Chapter 32
-Liam POV-
I woke up early and marvelled at the perfect guy that was laying down beside me. "How'd it go? Judging by the shirtless together in bed, pretty well I'm guessing" I heard Hope smirk behind me. "Yeah, it sort of did but he's still with Kate" I sighed. "All you need to do is get him to leave her for you" he smiled. "Why are you helping me with this? I thought you wanted me..." I said and he shrugged. "I'm not gonna get in the way of my brother's happiness even though he probably thinks I'm a dick right now because of how I just dumped you" he said and I shook my head. "He'll get over it, tell Alex I went home?" I asked and he shook his head. "Leave a note, I fancy a Starbucks, come with me?" he laughed. "Okay but you're buying" I smiled back.
-Hope POV-
"I didn't know Liam slept here last night... Nothing happened did it?" Danny said, before taking a bite out of his sandwich and Dougie bursting out laughing. "I'm serious Dougs, if Tom found out that Hope messed around with Liam, he'd flip a lid" he continued. "Dad... We're still here! Nothing happened and we're not together anymore" I said the last bit quietly. "Ohhh... Interesting" Dougie said, eyeing up the both of us. "Why are you still talking then?" he continued. "Cause we're friends as well" I said, taking Liam's hand and pulling him out the front door. "We're going to Starbucks".
We gave our orders and sat down at the table. "Dad probably would've killed you if he did find out we did something like that" Liam laughed. "I wouldn't do that to Charlie... Actually, I don't know anymore, I'm quite confused now" I said while fiddling with the hem of my shirt. "You slept with him on the first day" he smirked. "Just cause you want some of this!" I laughed and he joined me. Our frappuccino and hazelnut latte arrived and both went to grab the latte. Our hands touched and I bit my lip. "I ordered that!" he laughed. "It's mine" I laughed back. He sighed and went to grab the frappuccino but I put my other hand on it. "Oh, so I don't get anything anymore?!" he said, pouting. "Nah, we can share both, I just changed my mind and want a latte as well" I smiled. "Git" he pouted. "I paid though" and he shook his head. "You're still a git".
I watched as Liam took a sip from the latte and I couldn't help but smile which burst into a laugh when he had some left just above his lip. "You've got some on your face" I said through my laughs. "I haven't" he said, licking around his lips. "You have, wanna bet?" I smiled. "What? That's a silly bet" he said, looking at me weirdly. "I bet I can make you smile, while taking it off, if you don't smile, you can have the rest of the latte" I said. "Do your worst" he said. I could tell instantly that he was trying his best to keep a straight face. I stood up and placed myself next to him on his side of the table. "Erm..." he said just before I kissed him, using my tongue wipe away the latte. The kiss lasted a few more seconds and he kissed me back before I pulled away. I gave him one look with a smile and he laughed nervously but smiled widely. "Wow..." he giggled. "Just lost yourself the rest of that latte" I laughed and he shrugged. "Oh well, it's worth one more kiss" he laughed then kissed me again. My brain mushed and I kissed him back.
A few minutes later, I pulled away because I felt eyes on us. "Sorry" he said and I shrugged. "No big deal" I smiled. "I gotta get back home now, see you tomorrow" he smiled, getting up and shuffling over me to get out. "You did that on purpose" I pouted. "Problem? Bye" he laughed. I shook my head and said my own goodbye.
-Kate POV-
What was up with that? I walk into Starbucks and see Liam making out with Hope again, like they hadn't broke up the day before... Should I tell someone? "Broke up with him yet?" I heard a voice behind me. "No and I'm not going to! Stay away from me you freak" I said, kicking him in the shin then walking away. I just needed to stay with someone at all times...
-Hope POV-
I walked around for a bit to let my mind calm down before going to Charlie's house. I knocked the door lightly and after a minute the door opened. Charlie grinned at me before pulling me into a hug. "Miss me?" I laughed. "Yeah, I love you" he whispered. "I've got a question... Are you ashamed to be with me?" I asked. "No! Why?" he answered and looked at me questioningly. "Why don't you want to tell your parents about us?" I asked. "I don't think they're ready" he said. "Or you're not ready, I'll be here when you are" I smiled and he nodded. "Wanna go to yours? We can talk and stuff" he laughed. "Yeah, sure" I said and we started walking back to mine. "What are we gonna get for Liam's birthday?" I asked and he shrugged, followed by silence. I didn't know what to say and the silence was suffocating. "Do you like Liam for real, like more than me?" he asked and I shook my head, lying to him so he'd stay with me. "I love you Charlie, you're perfect" I smiled.
The next day...
-Liam POV-
I walked to school alone after my day on my own. I had to think about everything that had happened that day. I was confused about everything and even though I had all that time alone, I'd got nowhere closer to making sense of any of it. I arrived and everyone was sitting like they normally were before first lesson. And there she was, Kate, sitting nice and comfortably, not anywhere but on Alex's lap with her lips attached to his like her life depended on it. "Hi" I sighed and sat next to Hope who smiled nervously at me. "It's fine, we're okay" I said to him. "Cool" he smiled and leaned in. "Unlucky, it didn't work" he whispered before laughing and my heart sped up a little. I just laughed back nervously.
The bell went and we walked to lesson. "Liam, can I talk to you?" Alex said, grabbing my arm and pulling me towards the toilets. "Do I have a choice?" I replied. "Nope, you were gone when I woke up..." he said. He waited for while until everyone left then kissed me but I pulled away. "I'm not some dirty little secret that you can just have on the side" I said. "Don't pretend you don't like it" he whispered then sucked on my neck, making me moan and my legs weaken and I fell into him. "Fuck you" I said, trying to leave but he grabbed me again. "If you want" he winked. "What's up with you?" I moaned, getting more frustrated. "I think you know..." he winked again then went to kiss me again, the kiss lasted a bit longer. I couldn't lie, I liked him a tiny bit like this but I pulled away again. "No, you're acting like a dick" I said. "Come on, just let it go" he smiled genuinely. I took a deep breath and smiled back at him. "That's why I love you" he smiled and kissed me again, this time I gave in to him, pulling him closer.
-Hope POV-
I smiled as I peaked into the toilets but as I turned away to leave them to it they came out and saw me. "Were you listening?!" Alex asked with his mouth open a bit. "It's fine, but you can't tell anyone, okay?" Liam said, walking over to me. "I won't! Because I'm nice like that" I smiled. Liam reached out and grabbed my skull scarf off my neck. "Hey! My dad have me that from his younger days" I said reaching to take it back. "I need to cover my neck up" Liam said. "Why?" I moaned. "Love bite" he said shyly. "Aww, how cute" I teased while feeling a slight tinge of jealousy. We all walked to our separate lessons and I walked to English but I sat nowhere near Paul, I didn't want anything to do with him at all. I would've given him a chance if he didn't kidnap me and nearly rape me. He screwed it all up himself, it's not my fault! Well, maybe a little, I messed with him and made him like this...
We all met back up for lunchtime and Paul came over. I wanted to physically be sick but I'm just going to have to put up with him, as long as he doesn't pull anything we should be fine. "So, are you and Alex serious?" I whispered into Liam's ear. "I don't know, he just came onto me in the toilets and I tried to talk to him but you know..." he whispered then rubbed the back of his neck. "So why you wearing Hope's scarf?" Charlie asked him, interrupting our whispering. "Erm, well, it's a long story" he said. "Well, I don't mind" Charlie said, his eyes darting between me and Liam. "Don't worry about it, nothing's happening between me and Liam anymore, I left him for you remember?" I said, nudging him. "Yeah, but can you still tell me, it's a bit weird" he said. "Okay okay, he's covering up love bites" I whispered to him. "From who?" he whispered back slight jealousy in his tone. "Not me, that's all you need to know right?" I whispered then kissed him on the lips passionately, he smiled into the kiss and kissed back.
-Liam POV-
The rest of lunchtime, Kate kept staring at me like she knew something was up. If she knew that I had been kissing Alex, why wasn't she saying anything? "So guys, what did you do on Sunday?" she asked, looking between me and Hope. Oh no, she didn't see us did she?! What should I say?! "I was with Charlie" Hope said. "What about before that? I thought I saw you in Starbucks" she said. The table had gone quiet and everyone was looking between me and Hope. "Erm, no, I don't think so" he said. "Liam?" she pressed and I went red. "Nope, I was at Alex's still" I lied. "Cause I'm pretty sure I saw you trying each others drink through each others mouthes when you just broke up the night before" she said and tears were starting in my eyes as Alex glared at both me and Hope. I didn't care anymore, I just got up and walked off, wiping away the wetness on my face.
-Hope POV-
"Why?" Charlie asked, looking at me with hurt eyes. "I don't know, it just happened and I didn't plan it, I'm sorry" I said and he shook his head. "So that's it? You say sorry and I'm meant to take you back?" he asked. "I don't know but what I do know is that Liam needs me, it's my fault, not his" I said, getting up from the table and heading in the direction that Liam ran off in.
I caught up to him eventually and pulled him into a hug from behind. "I'm sorry" I said while rubbing his back. "I have no chance with Alex" he sobbed into my chest. "Come on, you know you do and I'm not helping" I sighed. "You're being better than him, he just seems to want to use me" he said. "I'm not going to go out with you until I'm certain Alex doesn't care about you, I know he loves you" I said. "We'll see" he said and wiped his face of his tears. "Kate doesn't seem to like us" I laughed. "Nope, I think she was trying to make sure that he stays with her" he said. "Well, just keep trying to talk to him, I'm gonna patch things up with Charlie" I said. "Okay... Sorry for getting you into trouble" he said and I shook my head. "I kissed you" I said and softly pushed him to walk away from me.
I pulled out my phone and texted Charlie to meet me in the park near the school. I sat on the swings and continued thinking about my future. What do I even want anymore? Who do I want? Someone cleared their throat behind me and I looked. "Hey" I said. "I can't do this when I know that you love Liam, you said you didn't love him" he said, sitting on the swing next to me. "I don't know what I feel! All I know is that when I met you there was nothing but shallowness! I wanted to give up when I got bored but it never happened because there's always more to you and you understand me more than anyone else" I said. "What happens when I run out of things to keep you entertained? I'm not here to keep you happy" he said harshly. "I know, I want to make you happy as well, that's the least you deserve, I love you" I said. "No you don't Hope, I'm going to go" he said, getting off the swing and starting to walk away. I sat and waited for a feeling and eventually there it was. I didn't want to lose him for anything. I jumped off the swing and ran after him. "Don't leave me Charlie! I mean every word, I promise... I love you" I begged. "Why would you kiss Liam then?" he asked. "I don't know, I'm messed up but I can change" I said, looking into his eyes and I knew I was going to try. "I'm not ready to give us up either, I'm going to take my chance because I love you" he said but he was scared and I could tell. I hugged him and we stayed like that for a while.