Hi everyone! For this weekly update, I thought I’d try something a little different. Think of it like a romantic montage in a movie. It isn’t written from anyone’s perspective, rather just a series of things that Liam and Georgia do together. Let me know what you think of it, because hearing feedback from you always makes me want to write more. xxx
~~~
“Good morning, beautiful.” Every morning, Liam never failed to send her the three simple words. And every morning, without fail, she blushed. It didn’t matter how late he’d been out at one or another promotion or premiere, he always set his alarm for 8:02, two minutes before her’s would ring, typed the words, right from his heart, then fall back to sleep. And it didn’t matter how many times he did it, she never failed to respond “Morning, handsome.”
They both agreed that there was no better way to start off their days.
~~~
After the initial press scare, everyone agreed that it was so much better that everything was out in the open now. They were free to go out, even free to a little PDA. But since it was Georgia and Liam, and privacy was their lot in life, it rarely extended past hand holding and occasionally, when she smelled just so or tossed her hair at the right moment, a peck on the temple that Liam simply couldn’t resist.
On a rare sunny day in the middle of September, Georgia arrived home from her normal Wednesday classes, along with her shift at Pott’s, to a note on the front door. In familiar writing, her name was scrawled across the front. Surprised, she unlocked the door, then ripped the tape off, bringing the handwritten letter into the kitchen. Neither Louis nor Harry were home. She opened the paper, revealing nothing but an address, looking like it lead to somewhere in the middle of the city. She smiled slightly, always up for a surprise.
After easily stepping on and off the tube, Georgia emerged onto the warm, bustling London street, glancing back down at the sheet of paper in her hand, then taking off to her left. She wove through tourists with high socks and huge cameras, street performers playing beat up guitars and pounding on trash cans, and upset at least one flock of pigeons on the way.
She skidded to a stop where the address should have been. Instead, all she saw was a vast expanse of green, dotted with groves of trees, benches, and dogs chasing various flying objects around. Suddenly, a streak of brown and white fur hurtled toward her, chasing a bright blue frisbee with all its might. She giggled as Hoot jumped goofily into the air, catching the frisbee seamlessly between his tiny teeth. He landed at her feet, cocking his head up at her. She ruffled his fur, then followed him back into the park. He faithfully lead her to a flannel blanket, where Liam smiled sheepishly and held his hands out.
There was a real picnic basket. It was one of the best days of her life.
~~~
He knew, and everyone around him knew, that he was falling for her more and more each day. That much was evident. But even he wasn’t quite sure just how deep he had sunk until an ordinary evening, when he kissed her goodnight, and consequently those three little words just slipped out.
He didn’t mean to whisper them in the relative darkness on the front stoop of her building. He had envisioned daisies (because ironically, she believed they were more romantic than any roses), complex plans, and deep declarations. He had wanted it to be just so. Things didn’t exactly go as planned, and he cursed his words and his mind that became so feeble when he was kissing her.
And, judging by her stricken look, she was fully unprepared as well. Which should have made him feel better. But it didn’t, because she spun on her heel and ran inside, without a backwards glance. He stood there for ages, at an absolute loss. Obviously he couldn’t take the words back, even if he had wanted to, and she obviously wasn’t ready to hear them either. But he didn’t want to take them back, thus, he had needed a plan, quick, The plotter himself. So Liam began running home, dialing Louis and simultaneously dodging cars, pedestrians, and the odd stray cat.
Louis’ voice calmed Liam, and his idea, though simple, seemed like it would do the trick. It had been almost half a year since Liam had first met Georgia, and he’d been dying, ever since he first saw her round the sterile corner in Heathrow’s hall, to be completely candid with her. It was always one thing or another that hindered complete honesty between them, but not this time. The walls were coming down.
So, three days later, after exactly two unpleasantly one-sided conversations, Liam did something that he never thought he would do. He walked up to her apartment, completely unannounced, knocked on the door, then waited with bated breath. Louis opened it slowly, face lighting up. He called to Harry, and Liam ushered them, mischievous smiles and all, into the hallway, both giving Liam respective thumbs ups and air hugs. He rolled his eyes and waved them away, letting his thoughts wander for a second. Finally, he squared his shoulders and strolled purposefully and nonchalantly into the kitchen, where he knew she would be.
A cloud of flour greeted him at the doorway, and he immediately saw that there was indeed truth to the old adage “Cooking up a storm.” He chuckled slightly to himself, eyes moving to her face, which was covered in flour, and then her arms, which, from the elbow down, were plunged into sticky dough.
As he subtly cleared his throat, she spun around with a surprised shriek, tossing the enormous metal bowl into the air, where it flew for endless seconds, seemingly weightless. Their eyes met from across the room, panic flashing across both sets, and they winced outwardly as it clattered to the floor. Eyes meeting again, they looked from the bowl, whose dough was bubbling out like “The Blob,” and back. Suddenly, a great burst of laughter spurted from each of their stomachs. She shook silently, and he scrunched his eyes, and for a few happy minutes they leaned against the counter, gasping for breath.
When finally the bowl was clean, the floor mopped and the flour wiped off the ceiling, the heaviness settled back between them, tangible as she pointedly avoided his intent gaze.
He half-reached for her, saying her name. She had glanced shyly at him. The question in his eyes must have been evident, because she simply said.
“I don’t trust that word. I don’t even know why someone would be ‘in love’ with me. Its stupid, I know.” She sighed brokenly. It was the first time she appeared so vulnerable to him. He’d seen her sad before, for obvious reasons, and frustrated, disappointed, hurt, and a thousand other variants, but never had she shared something so intimate and personal. She felt herself unlovable. And nothing she could have said would have shocked him more. He slowly, gently, went to her side, brushing a stray corkscrew out of her beautiful eyes.
“Why would someone be in love with you? Do you really want to know, love?” He almost whispered, not trusting his voice. She looked at her slightly in-turned feet, neck turning crimson.
“I love you for a million little reasons, and more each day. Of course, you’re beautiful, too beautiful for me and that’s why I’ll never understand why you chose me, but I’ll always be grateful.” She looked up, seemingly to protest, but he held up a hand. “Let me finish, don’t steal my thunder!”
He cleared his throat and continued, voice growing stronger. “But I love you more because you’re kind and smart and funny and unabashedly so. And because you can’t ever sleep, and you never blame it on the tea, but you always drink tea right before bed. Which is silly, but I do it too and maybe that’s why I love it. Because you cut the crusts off of your sandwiches like a five-year old, and besides that you’re not embarrassed by it. Because you’re selfless and you’d never talk about yourself if I didn’t make it a point to ask, so every detail feels like gold. Because you quote movies in every conversation, weird indie movies that no one’s ever heard of, and no matter how many times you say you’re going to stop, you will always bite your nails. Even if you don’t realize it, when you’re sad you play ‘Here Comes the Sun.’ Over and over. I love you. I love you. I love you. I don’t want to take it back.”
Tears. Pause.
“I love you, too.”
~~~
She turned another year on October 21st, and she told him for weeks that she didn’t want anything from him. She knew that she couldn’t stop Louis’ party plans, him being like a tornado, but from Liam she desired nothing but his company. So she suffered amiably through the “surprise” party held in her honor on the night before her birthday, the room filled with people, only some of which she actually knew. She received many things that night, but especially treasured were the book of pictures, notes and doodles the boys had compiled for her, a second-edition Dickens from Paul, and from Mari, a canvas that burst with color, photos, paint, words and songs.
When she woke the morning of the 21st, all the presents were resting on a low shelf directly across from her bed. She smiled to herself, not feeling distinctly eighteen at all, but instead a sense of gratefulness for her friends. Liam had insisted upon giving her his present on her actual birthday, which annoyed her because she’d told him not to get her anything. But when she woke at exactly 8:04, there was a little present, wrapped in tissue paper, sitting on her bedside table. It read; “Open at 8:06 and NO cheating!”
Impatiently, she obeyed. And as the hours wore on and little tissue paper gifts began appearing at 9:06, 10:06, 11:06, and so forth, his seemingly innocent questions about what exact time she was born began to make sense. She hadn’t even known, so he’d made her phone her mum and find out.
At 1:06 P.M., Georgia had a glass figurine from Venice, which was her favorite place in the world, a small American flag (a running joke between her and Liam), a phone case with the cast of Friends decorating the back, a pocket sized cupcake cookbook, and a photo of the two of them from the night of the charity event, pre-fallout.
Since she was born at 1:06, Liam actually showed up with the present, which were the keys to Harry’s car and a choice of eating in any restaurant of her choosing. She chose their coffee shop, whose sandwiches were to die for.
And so it continued for the rest of the day, the presents growing steadily larger until, at 8:06 P.M., Liam showed up again, holding a large box in his hand. She giggled as he pretended to stagger under the weight of it, because when he handed it to her, suddenly sheepish, it weighed little more than a stack of paper. Setting the box, which came to her knees, on the floor, she carefully untied the ribbon and peeled off the tissue paper. Upon opening the box, she revealed another box. Looking up at Liam with only a bit of annoyance, he urged her on. And box after box was discarded. Finally, all she had left was an envelope.
She looked skeptically at him, but he was looking at the floor. Shrugging, she gently tugged open the manila fold. Overturning the envelope, two pieces of paper fluttered into her outstretched hand.
Airline tickets. On a plane that departed 12/28 at 8:47 A.M. To Venice, Italy. Her mouth dropped.
“Would you want to go w-with me?” Liam asked, finally meeting her eyes. She closed her blue orbs, imagining fireworks over St. Mark’s Square on New Year’s, hot chocolate strolls down the narrow passageways, fingers intertwined, and the cheerful people, bundled up and smiling as they passed.
“I don’t know what to say-” She trailed off, amazed.
“Just say yes.”
Needless to say, she did.
~~~
The nights were beginning to drop in temperature. The days were mild enough for jumpers but not quite to London’s winter. Georgia led Liam through blocks and blocks of back streets, following directions hastily scribbled on the back of a receipt.
They stopped in front of a bookstore that, if the word hovel was looked up in the dictionary, this bookstore would be just beside it. Liam laughed and shared in her excitement, following her inside and inadvertently getting lost in the rows of hardbound classics, paperbacks, dictionaries, almanacs, travel guides, bibles and reference guides.
They left with £ 72 worth of books, piled high and held under their chins, giggling all the way home.
~~~
Fall was his favorite season, while winter topped the list as hers. For him, though, she allowed herself to be dragged through the city on various excursions all to “drink in the beauty that is fall.”
So Liam took her to the secret playground for the first time since that rainy night and, along with the rest of the boys and Louis’ new girlfriend Eleanor, they armed themselves with rakes. Then they spent hours raking and jumping and raking and jumping until it was growing dark outside and there were too many leaves hidden in Georgia’s curls to count.
Then she surprised him by taking him shopping for pumpkins to decorate for Halloween. It was his second favorite holiday, after Christmas of course, and they drank pumpkin spice coffee and picked out matching pumpkins, holding hands and wearing matching scarves. The press had a heyday with it, and surprisingly management encouraged the circulation of the pictures with captions like “A Scarf and A Pumpkin- The Way to Liam Payne’s Heart?” And they laughed for at least a week.
She taught him how to make pumpkin pie and spiced muffins and soup. He wanted chocolate, but she argued that these were hearty fall foods, and he needed to try them with an open mind. He chopped potatoes and ground nutmeg and sampled like a sport, consequently adding almost ten new dishes to his “List of Liam’s Favorites.”
She tried to explain to him why she was so fond of the American football team near her old home in America, and why she made Amelia send her updates on their games on Saturdays through the fall. It was beyond him, but he cheered with her in their triumphs and bemoaned their defeats.
On Halloween they went to a party with Liam’s best friend Andy. He and Georgia got on well, and so the night was a success. Liam and Georgia dressed as, of course, a prince and his princess, and all night people whispered about how utterly perfect they were for each other, dancing in their matching costumes.
~~~
They took a road trip on one of Georgia’s long weekends to Liam’s hometown. They borrowed Harry’s car, since it had the most room, and spent the majority of the trip playing never have I ever and singing along to the mix CD they had collaborated in making. She sat with her feet propped up on the dashboard, watching the countryside roll outside the window and trying to quell her growing nerves. Meeting his parents for the first time and she was unspeakably overwhelmed.
He spent the ride stealing glances at her, holding her hand tightly over the console, and trying to think of ways to ease the nerves that he felt rolling off of her.
By the time they pulled into Liam’s parents’ house, she was quite literally a nervous wreck. She had shredded the list of songs from the Mix tape, now confetti in her hands, and all of her nails were bitten down to the quick. Glancing over at her, he placed a series of kisses trailing down her temple, feeling her shoulders relax. He squeezed her hand and gave her a quick smile, then jumped out of the car and raced around to open her door, which for once she let him do.
His mum came running out of the front door, calling out in her proper voice to her baby. His face lit up when he saw her, picking her up and swinging her around in a bear hug. Georgia thought about how her mother always told her how much you can tell about a man by the way they treat their mother. Liam treated his like pure gold. He put her down, smiling from ear to ear and making Georgia smirk with the way his eyes crinkled, almost shut.
Then he turned to her. She straightened the edge of her jumper and the collar of her blouse, suddenly wishing she had worn something other than jeans. He made the customary introductions, and Georgia properly held out a hand to shake, her ‘Pleased to meet you’ poised and ready. She was intensely surprised when Mrs. Payne grabbed her in a feminine interpretation of Liam’s signature bear hug, tightly wrapping her arms around Georgia’s shorter shoulders. Immediately, being a a hugger herself, Georgia returned the gesture, laughing at how nervous she had been and wondering where all the qualms went.
When she was finally released from the embrace, Mrs. Payne and Georgia stood glancing at one another. Georgia broke the ice.
“Hello, Mrs. Payne, I’m so pleased to finally meet you. I’ve heard so many wonderful things about you.”
“Oh, darling. You call me Karen. Please. Liam simply will not shut up about you, day in and day out. So you could say I’m pleased that you’re just as pretty standing here as you are in the pictures!”
Georgia flushed crimson, and Karen laughed and ushered them inside, making Liam shoulder all the bags like ‘the gentleman I raised him to be.’
For a weekend, Georgia laughed more than she ever had, especially once Liam’s two sisters and baby pictures came into the cozy house. Liam’s mother fed them almost six full meals a day, and he showed her around his hometown, giving anecdotal evidence of a fully and happy, albeit clumsy childhood.
When they left on Sunday, Karen made them promise to make this a tradition.
~~~
And fall segued into winter, almost seamlessly, layers of frost forming at the same rate that layers were added to their daily outfits.
Georgia and Liam had been together almost three months, and though everything was perfect, they both had that feeling that everything was too good to be true.
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So I hope you liked it!! Leave feedback if you have any. Also, I want to get to know you guys better. Comment below where you're from, if you like, and we can strike up a conversation. I love you all. xxxx