Shy [Liam Payne]

Chapter 38

*Liam's Point of View*

Our date was going great, until Marianne and Eleanor went to the bathroom together. I was a bit worried, because we all know that girls talk about guys when they go to the bathroom during a date.

"I haven't upset her, have I?" I asked Louis nervously.

"What are you talking about? I haven't seen her this happy in a while, Liam. She's having a great time." He assured me nonchalantly. I had to agree, she did look happy compared to our other dates.

"I was thinking about asking her to go on a real date with me." I told Louis. "Not one scheduled by management. Just a real date." I added. He shook his head.

"It's too soon for that. She doesn't want a boyfriend, mate. You need to wait a little whole." He replied.

"Three weeks?" I asked.

"At the least." He nodded.

I sighed. "I'm afraid I'll do something stupid in three weeks time. We're friends right now. I'm scared I'll mess up and then we won't be friends." I admitted sheepishly.

"Don't mess up." He advised. "Think before you say and do stuff. Stay away from Danielle. Try not to start arguments."

"I always try to do that, but it never works out. Danielle would always come back after we fought. Marianne doesn't. I guess I need to realize that before I screw up completely." I chuckled.

"You can't screw up." Louis said, his tone dead-serious. "I know I used to think you weren't good for her, but now I know there won't ever be anybody better for her. You're the only one that understands her. That Dylan prick, or whoever he was, didn't understand. He hardly knew her. I don't want my little sister with somebody that won't understand her and be there for her. You'll treat her right, and I know that for a fact. You can't screw up. You have to take care of her when I can't, Liam."

"I'm trying." I sighed, leaning back in my chair. I saw the girls walking towards our table. They were laughing about something, which made me less nervous. I couldn't help but wonder if they were discussing me or not while they were gone.

*Marianne's Point of View*

"Are you having a good time?" Eleanor inquired as she put on more lipgloss in the bathroom mirror. I nodded, making sure my eye makeup was still okay. "Liam looks happy." She told me.

"He always is, when we go out." I replied.

"No, he's happy whenever he's around you." She said with a smile. "When do you think you'll give him another chance?"

"I don't know." I shrugged with a sigh. "He's honestly been really sweet to me, even though I've been a bitch to him. I don't get how he can do it."

"He loves you." She answered simply.

"I just don't get how he does it, though. I love him too, but I'm too afraid to admit it because I think he might hurt me if I do. I'm too scared to get my heart broken again."

Eleanor chuckled. "You're both so oblivious. It's adorable, honestly."

"Oblivious? To what?" I asked in confusion.

"He's always worried about everything he does around you, because he doesn't want to upset you. He doesn't realize how much you love him. And you're so terrified that he'll break your heart again. But everybody knows he won't. It was an honest accident the first time, anyways." She explained. I just shrugged, since I was at loss for words. We decided to return to our table because we'd been in the bathroom for a couple minutes.

On the way out, a waiter who couldn't have been more than 17, was staring at us while carrying a tray with several salads on it. He tripped and the salads ended up all over the floor.

Eleanor and I hurried away, trying to hide our laughter. "I guess you could say he fell for us." El added. Her stupid little joke sent us both into a fit of giggles as we returned to our table with the boys, who had obviously been in an intense conversation. They didn't look mad at each other, so it must not have been a bad subject.

"Are we being left out of some joke?" Louis questioned. Eleanor glanced at me, barely containing her laughter.

"You wouldn't understand." She told him with a sly smile. The rest of the date was nice. I kept noticing Liam stealing glances at me when he thought I wasn't looking.

***

"He was like fifteen!" Eleanor laughed as we sat on my bed.

"I know. I feel so bad because he dropped his stuff everywhere, but it was hilarious." I agreed. We were reminiscing about our encounter with the waiter. "Liam just texted me." I mumbled, picking up my phone. He wanted to know if we want to play Never Have I Ever with him and some of the other boys. I told Eleanor what he wanted to know.

"Tell him yes." She replied.

"Don't you play that game until everybody gets drunk?" I questioned.

"Most people do. But we're losers and normally we just play with Mountain Dew." She answered. I nodded understandingly before texting Liam back and saying we would play. We found them in the kitchen with two bottles on the table. One was full of Mountain Dew. The other was a bottle of liquor. A couple empty shot glasses sat around them.

I definitely would be playing using Mountain Dew. I wonder if Liam is too. He better be, because I lectured him about drinking. He was talking to Niall with a red solo cup in hand. I walked over to them, curious to see if he was drinking.

"Are you playing?" I asked Niall as I approached them, trying to cover up the real reason I was over there.

"Yeah. I haven't had a drink in a week or so." Niall nodded. I noticed out of the corner of my eye, Liam was trying to subtly hide a beer bottle from my view. I turned to him and crossed my arms, disappointed to say the least.

"Why're you looking at me like that?" He tried to play dumb.

"You're not supposed to be drinking." I said.

"I'm not." He lied.

"Then would you let me have a sip of your drink?" I inquired.

He sighed. "It's only one beer. It won't hurt me."

"You promised me you wouldn't drink anymore." I reminded him. "Let me guess, you planned to use this game as an excuse to get drunk?"

I could tell by his eyes he was ashamed that he did this. "I'll pour it out." He told me.

"Don't bother." I said coldly before returning to my bedroom.

************************************

So so so so so so so so so sorry I haven't updated in forever. I have exams Monday-Thursday, I took my ACT yesterday, and I have basketball games 2-3 nights every week. Plus my mom is close to her due date, so we've been preparing for the baby. I'll try to do better over Christmas break! :)