Shy [Liam Payne]

Chapter 33

*Liam's Point of View*

Two weeks later, Marianne was finally healthy again. Louis and I haven't let her lift a finger, even though it got on her nerves. She hates when we take care of her, but I'm not about to let the sick person make her own breakfast.

I also finally got my license. I bought a black Camero. It's much more convenient than walking everywhere to be mobbed by fans.

"Liam, can we go somewhere?" Marianne asked me. It was flooding rain outside today.

"Where would we go?" I asked.

"I don't care." She shrugged. "I haven't left this house in almost three weeks. I wanna get out."

"We can go out for dinner." I suggested. "Just you and me." I added. We've gotten way closer. We aren't as close as we were before all the Danielle drama, but we're getting there. I'm hoping that we can go out soon and be able to call it a date. But right now, it's just Liam and Mari going out for dinner.

"Sounds good." She agreed. "What do I wear?"

"Olive Garden. So I guess kinda dressy but not too dressy." I shrugged. She rolled her eyes.

"Thanks for being so specific." She chuckled. I followed her into her room as she went to get ready. "Are you gonna sit on my bed and ask what every single thing in my makeup bag does, as usual?" She questioned. I nodded, plopping down on her bed. She sighed, unzipping her bag of makeup. I entertained myself by looking at the jewelry in her jewelry box and smelling her variety of perfumes.

"So this is why you always smell good." I said, holding a half empty bottle of her normal perfume. It was some kind by Ed Hardy, and it smells good.

"Good job. We'll learn colors tomorrow." She teased me. I rolled my eyes and moved on to examining her many earrings. I held several pairs up to my ears, wondering what I would look like with them in.

"Does it hurt to get your ears pierced?" I inquired curiously. It seems like it would. I mean, they stab a hole in your earlobe. I doubt it would feel good.

"Not really." She shrugged. "Don't tell me you're getting your ears pierced, Liam."

"No," I laughed, "I'm just wondering."

"Good. I couldn't take you serious if you borrowed my diamond earrings." She giggled.

***

"Where is the happy couple headed, looking so nice?" Louis asked with a smirk.

"Out to dinner, if you must know." I replied.

"Well, behave yourselves." He told us. "No partying or getting pregnant. If you get a tattoo, then don't get it on your forehead. Anything else is fine. Have a nice time, lovebirds!" He said, shoving us out the front door. Marianne's face was red.

"He's so embarrassing." She sighed. "So are we taking this new car of yours?" She asked me as we rode down in the lift.

"Of course." I nodded and the door opened. We walked to my car and I opened the door for her, being a gentleman of course. I closed it and got in the drivers side. I was nervous about driving with her in the car. I'm a good driver and all, but it's scary knowing that the person you love's life is in your hands at the moment.

"It's so pretty." She said, marveling at my car. I didn't want one extremely expensive like a Lamborghini, but I wanted a nice car. I settled in the middle for a Camero. "Do you like it?" She asked me.

"I love it." I nodded, backing out carefully. We drove to the restaurant with small talk, mostly listening to the radio. It played good songs tonight. They played a lot of Ed Sheeran.

"I love Ed Sheeran." Mari said, humming along to Drunk. "He's perfect."

"You're perfect." I mumbled under my breath.

"What'd you say?" She asked, obviously not catching what I said.

"I just said that I like this song." I lied with a smile.

"My favorite by him is Give Me Love." She told me.

"What's your favorite song by us?" I inquired.

"Hm..." She trailed off. "Gotta Be You or either Truly Madly Deeply."

Funny. Those songs describe how I feel about her.

"I like them too." I agreed with a small smile.

"Liam, have I ever told you that you look like a puppy?" She asked me. "Well, a puppy with tattoos."

"You love my tattoos." I said cockily. "You're just jealous because you aren't old enough for one."

*Marianne's Point of View*

"I couldn't get one." I shook my head. "I can't even get my flu shot without crying. Much less a tattoo. But I do want one. I just wouldn't be able to get it." I laughed.

"For you eighteenth birthday, I'll take you to get one." He promised me. "If you want." He added. "You can even hold my hand." He winked teasingly.

"Oh, lucky me. I get to hold the hand of the tattooed puppy." I said, faking excitement.

"Don't flatter yourself, babe." He chuckled. I got that weird feeling in my stomach, that you might classify as butterflies. Well, I must have an angry bird or something in there. It doesn't feel like a butterfly to me. But seriously, if he calls me 'babe' again, I might die.

Why am I thinking like this? I do not like him. He is my friend. I am his friend. We're friends. We're just friends. I'm not willing to be anything else right now. So I need to take these stupid feelings and shove them off a cliff, because they aren't helping.

We got to the restaurant shortly after. Liam told me to stay in the car. I curiously did as he got out and ran to my door and opened it for me.

"Was that necessary?" I asked, laughing at his adorableness.

"Yes, it was." He nodded as we walked inside the restaurant. Liam told the lady that he had a reservation for Payne. She took us to a table and said that someone would get our drinks soon.

"One day, I'm gonna go to Italy." I said. I love everything about the country. The food, the amazing buildings, the quite attractive men, and the accents.

"One day, I'll take you to Italy." He told me. I raised an eyebrow at him.

"Will you buy me Italian pizza?" I asked.

"Isn't all pizza Italian?" He questioned.

"No." I shook my head. "There's a different. Pizza Hut is American. The Italian kind is like this." I explained, showing him a picture on my menu.

"Oh, thanks for clearing that up. Now I know my pizzas." He said sarcastically. I smiled at the conversation we were having. I'm so glad we're on good terms now. Hopefully nobody does anything to screw it up for us. I miss being able to laugh and joke with Liam. I miss Liam.

I sighed. I miss him, a lot. But I can't just dive back into another relationship, even if it's with the same person. I know he wouldn't ever hurt me on purpose. I'm just paranoid. I'm terrified of getting my heart broken again. I want to go back to him, but I just can't.

"You okay?" He disrupted my thoughts.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I said, smiling again. He's so sweet. It's like he can read my mind, because he immediately knows when I'm sad or angry or happy. I guess he just knows me really well.

"Are you sure?" He asked skeptically.

"I'm just thinking." I explained. "I'm fine, really."

"Thinking about what?" He inquired.

"Don't you just enjoy interrogating people?" I said, trying to change the subject.

"Don't you just enjoy changing the subject?" He mimicked me.

"Stupid." I rolled my eyes.

***

"Tell me more." Eleanor urged over the phone.

"That's it." I laughed. "He didn't kiss me, Eleanor. We're just friends."

"But something had to have happened." She sighed, not believing me.

"It didn't." I chuckled.

"Well, you two are adorable." She said simply.

"Adorable? We're just friends, El." I shook my head, even though she couldn't see me.

"For now." She replied teasingly.

"For a while." I corrected her. She groaned.

"Just get married already." She huffed.

"I will as soon as Harry does." I chuckled, knowing it's gonna be a long time before he gets married.

"Hey, Mari?" Louis opened my door while knocking.

"Hang on, Eleanor." I said into the phone. "Lou, why bother knocking if you just open the door anyway?" I asked him.

"You're talking to El?" He inquired.

"Yes, I am. No, you can't talk." I answered, knowing his next question. He rolled his eyes dramatically.

"Well, I came to tell you that we have a photo shoot tomorrow and you can come if you want to. But since you're so mean, I guess not." He joked.

"I'll go." I chuckled. "What time?"

"We have to be there at 8, and it's two hours away. We're leaving at 5:45 tomorrow morning, so be ready." He advised. "Bye, El!" He yelled before leaving my room.

Eleanor and I spoke for a little while longer before we both decided to go to bed. Shortly after we hung up, I got a text from Liam.

'From: Li(:

You going to the photo shoot tmrw morning? :) xx'

His messages always make me happy. He makes sure to always have his smile faces and the two x's. They make my day brighter, I swear.

'To: Li(:

Of course I am! Now let me sleep :P x'

I got under the sheets and duvet while I waited on him to text back. I didn't mind texting him, but it's almost eleven and I have to get up at five. I just don't wanna stay up too late.

'From: Li(:

Yay :)))) see you bright and early tomorrow babe! Sweet dreams love xx'

I grinned at his text before typing something that I don't even remember, since I was barely awake. Soon after,
I was in a dead sleep.