The Break Up Series - Five Oneshots

The Break Up - Liam Payne

Our happy home didn’t feel so happy anymore. No one talked to me, the girls stopped texting me, it was like they were banishing me. Nobody did anything wrong in our relationship, and maybe our friends weren’t banishing me … Maybe they were just giving us space-which we needed. 

Over the past six weeks, it was a mess of calls and texts, arranging who would take what from the house. I had spent my days packing my things and he spent his over at someone else’s house. 

I missed it though, all of it. Three years with somebody is a lot of time to make memories and begin habitual things like kissing good morning, saying I love you, creating inside jokes, knowing each other’s likes and dislikes, and then kissing good night at the end of each day. We had our routine. We had our “usual” take out place. And I loved it.

He always said that he loved our domestic life. His favorite things were performing, going to awards shows, meeting new people, but then when he came home to me, I was the calm and normal that he needed.

But that’s not to say we never went out in public. I really did love going places with him. The band’s shows, sitting with his parents and sisters in the audience and watching him have fun on stage was so heartwarming. He took me to Paris once. I tagged along when they were in Paris, Milan, and Rome. 

I set the t-shirt in my hands down in the cardboard box and took a deep breath. As the memory of Rome came back to me, I could feel that getting over this break-up wasn’t going to be easy. 

"All this for me?" I asked, sitting in a chair, that was at a table lit with candle light and perched on the rooftop balcony of his five star hotel here in Rome. "This is  amazing." My heart beat fast and I couldn’t believe we were doing this.

He nodded and smiled at me, “I just wanted us to do something special. Today is our three year anniversary.” 

"Believe me, I wouldn’t forget it for the world." I touched his hand, "Thank you for all of this."

"You’re absolutely welcome." He said, bringing my hands to his soft lips and kissing it gently. "But before we eat, I have another surprise."

"Oh boy." I said a bit sarcastically.

He smiled nervously and held both my hands in his, “You mean the world to me.” His voice was quiet, “I want to assure you that I have every intention of spending the rest of my life with you.” I grew anxious.

"But right now, making our relationship life-long isn’t possible with my busy work life. So I wanted to give you something as a promise."

He reached into his pocket and brought out a small box that held a simple ring. It wasn’t big or flashy. One simple diamond sat with two smaller diamonds upon a simple silver band.

I was speechless and awestruck. He saw my happiness and continued speaking.

"This is a promise to you that I will always love you. When you are sick, when you are sad, whenever you need me, I will be there." His voice sounded tight and a single tear rolled down his cheek, "You mean everything to me and I never want to lose you." He placed the ring on my left ring finger and smiled, "I love you." 

I stood up from my chair just as he had and hugged him tight. “Thank you. Thank you so much.” I wiped my tears, “I love you too.” I kissed him and felt that our future together was secure. He and I would be in love and have the happily ever after that we deserved.

But I didn’t deserve this. Any of this. This crying on the floor, packing up his things, being forced to look through our memories in this house, it wasn’t fair.

I was told that “things just weren’t working anymore.” After three happy years together, it was taken away from me in the blink of an eye. He was so terribly sorry. He said he just couldn’t go on with his life knowing his feelings for me were changing.

I tried not to scream or shout when he was telling me this. I just couldn’t believe anything he was saying, it didn’t sound like him at all. Each time he came back here to pick up his things, he didn’t seem like himself. The dark circles under his eyes showed that he hadn’t been sleeping. The scruffy beard on his face told that he probably wasn’t taking care of himself lately. 

I felt bad for him, but after all, he was the one who started this. There wasn’t anything I could do to change his mind. And yet, each time he came home, he seemed to be changing his own mind.

But I didn’t care anymore. I didn’t want to dwell on the ironic sad feelings that those happy memories gave me. We weren’t a couple anymore, we are two separate people who are working on being alone again.

My body filled with complete dread as the sharp, quiet knock on the door echoed through the house. I stood up, not bothering to check my appearance. I touched the door knob and paused to give myself the short burst confidence I needed. 

"Hi." I whispered.

He gave a tight-lipped smile. “Hi.” 

I shut the door quietly and looked at him awkwardly. His hair was long now, and messy. He was tired. I sighed, “I got two more boxes packed, mostly clothes.”

"Thanks," He nodded, "I’ve been, uh… looking for a place to stay."

"Good for you." I smiled. I hated how fake this felt. We both knew that we were both hiding our true feelings and true thoughts. "Well, the boxes are in our room." I cringed at my use of "our" room.

I opened the door and grabbed one of the two taped up boxes on the bed that now seemed too big for just me.

"This…" He spoke, looking at the ring box from Rome. It sat on the dresser because I couldn’t bring myself to pack it up or throw it away.

"I know." I whispered, "I didn’t know what to do with it." 

He nodded, grabbed the small box and opened it. “I…” He stuttered, “I think I’d like for you to keep it.”

"What?"

His long fingers grabbed my hand and placed the ring back on my finger like he did in Rome. “I made you a promise that I wouldn’t stop loving you. And I haven’t.” His voice faltered, but he continue to speak, “I ran away when we were getting serious about our relationship. I quit when I should have worked at it, and I’m sorry.” 

"Liam…" I sighed. Had this really been happening? Am I dreaming?

He smiled and wrapped his arm around me, “I made a mistake and I hope you can forgive me.”

"I do." I said, my face pressed into his chest, "I’ve miss you so much."

"Can we try to go back to the way we were?" Liam whispered. His fingers played with the ends of my hair just as he used to when we’d wake up on weekend mornings. 

I thought of the heartache, the pain, and the tears that have been surrounding me since he ended things. I thought of how he ignored my calls for the first week. I thought of how he admitted to still loving me after all this time. I thought of how much I still loved him too.

"Yes," I finally said, "I want us to work things out. I don’t want you to just quit. A healthy relationship doesn’t have to be perfect, it just has to be worth it."

"You’re most definitely worth it." He pulled us apart and gently placed one hand on my cheek. Our lips touched with an achingly satisfying kiss. His forehead rested on mine and he whispered, "And I’m sorry."

I kissed him once more because I loved the feeling and missed the feeling. “I love you, Liam. So much.”