Where Do I Belong (a Liam Payne Fanfic)

Chapter Three

"Whoa, now this is nice," Harry spoke up and Zayn agreed with a face of approval. I let the guys check it out as it was mostly empty. It was early afternoon and most people knew to avoid the gym at this time when the day was its hottest. I turned to see how Liam was getting on seeing as he was the one who had asked about the gym and was in turn teased by Louis.

"So what do you think?" I said smiling politely at Liam. He turned round quickly and shot me a gorgeous smile.

"It's amazing!"

"It is. But I hope you don't spend all your time in here when there are so many great sights to see around the whole of Venice." His smile turned into a grin.

"Oh I know, I'm not gonna waste the time I have here. Venice is gorgeous, I'll make sure I enjoy it all." I smiled at his response. Now that's the sort of thing I wanted to hear from a 'celebrity' on vacation. I heard some quiet whispering and snickers behind us and decided I better carry on with the tour.

"Right. There is a spa through that door, open most hours. You know, they do massages and there's a steam room and sauna. Oh and this, I love this." I lead them through some double doors onto a courtyard with stairs leading down to the outdoor pool. "Now this is open pretty much all hours. But I usually come down here for a swim quite early in the morning some days so I can have the pool to myself." I saw Harry raise his eyebrows with a cheeky expression. Liam nodded in approval. "Well, I'll take you guys to the lift and we'll head on up to the top floor. There's one last thing I'll show you." I lead them back to the lobby and heard Zayn explaining to the rest of them something along the lines of him being their all the time.

We all squeezed into the lift, all of us literally on top of one another. I couldn't get to the buttons so Liam offered pressing the button for the top floor whilst giving me a handsome smirk. My stomach swooped and I didn't know if it was at the jerking of the lift or Liam's smile. I grinned back and quickly turned to avoid awkward eye contact with Liam. 

The lift doors opened and I led them on. "Okay, this way," I walked quickly to an open doorway along the corridor and let them take it in. "This is my favourite part." We were up on the terrace, along it, a couple of tables and chairs and a few deck chairs. The view was just perfect. Most of Venice and the sights could be seen and I heard the boys behind me mumble in approval.

"Wow. This is even better than the gym." Liam walked up from the back of the group and stood beside me.

"It definitely is. I just love being able to see everything. It's-"

"-beautiful." Liam cut me off and I looked away from the view and up at him to see he was looking straight back at me with those soft eyes and with a warm smile painted on his face. There was that swooping in my stomach again.  Just like our earlier awkward conversation down in the gym I heard some whispering and sniggering. We both looked back at the guys we were looking at us with smirks playing at their lips. Liam looked down at his feet seeming just as embarrassed as I had felt just then.

"So, I'm guessing this is the end of the tour then," Niall added and the rest looked at me for a response.

"Yeah, I guess it is." I led them back inside and decided I could go back to my room which was on the same floor. 

"Awh." Harry and Louis said in unison both of them pulling a sad face. "But I bet you're glad you did it. I mean, spending time with us is better than working right?" I laughed at Louis' comment and nodded. "Well thanks. You're an awesome tour guide." I grinned and one by one the boys came up to me offering hugs and remarks of appreciation.

"Yeah thanks, I thoroughly enjoyed myself." Liam was the last to give me a hug.

"You're welcome, I enjoyed it myself too." Releasing ourselves from the hug we smiled at each other and Liam turned to the rest of the boys.

They walked towards the lift but Louis noticed me walking in the opposite direction. "Hey, where are you going?"

"You don't need me anymore. My room is up on this floor so I'm gonna just go and relax there now seeing as I'm done for the evening. Plus, I don't wanna get in the way of your break." I said gesturing for them to go on without me. I noticed some of them drop their smiles but noticed Louis' wide grin.

"Okay then, thanks again. Bye!" Louis shouted back at me from the lift which was getting ready to go back down. But something in his smile didn't sound right. I waved back at them and headed in the opposite direction to the lift not turning to see if they'd gone. I reached my room and unlocked the door. Kicking off my shoes, I walked in and plopped onto the sofa closing my eyes whilst taking a deep breath. The guys weren't half as bad as I'd imagined they might be. Celebrities had stayed in the hotel before, and more often than not, the fame had gotten to their heads. I tried to push the thoughts of work from my head and grabbed a book from my shelf. A collection of poetry by Sylvia Plath. It had belonged to my mum. I'd taken it from her room when I'd packed for the move to Venice. I stroked the yellowing cover and took it with me into bed, settling down for a quiet night with myself and mum's book.