"...aspiring Parish Councillor Simon Price hopes to stand on a platform of cutting wasteful council spending. Mr Price is certainly no stranger to keeping down costs, and should be able to give the council the benefit of his many useful contacts. He saves money at home by furnishing it with stolen goods – most recently a PC – and he is the go-to man for any cut-price printing jobs that may need doing for cash, once senior management has gone home, at the Harcourt-Walsh Printworks–"
Liam hadn't realized he was reading the book out loud until the waitress cleared her throat in the most polite manner that she could. She had been standing there, calling out Liam's name twice before she could get the most handsome costumer she had the whole day to remove his attention from the book he was reading (in which her comment was 'too much of a bloody good thing').
"Your order, sir?" she said, trying to not let the annoyance in her voice seep through.
The dirty blonde haired lad placed his book down the table. "Right," his voice reeking with embarrassment. "Sorry about that..."
"I've seen worse," the waitress smiled, seemingly flirting with him. "Waiting for someone?"
Liam checked his watch. "Yeah, a girl."
"Your girlfriend?" the waitress asked, hoping he'd say no.
"No," Liam shook his head. The waitress almost smiled but that was before Liam finished his sentence with "I don't have a girlfriend. But I do have a boyfriend though." She looked utterly surprised and walked away with disappointment in her face. It wasn't everyday she gets to see hot guys in the café and it was terrible to know that the first one to step in and have a cup of tea was gay.
Hiding his smile, Liam took a sip of the tea. He glanced back down at his book and reminded himself to read silently this time. Sadly, no matter how he tried, he still manages to mutter some words especially when the scenes become hostile (curses flying around the pages like arrows enveloped in fiery hot flames).
Even though Halloween was last week, and he has dedicated all of his brain activity to finishing the book, scenes from that party – more specifically the dance and the bedroom – flashed through his mind and then slips away before the instance that he could smile.
It couldn't go more romantic than that, could it? Liam asked himself. Two people, born from different aspects of life have their worlds collide in one night of passion and then to simply have themselves hurled into waves of emotion, confusion, and (Liam hoped) reunion and salvation. It would all have a happy ending. Liam snickered; what he was saying sounded like something ripped out from a Nicholas Sparks novel (which his sister, Nicola, had plenty in collection in her room).
Liam distracted himself from further daydreaming about Niall by looking at his watch. It was already quarter to four but the person he was waiting for wasn't there yet. He glanced out the window of the café but there was no one on the streets.
A few minutes later, while poring over his book, the door sounded with a greeting from the waitress from before. Liam looked up, felt something twitch inside but dismissed it as a simple response of his body for when he last saw her, they broke up.
"So sorry that I'm late, Li," said Danielle, taking off her scarf. "I had to get away from the escort that daddy had following me every single day."
"You have an escort now?" Liam raised his eyebrow and closed his book after tucking in the homemade bookmark. "Since when?"
"Since I got sick from that trip I had to Asia," replied Danielle.
"You mean that medical mission of your company?"
"Yes..." Danielle narrowed her eyes at him. "How did you know that?"
"Ruth couldn't help but overhear your dad talking to mine."
"Figures," Her fingers drummed on the table. "She was always sneaky but I admire her love for books...how you three had this love for books, in general."
"It's hereditary, I guess," Liam smiled. "Dad has his own collection in the library."
"I know, I've seen it and even borrowed some as well." She tucked her dangling hair behind her ear, eyeing the menu on the table. "What surprises me is that he's still collecting."
"It's his hobby, his safe haven," explained Liam. "It's the only time he could relax from all the work in the company and the farms."
The fingers trailing down the items on the table menu stopped. Danielle stared blankly at the table, deep in thought that Liam mistook it as a want to change the subject of their conversation. Liam flipped the pages of his book lightly, waiting for Danielle to talk.
"Liam..." Her voice sounded empty, like some kind of guilt had sucked all the merry sounds therein. Danielle didn't bother looking up but the silence they were making in between sentences was slowly killing Liam, his eagerness to find out what this was all about was at its peak.
"Dani," he hesitated. Even though this was nothing more than a friendly conversation, and even though he and Niall weren't officially together, Liam felt like he was cheating. It sounded preposterous at first but, what if Niall suddenly walks in and finds him talking to Danielle?
Liam imagined how Niall would react and it wasn't pretty. If ever that happens, their relationship would go back to zero or even negative, if life wasn't feeling kind at all. But he managed himself to finish his question. "What's this about?"
Danielle finally looked up. She was biting her lip that it was turning red. Her nails were scratching the table but made no marks on it. As she stared at Liam, the Wolverhampton lad could help but feel that whatever this was, it had something to do with him.
____________________
"I still think you should've let them make the cake too, Lou." Niall urged Louis as he was stepping out of the car. The Doncaster lad followed behind him as they walked towards the diner that Harry had called in for a reservation during lunch.
"And I still don't think I should be eating dinner with you," Niall eyed him worryingly. "It's yours and Haz's date after all."
"Nonsense," Louis brushed him off. "Harry wanted you to eat with us. Oh and by the way," he added, "I've already called Zayn to tell him I'm stealing you until tomorrow. So, I guess, you'll be sleeping in London tonight."
"Oh how wonderful," Niall said sarcastically. "I'll be treated to creaking beds, cursing, and moaning all night. I'll have a great night's sleep."
Louis ruffled his hair. "We're not doing anything like that tonight for you, Nialler." The older lad's eyes narrowed, accompanied with a smirk on his lips. "But is that really why you're feeling so unhappy to sleep here with us? Or is it because Liam's not here?"
"Louis!" Niall hissed. "Not now, please." But he was still blushing nonetheless. The older lad laughed and connected their arms, pulling Niall closer to him. Niall was still blushing when Louis muttered, "So, where did the two of you sneaked off to that night?" The younger lad's eyes went wide and found Louis smirking, eyes darkening.
Niall gulped. "I–"
"Do you have reservations, sir?" Niall didn't notice that they were right in front of the maître d'. The balding man in a waistcoat greeted them with a warm smile. "Yes," said Louis casually. "Table 12, I think. We're with the curly haired gentleman..."
"Ah, yes, Mr. Styles, this way please..." The man walked off the two of them followed him. "Mr. Styles?" whispered Niall. "Is he talking about Harry or you?"
"Me," Louis grinned. "And don't think you've escaped my question, little leprechaun. We'll be continuing our little chat back at the house, after dinner."
Niall groaned. "Could this day get any worse?" Louis chuckled but nudged his side. He eyed him seriously. "Don't say things like that. It might become real." The Irish lad blinked. There was something different with how Louis said it that he couldn't really quite get.
Seeing his surprised face, Louis smiled at him. "C'mon. I'll bet anything you'll love dinner so much as we love your cooking." The older lad gripped his hand and dragged him to the table where Harry was waiting with two empty seats on either sides of his own chair.
____________________
Miles away, in Wolverhampton, Zayn sat idly behind his office table while watching the pendulum of the grandfather clock that could be seen just outside the door swing back and forth. The clock was ticking and the sun was already setting but Liam wasn't home yet.
Despite all the assurances that both Perrie and Liam's sisters expressed to him, he was worried still. The last time he was gone this long while in London, he found himself in a bar, drinking even though it wasn't allowed for him to drink, and ended up having a one night stand with their current head cook.
Perrie knocked on the door even though it was open to get Zayn's attention. The butler didn't notice her there and was startled upon hearing the knock. "Deep in thought?" she asked and Zayn just sighed. "You shouldn't worry about him so much. Let him live a little."
"The last time I did that, he ended up doing Niall in a hotel," pointed Zayn out.
"But he's not stupid to do that a second time," replied Perrie. "He's just meeting someone."
"For the whole day?" Zayn raised his eyebrow. "I mean, he didn't even inform me he was going to London today."
"He told Karen."
"But Karen doesn't know what happened last time he went there alone."
"But the last time he went there, he was depressed," Perrie tried to reason out calmly. "And he's not depressed now, Zayn. For all I know, he's currently buried in books in one of the bookstores in the mall."
"Or in a bar, drinking–"
"For heaven's sake," Perrie snapped. "You're impossible! Why do you always have to make things so difficult?!"
"Look, I'm sorry, okay?" Zayn stood up from his chair, towering Perrie. "I'm still feeling guilty about last time. It's because of me two people's lives were ruined...and if you don't agree with me, maybe you're far better off with someone else who has less insecurities."
Zayn felt something hard hit him on the face and then, a sting of pain. "Don't you ever say that again, Zayn Malik!" Perrie was crying. "And don't ever blame yourself on those things!"
Zayn didn't answer. He didn't dare answer back. He hurt Perrie and that's all there is. When the butler was silent for so long, Perrie stomped out of his office, bumping into Ed and muttering a hardly felt apology.
"What's that about?" asked Ed, with the phone in his hand.
"Things," muttered Zayn. "Nothing to bother you with..."
"That's what you three always say."
Zayn looked at him curiously. "Three?"
"You, Perrie, and Niall," Ed waved Zayn off with his free hand. "Anyway, Frank's calling."
"Frank?"
Ed gave him an annoyed look. "Are you gonna asks questions or are you taking the damn phone off my hand?" The butler looked surprised. Ed never used the word 'damn' in front of him, neither in the work place. This was an odd day indeed.
Zayn took the phone and Ed left, leaving him with a beeping line. "Hello?" There was just a bunch of static in which he though he wasn't talking to anybody at all. He was about to end the call when Frank's voice came through.
"Zayn? Is that you?"
"Yeah," said Zayn slowly. There was something different with Frank's voice. "Everything alright?"
"No," said Frank in a raspy voice. "There's a problem. It's–"
Beep...beep...beep...
The line went dead.
_________________
"Niall?"
THUD.
"OW!" Niall retreated from under the bed while massaging the part of his bed that hit the wood.
"What are you doing down there?" asked Harry, kneeling beside him and checking the Irish lad's head if he got injured. Luckily, he didn't hit the bed that hard.
"I was looking for this," Niall held up a blue bracelet covered with dust. "I thought I lost it a few months ago and then, I figured it must've fallen off to under the bed."
"Took you a long time to figure that out..." said Harry, rather mockingly. Niall glared at him but the curly haired lad just laughed. "Okay, sorry, that was mean," he said.
"Darn right you are," grumbled Niall. "You made me sound like an idiot."
"What was that groan I heard?" Louis came in with a stack of DVDs.
"Little Nialler hit his head on the bed because he was searching for his bracelet," said Harry. Oddly, Niall felt a bit of unease while Harry and Louis talked like that. It was like they were talking about their son or something and it's creeping him out a bit.
"Tell me the truth," said Niall all of the sudden. "Are you two planning on adopting and you're practicing with me?"
"Should we have told you sooner?" asked Louis.
"Nope," Niall grinned. "Although I'm not so sure that myself is a worthy person to practicing with. Maybe it should be...um...I don't know, a kid?"
"What are you talking about, Niall? You're the perfect test phase subject!" said Louis.
"That makes me sound like a lab rat..." Niall grumbled. "But alright. Just stop being so mushy on me...it's creeping me out."
Both Louis and Harry smiled. "Okay," said Louis. "Now, how about a movie marathon?"
_________________
All that Danielle had just said seemed like the most impossible thing to Liam right now. But as he stared at Danielle, unable to speak for her revelation had sucked all the voice he had for the time being, there was that glint in her eyes that told him she was telling the truth.
"Here's your cappuccino, miss," said the waitress. Her eyes were moving back and forth from Liam to Danielle as she set down the cup on the table. "Anything else?' she asked.
Danielle shook her head. "No," she said. "Thank you."
The waitress nodded and left. Apparently, her intrusion in their silence revived Liam's voice that probably had died. He blinked and stared at the coffee on the table before returning his gaze on Danielle.
"Why tell me now?" asked Liam.
"If I had known sooner, I would have told you then, Liam," answered Danielle. "But never in my mind did I expect daddy to do such a drastic thing. Also, if I had known sooner, I wouldn't have left you in that restaurant."
"You wouldn't break up with me so you could save my family's company?" said Liam in a disbelieving tone. "What do you care if lose everything and become beggars on the streets?"
"I expected that you would react this way," said Danielle.
"Did you now?" Liam leaned on the chair and crossed his arms. "Did you expect that I would just forget what you did to me, in front of all those people, and not doubt you one bit like nothing happened? It ruined me so much that I–"
Liam held himself back. He had almost divulged one of his deepest secrets. He closed his eyes and stayed silent; Danielle sighed. "You think Perrie and Nicola never told me anything? About what you felt after that?" she asked. "That was one of the stupidest things I did in my life and would you believe that I regretted that?"
"Not one bit," said Liam bitterly. "Look, Dani, if this is some kind of...I don't know...sacrifice you're doing so we'd be okay, forget it. It's not as simple as it looks–"
"Oh, grow up, Liam," said Danielle. She sighed again for this was proving a lot more difficult that she had expected. "If I am doing this so we'd be okay, shouldn't you at least try to hear me out? Whether you forgive me or not, I don't care. You got that? I don't care."
She placed her hand over Liam's; the lad wanted to get away but he couldn't. It was like his hand was glued there for some reason he didn't quite get. "But no matter what you say of how cruel I am to leave you there hanging in despair, your family is still a part of my family. I know Ruth hates me right now and I can't blame her but at least Nicola still talks to me–"
"–then why didn't you tell her about this?" asked Liam.
"I think it's better if I didn't let her worry about this."
"And you think letting me worry about this was so much better?"
"Don't twist what I say, Liam," said Danielle. "You're the heir. I know you hear that word more than you want to but let's face it, and I know you know as well, that my father only shared a portion of the stocks of the company only because he thought I would marry you.
"Now that we aren't getting married, not even by a long shot, for sure he'll withdraw his portion of the stocks and the company will be bankrupt unless..."
"Unless I can find someone who can save the company?" asked Liam. "Is that what this is all about? A precautionary warning so we'll be prepared and my family won't go bankrupt when your father decides to take away his share of the company?"
"My family's share of the company compensates a quarter of the stocks," Danielle tried to sound less geeky but failed due to the seriousness of her tone. "If the other investors find out about it, for sure they'll withdraw themselves as well. Not unless someone fills the void."
Liam scoffed. "You tell that as if it's so easy," he said. "Like when you left me. It looked so easy to you, after all those years – ever since our last year in high school, to leave me there like I was nothing to you. And now you come here and think that your warnings will be of any help?"
"Liam." Her grip on Liam's hand tightened. "I am trying to help," she said flatly. "Whether this will be my salvation from my mistakes or not, I don't care as long as I did something right in the end.
"This is hard, even for me, to say but I think my mistakes have shown to both of us that even after all those years of saying we were meant for each other, we never were. It was an experience that showed us that not all happy stories have happy endings. But someday, and I'm wishing it will be soon, we'll have our happy ending with someone else. I don't know who they are but I hope you do find that someone who will love you better than I did – better than I still do.
"So believe me when I say that I'm trying to help, Liam. No matter what happens, you and your family are still a part of my life. I can't just stand there and watch your life crumble down."
"What if I already found that someone?" Liam whispered.
Danielle smiled. "Then I think I'll sleep better at night knowing that someone makes you happy now. I'll die a person with one less guilt."
"Don't say that," said Liam.
"It's just a figure of speech, Liam," Danielle reassured him.
"No matter what you say, you still shouldn't be saying that," said Liam. "What if I say that to you and then something happened to me?"
"Nothing will happen, Liam," said Danielle.
"You know I'll still cry," said Liam.
"But that person – that someone will comfort you if ever that happens," replied Danielle. "Liam, no matter what happens, you will always be someone special to me and I hope I'm someone special to you as well."
All of Liam's anger seem to melt away. What was left was a surreal light-headedness like all the worries in the world have been thrown away. Right now, he really wished Niall could meet Danielle. He didn't really know why but he feels that if it wasn't for her, he wouldn't have gone to that bar and met Niall.
"Maybe you are," said Liam. "Somehow, in some weird way, it's because of your mistake that I met that someone."
"I'd like to meet her sometime," Danielle smiled and Liam did as well. As much as he wanted to tell her that is was a he, Liam didn't manage to say it anymore.
Danielle finished her cup of coffee and checked her clock. "I better get going but..." she hesitated. "I'll keep you informed, Liam. Whenever I learn something, I'll tell you straight away."
"You'd really be willing to do that to your dad?" asked Liam.
"His decision is based on business," said Danielle. "Mine is based on the understanding that there are some things that money can't buy."
The two of them stood up from their chairs. The waitress said thank you and bid them goodbye as they left for the front door of the coffee shop.
The wind outside was breezing calmly and the sun had stained the sky blood orange. Nothing was ominous, nothing was strange. They walked together until they reached an intersection by then which Danielle said, "Goodbye for now, Li."
She tiptoed a bit and placed a quick kiss on Liam's cheek. Her fingers tangled with his for a moment and then, she was crossing the street. Liam turned around with a melancholic feeling as he hummed something that just popped in his head that moment.
There was screeching that can be heard.
Liam rummaged his bag and fished out his book. His phone started ringing and he fished that out as well but as he did so, his book fell to the sidewalk pavement. He bent down to pick it, not aware of what was about to happen.
His phone was still ringing.
The screeching became louder and louder.
Liam stood up and brushed off the dirt on the cover of his book. He checked for some creases on the pages and when he found none, he slipped it back into his bag and checked his phone. As he was opening his message, that was when it happened.
The screeching became louder and Liam checked what it was.
CRASH!!
Liam's eyes widened for he just saw death with his own eyes.
____________________
Zayn was in the kitchen, watching over Perrie and Ed make dinner. It was so much of a fuss that he was starting to regret agreeing with Louis that Niall could stay in London until tomorrow morning. But alas, they were almost finished.
He couldn't stop worrying about Liam still even though he already made Perrie cry and get angry at him because of what he said a while ago.
As he stood there, in the midst of all the clamor, Ed and Perrie busy with cooking and he was checking if all things were okay before letting the maids carry the food upstairs, he started to feel that something wasn't right.
After a few minutes more, they were all done and the three of them were sitting on the kitchen table. Ed was talking about something Perrie took no interest in for Zayn was in the conversation when something crashed near them.
"Oh shit!" Ed rushed down to the floor to pick up the broken pieces of the blue mug that was left shattered on the floor.
"What happened?" Zayn rushed towards him.
"I don't know!" said Ed. "This thing is supposed to be hanging there!" He pointed at the mugs that were all hanging under the cabinets.
Zayn recognized the broken mug and he became more frantic than before. "That's Liam's favorite mug!"
____________________
The movie was over.
Louis and Harry retreated back to their bedroom while Niall stayed in the living room watching some comedy shows he missed while being in the mansion at Wolverhampton. As he sat on the couch, laughing, his phone rang.
He picked it up. "Hello?"
After the call, Niall was knocking profoundly on Louis' and Harry's bedroom door. His face was full of worry and his breathing was uneven. "Louis! Louis!" he yelled and the door opened.
"Niall?!" Louis grabbed his arms, his face a little bit worried. "What's the matter?"
Niall had a hard time answering and his pale skin became paler than before. He was panting franticly until Louis shook him a bit. "Are you sick? Do we need to take you to the hospital?"
As if the last word Louis said was a spark, Niall finally muttered the words he wanted to say. "L-Louis... I-It's Liam..."
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A/N: The first paragraph of this chapter is from J. K. Rowling's adult novel, The Casual Vacancy
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