Scars Will Fade: A Liam One Shot
In a world where your past is always held against you, the scars on Liam's hips are definitely frowned upon.
Liam leaned against the dressing room wall, put his hand down the side of his pants and ran his thumb over the raised skin of his scars gently, like his mistakes would seep out again if he pressed too hard. People never questioned why Liam is considered 'Daddy Directioner' but then again, Liam wouldn't answer them if they did.
The fans know that Liam was bullied as a child. Everyone knows. But few people know the extent to which the bullying was carried out.
He was pushed in the halls and muttered at under hushed breaths. He was thrown in dumpsters and beaten senseless. He was tripped on his way home and ignored with no hope of a hero.
Liam had begged to be homeschooled with no luck. He would never tell his parents why because Liam was strong. Liam was strong and smart and talented, but he wasn't a bully. Liam wouldn't hurt a fly, which was why he was always the perfect target.
There was one evening that will forever haunt Liam's memories. That Friday night of year 6, Liam walked into his empty house bruised, cut, wet and all alone. An older boy had pulled him off the ground by his backpack and beaten him repeatedly, leaving him to bleed on the pavement afterwards. When Liam got up, his backpack was gone and it was starting to rain. After limping to his house for several hours the moon had taken its position in place of the sun. The older boy had no idea that what he had done would lead Liam start something he never should have.
Upon dragging himself to the bathroom to get bandages Liam tripped over something and fell flat on his face. He looked up and saw the scissors differently than he ever had before. Not as a tool to cut papers for school, but rather a form of control. Everyone else hurt him. So could he.
Liam reached for the scissors and grasped them tightly. Pulling himself off the cold tile of the bathroom floor, Liam opened and closed the blades several times experimentally. Leaning against the bathroom door Liam opened the blades and placed one on his wrist but stopped himself. Scars on his wrists would have been too obvious. The idea dawned on him and Liam let his pants and boxers fall around his ankles. Gripping the door knob with his free hand, Liam made the first incision on his hip, crying out in pain but feeling a rush of relief as his own agony overcame the rest. The blood flowed over his leg and spilled onto the floor, staining his jeans that still remained around his ankles.
"Liam?" Niall interrupted.
Liam was ripped out of his flashback and looked around. He must've looked really strange. Eyes closed, hand in his pants, groping the wall where the door knob had always been with his free hand… but Liam wasn't about to tell anyone what he had actually been thinking about. So he stood up straight and shoved his hands in his pockets.
"Yeah?" Liam said.
"Look I don't know what you were doing, but we have to go now. Concert, remember?" Niall reminded him, pointing a thumb over his shoulder towards the door.
"Oh. I'll be there in a second." Liam replied.
Once Niall left, Liam let out the breath he had been holding.
No one would ever know, but the reason Liam is 'Daddy Directioner' was because he couldn't and wouldn't let any of his best friends reduce themselves to what he had done. His mistakes might have to live in his mind, but theirs haven't been made yet. And Liam was going to do everything in his power to keep it that way.
Liam paused as he took hold of the doorknob to the dressing room. He brought himself to twist it and throw the door open, leaving the doorknob and all the memories that came with it behind as he ran onstage to perform for thousands of fans that knew nothing of his pain.