Altitude ~Liam Payne AU~

Chapter 37

"Well thank you so much for being here today, we are so glad you are home safe and wish you the best in your endeavors to fight for justice," she concluded as the cameras cut making me let out a huge breath I didn't know I had been holding in. Liam smiled at me setting a hand on my knee making me smile remembering he was there. "You guys did incredible, thank you so much for your service, all of Britain has fallen in love with you," she said making me smile.

"Thank you, pleasure to be here," Liam said as we stood up to walk off the set. We were thanked by all the crew members on our way back to the dressing room. Once we get there Liam and I shut the door behind us and just stared at each other with wide eyes. He stuck his arms out slightly as I walked over to him and engulfed him in a hug.

"That was crazy," I said still not believing we had just done that.

"I know, you did really great though Ronnie, killed it."

"Thanks Liam, you too," I said backing up with a smile looking up at him.

"What do you say we get out of here and hit up a cafe until our next interview?" he asked making me nod my head. We had another interview at a radio station in about 2 hours so we had a bit of time to kill. As I went to exit out the door Liam came up beside me and grabbed my hand making my cheeks heat up. I interlaced my fingers with his looking up to see a grin on his face. We walked out of the office and out onto the street. We decided to walk for a bit along the city until we found a small breakfast cafe a few blocks away.

Once we entered the cafe we grabbed a table in the back corner as Liam went to order us coffee. As he left, I looked up to see our interview playing on the TV above. I cringed not used to seeing myself on television. Liam then came back with our drinks and sat down.

"Thank you," I grinned taking the mug from him. "I saw us on the TV just now," I said pointing up to the screen above his head.

"Oh you did? Did I look like a sexy beast?" he joked making me roll my eyes.

"You looked great, I looked like I had a shoe up my arse," I smirked remembering just how uncomfortable I had looked in that interview.

"I'm sure you looked beautiful," he said making me furrow my eyebrows at him and cross my arms.

"What is up with you today?" I asked with a shake of my head. First holding my hand and now calling me beautiful? It's not like we were dating or anything.

"I don't know what you mean," he said taking a sip of his coffee to conceal his mouth which I'm sure was in the shape of a devilish grin. I hummed in response as breaking news hit the television above.

Liam Payne and Cameron Woods spotted outside after their live television interview. Is there Love in Paradise?

"Are you fucking kidding me," I scoffed my mouth wide open in shock. They had somehow managed to get photographs of Liam and I on the way over here holding hands. Liam looked at me weird before turning to look at the TV his eyes going wide. The interview we had this morning wasn't even disclosed till it went live so it was insane that the paparazzi had found us that fast. Why they weren't rushing in breaking down the cafe door was beyond me.

"They're everywhere I guess," he shrugged taking another sip of coffee. That didn't bother him? We weren't even dating and now instead of rumors flying about our disappearance (the thing that mattered), they were instead focusing on our relationship.

"Well I'm annoyed," I said looking at him making him set his coffee down.

"Why are you letting that bug you so much?" he asked gently making me look at him with a 'duh' look.

"Because we're not dating, this might take away our credibility. They might think we're making up a story to get screen time," I said thinking it was obvious.

"If anything it'll just keep us in the news longer, will give our story good publicity," I could not believe he had just said that.

"Liam how-" but before I could even finish he had cut me off.

"Ronnie, if you didn't want me to hold your hand you could've just taken it out of mine," he said curtly making me snap my mouth shut. I didn't mean to make him upset.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean it like that."

"Yeah, well the idea of me being your boyfriend was obviously a huge turnoff for you," he said pressing his lips in a fine line. I felt awful. I sat there for a few moments with my lips parted trying to figure out what to say. We had been getting closer over the past few weeks and I had stayed over at his house, but we hadn't really done anything I considered to be an indicator he wanted a relationship.

"I'm sorry Liam. You're right I could've taken my hand out of yours, but I didn't because I didn't mind. I've enjoyed the time we've spent together these past few weeks, I just didn't like the media jumping to conclusions before we've even talked about it," I said with a frown on my face, feeling really guilty for how I had approached everything. Liam took another sip of his coffee before leaning forward on his elbows on the table.

"Do you really think I would've let you stay at my place if I didn't care for you?" he asked blatantly making me think. I had just assumed he was being nice to me as a friend. "Or given you my clothes?" He had a point there. I put my face in my hands over the table.

"I'm not good at this Liam, I've gone my whole life with boys as friends, never one as a boyfriend," I confessed realizing that word had just come out of my mouth. But it was true, sure I had crushes in high school but I was always one of the 'bros', they saw me as a friend not some girl they wanted to date.

"Ronnie," he said, pulling my hands from my face so I would look at him. I knew my cheeks had to be bright red at this point from pure embarrassment as I looked him in the eyes still with a frown on my face. "I care for you...a lot," he said with a nod. "It was just a matter of time until you caught on," he said with a smirk releasing my hands from his as he grabbed his mug again.

"I know you do Liam, I never once doubted that. I just wasn't aware of the...extent of it," I acknowledged making him smile. "And now I'm really nervous."

"Why are you nervous?"

"Because I think we've been going on dates for the past 2 weeks and I never realized it," I blurted out making him shut his eyes and shake his head.

"You're a bright girl Ronnie, but you need some work in the dating department," he teased making me glare at him.

"It's not my fault you never contacted me after I left," I said making his eyes go wide.

"So you're saying you would've gone out on a date with me 8 years ago if I had just asked?"

"Yeah probably, I thought you were cute in grade school," as I said that Liam looked like he was gonna spit out his coffee.

"I cannot fucking believe this, I've wasted so much time," he said making me laugh. Just then we each got buzzed on our phones saying it was time to head to the radio station for our next interview.

"Would you believe me if I said I was more nervous for this one?"

"Ronnie there won't even be a camera on you how-"

"I know but what if I have a really annoying radio voice?" I said making Liam shake his head and stand up. We put our coats back on since the seasons were starting to change before walking towards the front doors. Liam held it open for me, me replying 'thank you' in response as we hit the cold air. Just then paps came from every side blinding us with flashes. Liam guided me around them and down the sidewalk placing his hand at his side once we were walking where we needed to go. But with the flashing lights still following us, I grabbed his hand into mine. He smiled down at me and I knew he was trying to hold in the biggest grin of his life. "Let's do this."