Yeah, sure. I guess.” Zayn shrugged. 

“Great. Now let’s go get Violet and Niall before he makes her uncomfortable.” Liam’s eyes moved across the room to his girl and his friend, wary of what she and Niall could be talking about.

“He probably already has.”




After dropping Niall off from the art show and going through a McDonald’s drive thru to get dinner, Liam was back at Violet’s. To his disappointment, Lizzie was there with Alex. Violet sighed at the sight of them.

“Hi Lizzie, Alex.” Violet greeted them with a smile. 

“Hey Vi,” Alexander smiled. Violet hadn’t seen him in a while, actually. “You’re well?”

“Very.” She smiled again, and took Liam’s hand in her own. “So, are you guys staying here?”

“Oh- um, yeah. If that’s okay with you.” Elizabeth said, looking at Liam.

“Oh, that’s totally fine.” Violet waved her off and turned to Liam. “Wanna do something crazy and possibly suicidal?”

Liam laughed nervously. “Um, sure?”

“Wanna go to my mum’s?”

Half an hour later, Liam was parked in Violet’s mum’s driveway. 

“I hope I’m not scaring you off by bringing you here.” Violet said as she unbuckled her seatbelt. “My mum won’t even be awake, and she’ll be all the way upstairs. We can go to the basement, it’s cozy down there.”

“You’re not scaring me off at all, babe.” Liam assured her. He had met her mother before when she showed up at the record shop, and she was really sweet. “I just hope if she finds us she won’t want to slaughter me for sleeping next to her daughter.”

Violet laughed. “Of course not. Plus, she’s a really deep sleeper. Nothing to worry about.” She insisted, and opened her door to get out of the car.

“Wait,” Liam grabbed her arm and pulled her back in. 

“What? What’s wrong?” Violet stopped and searched Liam’s eyes for a sign of hesitation. But there wasn’t one.

He leaned over and kissed Violet softly, his hand resting against her cheek and hers quickly going to cup his face. The kiss wasn’t all that long, but the feeling was still so great for both of them that it didn’t even matter. 

“Nothing.” Liam replied to her previous question and they both got out.

They had tiptoed inside Violet’s mum’s house and quietly maneuvered downstairs to the basement. First, Violet wrote her mother a note and left it on the counter next to the kettle that told her she and Liam were staying the night in the basement and not to wake them up. She just hoped her mother would listen. 

“So, this is your house, huh?” Liam looked around the small finished basement and marvelled at photos of a younger Violet. Graduation and school photos of her were hung up, along with a couple really old family photos with her whole family. He smiled at the little pigtails her hair was done up in and the big round glasses that shielded her eyes. “Cute,” he commented.

“Oh God, I told her to take those down!” Violet groaned, pushing Liam away from the wall of photos. She could feel her cheeks reddening more and more with every quiet chuckle from Liam.

She guided him to the comfy little sofa and the two of them sat down. “Here,” Violet pulled down a fleece throw blanket that hung over the couch and placed it over the two of them. She leaned forward to pick up the television remote and turned it on. 

Though, neither of them had any interest in watching television. Violet laid her head against Liam’s chest, his arm draped over her shoulders to hold her close to him. His chin rested on her hair and Liam had never been more comfortable in his life. 

“I had fun at the show. Thank you for inviting me.” Violet said quietly, not wanting to ruin the peaceful mood between the two of them.

“I had to. Zayn practically begged me.” Liam teased and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. 

Violet just smiled. “What did you think of his painting of us?”

“I loved it, honestly.” Liam admitted. “Don’t tell him though; I’m enjoying busting his balls about the whole thing.” 

Violet playfully swatted him and rolled her eyes. “You’re terrible.”

“I’m glad you had fun, though. I hope Alyssa being there didn’t ruin it for you.” Liam bit his lip after he said the words; it had been bugging him all night, not knowing how she felt about it.

“It was fine. After all, I’m the one you’re with now, anyways. Not her.” Violet said, and for the first time, like, ever she felt almost confident. 

“That’s right.”

“Um, Liam?” Violet leaned her head back to look up at him. 

“Mhm?” he mumbled, too busy looking at her beautiful eyes. He brushed a piece of her fringe away so that he could see better.

“I’ve been meaning to ask you something.”

“Go ahead, love.”

“Well, my brother’s wedding is coming up very soon, like next week. And I have a plus one, so I was wondering if, maybe, you might possibly want to be my plus one and come with me?” Violet’s voice gradually got smaller as she continued talking and it was a wonder Liam had managed to hear her at all. 

“You mean be your date?” he smiled. 

“Yeah. Be my date.” She nodded her confirmation. “Only if you want to, though. My whole family is going to be there and I know it’s probably way too early for that – we’re not even a couple, after all – but I just thought maybe it would be fun.”

“I’d love to, Violet.” Liam wasn’t nervous about meeting anyone in her family. He was a very likeable person and he got along easily with others, plus if Violet’s family were anything like her, he would have absolutely no problem with them. 

“Really?” Violet questioned in a surprised tone. “I mean, great. Good. That’s good.” She snuggled back into his chest in content. That had gone much easier than she had expected. 

Liam kept thinking about how Violet had mentioned the fact that they weren’t a couple. Yet again, Liam found himself wishing the opposite were true. He wanted to be able to call this girl his, and he was bent on doing it sooner rather than later. 

But for now, he was rather content on falling asleep with Violet cuddled up next to him on this small sofa. This was so easy, so effortless. Just being with her made him feel like he could do anything. He hadn’t felt anything like this before, but the feeling was so refreshing and fulfilling that he wouldn’t even mind if it consumed him.

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A/N: I hope you were sort of able to envision what Zayn's painting looked like. I thought it was really cute :)