I made a slight change in the past chapters. It's just the kids ages. Not that big of a deal but just wanted to give you all a heads up. Logan (Louis/Meg's) is 8, Eva (L&M's) is 6, Dakota (Liam/Dani's) is 9, Shane (Zayn/Perrie's) is 8, Alexander (Z&P's) is 5, Maria (Z&P'S) is still 2.
KK. Read on! WARNING. It's a tear jerker and well . . . you'll see. ;)
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Chapter 25
Meg's POV
Weird phobias must've ran in the Payne family because now, I was officially afraid of my phone.
I'd gotten a call from Liam and I immediately picked it up.
"Liam?" I asked.
"Meg? What did you need?" He asked.
"But, you called me . . . ?" I furrowed my brows together, honestly confused. Was my phone like glitching or something?
"Meg, no jokes right now."
"I'm not joking, Liam, I -"
"Liam?" That was Louis. How in the world . . .
"Louis?" Liam and I both asked together, our voices merging together, filled with confusion.
"What?"
"Wait, Liam, did you call Louis?" I asked him.
"No, did you?"
"No. I didn't even call you guys."
"Yes, you did." The boys chided, in a 'I told you so' like tone, making them sound childish.
"Wait, but -"
"M-Meg?" I heard a voice choke out. My eyes widened as I gripped the arm rest of the chair I was sitting in. That was my baby sister's.
What. Happened.
She said she was going out with Alice. Had she lied right in my face?
"Ella?" I said, slowly. "Ellie, where are you? You okay?"
I waited for her to respond, say something, but I had heard a voice that definitely wasn't my sister. It was gruff and definitely an older man's.
"Hello, sweetheart." I heard a chilling voice call out to me through the phone, making my body frozen with fear. My blood turned cold and probably blue now. My face paled as I hitched in a sharp breath. I wish I was dreaming but no. This was a nightmare.
"Y-You!" I screamed, but not too loud. My kids were up in their rooms. They'd hear me and get scared. More lies I'd have to feed to them.
More importantly, this voice. I'd heard it so many times over the phone. I shut my eyes and tried to remember who it was. Think, Meg, think!
"You don't remember me, sweetheart?" He said again, almost mocking me. I clenched my fists. If anything I hated being put down. After being knocked down and being hurt so many times as a kid, it's only an instinct to get back up and stand your ground.
I opened my eyes and released the breath I was holding in for so long. A small tear trickled down my face as Louis and Liam called my name and Ellie's. Not even Liam's deep voice could calm me down.
"R-Roy," I choked out with a sob. "It's you." I slowly went into the garage, shutting the door behind me so I could yell all I wanted to at this man. "Why do you have, Ellie?!" I screamed, a new strength coming over me.
"Little Ella? Why, she's your Achilles hee,l isn't she?" I could hear the smirk in his voice. I hated how he was right. Ellie, my baby sister, was my Achilles heel. "We're going to play a little game, Megan. Mostly you and me, but Liam and Louis also."
"Just give us Ellie back." Louis growled.
"I swear, I'll kill you if you hurt her!" My brother yelled.
"I might kill her first, Payne." Roy said, slyly as I heard a loud thump and a whimper coming from out of Ellie's mouth. I tried to use my voice but I choked up. My wobbly knees couldn't hold up my shaking body and I fell on the floor and on my knees, feeling all the tears falling. I felt like a broken doll. It would take forever to try to put me back together. I tried to calm down but I couldn't.
She got kidnapped again.
AGAIN. Under my watch.
She walked right past me. I should've watched her. I should've taken care of her. I should've stopped her. It was all my fault. She walked right past me.
"W-Why? Why, Roy?" I said, not even caring if he heard me crying anymore. I couldn't anymore. My body just wanted to give up.
"Aww, Megan, dear, are you crying?" He laughed darkly.
"S-Shut up!"
"Remember when you were little? And you'd call? Saying your step daddy hit you?" He teased me, enjoying my pain and distress.
"Shut. Up."
He pressed on, all visions of my bruises and marks and beatings rushing back to me as I buried my head in my knees, still holding onto the phone and trying to keep myself calm. I was failing horribly. I was shaking and crying, like a little girl. Like I did over ten years ago.
"Roy, don't you dare talk to my wife like that!" Louis barked. "What the heck do you want from us?"
"You're the players in this game. This game of revenge."
"We did nothing wrong to you!" Liam yelled.
"You killed him!" Roy screamed into the phone, making me flinch. Louis tried to calm me down, but Roy was overpowering. His voice sent chills down my spine as I hid my face in my knees. I wanted to stop crying, but I couldn't. It was all too much.
Everything I shoved behind me when Louis and I got married and after Walter's funeral, came back at me. All the doors of my past I shut but never locked, split wide open. My memories and worst nightmares grabbed at me like tentacles, sucking me back into the madness I called my life. Unfortunately, I'd have to drag Liam and Louis down with me.
"You killed him!"
I realized what he meant, catching on faster than the other boys. "W-We didn't kill Walter! Louis and Liam and Ellie did nothing wrong to you!" I said, wiping my eyes and nose with the back of my hand as I paced around the room angrily, finally finding some strength to pick myself back up.
"It's not just my revenge. It's our revenge."
"Our? What do you mean?" Liam questioned. "Who else is involved?!" Liam was demanding to know now.
"I've said too much. You want Ella back? Come and find her. It won't be easy." He said, and I could picture his sick, twisted smirk that had so many secrets behind it. "Bye Louis and Liam. Bye Megan." His voice lingered on my name, making my stomach turn. He hung up as I curled myself up into a ball, lying on the garage floor, feeling weak and tired, and depserately wishing that all of this would pass.
I just wanted it all to stop.
Third Person POV
Louis and Liam rushed from their locations and straight to the Tomlinson's house to meet up with Meg. Both boys were pissed, with a pang of sadness and guilt that they weren't there to maybe stop Ellie from going.
Meg was an utter mess. She was still sitting in the garage, pulling at her hair and crying. She was heartbroken. She was tired. She was angry. She just wanted to hit something.
She was angry that Ellie didn't listen. Angry that she wasn't there to stop her. Angry at the fact that she sounded so weak on the phone.
Roy was already winning.
Liam comforted his sister, as she finally managed to stop crying. She laid, cradled in his arms, that sad, distant look in her eyes as Liam massaged her back a bit. She slowly slipped her wedding ring on and off. The two boys thought it was just a nervous gesture, but when she slipped out of Liam's grip and placed it in Louis palm, closing his fingers slowly around it, both boys realized this wasn't a joke.
"M-Meg?" Louis looked up, heartbroken. "Meg!"
Meg started to walk out of the garage, but stopped, hearing Louis voice again. She bit her lip, dropping her fingers away from the gold doorknob and back at her side. She turned to face him. It hurt so much to see the pain all over his face.
"Louis, I-I can't let you g-get hurt again." Meg said, every word she said hurting her. She didn't want to do this to Louis, but it just seemed best. It hurt her more than it would hurt Louis ever.
"M-Meg-"
"Louis, I can't. It's my fault. If I never met Liam and I just did whatever Walter wanted, you'd be happy and safe and . . . with Eleanor." The words painfully rolled off her tongue as she choked up even more. Constantly she was reminded of Eleanor. She hated it. She often questioned if Louis loved Eleanor more than he loved her now.
"If you didn't go to that signing," Louis growled, walking towards his wife he wasn't going to let go of. "you'd be dead by now!"
"But you'd be safe!" Meg screeched as more tears fell. Louis staggered back a bit, an expression full of pain on his face. He was speechless as he shut his mouth.
"Admit it!" She glared at him now, taking his silence as an answer. "Admit it, Louis. You know it's true!" She stalked towards him, pointing her finger at his chest. "If you were with Eleanor, you'd have that perfect little family. In-laws that aren't abusive and have psycho friends and a girlfriend who didn't have so much baggage!" Meg's chest rose and fell as she sputtered out her innermost thoughts she'd been holding inside for years and years. The only other time she confessed to anything such as this was in her journal. That's why she could never let Louis read it. It'd change everything.
Louis was heartbroken, but he still managed to say something. "You make my life more exciting, Meg. Just seeing you has that affect on me." The tears spilled over his tan cheeks as Liam watched, speechless. Meg and Louis rarely fought. This was their worst one yet.
"I never regret meeting you. I never regret becoming a part of your twisted family. I never regret helping you carry your heavy load. Meg . . ." He looked at her with hopeful eyes, begging her to put the ring back on and say the three words back. "I l-love you."
"You'd be safer without me, Louis." She said, slowly. Meg's mind was racing. She was torn. She didn't want to leave Louis or Liam at all, but she felt it was necessary.
Louis took Meg's hand and started to put the ring back on her finger but she slowly pulled back, looking away. She couldn't meet his eyes. It hurt too much.
"Megan, don't do this." Liam said, warning her about the mistake she might make.
"I-I c-can't. I just d-don't know." She admitted, dropping her hands down, feeling defeated. "I-I want you to be safe Louis. I'll find Ellie myself, but I-I don't want y-you to get h-hurt."
Louis stopped crying, because he realized it wasn't working. Meg was determined on leaving him. "Fine." He spat coldly as Meg flinched. "Do you want the kids or should I take them?" Louis put on his 'I don't care' attitude, because Meg didn't seem to care right now. It hurt. Louis felt like he'd been slapped in his face. All these years being together and wedding vows and promises of love went out the door. Their plans of their future were burned and scorched by their anger at each other.
That was Meg's breaking point. She hung her head down, blinking away tears that she watched fall to the floor. They fell down her face, stopped at her chin, and dripped down onto the cement floor.
This was all actually happening, she thought. Louis and I are actually getting a divorce. She'd only get to see Logan and Eva on weekends if Louis received full custody. The thought of never being in her children's lives, when she had every right to be in theirs, tore her broken heart up into a million little pieces. It hurt even more that if she went through this divorce, she'd never be able to see her kids, because of her choice.
The tears spilled over as she choked out, "Louis, I love y-you and the k-kids!"
"Then put the dang ring back on, Megan!" Louis shouted angrily, holding it up in emphasis. Meg saw the glittery ring. The one Louis was so excited to slip on her finger. The one she cried over with excitement. The promise Louis made to Meg. The promise Meg made to Louis. The memories rushed back.
"Through thick and thin," She whispered to herself.
"Meg?"
"Through everything, in sickness and in health, in the good times and the bad," she recited as she slowly took her steps back towards Louis, who was slightly confused.
This was one of the bad times.
Meg could picture herself in her wedding dress as she took the ring from Louis hesitantly. Louis was slightly surprised, but hid it, his hard expression still on his face. Meg could picture him in his tuxedo and his hair nicely done for their big day. She recited her promise as Louis' little smile returned.
"I promise to love you now. I'll love you tomorrow, the day after that, and the day after that. You've saved me. Literally. My Superman. I love you. I always have. I always will. You've done so much for me, and Ella. You're the first to help me with my heavy burden. I can't thank you enough for that. Thank you for putting up with the nights where I feel like a mess, over emotional, and not worth it. Now that we're together, I promise I'll do the same for you. I'll love you till the end of time. I'll pick you up when you fall. I'll make you smile when you're upset. My Boo. I love you." Meg finished, looking up at her husband, hot tears slipping out and making her face feel hard from dried tears.
Louis couldn't have been happier honestly. He wiped the rest of Meg's tears away with his fingers, slipped the ring back on her finger, and kissed it. He then went to kiss her lips as Meg's smile returned.
The two tasted each others bitter tears and both realized how much it hurt the other in their huge fallout. Louis pulled Meg closer to him and had no intentions of letting go. "Don't ever scare me like that." He whispered in her ear, his warm breath hitting Meg's neck.
"I won't, Louis. I promise." She whispered in his ear after they broke away from their long, passionate kiss. "I'm so so sorry. I was so stupid to ever think of leaving you and the kids. I'm just . . . stressed I guess. I was so stupid to think of leaving."
"It's all right, babe. I'm relieved that you didn't give up on me." He kissed her head but Meg felt like it wasn't enough. It wasn't okay. Meg had to show how sorry she really was. She held his face in her hands, stroked his cheeks with her thumb taking in every inch of her husband she almost let go of. His gorgeous eyes. His stubble when he forgot to shave. His sweet smile. She planted another long kiss on his perfect lips, pulling him closer to her. Things started to get heated until Liam coughed and Louis and Meg both pulled away, with sheepish smiles.
"Save it for the bedroom, guys." He teased, causing the two to laugh a bit. Liam came over and quickly gave Meg hug. Meg fell into her brother's arms which she was so familiar with in her crazy life.
"Meg, you know Louis and I both love you and Ellie. We want to keep you safe. I love you. I never regret meeting you at that park, okay?" Liam pulled away as they both looked at each other. Meg looked up at her older brother, a grateful look in her eyes as she nodded.
This was the man she hadn't grown up with, yet he still loved her like they'd known each other since diapers.
Liam was the perfect brother in Meg's eyes. Liam thought Meg was the perfect sister. Maybe that's why they were so close. If either of them ever had a problem, they'd call each other, no matter what time or day. That was how the Payne family was. Even the same with Nicola and Ella.
Meg tackle-hugged Liam just like old, making him laugh a bit since he was surprised. "Like a ninja Payne." She joked, making him chuckle. That was their inside joke back from when they first met and Meg confessed to Liam at the restaurant what was going on at home when he was gone. He caught her though and returned the hug. He rubbed her shoulder and kissed her head as Meg reached up to kiss Liam's cheek.
"Don't worry about Louis. I'll keep an eye on him." Liam smiled a bit at the older boy, who rolled his eyes playfully.
"Remember who has the bigger biceps, Liam. I'm-" He flaunted off his muscles with a small grunt. "Just fine."
Meg laughed a bit and looked at the two other boys.
The two boys who helped her most through her crazy life.
Never had she been so grateful for them at this moment. She hugged both of them tight until they all piled into a group hug, Meg squished in the middle, letting out a small laugh.
"Let's go save Ellie now."