Modest Oblivion - Book 6 (Larry Stylinson AU)

Chapter 20 - Cease Fire

‘Don’t Cry Out’ – Shiny Toy Guns

‘One Night Stand’ – Sleepy Dinosaur

Cease Fire

Liam was reeling as he walked into the bedroom and began fumbling for a shirt to wear, his clothes lined the wall of the walk in closet and he slapped each shirt aside. Jennifer sat on the bed, her sobs and hiccups filling the room. He was seething but deep down he knew Jennifer would never lie, not to him anyway. He wanted a white shirt, a damn white shirt but all he found were black ones so he continued sifting Listening to Jennifer’s sobs and each sound broke his heart, she sounded very much like Flynn when he was crying and he closed his eyes, trying to make sense of this mess. 

The last thing he wanted was to fight with her, for her to cry when she was throwing a beautiful garden party to celebrate the boys’ new album and end of the summer. Liam tried to find the right thing to say, yet he stayed silent as he searched the shirts. He came across a light blue one with three quarter sleeves and settled on it. He decided he would match the pale blue shirt with a navy bow tie. 

“Liam,” Jennifer’s soft voice broke the silence. Still sitting in a towel and her blonde, damp hair fell beside her face like straw. 

He turned around, “Jennifer. I just don’t understand any of this.”

“Then,” she stood up, clutching at her towel, “Understand me. Listen to me,” she walked toward him, her eyes red and puffy from crying as she clutched at his bare shoulders. “Do you trust me?”

“With my life,” Liam confessed. 

“Jacob’s trying to break me, I don’t know why but–“

“So you weren’t in the meeting?” He hissed. 

Jennifer’s eyes were wide, as if him even asking the mere question was a slap in her face. Then the sad, weepy Jennifer disappeared and her face became stone cold as her expression hardened. Her lips tightened into thin lines, nostrils flaring as she snapped, “You really fucking think that I would fail to mention some guy coming into Dakota’s life…” she broke off, dropping her hands from his shoulders and huffed. 

Jennifer stepped back, Liam watched her with the freshly pressed shirt in his hands. She shook her head and waved her hands above her head in pure frustration, “Seriously Liam?”

“What?” He asked, arching a brow. 

“After everything you think I would just let Niall find something like that,” she fumbled, “some guy hovering over Dakota. You honestly think I wouldn’t warn him.” Jennifer glared at Liam, her eyes piercing and wide. “I deserve better then that, hell. Niall deserves better then to find that out on his own. You really think I’d just leave it? Leave him to fend for himself?”

“Of course I don’t,” he said, realising her point and his face softened.

It was rather ludicrous that any of them even toyed with the idea that she’d betray them like that. Jennifer was a sister to them, she was an important part of their little family. She held them together like glue, but she could also scream back just as loud if she needed to. 

Jennifer stood in a towel that only just covered her lady bits and her hands on her hips, her lips were pressed thin and she narrowed her eyes at Liam. “Jacob’s playing games, Li.”

“I see that now,” He replied. 

She laughed, bitterly. 

“What?”

“That why you defended my honour so well back there?” She gestured to the door, her eyes a little sad. Worse, Liam recognised a flicker of disappointment as it crossed her features.