salute [h.s]

the one with the back massage

"Do you...well...I mean...I could give you a massage?"

(It also has a lot of Harper being cute with each other).

Piper was sitting on the couch, curled up on herself, when she heard the front door to HQ bang closed. "Harry?" she called out hopefully.

A moment later, the door to the entertainment room swung open and Piper lifted her head from the back of the couch with a small smile on her face. When Liam's head poked into the room instead, it shifted to a frown as she sighed.

"It's just me," Liam said with a friendly smile of his own. "Did you need something?"

"Not from you," she grumbled. When she caught the frown that crossed Liam's face she grimaced sheepishly. "Sorry, that came out wrong. I just... I was hoping you were Harry."

"Clearly," Liam opened the door further and stepped into the room. "Are you okay? You look a little off."

"I just had a long day," she admitted as she slumped against the back of the couch, tugging her legs closer to her chest. "I've got a headache, we're all out of ice cream, I had to wait twenty minutes in line at Boots behind this man who didn't know how to use his coupons so I could buy my damn tampons and my back is killing me and — shit, sorry Li, I didn't mean to unload on you like this."

"It's okay," Liam said as he walked slowly toward the couch. "Is there something I can do?"

"Not really." Piper shrugged. "Unless you've discovered a way to get rid of period cramps with magic or something."

"Can't do that, unfortunately."

Liam scratched his neck, a little blush colouring his cheeks. Piper was a little surprised that he wasn't running in the other direction at the mention of periods but then again, he had sisters. Harry was very comfortable with talking to Piper about her period because he'd grown up with Gemma, a girl who had no problem talking about things that made him uncomfortable. Liam probably had a similar situation growing up, having heard his sisters talking about it. She could account his little blush to the fact that Liam was more conservative than his friends and liked to be respectful toward Piper and her privacy. She appreciated that.

"It's fine, Liam," she said with a sigh as she picked up the remote and went back to what she'd been doing before — scrolling through netflix looking for a bad action movie to cheer her up. "Just leave me to wallow on my own."

Liam stayed standing where he was for a moment and when Piper looked back, he seemed to be thinking about something. "I could just keep you company, if you want," Liam offered. "Or, do you... well... I mean... I could give you a massage? To help with your back pain."

"You don't have to do that."

"I don't mind," Liam told her with a gentle smile. "Really."

Piper remembered the way he'd massaged her shoulder when she'd injured it in the gym — obviously Liam knew what he was doing. And her lower back was aching. She could do with a message. "If you're sure," she said with a shrug.

"Yeah, go on. Turn over."

Piper readjusted so she was lying across the couch on her stomach, her arms crossed under her chin to pillow her head. Liam perched on the edge of the couch beside her hips and carefully pulled up the bottom of her shirt to expose her back.

"Where is it the worst?" he asked as he touched his fingers to the base of her spine. "Here?"

"A little higher — yeah, right there," she told him when he'd run his fingers up an inch or two and hit the spot where the pain seemed to originate. Liam began rubbing his fingers in gentle circles and Piper was about to tell him that wasn't how a massage worked when his thumbs dug in on either side of her spine and — oh, that was exquisite.