The thing about fate was that you didn’t have any control over it. You can’t stop what’s going to happen from happening, all you can do is watch it unfold. You might wonder what it was that had started everything off- for Liam, he was wondering if it had been Niall telling him he needed to get laid. Maybe it had been asking out Danielle, or being cheated on. Maybe it was the night he’d finally worked up the courage it took to phone the escort agency.
Liam didn’t know, but he was finding it hard to remember a time when this wasn’t his life, when he wasn’t constantly confused, yearning for something he knew that he could never actually have. What Liam favoured was routine, knowing what was going on, being able to wake up and say: “I know what I’m doing today.”
He didn’t know what he was doing from day to day anymore. He went to work, but he wasn’t actually there, because his entire body was on edge and everything was so confusing. Something had changed in Liam, something big. Something massive.
And it was all down to this one boy.
*
Personally speaking, Harry didn’t believe in fate. His life hadn’t gone the way he’d thought it would, even though with the upbringing he’d had, you would think it would have. His mother and father had been happily married, and he’d an elder sister. They had been well off: Harry wasn’t one to boast, but money had never been a problem for them before. They’d never had to worry about what their next meal was coming from, or how the bills were going to be paid, or how they’d afford holidays and school trips.
But then their dad had left home. Their mother had lost her job. And suddenly everything changed, and Harry’s grades started to drop and his dreams of going to study Law were shattered, completely shattered. His sister had tried to help her mother, but eventually she’d gone off to university, leaving Harry on his own with his mother.
He’d dropped out of school: he needed a job.
This was the only one he’d been able to get. And now, Harry’s life had become an endless cycle. He couldn’t see a way of getting out of the system: he didn’t have enough money to get back into school and try to get an education, and you couldn’t just ‘quit’ prostitution. Harry didn’t want to believe in fate, because how cruel would someone have to be to make this his life?
*
Liam ignored Zayn and Niall’s advice to just forget all of this had happened and get on with his life, because he couldn’t. He couldn’t just go back to the normal when he’d experienced something different. He knew it was wrong, and that second time with Harry had proved that more than anything, but Liam was nothing if not a believer in trying again. If he’d given up easily, he wouldn’t have got where he was today: a successful businesses man who owned his own properties.
His second sexual experience had thrown him, scared him, but he knew that one bad thing shouldn’t put you off for life. Harry had been so gentle and caring the first time: Liam knew that meant something, he just knew it. Someone couldn’t fake something like that the way that Harry had acted, so there must have been some sincerity in how he had acted.
Liam wanted to return the favour. Harry had got him through his first sexual experience without causing him pain, looked after him when he’d most needed it. Liam wanted to look after Harry; he wanted to make him feel safe. He didn’t want to think or know that Harry was miserable, like he’d been that day in the cafe.
Only problem was, Liam didn’t know how to help Harry. He definitely didn’t think that Harry would be the type of person to accept any help that was offered his way after. All Liam could think was that he didn’t want Harry to be on the streets, cold, with strangers potentially hurting him. He didn’t want Harry having to worry about where he would be getting money from and struggling.
