As promised, chapter 13 is here, updated just for all of you guys who deserved a quick update.
We definitely hope you like this one, it may be our new favourite chapter after chapter 11, so tell us what you think!
p.s this has been dedicated to another awesome supporter. @Kenzie_Ginger23 thank you for being so great and commenting on how much you love the story & the couple.
Your input as readers really does make us smile and want to keep writing more!
Soo back to the chapter
H&E <3
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"I'll see you later then." Liam gave me a light kiss on my cheek, and I could tell there was some disappointment in his words.
"Yeah, um- see you." I avoided his gaze and gave him a quick hug.
"Bye guys." I waved back to the rest of the boys who returned it with smiles and waves.
On the way up to my apartment I felt a lump in my throat. I had really upset Liam hadn't I. God I was so awkward. What did he even see in me?
When I opened the door I went over and plopped onto the sofa, the guilt still pulsing through me. I didn't even know what I was going to do now.
My camera was around my neck still so I pulled it off and turned it on. Whilst looking through the pictures, my stomach started to dance as I saw how happy we both looked in every photo. Somehow, Liam was able to make me smile like now one else ever had. But how was I able to make him feel that way too?
My eyes wondered around the room and stopped when they got to my guitar propped up on the stand in the corner of the room.
"God Olivia, you're such an idiot." I mumbled to myself as I reached into my pocket for my phone.
Liam had given me the confidence to play and sing in front of him. He'd somehow pulled me out of that fear. Today, he'd gotten me to pose in the photos with him, something that I had never done before. I really did owe him.
"Hey Olivia!! What's up?" I had dialled Louis' number and he had picked up pretty much on the first ring.
"Hi Lou. Um is Li-,"
"Liam here? Yeah. I'll give it to him." Louis immediately took the words from my mouth causing me to chuckle.
"Oi Liam. Olivia for you!" I heard him yell on the other end of the phone. After a few seconds of silence, Liam spoke.
"Hey Olive, you ok?" He was smiling in his words but that didn't mean I felt any better about the way I’d rejected his invite.
"Yeah I'm fine, well no, not really. I'm sorry Liam."
"Wait, what for?"
"I’ve gotta stop avoiding the things and places that I struggle to find confidence in. You've helped me Liam. You've made me achieve things. I owe it to you. So-," I took a deep breath, "are you still up for swimming tonight?"
Liam was quiet on the other end and I started to think that the line had gotten cut and that he hadn't heard me.
"Liam?" I asked quietly.
"Yeah? Yeah! I'm still up for it, definitely!" I could hear the excitement in his voice and the guilt that been coursing through me only moments ago, soon disappeared.
"Good. Tonight at around 7 sound ok?"
"Sounds perfect." the way Liam had said that sent a shiver down my spine and I broke out into a huge grin.
"Bye Liam."
"Bye Olive."
"Liam, hey, give me the phone! What have you two just planned?!" I heard Louis shouting at Liam demanding the phone at the other end of the line.
"Sorry, but I betta give it to him." I heard Liam apologise with a chuckle at the end.
"Sure haha."
"Sooo, what did you guys just plan?" Louis held excitement in his voice and I could picture him with a huge grin stretching from ear to ear.
"Oh Lou, I just kinda changed my mind about Liam's invite from earlier."
"Aah, ok then."
"Is that all you wanted to know then?" I was surprised by Louis’ rather short reply. Usually, there would be a little comment at the end. Unless, unless he was plotting something.
"Yeh, I was just curious." He was definitely smiling when he spoke.
"So, what are your plans for tonight then?" My turn to be curious…
"Well, erm. The boys and I will sort something out."
"Alright then. Well I should let you go plan with them."
"Um yeah, ok then. Bye." I could sense that Louis was distracted by something so I said goodbye and ended the call.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It was around 10 minutes until I had to be down, so I quickly changed into my bikini and went to find a loose dress to wear on top. Before I opened the wardrobe, I looked at my reflection in the wall mirror.
My eyes wondered to my hair. The dark brown locks falling in an array of curls and waves down to my waist. I started to smile remembering how Louis had told me to leave my hair down for my dinner with Liam because, apparently, he loved it like that.
Then I began to look at the area around my stomach, my hips, my waist. My skin was naturally tanned because of the Italian blood, and I guess it did make me smile. My hands went to my stomach and I tried my hardest to push the critical thoughts away. I sighed, but moved on.
My hands slid to my hips. I knew I was frowning by this point. I scolded myself. Self-confidence was such a mission. It had never been about what other people thought of me, it was what I thought. Liam's effort had not gone unnoticed. He had helped me in such a huge way, and I was starting to change the way I saw myself, but I was still doing things and thinking thoughts that were going to put me and keep me down.
I lifted my gaze to look directly at my face and into my own eyes. I had never liked having hazel eyes. They always made me feel odd and out of place. In my opinion, brown eyes were always so gorgeous, deep and mysterious. Blue were bright and cheerful. Green eyes were like magic. But my hazel pair, they were just hazel.
Stop it, Olivia. Think positive.
I snapped out of my self-pity and stared hard at my reflection. I had a body. A working body, with two eyes, two arms and two legs. I had problems I needed to work through, but none that needed to be taken out on this body of mine. And in that moment, I thought to myself, my eyes are pretty special.
After pulling out a knee length summer I reached just above my knees, I grabbed a towel, slipped on some sandals and left through the door.
~Liam's P.O.V~
A few people were leaving the pool when I arrived, but there was no sign of Olivia just yet. Would she actually turn up though? No she wouldn't lie to me, of course she was coming.
I made my way over to a deck chair and set out my towel. I took off my flip flops and pulled off my shirt, leaving the wind to sweep around me setting my hairs on end.
I stood right next to the pool in just my swimming shorts with my toes just edging over the water. The pool was now empty and the sun over head was slowly lowering in the sky. Olivia and I would have the place to ourselves, and with the sun setting, the atmosphere would be perfect.
As I watched the way the ripples in the pool reflected the light from the sun, two arms wrapped around my waist from behind. Olivia.
"I bet you were thinking that I wasn't coming huh?" she said as she hugged me.
"What? No I was definitely positive that you'd be coming." she giggled as her head was still resting on my back.
I slowly turned round to face her and took her hands into mine, intertwining our fingers together.
"Are you sure you want to do this though. I mean, don't feel like you have to so that I'm happy. It's what you're comfor-." She immediately stopped me from saying any more as her lips met mine. A spark shot through me and my body felt heated from the simple fact that I'd been completely caught off guard.
I was about turn the kiss into something more desperate but she pulled away slowly and with a gorgeous grin, she looked up at me.
"Liam, don't worry. You don't know how much you've helped me lately. You know, with all that self-love stuff. I'm still learning, but it's progress. And I couldn't be more grateful for you." Her gaze was thoughtful and I could see her cheeks glowing with that wonderful shade of cherry red.
She untangled our fingers and went over to the deck chair next to mine placing her towel on top.I saw her take a quick breath before she pulled herself out of her dress
"Shall we?" She tried to sound confident but I could hear the tension in her voice.
I was going to reassure her but when I looked from her face to the rest of her body, my breath hitched. My tongue was knotted and I felt a smirk playing at my lips.
She stood there in front of me, her arms folded across her stomach. Her hair, so lovely and soft, framed her perfectly. The low sun caused her skin to radiate with an angelic glow that sent my stomach dancing.
I heard her sigh and realised she must have thought that I was judging every inch of her. I was. But it was more admiration than judgement.
After pulling myself out of the trance that Olivia had put over under, I walked towards her.
"I honestly think you are incredibly brave," I said quietly as I reached her. "But Olivia, you are perfect in my eyes."
She slowly made eye contact with me and I saw a little sparkle in her hazel eyes.
"You really think so?" She rolled her eyes but her voice gave away a nervous tremble.
Tilting her chin up, I replied, " I don't think so. I know so."
After I said that last sentence, she threw her arms around my neck and pulled me in for a hug.
"Thank you." she finally whispered before releasing me.
"No problem. You ready then?" I asked with a smile.
"Definitely." she gave me a final confident nod before we both ran, hand in hand, towards the pool and jumped in.
At first, our laughing became muffled as my head went under the water. Soon enough, Olivia's giggles filled my ears and sent shivers of pleasure down my spine.
"Liam you can't seriously be this bad at swimming." She laughed back at me when we'd raced each other down the length of the pool. "Or are you letting me win on purpose?"
"No, I've already told you. You're a great swimmer." I laughed back feeling slightly out of breath. She was completely unaffected by the lengths we'd just swam. "But I really want to see you at your best, so you better start swimming. I'm actually a shark and you're one delicious looking fish." I flashed my teeth.
"Oh shit." I heard her laugh before she started to scream as I swam after her.
"I'm catching up!"
"Liam! You're scaring me. No, stop! I don't like this game!" She half giggled and half screamed as I got closer to her.
"Don't look back now; otherwise I'll definitely devour you!" I kept on swimming after her and saw how she began to slow down.
"No! I'm getting tired. Please Liam, stop! I'm too young to die!" She slowed to a stop and turned to face me, her cheeks pink from the swimming. But her fight wasn't over.
She splash of water hit my face as Olivia batted the surface of the pool.
"Hey! Olivia I can't see. That's cheating." I laughed as she began to splash even more water at my face.
"No one is eating me today!" She continued to joke, but I pushed on, splashing her back until I reached her and wrapped my arms around her waist.
"Well I have other plans." I mumbled into her ear as she laughed and struggled within my grip.
Eventually, she was too tired to even laugh anymore and gave in. Instead she faced me and put her arms over my shoulder and around my neck.
The sun was at its lowest point in the sky and left a golden shimmer in Olivia's eyes. I honestly couldn't believe how lucky I was. This girl, the girl in my arms, filled me with so much happiness. I had the guys, a career that I loved, my fans and my family. But Olivia, she completed me. I felt as if I finally had everything that I would ever need in my life. Olivia noticed me in thought and gave me a small smirk when she heard me sigh.
"What are you thinking?" Her voice was smooth like velvet. It caused the hairs on my neck to shoot up, and made the places where our bodies were touching tingle.
"I'm thinking... Of how lucky I am."
"Lucky?" She seemed confused.
"How lucky I am to have you."
She blushed and looked away from my gaze with a smirk. But I wasn't letting her look away this time.
"Why do you always do that? Turn away when I compliment you?" I asked softly as I put my hand to her chin and got her to look back up at me.
"Because I don't deserve those compliments." she replied quietly.
"Olivia, you're doing it again. Stop it." I stroked her cheek and watched the glowing of red on her skin beneath my thumb.
"You're right." She closed her eyes. Her long eyelashes cast shadows upon her rosy cheeks, where droplets of water trickles down towards her chin, along her neck, and down some more.
I held back the desire that suddenly tried to pronounce itself, and instead, said something that I really should have said a long time ago.
"Olivia, you know, we kind of still haven't made this thing... official."
"Hmm, we haven't have we?"
"So," I prepared myself mentally and took a breath before I spoke, "will you-, you know, be my girlfriend?"
She looked up at me with a grin as she began to nod. "You already knew the answer to that question though didn't you?"
"Well, I guess."
"But yes, Liam Payne, I will be your girlfriend." She said triumphantly, smiling like a wide eyed child in a sweet shop.
I just couldn't hold back any longer. I pulled her closer to me and grazed my lips over hers. She kissed back and sparks of energy shot through me. She moved her hand from my neck and up onto my head pulling her finger through my hair. I groaned slightly as she pulled us closer. Our kiss grew more desperate and her breath was hot in my mouth. Even with the cool water still surrounding us, the heat that our embraced bodies were radiating completely overwhelmed all sense of the cold. I trailed my fingers up Olivia's stomach and heard her suck in a breath before giggling beneath our kiss.
Our legs were tangled together beneath the surface of the pool, and I felt Olivia tightening her grip around my neck. I grew hungrier and knew that I wanted more.
"Hell yes! Save some of that for me!"
Our kiss was completely interrupted and we both stopped to look at the source of the voice. Harry.
He was shirtless with only his shorts on before giving us the biggest grin and diving into the pool. Water splashed up everywhere and Olivia laughed as it sprayed all over both of our faces.
"What the hell? Harry!" I started to shout but he wasn't alone.
Zayn took one of the deck chair as the other two The other two dived in.
"It's official!" I heard Louis yell before jumping in. "They. Are. Official!!"
Had they all been there when I was asking Olivia to be my girlfriend? God trust them, of course, they were spying on us.
"You are kidding me." Olivia said under her breath with a laugh, she was still tight in my grip.
"So you two, you're ‘together’ together now ey?" Louis asked with a grin. I just shook my head at how unbelievably cunning these guys were.
"Yes mate!" Niall said as he swam towards us.
"Sorry to barge in on you guys. But things were getting pretty heated. You might have eventually forgotten that you were in a pool and ended up drowning!" Louis joked.
"More like sex in a pool!" Harry said with a ruthless smirk.
I looked down at Olivia and saw her cheeks blushing. She looked up at me and shook her head in disbelief. Trust Harry to say something like that.
"Liam you can let go of her now. Anything that's yours is ours too so come on, share." Louis looked at me with sad puppy eyes and then looked at Olivia giving her a wink.
Both Olivia and I slowly let go of each other. But before we were completely clear separated, she whispered into my ear.
"Splash them all on three?" I chuckled at her plan and nodded.
"One. Two. THREE!!”
"Ambush!" Louis yelled as he swam back to avoid mine and Olivia’s splashing.
"That's pathetic!" I heard Harry laugh before he started to splash back sending tsunami waves our way.
The evening mostly went on like that. All of us splashing each other and most of the time, it was them picking on me and Olivia. I ended up having to shield her half the time when she was giggling too much to even stay above the surface.
We played a bit of tag, raced one another, and Lou had bought a ball down so well had a game of piggy in the middle.
This night was one of best I’d had here in Venice. I was able to spend it with some of the most important people in my life. Not only that, but spending the time with the guys and Olivia didn’t show any signs of awkwardness at all now that we were pretty much out in the open. But as it got later, Olivia made her way to the edge and started to lift herself out.
"I swear I'm going to shrivel up if I don't get out." she laughed as she jogged to her towel.
The rest of the guys watched her and for the first time, saw her in nothing but a bikini.
"Phwoar!" Louis said as he winked at me.
"Liam, you've done well." Niall grinned as he checked her out.
"Guys you're acting like animals, cut it out." Zayn said, I thanked him with a nod and he just rolled his eyes and laughed.
Harry let out one last wolf whistle before I turned to glare at him.
"Would you just cut it out?" I said with a laugh at the end as I went to splash him with water.
Harry went to splash back so I quickly swam to the side and climbed up and out of the pool to join Olivia.
She had the white cotton towel wrapped tightly around her. Damn, she looked too cute.
"I should be off now. But I swear, I haven't had this much fun in a long time." She looked up at me with the cutest smile.
"Haha, neither have I."
She leaned over and gave me a light kiss on the cheek. But as she pulled back I put my hands on her waist and pulled her in for a proper kiss, on the lips.
My head started to spin and I don't know whether I was shivering from the cool air drying my wet body or from the soft, sweet skin at my lips.
I had completely forgotten about the boys back in the pool, who were obviously seeing all of this. But I guess that's what a kiss does. It makes you focus on nothing else but the person you're with.
"Quick, Niall! I must shield your innocent eyes!" I heard Louis yell.
The rest of the boys started to laugh and I slowly pulled away and looked back at Olivia.
I finally had her.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Oh my gawdd! They are way too cute to handle! So what do you guys all think?? They are pretty much official!
Right, they definitely need a couple name. We were thinking something like Oliviam, Livia, Oliam... We need your help. Would any of these do or do you have any other cute suggestions?
Anyway, we hope you liked it and unfortunately, the next update won’t be as quick as this one was, maybe a day or two, or more… :S
There are a few things left to write about, well actually, we have loads of ideas left. Oh but one quick question, you may have noticed that things got a little steamy in this chapter. But we were wandering, should we let their relationship get a little more…intense? You know, more lust and desire and all that stuff? Let us know, and don’t forget to comment thoughts, make suggestions and possibly vote?
Oh and what did you think of the cheeky little gif on the right? 1D Swimming! :)
But yeah, thank you all sooooo much. You’re all amazing and we love you so much for the support!
Hattie and Ellie!! xxxxxxx