Nowhere But Up (One Direction Fanfiction)

~ Chapter 1 ~

There he was.

Liam Payne.

Standing at the end of the terminal waiting for me to come and see him. He had his back turned to me, most likely checking out the artwork on the back wall.

I checked the time on my phone. 4:32 pm. My plane got delayed for a little bit, so I was 12 minutes late.

Liam turned around, like he heard his name from afar. He quickly saw me, blinked, and started to walk closer to me. I dropped my stuff on the ground, and ran into his arms.

It was like in the olden days, when I got scared during one of our parent's fights and he would hold me until I fell asleep in his arms. It felt the same. He started to let go so I did and stood back.

"Don't cry, Libby." He wiped away little tear marks under my eyes.

"I'm just so happy to see you. It has been years!" I said.

"Eight, to be exact." He smiled which lit up the whole world.

I smiled back, and we turned and went to go collect my stuff. He grabbed my backpack & my suitcase so I had nothing to carry but my purse.

"Can I help with--"

"No." He immediately answered.

I was shocked. He had always wanted my help.

After walking out the terminal, we headed down a lift to his car. But that was no car. He had this gigantic Hummer.

"Dude, this is your car?"

"Yeah, you like it? The boys got it for me for my birthday last year." I rolled my eyes. We got into the SUV and he adjusted his mirrors.

"Harry..." He said as he shook his head.

He started the car and started to drive. I was about to tell him he was on the wrong side of the road until I remembered we were in the UK.

"So how has life been since the...uh..."

I could tell he didn't want to talk about it. It being the divorce. We were 10, and Mum and Dad were disagreeing about everything. Money, jobs, our home, food - even the most silliest stuff at times. It was rough for them, but even worse for us.

That's why Liam's hug was so familiar. It was late at night and I was trying to sleep. They kept on screaming so I snuck out of my room and into his. He looked so peaceful reading a book like he didnt notice all the yelling. I came inside as he put down the book. He noticed I was crying. He started to look the way I felt.

"Come here, Libby." He said. I climbed into his lap, and he stroaked my hair until I finally fell asleep. It had been like that for a couple more weeks, until it happened.

"...I missed you so much, Liam." I said as the light turned red.

"Dad's ok but New York isn't like the UK. Everyone eats like crazy and they like to push themselves to the edge with...auditions and and preformances and...its mad!" I stated as it turned back to green. He smiled and he turned on his blinker and went into the next lane.

"Yeah everything has been good in the UK. Mum has been...well Mum has just been Mum."

I started to laugh. Mum was an, well let's just say, interesting one. Dad is, too.

"Anything else happening?" I asked.

He paused for a bit, and then he said, "Oh, yeah, I'm in a band."