classic » liam payne au

charmer

Violet let out a deep breath as she added the finishing touch of mascara to her eyelashes. Lucky for her, Elizabeth had taught her how to apply the basics of makeup – eyeliner, blush, foundation – fairly well, and she had managed to make herself look almost what she would consider beautiful for her brother’s wedding. She was in a long-sleeved red dress which brought out her eyes (so Elizabeth had told her) and black flats (there was no way she would last the whole of her brother’s wedding in heels).

She exhaled a deep breath, mentally preparing herself to see Liam in a suit. He would be there soon. Violet had gotten ready at her mother’s house and Liam was going to pick her up and take the two of them to Mark’s wedding. Thankfully, her father had picked her mother up earlier and they were going together, so Violet didn’t have to worry about her mum making a fuss over her actually dressing up for once.

The doorbell rang and Violet jumped at the noise. “Okay,” she said to herself, fixing her fringe quickly before running down the front hallway to open the front door.

There was Liam, looking more handsome than she ever thought possible, in a black suit complete with a tie. His hair was parted at the side and the majority of it was gelled over slightly, just enough to keep it in place. Liam’s eyes sparkled as he stared right back at her. Violet began to feel lightheaded.

“C-come in.” she managed to stutter out, and Liam obliged, closing the front door behind him.

“You look incredible, Violet.” He complimented her, taking both of her hands into his and pulling her close to him.

Violet blushed a deep pink, biting her lip out of embarrassment and looking down at her feet. “So do you,” she said quietly, still too shy to meet his gaze. “And that’s an understatement.”

Liam’s index finger found her chin, and he gently lifted her face up so that he could get another good look at it. He noticed right away that she had gone for contacts today, and that she put a good effort into her makeup. Liam rather liked the way she did her makeup; she didn’t go crazy with it, it just further enhanced her already beautiful features. Her long, thick eyelashes touched all the way to her brow bone and he noticed the eyeliner she put on made her eyes look bigger.

He couldn’t help it. He had to kiss her. So he did, and Violet was quick to respond. Her arms hung off his shoulders and she stood on her tiptoes to make it easier for the both of them. The way he was looking at her was too much for her, she was glad he had made the first move to kiss.

When he pulled away, Violet giggled. “You’ve got some of my lip gloss on your lips.” Her thumb lifted to gently caress away the gloss. Yet again, Violet marvelled at how soft his lips were.

"That dress looks amazing on you, babe.” Liam was taking complete advantage of this opportunity to compliment her, and he certainly enjoyed seeing her blush so profusely at his words. The dress really did look amazing; it hugged her in all the right places and it was the first time Liam could see just how truly wonderful her figure was.

"Thank you," Violet looked down at herself as smoothed her dress out. She was so glad that Liam liked it. "And thank you so much for picking me up."

"Seriously, don't even mention it." Liam smiled, and put his hand on Violet's back.

"Do you want anything? We still have a bit of time. Like a drink or a snack or something?" Violet offered, pointing in the direction of her mother's always-stocked kitchen.

"Uh, maybe a bit of wine or something if you have it?" Liam suggested with a smile.

"You like red?" Violet asked, grabbing his hand and leading him from the front door to the kitchen.

"Of course, it looks fantastic on you."

"I meant wine," Violet giggled, turning around to smile at him.

"Oh, right." Liam bit his lip and a hint of pink came onto his cheeks. "Well, I like red wine, too."

"Okay," Violet laughed softly again, opening up a cupboard to grab two wine glasses. She had to stand on the very tips of her toes and even then she still had to give a little jump to reach (why her mother had installed the cupboards so high she could never understand). "Got 'em." She turned around and held the wine glasses in front of Liam proudly.

Liam laughed. "That was quite graceful,"

"Thank you." Violet gave a small curtsy and set the glasses down on the kitchen island. "Is it very cold out?" She asked, moving to the fridge and grabbing a bottle of wine.

"It's not too bad, actually. Bit windy, kind of damp." Liam shrugged as he watched Violet fill their glasses halfway with wine.

"I'm a little nervous for this wedding." Violet admitted to Liam and slid his glass over to him.

"Why is that?" Liam asked, leaning forward to study her.

"I've never really fit in with my family." Violet shrugged. "Everyone would always talk and laugh with each other and I would just be in some corner with my iPod."

Liam pursed his lips. "That makes you nervous?"

"Well," Violet paused to lick her lips. "I don't know." She sighed. "I just know everyone is going to be passing judgements on me the minute I walk in and- God, I sound self-absorbed; this about my brother, not me."

"Hey," Liam reached over the island to put his hand on hers. "You can talk to me."

Violet smiled and pushed aside some of her hair. She was so glad that Liam was such an accepting person. "It's just that I feel like I have so much to prove; so many people to impress. It's always been like that for me. People have never been able to take me as I am - except for my mum, pretty much." Violet was rambling but it felt too good to explain her emotions, since it was something she usually never did, that she just couldn't stop. "Everyone always asks Violet, why don't you talk more? or Violet, you should spend more time with your family, or You know, Violet, you should really turn your music down and listen." She mocked the familiar voices of her family in her head. "It's like, I'm an adult now and I don't know how much more of that I can take."

Liam was fascinated with her. He had never heard her say so much, reveal so much, about herself. He felt proud that he had a glimpse into such a personal aspect of her life. Liam could tell just by the look in her eyes that she was not used to speaking about her life. Another wave of pride washed through him.

"Fuck them."

"What?" Violet blinked at Liam's harsh words. He never really cursed, at least not around her.

"Fuck them. If they can't respect you and the way you are or how you like to do or deal with things - then fuck them." Liam shrugged simply. "You don't need people who can't accept you. Violet, you have me." Liam looked directly into her eyes and squeezed her small hand as he spoke the words; making she sure took in every syllable.

She has him. Violet smiled.

"You have me." Liam continued. "You have your mother. You even have Elizabeth and Zayn a-and Louis!" Liam added his best mate's name at the last second.

Louis! Oh God, Violet had completely forgotten Louis! Oh God, he probably hated her. She hadn't seen or heard from him since the party - which was quite a long while ago.

She sighed, disappointed in herself. But then she thought of Liam's words as she sipped on her wine. And he was right. She was an adult, and she didn't need to value what other people thought of her if they couldn't accept her - family or not. What matter were the opinions of those who cared for her, just as Liam had said.

Violet was so lucky to be able to have some sort of claim on Liam. She was so lucky that he was George's nephew. She was so lucky that he was so sweet and kind. She was so lucky that he enjoyed her company and saw good qualities in her and she was so lucky that she could sit here and talk with him over a glass of wine.

"You're exactly right." Violet noted, she and Liam both sipped their wine.

Liam was filled with even more pride. Violet thought he was exactly right. "I usually am," he winked and Violet wondered if the feeling she had in her chest could be attributed to cardiac arrest.

"I'm beginning to realize that." Violet told him, eyeing him carefully as she lifted her glass to her lips.

Liam narrowed his eyes and he just watched as the clear surface of the glass pressed against her pretty, plump lips. It was mesmerizing; to watch the smooth red wine flow across her lips and into her mouth. He kept watching as she lowered the glass and licked her lips. Her tongue held a shade of red courtesy the wine, and her lips now shone thanks to the glare caused by her saliva. Liam thought she looked irresistible.

Violet pretended not to notice the way Liam was gazing at her, tried not to let her pulse quicken and her cheeks redden. She thought that if the two of them didn't leave now, it would take them forever.

"Down that wine. We should get going."




The drive to the venue wasn't too long, and the silence between Liam and Violet was filled by the radio in his car. Their hands held each other on top of the console between the seats and everything was calm and perfect.

"Ready?" Liam asked when he was opening Violet's door. He held his hand out for her to take and she did, stepping out of his car carefully.

"Ready." she confirmed, and Liam shut the door, pressing a button on his keys to lock the doors. She smoothed out her dress and made sure her feet were securely in her shoes.

Liam smiled as he watched and waited for her to go over her small checklist in her head. Violet blinked her eyes to make sure her contacts were in properly, she wiped under her eyes to take away any residue from her eye makeup, she opened up her small handbag and checked that she had everything she needed in there, and finally she shook out her fringe into place.

"Okay, I'm actually ready now." Violet smiled brightly at Liam and he gave a laugh before shaking his head and taking her hand.

"You look beautiful, don't worry about that people will think." Liam assured her, giving her hand a squeeze.

Violet was convinced that Liam was much too good of a person. She probably didn't deserve him, but for once she was being selfish and letting herself have as much of him as he would allow. For once, she was doing something for herself, something that made her happy. It actually felt good.

"Thank you." She replied quietly as they started walking toward the wedding hall.

Violet was actually ready to face her family. It was interesting, she thought, that she felt nearly invincible with Liam by her side. She thrived off of his aura, and the way he looked at her and spoke to hear and treated her just gave her this confidence she never had before.

The hall was decorated beautifully (thanks to Charlotte, Violet assumed). Everything looked romantic and elegant and judging by the red accents, Violet had dressed appropriately for the event.

“I can’t believe my brother is getting married.” Violet shook her head in disbelief as she looked around.

There was a man waiting to collect coats, and he graciously took Violet and Liam’s coats for them.

“It’s really nice in here.” Liam commented, his eyes roaming around the hall along with Violet’s.

“Violet! Violet, darling!” A voice called out, and Violet whipped around to see her aunt waving her over.

Violet exhaled deeply, and dragged Liam along with her. “Hello Auntie Marge,” Violet mustered up a smile and gave her aunt a small hug.

“How are you, my love? It’s been ages,” Marge said

“I’m good, still going to school.” Violet nodded.

“Yeah? Good, then.” Her aunt nodded, as well. “Who is this handsome young lad you’ve got here?”

Violet looked to Liam and smiled, for real this time. “This is Liam.” She squeezed his hand. “He’s my, um…” she struggled to find the right word to use to describe their relationship.

“Really good friend.” Liam finished for her politely, effectively putting her out of her misery as he lifted their hands to kiss the top of hers.

Violet was blushing hard at his sweet gesture. Her aunt was blushing, too, as she caught on. “Yeah. Good friend.” Violet nearly laughed as she repeated his words.

“Well, that’s nice. Good for you, dear.” Aunt Marge smiled and patted Violet’s head. “Have fun, yeah? Your brother is getting ready upstairs, maybe you want to go say hello.”

"Yeah, for sure.” Violet smiled and watched her aunt turn around. “She is for sure going to go tell everyone that we’re friends with benefits.”

Liam let out a loud laugh. “We kind of are,” he admitted. “But we have strings attached.”

“Do we?” Violet teasingly lifted her eyebrow.

“Well, I do. I don’t know about you,”

“I think we should stick to a strictly non-emotional basis.” Violet joked, nudging Liam with her elbow.

“Right.” He rolled his eyes. “You like me, Violet. You like me a lot.”

“Do I?” Violet kept their banter going as she brought him upstairs with her to greet the groom.

“You do. Don’t worry; I like you just as much.” Liam pulled her to a stop for a second just so that he could get a quick kiss from her.

Violet slapped his chest lightly. “You’re insane.”

They walked up the long staircase to the floor where her brother and Charlotte along with their wedding party would be getting ready. Violet had no idea about anyone who was involved in her brother’s wedding; she didn’t even know who her brother’s best man was. She told herself over and over again that it didn’t matter, however that didn’t make the small ache in her chest go unnoticed.

The two of them found the door with a sign that read GROOM and Violet took a deep breath before knocking on it.

It was her cousin, David, who opened the door to greet her. “Vi!” he smiled and turned around to let her in, Liam following closely. “Guys, look who’s here! Violet!”

Her brother was stood in front of a mirror, tying his black bow-tie around his neck. He turned to see his younger sister in the doorway with this unfamiliar boy, and raised an eyebrow.

This was it, Liam thought, I’m going to meet her brother and father. It was slightly odd for him to meet her family since they weren’t even technically a couple, but neither of them were thinking of that. It only became a problem when explaining the relationship between the two of them.

“Hi Mark.” Violet smiled, walking up to her brother and carefully hugging him, not to wrinkle his suit.

“Hey Vi,” her brother replied, wrapping an arm around his sister as she hugged him and keeping a keen eye on Liam who was a few feet away.

“Excited?” she asked as she let go of him.

“Extremely.” Mark answered, a smile playing on his lips. “Who’s this lad, then? Your plus one, yeah?”

“Yeah,” Violet was smiling even wider and her brother took note of this. She was in a really good mood; Mark didn’t even know if he had ever seen her in a better mood.

“Liam,” he introduced himself, stepping forward to hold out his hand. “Nice to meet you, congratulations on your wedding.” Liam was smiling politely at him and Violet could have melted because he was just so damn charming even when he wasn’t talking to her.

Mark took his outstretched hand and shook it firmly. He was impressed with Liam’s grip. “Mark, and thanks, mate.”

Violet gave her brother a look that said Relax, he’s a good guy, and Mark did noticeably relax. “You’ve gotta be down there fairly soon,” Violet told him. “People are arriving.”

Mark exhaled a deep breath. “Yeah, I can hear them all down there. Mum here yet?”

“She came with dad, idiot.” Violet laughed and rolled her eyes.

“Oh, yeah, right.” Mark shook his head, still trying to tie his tie.

“Where is dad anyway?” Violet asked, taking the liberty to step forward to tie his tie for him since he certainly was not having a fun time attempting to do it himself.

Mark watched as she quickly tied it. It was nice to have her do something for him like that on his wedding day; he thought he would always remember it. “I don’t know. He’s somewhere around here.” He shrugged his shoulder and tweaked the bow tie into place. “Why?”

“No reason.” Violet shrugged, too. It was something that ran in their family – that and everyone rolled their eyes a lot.

“You wanna introduce him, don’t you?” Mark gave a smug smile as he quietly whispered the words to his sister. Violet blushed, confirming his question. “I think dad’ll like him. Seems like a good lad. He your boyfriend, then?”

Violet glanced at Liam, who was now conversing with David. “Not exactly.” Mark raised his eyebrow. “We’re, like, seeing each other? I don’t know. There’s no lables.”

Mark sighed. “I hope he’s not just taking advantage of you.”

Violet blushed harder. “Mark, no- we don’t, uh, we haven’t…” she couldn’t even speak because this was definitely not a conversation she wanted to be having with her older brother; especially on his wedding day.

“Oh,” Mark nodded. “Well, good, then. You shouldn’t.”

“God, can you- can we please not talk about- alright, this conversation is over.” Violet stuttered a few times, far too embarrassed to utter a full sentence.

Mark laughed at his sister. “I’m your big brother, Vi. If I find out he hasn’t been treating you proper…”

Now it was Violet’s turn to laugh, because her brother had never been protective of her and it was comical to even try to imagine him harming anyone physically in any way. “Right. I’ll be sure to keep you updated.” She said sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

“Can I ask you something serious?”

“I suppose,” Violet shrugged.

“Do you think this is a good idea? This whole getting married thing?”

Violet’s eyes widened at her brother’s whispered question. “I- of course, Mark.” She was sure that she was supposed to tell him it was. “Charlotte is wonderful, and you love her very much... don’t you?”

“I love her more than anything.” Mark said seriously, looking away from his sister’s wondering gaze. “I just- never mind.”

“Y’know, I think it’s, like, normal, or something, to get nervous before your wedding.” Violet told him, hoping to calm his growing nerves.

“Yeah, normal or something.” Mark repeated her words with a small smile. His sister was never good at advice, or talking in general, really.

“Is my daughter in here, or what?” Violet turned at the sound of her father’s voice. He smiled at her as she moved to give him a hug. “How are you, love?”

“Good, dad.” She gave her father a kiss on the cheek and moved back a bit to grab Liam’s hand. “This is Liam.”

“Liam? This is the first I’m hearing of a Liam.” Her father’s eyes were narrowed; he didn’t know what to think – this was the first time his daughter had ever introduced him to a boy.

“It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Lundson.” Liam said politely, shaking her father’s hand. Violet was so glad that Liam was so likeable and sweet. It was impossible not to like Liam – especially not when he showcased his dazzling smile.

"Likewise," he replied, a small smile on his lips. Violet knew that Liam had effectively charmed her father. "Mark, are you nearly ready? You've got to be downstairs soon."

"Yeah, nearly." Mark nodded.

"Good," Violet's father said. "Vi, you'd better get down there and take your seat."

"Right, yeah." Violet exhaled and took Liam's hand in hers. "Well, good luck, Mark. I'll see you later." She waved to her brother and he nodded back at her with a smile.

"Your family is nice." Liam commented as the two of them descended the staircase.

"You think so?" He nodded. "My dad loves you. You charmed him."

Liam's cheeks flushed slightly at her words. He knew he was likeable, but being told so by this girl made his heart do funny things in his chest.

"I don't know about that," Liam laughed lightly.

"I can tell, trust me." Violet assured him with a squeeze of his hand.

The hours ticked by, and Liam witnessed Violet cry for the first time while her brother and now sister-in-law were at the altar. He had placed his hand on her knee and leaned over to kiss her cheek subtly. It was cute how emotional she had been.

Violet introduced Liam to some more members of her family, each of whom he effectively charmed, and they are dinner and had a bit of cake. Hell, they even danced a bit.

It was the first time Violet had ever danced with a boy. She was embarrassingly a bit clumsy, accidentally stepping on Liam's feet a couple times. Every time he assured her it was okay and gave a laugh.

Soon enough, they had gotten settled and Violet wasn't clumsy with it anymore. Her head was on Liam's shoulder, her arms hanging around his neck while his hands gripped her waist. They swayed together with the rhythm of the music and it was just so lovely.

"This turned out a lot better than I thought it would," Violet whispered her admittance in his ear.

Liam chuckled quietly, "I think so, too." He gripped her waist tighter. "I'm really glad you invited me."

"I'm really glad I invited you, too. It was so nice having you with me the whole time." Violet lifted her head to look into his gorgeous brown eyes. "I really appreciate your... presence." She had hoped that she would sound sincere saying that, but she sounded awkward and unsure of her words.

"Violet," Liam started, "I- you don't have to worry about expressing yourself to me. I get it, from the way you act."

Violet could not have been any happier with his words. It was like the sun had finally begun to shine in her world. "You have no idea how much that means to me, Liam." She said quietly, a blush creeping onto her cheeks.

Liam wanted to tell her that she had no idea what she meant to him, but instead he just kissed her hair and brushed her bangs away from her face.

He really needed to make her his girlfriend.

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A/N: A fairly lengthy update for you to make up for the long wait :) Please vote and comment if you liked it!!!!!!