End Up Here (Ziam AU)

Chapter Fifty

Liam laughs, as he parks his car at the nearby playground, and looks back to see Bella attempting to set herself free from the confines of the carseat, "I go play Daddy?" she asks, pointing out the window to the playground. Liam grins climbing out of the car and moving around back to open her door, "of course, but you have to promise to be careful, and stay where I can see you" he warns, unbuckling her. Bella nods quickly, eyes darting around the playground quickly, "promise, Daddy" she agrees, as Liam sets her feet on the pavement, holding tightly to her hand as they walk from the parking lot. Once they're safe on the grass, away from any potential cars, Liam lets go of Bella's hand the toddler giggling as she starts to head towards the large slide, "I'm going to sit on this bench, okay?" Liam asks. Arabella giggles again, "okay, Daddy. Bella play" she affirms, before running off, the stitches and cast all but forgotten. Liam watches as she carefully climbs up to the top before stopping to wave at him and sliding down, repeating the process all over again. There's a few tired looking mothers scattered around on various benches while their children play, but over all the playground isn't busy, and Liam's grateful for it, doesn't think he could handle it if it was.

Thirty minutes after arriving at the park, Bella has switched from playing on the climber, to sitting in the sand, building, lopsided, sloppy castles, with her hands. Liam's still sitting on the bench watching her, trying to decide when it's time to tell her to leave, figuring he'll give her a little longer, she seems to be having fun, and he really has nothing else to do today. A young woman comes up to the bench he's sitting on, gesturing to the opposite end of it, "may I?" she asks and Liam nods, "of course" he answers although he's confused, as he doesn't see a child with her at all. "Which one's yours?" the woman asks, looking around the playground, something about this whole exchange feels off to Liam, so he keeps his eyes trained on Bella as he answers the woman. "Little one in the sand" he mumbles, the woman makes a strange sound but doesn't say anything else for a minute. Liam shifts uncomfortably on the bench, eyes never leaving Bella, as the blonde woman beside him also watches the playground, and him. Liam allows his gaze to slide to the woman beside him, taking her in, blonde hair, blue eyes, too much makeup, (especially for the park). Shaking his head Liam looks back to where Bella was playing only to have his heart stop in his chest, she's no longer sitting in the sand.

Liam's breathing speeds up as he tries to spot the two year old somewhere else on the playground, he only looked away for a second, she can't have gone far, and he's right. He spots her on the swings after a minute of frantic searching, but his eyes narrow as he sees a strange man, helping to push her on the swing. Jumping to his feet Liam makes his way over to the swings quickly, "Bella, why didn't you come get me if you wanted to swing?" he asks, taking her in, she giggles in response. "Sorry Daddy" she mumbles, that's when Liam realizes the woman from the bench followed him over, "I think it's time to leave, Princess" he says, reaching out to stop her swing. Bella pouts as Liam pulls her into his arms, but doesn't protest and Liam's grateful for it, this whole thing seems strange, suspicious and he doesn't feel comfortable having Bella here anymore. The woman leans closer to the man who had been pushing Bella on the swing before calling out, "tell Zayn she's beautiful, and maybe I should have kept her afterall" she calls out. Liam's blood runs cold but he doesn't stop walking, as the couple start laughing, he needs to get home, get back to Zayn.

Liam takes the long way home, in order to calm his nerves, he also stops at a coffee shop to get Bella a doughnut and himself and Zayn some coffee, before heading back to the apartment. The encounter at the park is running through his head repeatedly, there's no doubt that was Sadie, but what could she possibly want. Liam helps Bella out of her seat once back at the apartment, grimacing at her sticky fingers, before leading her back to the building. He allows himself to relax once they're on their way up to their own apartment, and Zayn, hopefully the younger will have some insight into the whole ordeal. "Baba, I back" Bella calls out once Liam opens the door, and he hears Zayn chuckle, "did you have fun?" he asks, coming into view. Arabella grins, nodding excitedly, and babbling quickly about the park, Liam's only registering a quarter of what she says, though, his mind still racing. "Arabella, can you go play for a minute, Baba needs to talk to Daddy" Zayn says, snapping Liam into the conversation. "Okay, Baba" Bella murmurs, before bouncing out of the room.

"Okay, what happened?" Zayn rounds on Liam as soon as Bella's out of sight. "I, what?" Liam stumbles and Zayn chuckles, "you look like you've seen a ghost Li, what happened at the park?" Zayn asks softly, leading Liam towards the kitchen, and guiding him into a seat.Liam groans, rubbing his hands down his face "I, we ran into Sadie at the park" Liam mumbles, watching Zayn's face twist into confusion. "Are you sure?" Zayn asks, and Liam nods, "kinda sure" he says, head dropping into his hands. "What did she say? Did she touch Bella?" Zayn asks quickly, Liam shaking his head and reaching out to rest a reassuring hand on Zayn's arm, "no, she didn't even really get near her. She sat beside me and asked which was mine, but it seemed weird cause I didn't see a kid with her" Liam starts, Zayn nodding for him to continue. "So I kept an eye on Bella, as I only kinda answered her, and then next thing I know Bella's taking off for the swings, with some guy, who happened to be with Sadie. So I followed after her and decided it was time to leave" Liam explains. When Zayn doesn't say anything Liam takes a deep breath, " as I was walking away, Sadie said, 'tell Zayn, she's beautiful, and maybe I should have kept her'" he says, watching as Zayn's eyes narrow.

"That bitch" Zayn mutters, slamming his fist against the table, Liam just nods and reaches out for Zayn, needing the younger closer to him. "It doesn't matter" Zayn says suddenly and Liam furrows his eyebrows confused "what doesn't matter?" he asks slowly. "Sadie" Zayn says, and Liam arches an eyebrow, "she legally signed away all her rights to Bella, in the hospital, she can't touch her" he explains, "and she did it loudly, and in front of a doctor and three nurses so she can't even try to claim she was forced to" he adds. Liam nods, nuzzling into Zayn's neck, because he has a point, but it still doesn't answer why Sadie decided to reappear now, "but what do you think she wants? I don't think she was actually all that interested in Bella to be honest" Liam asks. Zayn bites his lip and snuggles closer to Liam, who grins wrapping his arms around the younger man tighter, "money" Zayn says suddenly, pulling away slightly, and Liam arches an eyebrow confused. "Think about it Li, it's always about money with her, she probably saw one of the articles about us and decided now would be a good time to reappear in order to get some money. Everyone in the world knows you've got it" Zayn explains. And it does make sense, given the history, but Liam's not about to let her walk into their lives and ruin his family, or take his money for that matter. Nodding Liam hugs Zayn again, "but what do we do?" he asks, and Zayn shrugs, "wait for her next move, I guess" he mumbles. Liam nods, because really she hasn't done anything to them, yet.

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A/N: Fun fact about this chapter my computer deleted the last two paragraphs five times, before it finally decided to let me keep them.
TADA! An update, some stubborn Bella and lots of overprotective Liam, (cause I give myself feels with that). And the return of Sadie...sort of. 

I hope you enjoyed these chapters, and let me know what you think, as always I love you all. 
How would we feel about a time skip? Not a gigantic one and not for a few chapters still, but I'm considering it, (it's not for sure yet).
Until next time xoxo