Annabelle's POV
I heard a soft knock at the door, three taps. I sniffled, closing my eyes and burying my head deeper into the pillows of my soft full sized bed.
"Go away Mom, I'm trying to get some sleep," I said loud enough for her to hear from the other side of the door. Obviously she didn't care, since the door creaked open, and then shut again. A few slow footsteps, then the weight of her resting on the side of my bed, somewhere near one of my hands. She hadn't said a word, but I was okay with that. Her hand touched mine, and I could feel the tears flooding my eyes again.
Today was the last full day that One Direction, the biggest boy band in the world, was going to be in the US for almost a year. Eight months, and 12 days to be exact. Now before you go thinking I'm so crazy fan girl, I'm not. The only reason I know how long they'll be gone is because I'm dating one of them. Was. Now that they'll be gone, our relationship is pretty much over with. We both agreed that long distance wasn't going to work for us. He knew from first-hand experience how trying it could be on a relationship, and that wasn't what we wanted for each other or ourselves. We'd been dating for seven and a half months, and I think I'm in love with him. It was his smile, his chocolaty brown eyes, his thick Wolverhampton accent. His quite sense of humor, paired with his mixture of immaturity and seriousness. Just thinking his name makes my heart beat a little faster. Liam James Payne. Liam Payne. Daddy Direction. LiLi. Liam.
A body shaking sob escaped my chest. Even though I knew this is what had to happen, what was best for the both of us, it still broke my heart.
"I don't know what to do, Mom," I whispered from under my comforter. I received a gentle hand squeeze, like she wanted me to keep talking.
"He's leaving, and I knew that was going to happen….I'm just going to miss him so much, and I know that you think I'll get over this, but Mom…." I paused, taking in a shaky breath. "I'm in love with him. Liam, he's just so wonderful. He made me feel things I never thought I could feel. Even though we were two totally different people, we got each other. He was the most understanding, gentle, romantic man I've met. I love him, Mom. And I don't think I'll ever see him again…" I cried, starting to cry harder.
Liam and I had said our goodbyes last night, quietly and sadly. Tears were coming out of both pairs of eyes, pain tearing our insides apart. There were long kisses, bone-crushing hugs, and promises to call, text, and Skype. But we both knew those promises were short lived. At least, that's what I knew. I think Liam did too, but he was a man of his word, so he would try. But sometimes, trying just isn't enough for a relationship. No matter how much it's wanted.
My mom still hadn't said anything. No comforting words, which I found odd. Whenever I needed to talk, she would usually jump right on in with plenty of words of encouragement, comfort, and love. So why was she silent now?
I felt her stand up, the sudden displacement of weight causing the bed to shake a little. She gave my hand a small tug, wanting me to sit up. I refused to move, wanting to stay hidden from the world for just a little bit longer. But she was insistent. Letting of a small whimper of protest, I sat up slowly, my eyes practically swollen shot from all the crying I had been doing over the past 20 hours. I sniffled again, cool fresh air sneaking into my nostrils. I kept my head down, my bronze colored curls making a curtain over my face. I still hadn't bothered to open my eyes, not yet adjusting to the light in the room compared to the darkness under the sheets.
"Annabelle" said a soft, masculine voice. My head snapped up, a shocked gasp befalling my lips. I reached up and swiped my hair away from my face, blinking rapidly. It couldn't be. I'm imagining things, he isn't here. He can't be. But he was. Liam was sitting right in front of me, looking just as heartbroken as I felt.
"L-Liam? What are you doing here?" I whispered, my voice quaking. Looking into his beautiful brown eyes, I saw red rims and that his eyes were bloodshot. They were filled with sadness, but also something else.
"The moment you left yesterday, everything just fell apart," he replied, not bothering to answer my question. He blinked a couple times, his eyes starting to fill with tears. "I panicked. It was like my heart just….shattered into millions of little pieces, and there was nothing on the world that could fix it. The lads, they could barely get me up to my room, I was such a mess." He chuckled sadly, and I winced at the thought of seeing Liam so broken. He was one of the strongest people I knew, and to know that he fell apart made my heart hurt. "They finally calmed me down enough to make me see that what we have doesn't have to end." He looked at me, and I held my breath. What?
"Liam, we talked about this. I've just started college, and you're going to be touring Europe for the next year. We're both going to have so much going on, so much to do, and you know first-hand how long distance works out," I paused, my voice chocking up again as I neared tears. Taking a deep breath before looking into his eyes, I took his gentle hands in my own. "I love you, Liam. I know I shouldn't be saying that right now, because it's going to make this that much harder, but I do." I let a sob escaped, looking away from him and wiping my eyes. "You made me feel….like I was invincible. That I really could do anything I wanted with my life. No one has ever made me feel that way before, and I know that I will never forget you did that for me. But no matter how much we want this to work; it's not possible right now. Not right now," I finished thickly, the sobs coming in earnest now.
He put two of his fingers under my chin and lifted my face up to look at him. His eyes were shining with tears, and I knew deep down that this was it. This would be the last time I see Liam, looking so sad and beautiful. It made the tears leak from my eyes faster.
"Annabelle, I love you too. Of course it's the right time to say it; we needed each other to know how we felt." He smiled a watery smile, a tear escaping his overflowing eyelids. "Maybe now isn't the right time for us; but that doesn't mean we can't be together again someday." He explained, scooting closer so we were almost nose to nose. His smelled of his favorite cologne, which made me slightly dizzy. Brown eyes met light blue, love and sadness silently communicated between the two. He cupped my face in his hands, his thumbs gently brushing away the tears left on my cheeks. We were so close now, a force pulling us to each other like magnets. I let my eyelids flutter shut, encouraging him when he hesitated. The first brush of his lips against mine sent a strong shiver down my spine; it always felt like that when we kissed: exhilarating, heated, passionate, and full of love.
Liam pressed his lips harder against mine, deepening the kiss. Our lips moved slowly and in sync with one another. He nipped my bottom lip, wanting me to let him in. I obliged, and we became lost in each other. All our love, heart break and sadness was poured into the kiss, the burning fire of passion slowly building. Soon, we mutually pulled away, needing to catch our breath.
We didn't say anything for a minute. I didn't know what to say, to be honest. Where did this leave us?
"What are we going to do?" I whispered, looking into Liam's eyes. His chocolate filled gaze held mine, seeming just as unsure of the situation as I was.
He sighed, running a hand through his buzzed haircut. He then took my hands again, giving them a squeeze. "We are going to stay in touch. No matter how crazy things get for either of us, even if it seems like it's impossible to talk, we will." He stared into my eyes, and I knew he really wanted this. There wasn't any doubt left in my mind that he didn't want to be with me. "And no matter what happens, with…..other people, we will always come back to each other, okay?" He insisted, his eyes silently asking me if I agree. I nodded, knowing what he meant. Recently he had reportedly been seen with his ex-girlfriend Danielle, but I knew that was completely innocent. The media was always trying to connect the boys to different people romantically. But I knew that there will be times where Liam would end up with someone for a night of fun. It hurt a little to think about it, but that was the reality. At least I knew that he loved me above anyone he'd ever be with.
"Always," I agreed softly, kissing his cheek gently. He pulled me into a hug, warm and comfortable. His hugs always made me feel safe from everything.
After another sweet kiss on the lips, Liam stood up from the bed and pulled me up with him. "Walk me to the car?" He asked softly. I nodded and we walked down the stairs and out the front door, where his rental black BMW awaited him. Thankfully no paparazzi were around, so we could hug and kiss goodbye without being spotted.
The tears were streaming down my face again. We weren't going to see each other for months, and my emotions were overflowing. Liam pulled me into one last bone crushing hug, kissing the top of my head as I tucked my face into his neck. We stood like this for a while, just relishing in the feel of hold each other one last time for a while.
"I need to meet the lads at the airport," he whispered in my ear, and I nodded, nuzzling into his neck for a second longer before pulling away. Both of us had red puffy eyes and pale faces.
"I love you, Liam James Payne," I said sadly, trying to hold myself together in front of him. We'd shed so many tears, I didn't want him to remember just sadness. He looked down at me, smiling back. "I love you too, Annabelle Lyn Forrester."
With that, he pecked my lips one last time before letting go of my hands and walking over to the driver's side. He lifted his hand to wave, and I mirrored it. "Bye," I whispered, biting my lip. He started up the car and pulled away from the curb, driving down the street.
I wiped my tears and turned away, walking into my parent's house. My heart was still heavy with sadness, but at least now I knew that the heartache wouldn't last forever. Liam would always be there, no matter how far away he was from me. I'm his American girl, and he's my British boy, and we loved each other. There wasn't anything that could stand in the way of what we had.
Author's Note:
Hello everyone! So this was just a one shot I thought up a little while back, and I thought I'd see what people think! I might make this into a full on story with this as the prologue, but I need reviews, people! So please do, okay? Thanks for reading!
Love and stuff,
AmazingInsight