Start From Scratch (Sequel To Why Me???)

Party

"Bella, you know this as well as I do that I hate putting you through this again and again. I hate rubbing the same fact in your face all the time. However, I have to because you're not understanding my point." Liam says, his eyes and tone filled with apology. I nod my head solemnly. "You're worth it, Bella. If you put up a picture with your poster, saying that you're finding a husband, the whole building, every damn floor will fill up with eager bachelors. Heck, if I didn't have a girlfriend I'd be one of those bachelors." I smile at Liam's attempt to cheer me up.
"Thanks Liam, but the guy that I want apparently doesn't think that I'm worth it," I say.
"Because he's a fool, and a blind fucking idiot." Liam rubs his thumb soothingly across my hand. "The day that he steps out of his stupidity and his eyes open up, Harry will realize his mistake. However, it'll be too late because you'll be with a rich bachelor, who will love you for who you are, and will be sensible enough to cherish you." That doesn't sound realistic because I can see no other man, I'm not attracted to any other man, other than Harry fucking Styles.
"But I don't want some rich guy, with good looks and an Audi." I snap at Liam. "I want Harry, even if he's on the road, begging, drinking and wearing tattered old clothes."
"You're impossible." Liam mutters underneath his breath.
"You're stubborn," I grumble. Liam looks at his watch and huffs.
"God, it's late. Can I crash in the guest bedroom?" Liam asks.
"Sure," I say. "You already have clothes in the guest bedroom's closet, your toothbrush in the en suite and other stuff lying inside the room." Liam nods his head, smiling.
"Okay Bella, I'm off to bed."
"Night," I murmur. Liam kisses my forehead before heading off toward the guest bedroom. Instead of calling it a guest bedroom I should call it Liam's room. I'm still not sleepy, so I switch on the television, even though I have no interest in watching a movie, serial, or reality show. All of those are just distractions, things to keep my mind busy. As I'm watching some stupid comedy show, my eyes start to wander across my lavish apartment. I have everything that I need now. Money, a good job, a great boss, amazing friends, yet my life is empty. Very empty. I have this apartment that is located in a safe neighborhood, with a great lobby downstairs, automated locks outside the main doors, and it's fully furnished. However, it's empty. It's not a home, it's just a house. I'm very alone here. I stay alone, eat alone, watch television alone, with the exception of seeing my friends. I don't know how my life winded up here. I was fine when Harry was in a coma, it didn't effect me that much. However, knowing that he doesn't even care about me one bit, hurts. It hurts like hell. There's a gaping hole in my heart that keeps throbbing like a fucking headache. With those thoughts in mind, I spend the rest of the night on my couch, curled up, watching shitty shows.
********
"Bella, come on!" Liam whines, stomping his foot on the ground like a child. "You have to come. Please, please, please." He begs me, joining his hands together.
"No, Liam, I'm not coming to some shitty party with expensive glasses, and wine. While the people are all gangsters," I say. He throws his head back and groans.
"You are a party pooper." Liam huffs, crossing his arms across his chest. "I'll take you to Victoria's Secret if you come." I look at Liam with an eyebrow raised. Is he bribing me with lingerie?
"That won't work with me. I can buy everything from Victoria's Secret by myself."
"Oh," Liam looks dejected. "That always works with Audrey."
"I'm not Audrey." Audrey, Liam's lovely girlfriend is another good friend of mine. If you want anything from her, you should just bribe her with lingerie. It works all the time.
"I'll buy you...a pony!" Liam pipes up, grinning again. Rolling my eyes, I get up and head toward the exit of the restaurant, coffee in hand.
"Fuck, Bella!" Liam curses from behind me. I can hear his boots following me. "Thank God, we payed the bill before." I roll my eyes, trying to suppress my smile at Liam's silly, clown-like behavior. "I'm going to follow you to the grocery store and annoy you the whole day."
"Liam, stop!" I say, turning around and placing my palm on his chest. "Stop annoying me, otherwise I'll scream."
"You wouldn't," Liam says, narrowing his eyes. I wiggle my eyebrows at him, silently taking the challenge. Without skipping a beat, I open my mouth and yell at the top of my lungs. I don't care what people think anymore, to me it's useless. Liam's eyes widen and he clamps his hand over my mouth. I lick it, and he scowls, but doesn't remove it.
"Bella, shut the hell up!" Liam hisses.
"You started it." I murmur against his hand.
"Will you yell?"
"Will you pester me?" I raise an eyebrow questioningly.
"N-No," Liam says hesitantly. Slowly, he removes his hand from my mouth and takes a step back. "You are a pain in my ass."
"Babe, you brought it on yourself." I say, side-stepping Liam and heading down the pavement.
"Come!" Liam whines from behind me. God, he's relentless. I hope Liam comes down with a bad case of the stomach flu, so that he gets off my case.
"No!" I say, as firmly as I can.
"Okay." I turn around to gauge Liam's expression. He sounded too cheery and oddly satisfied when he said 'okay'.
"What's going through your mind?" I ask Liam, suspiciously.
"Nothing. Just the fact that you're not coming." Saying that, Liam turns around and heads away from me. Something is fishy.
********
I hear the front door opening, as I grab a baking pan from a cupboard. I take a step back, and peek out of the kitchen door toward the front door. Liam steps in with a dry-cleaners bag held in his right hand.
"What're you doing here?" I ask him, stepping back into the kitchen. "Aren't you supposed to be having a party?"
"I decided to skip. After all, my favorite girl isn't going," Liam says.
"Audrey should be your favorite girl, Liam."
"Well, she is, but you are too." He enters the kitchen, smiling.
"What's in the bag?"
"A dress." Liam says, nonchalantly.
"What for?" I ask, narrowing my eyes.
"You."
"Me? Why?" Now something's definitely up.
"For the party, of course." Liam says this as if it's the most obvious thing in the world.
"I'm not going, for the hundredth time." Why the heck isn't he leaving me alone?
"Fine, then." Liam shrugs his shoulders, and grabs my arm. He throws me across his left shoulder, the dry-cleaners bag on his right.
"What the heck, Liam!?" I yell, punching his back.
"You're not coming, so I have to force you." Liam says, entering my room.
"Liam, I'll tell Audrey." I swear if it were possible steam would be coming out of my ears.
"You'll tell her what?" Liam chuckles. "That I was forcing you to come to a party?"
"Well...yeah," I murmur. Liam puts me down on the floor beside the walk-in-closet, and takes a step back.
"Change." Liam says simply, holding the dry-cleaners bag. I stare at him blankly, refusing to do anything against my will. "Or I can." He has a sick, smug grin on his face, and I know that Liam is capable of doing anything.
"You wouldn't dare." I narrow my eyes at him, placing my hands on my hips.
"Yes, I would. Try me." Huffing, I grab the bag from his hand, and enter the closet, shutting the sliding door behind me with a slam.