Katie’s P.O.V.
I step out of the bathroom and into the hospital room and am instantly shocked by the surprising lack of people. The previously packed room is now almost completely empty. They all left. I think, suddenly terrified. Then I see Liam. He’s crunched over in the plastic chair next to the bed.
“Hey,” I say hesitantly. He looks up at me and I realize he’s on the phone.
“Oh, sorry.” I whisper, my cheeks flushing with embarrassment.
“Listen, I have to go,” he says into his phone, flashing me an apologetic grin. “But we need to talk about this later. Bye.” He hangs up.
“Who was that?” I ask, sitting back down on to the bed.
“Danielle.” Liam replies.
“Oh.” Right. Danielle, of course.
“How are you feeling?” he asks.
“Better.” I say, trying to sound convincing.
He cocks his eyebrow at me. “How are you really feeling?”
“Not better.” I admit.
“Thought so.” He says smugly, proud that he could see through me so easily. “Do you want to lie down? Do you need water? I can get you something to eat…?”
“No, I’m fine.” If there’s one thing I hate, it’s people fussing over me.
“Ok, well I just wanted to thank you, you know, properly, for what you did.” He says shyly.
“It’s really not a big deal.” I assure him.
“Not a big deal? Not a big deal?! Katie you saved my life. You threw away your own life to save me. How can you say it’s not a big deal? Do you realize you could’ve died?”
“Yeah I guess. I don’t know, at the time it didn’t really occur to me. I just did what I had to do to you know, make sure my celebrity crush didn’t die.” Shoot. I was trying really hard not to fan girl around him and I think I just blew my cover. Great.
“I’m your celebrity crush?” Liam asks, looking pretty pleased with him self.
I look away, refusing to answer.
“Well I appreciate it.” He says, giving up on getting an answer out of me. “But you shouldn’t have sacrificed yourself for me, I’m not worth your life.”
“Well you kind of are,” I explain. “I mean the way I see it, if I had died, sure a couple people would be upset, my close friends and family would maybe even be heartbroken, but the world would have moved on just fine without me. If you had died, half the human population would be devastated. It was a pretty easy trade off to make.” I see him thinking about what I’ve just said and I can tell that deep down, even if he doesn’t want to admit it, he knows I’m right.
“But still, let me at least take you out for dinner or something, to show my appreciation.” He says.
“Oh, no that’s really not necessary,” I object.
“Yes Katie, it is. Please.”
For the first time I let myself really look into his eyes. His eyebrows curl down in worry and concern lines his eyes. He looks exhausted.
“Ok,” I murmur, unable to refuse. He’s sitting directly across from me, our faces mere inches apart. I’m falling into his eyes and I can’t seem to stop. His breath smells like peppermint, and I shudder to think what my breath smells like. He’s staring intently at me, the type of staring that usually makes me feel exposed and uncomfortable, but from him it makes me feel beautiful. My brain is scrambling for something to say or do but the rest of my body seems to have shut down. He leans in closer, closes his eyes…
“Wait.” I say, pulling back slightly. I mentally slap myself for refusing a kiss from Liam Payne. “What about Danielle?”
He looks a little shocked. “Um, she’s not… she’s not hear.”
“Liam! I’m not going to be the one you cheat on your girlfriend with! Who do you think I am?” I say appalled.
“No, I mean we’re done. When I was on the phone with her, just a couple minutes ago, well she, uh, she broke up with me.”
“Well you sure move on fast. You know what? No. I don’t want to be the person you use to forget your pain, then leave when you’re feeling better.” I say, slightly raged.
“No! Katie, that’s not what I mean! I would never do that to you. Honestly I was going to break up with her too, but she beat me to it.”
“Wait, you were going to break up with her? But why?” I ask, thoroughly confused.
“Because I found you.”
All sassy retorts are immediately erased from my mind. “Because of me? Really?”
“Yes” he says. “I lo… I like you a lot. And I know it sounds stupid because we’ve only just met but I can tell you’re special and I really want to get to know you better and I feel like we belong together and…”
“Shh” I whisper, pressing a finger to his lips. “It’s ok.”
“ I just want a chance. Just one, please.”
“Okay.” I say.
“Okay.” He echoes, relieved.
He leans in again for a kiss and this time I don’t resist. I shut my eyes and close the distance between us with my lips. I feel his mouth soften against mine and a small sigh escapes me. I reach my hands up to run my fingers through is hair and he wraps his arms around my waist, pulling me closer, being careful to avoid my broken ribs. Butterflies come to life in my stomach and it’s as though nothing else in the world matters besides us.
“We’re back!” Louis yells as he throws the door to the room open.
Liam and I spring apart, both of us looking embarrassed and hoping no one had seen our kiss. Louis is looking at us with a cheeky grin on his face. He saw. He winks at me and I blush even redder. Then the rest of the gang troops in. At least none of them know. They all crowd into the room and I look around at them each in turn. Emma and Niall are holding hands and they take turns looking at each other, smiling, blushing, and turning away. So cute. Leah and Zayn are both doubled over laughing at something that Leah has just said. Also cute. Harry is busy tugging at Emmie’s curls and watching them sproing back into place. He’s completely mesmerized by her hair, and she just laughs. Damn I have adorable friends. Louis stands to the side, watching everyone else with an amused expression on his face, although he looks a little bit lonely and detached. I catch his eye and smile, and his face instantly lights back up to become the Louis face I know.
“It’s getting late,” Harry says, looking at his watch. “I think we should be heading out now.”
“Yeah maybe you’re right,” says Niall. “I’m getting hungry.”
“But we’ll definitely be back tomorrow.” Liam assures me.
“Alright,” I say, a little disappointed. “Thanks.”
A chorus of bye’s follows mixed in with “see you later’s,” “feel better’s “and “don’t get hit by any more cars.” I watch the boys file out of the room, Liam leaving last. He turns at the door and flashes me one last smile before closing the door behind him.
There’s a moment of silence before I realize I’ve been staring at the last place I saw Liam. Snapping out of my daze, I look around to find Leah, Emma, and Emmie looking at me and smirking.
Leah says what’s on everyone’s mind.
“So, how was that?
