Where Do I Belong (a Liam Payne Fanfic)

Chapter Nine

The opening wasn’t formal so I wore a short summer dress. I left my hair down and left the apartment to wait downstairs. There were still doubts in my mind that Liam was going to show but I continued on to the lobby. Surprisingly, Liam was standing there already waiting. He’d even made an attempt to dress up as he’d changed out of his sweats and shirt from earlier to a pair of dark jeans and a black V-neck.

“Ready to go?” Liam looked at me and spoke softly. I nodded at him quickly and we walked out of the hotel and in the direction of the gallery.

“Buonasera. Good evening.” On reaching, we were met by some of the staff working at the gallery. They welcomed us at the entrance and gave us a programme as we walked through the archway and into the gallery.

For most of the time at the gallery, I had almost forgotten that Liam was there. Neither of us spoke much. I was happily distracted by the photographs in the exhibit. The common theme was romance. Most of the images showed couples courting, dancing and eating at candlelit dinner tables with musicians playing around them. I was really taken aback. So many of the pictures held instruments in them and music also seemed to come up as a significant theme.

Soon I decided to wrap things up when I figured that Liam probably wasn’t enjoying himself. We walked back and he spoke up.

“Do you want to take a gondola back instead?” I smiled and lead him in the direction a nearby dock.

“I’m sorry that I dragged you out here.” I started to apologise as we sat opposite each other on the gondola, now moving in the direction of the hotel.

“No it’s fine. It was cool. The portrayal of love and music was quite moving actually.” Liam started to smile at me but it soon faded.

After a few minutes of silence and avoiding eyes contact, I decided to say something.

“Liam, I’m sorry.” He looked up at me and I felt butterflies in my stomach when his eyes met mine. “I really want to sort things out. I wanted to talk to you about everything but it hasn’t worked out.” I looked down at my lap feeling pathetic and wishing that it would be easier to make Liam smile at me again.

Liam didn’t speak the whole way back to the hotel but his expression was calculating and I knew that he was thinking about something.

When the gondola reached the hotel, Liam was the first one out of the boat. I wobbled a bit and tried to climb out behind him. Liam had noticed my unsteadiness and he grabbed my hand and helped me out, holding my waist with the other hand. I felt my stomach knot up when I felt our skin come in contact. Liam was looking down at me and his eyes were softer than before.

The driver for our gondola cleared his throat and looked at us expectantly for his pay. I went for my purse but Liam had already released me from his grasp and payed the man. When the driver had gone, Liam came towards me. He stood so close that I could smell his aftershave.

Liam sighed and his voice broke the silence. “I’ll help you out.” I looked at him with a confused expression. “I want to fix things between us too. So, will you join me for dinner tomorrow night?”

I composed myself. “Sure, I guess.” I attempted a smile hoping that he would return it, and to my surprise, he did.

"It's a date."

***

As soon as I woke up the next morning, I gave myself enough time before work to call Maria and tell her about my date with Liam.

“Hey Maria, are you there?” She’d picked up but didn’t reply straight away.

“Oh Livvy. What time do you call this? I’m still in my bed.” I heard her whine down the other end.