Altitude ~Liam Payne AU~

Chapter 21

"Come on Woods, you haven't left him yet. You're still alive. W-we'll get back somehow." He said trying to reassure me, but I could hear him stutter. He was trying to convince me along with himself.

"No, I'm going to go down just like m-my mother. They won't look for us, they'll assume we're already...dead." I cried, as Payne breathed out.

"They're probably already planning our funerals. We'll never-"

"Woods, stop thinking so irrationally. We've only been out here for ten minutes." He said as he cut me off, and scooted closer to me to see my arm.

"Please, just don't touch me. Let me be. I'm sorry this had to happen to you." I whimpered, trying to move away from him.

"You're sorry this happened to me? Woods you had no fucking idea this was going to happen! I knew what I was getting myself into!" He said making me look at him with a confused face.

"What? How did you know this was going to happen?" I asked, sniffling as more tears ran down my cheeks.

"I didn't Woods. I had the option to go back and travel to different schools in England to inform younger students about the RAF, but chose to come back out here and fly. I knew there was a risk with North Korean tensions building, but it was a risk I was willing to take." He explained, resting his hand on my forearm.

"And I'm glad I did, because you could be out here all by yourself right now. Or with an untrained student." He said making me nod my head, trying to look on the brighter side of the currently shitty circumstances.

"Now will you please let me look at your arm?" He asked while huffing, so I sat up and nodded my head, realizing I couldn't stay away from him forever on this very small raft.

He turned me around so my back was facing towards him, moving my hair so he could undo the zipper on my suit. He peeled it down off my shoulder and sucked in a breath when he looked at my forearm.

"Is it-"

"No, shh." He interrupted, as he fiddled around in the kit. "This is going to sting a bit." He warned as he pressed a cotton ball down on my arm making me hiss in pain. After he dabbed it around for a while, he attached a piece of cloth over top of it and zipped my suit back up.

"T-thank you." I said as he moved back to his side of the raft. The wind had started to pick up, and once he moved away I could feel it even more.

"C-can I clean the cut on your forehead?" I asked, teeth chattering.

"No Woods-"

"B-but you just helped me, I should at least-"

"I'm fine Woods. Lay down and try to conserve your body heat." He ordered, making me frown as I laid down on the raft, still shivering.

"We'll be okay...we'll get through this." I heard him whisper as I tried hard to block every noise and feeling out.

•

"Well, it's a tropical island just like you asked for." Payne smirked as he nudged my good shoulder.

"This isn't a fucking joke Payne." I replied angrily, as I stepped off the raft and onto the sand cautiously,  still seeing nothing but pitch black. I took a few steps forward, looking back to see Payne climbing out of the raft. There could be animals or savages ahead.

"Awh come on, I'm just trying to make light of the situation." He said, while I rolled my eyes, trying to think of things that actually mattered.

"There isn't any damn light. We're here to survive not tell jokes." I growled, walking away from him as fast as I could, making up my mind of confronting whatever came at me in the dark. He didn't respond, letting me walk away.

Finding my way through the dark, I sat down next to a palm tree, leaning my head against it. I wasn't able to fall asleep on the raft, the roughness of the waves almost making me sick. Payne kept me annoyed and aggravated as usual while at sea and I had gone back to not speaking to him, until we reached land.

Remembering I was still soaking wet, having been in the same suit for what seemed like about seven hours, I began to take it off. I unzipped my suit from behind only then realizing that it in fact didn't need two people to do, and was probably just another one of Payne's ploys. I pulled it down my legs and laid it down next to the tree, only being left in a white tank top and RAF cargo pants.

"Want me to sleep next to you in case a wild jaguar comes?" Payne cooed making me flick him off as I took my boots off and poured out the remaining water. He then followed me, taking his suit off as well.

"Find your own damn tree. Let me sleep." I said, getting pissy from lack of peace and quiet.

"Hey, watch how you speak to me. I'm still your superior." He retaliated, sitting down next to a tree in front of me, laying his suit beside him, only left in a gray t-shirt and matching cargo pants to mine.

"Not out here you aren't. We're equals now. Finally, equality." I hummed to myself. Maybe for once in my life out on this deserted island, I'd finally be treated with the respect I had been wishing for all my life.

"So you won't mind me stripping down right now to dry my remaining clothes?" He snickered making me glare at him through the darkness.

Why did I have to get stuck with him out of anyone?

A/N:

Question of the Chapter: Do you think Payne will finally start to treat her as an equal?