Don't Let Go || Liam Payne

Epilogue

“Hey sis,” I say, sitting down on the bench across from Aria’s headstone. I smiled as tears welled up in my eyes. I can be pretty strong, but not here. Here is where I cry as much as I please.

It’s been three years. A full three years since Aria’s death. It’s crazy to think about really. It doesn’t feel like all that long ago.

Ella’s just turned nine. She’s getting pretty big. She understands everything now, and I’d love to say Aria’s death didn’t affect her childhood, but it did in a way. She’s quiet now. Quieter than I could ever remember her. She doesn’t smile as much. She’s growing up too fast. I guess that’s what happens when reality hits you at such a young age.

I guess you could say I’m doing well on my own now. After a long period of my parents’ persuasion, I applied to a university about forty five minutes from home. It’s not a long commute necessarily, but it’s long enough for me to need a dorm room. So yes, I left them. I left my family to get myself a college education. I visit them every weekend. I miss them like crazy, but I did something for me. I’m taking Aria’s advice, and I hope she’s proud.

I keep that letter she wrote to me stashed away in a box hidden beneath my dresser. My Aria box. It has everything inside that reminds me of her and the good times we spent together. Like a container of memories. Sometimes, when I miss her, I’ll open it up, and it’s almost like she’s still here. Almost.

After sitting by her grave grieving for a solid fifteen minutes, I decided I should leave. I walked back to my car and slid into the driver’s seat, starting it up and listening as it rumbled to life.

I hadn’t yet visited my family. How could I not on a day like today? I drove the distance home and parked my car right beside my mom’s. I walked in without knocking and saw little Ella coming into the foyer from the kitchen. She smiled when she saw me and ran up for a big hug.

“Hey,” I greeted, smiling as she latched onto me like a baby koala.

“Mom’s been sad all day,” she informed me, quiet so she couldn’t hear from wherever she was currently in the house. I sighed and hugged Ella one more time just as my dad entered. My mom followed right behind. They both hugged me without question.

“Someone’s been waiting for you,” my mom told me. Before I could ask, he appeared in the doorway of the living room. He had one hand in his pocket with the other sheepishly scratching the back of his neck. He didn’t know what to do, or what to say by the looks of it.

“Liam,” I breathed out, running up and wrapping my arms around his torso in a long overdue hug. He held me close, and I didn’t want to let go.  “What are you doing here?”

I felt like crying happy tears. The sight of him in front of me was almost too good to be true. Him actually being there, hugging me, standing before me…it all felt like a dream. And it took me back to three years prior. The hug he gave me just before he walked onto that bus and departed forever.

Or at least what I thought was forever.

“Well, I mean you stopped writing. Wouldn’t return my calls either,” he chuckled awkwardly. “I wasn’t quite sure what happened, and I was a little worried about you, but um…”

He glanced at my parents and sister. They all shuffled out to give us some privacy, and I led him into the living room. We both sat down on the couch.

“What is it?” I pressed, pretending I didn’t hear that first part of what he’d said. He looked up at me with sad eyes, and the one corner of his lip turned up slightly in a smile to match his gaze.

“Three years today.”

My face nearly mirrored his, and the tears spilled over as I embraced him in another hug.

“I’m sorry,” I told him. “I’m sorry I stopped answering you. I’m sorry I didn’t keep in touch. I’m so sorry.”

“Shh…it’s okay,” he soothed.

“I thought…if I forgot about you…it wouldn’t hurt as bad. But I was wrong. I was so wrong. The truth is that I’m still in love with you, and I know that this is never going to work, but you need to know. I can’t forget about you. I can’t…”

“It’s okay,” he repeated, not letting up on our hug.

“So I guess your tour is over then, huh?”

He nodded.

“How are the boys?”

“Good. They’re good.”

I looked at him closely. He was holding something back.

“Why are you really here?” I asked him.

“I’m here because three years ago someone important to me lost the fight against cancer,” he replied honestly. But there was something else. “And…and I wanted to do this.”

He leaned down and kissed me. Long and slow. It was pure perfection, and I never wanted it to end.

“Hun, if you wanted to stay for dinner you can- oh.” My mom stopped in the entrance to the living room. “Sorry.”

She scurried out and Liam and I burst into laughter. I leaned my head on his shoulder, wishing he could be here all the time. I wanted to be with him forever, every second of every day.

“So when are you going back home?” I asked as he intertwined our fingers. His smile grew.

“Not for a long time.”

I looked up at him, knowing what this meant.

We could finally be together. We didn’t have that tour hanging over our heads anymore.

It was just me and Liam.

I squeezed his hand tighter. “Don’t let go.”

“I won’t,” he assured, wrapping his other arm around my waist. “I promise I won’t.”

And I knew, for some crazy reason, that I could believe him.

~Don’t Let Go, over and out~