Escaped

Chapter 21

Escaped: Chapter 21

"I can do it! I'm not completely incapable," Liam snapped when I tried to help him sit up.

"Just trying to help," I defended.

He leaned back on the sofa and I laid next to him.

"Okay..." I started. "Louis and Eleanor won't be back until tomorrow and Perrie's upstairs taking a nap. So, what do you want to do?"

"There's not much I can do," he grumbled.

"Ugh!" I ran my fingers through my hair. "You sound like you're PMSing!"

His head snapped up at me.

"What?"

I nodded and sat back on the couch.

"Oh, yeah. You're almost as bad as I am." I said in a mock-serious tone.

He laughed.

"What did you just say to me?"

"You heard me, Payne."

"Okay, that's it. This can't go unpunished." He stood up.

"P-punished?"

Then Liam grabbed me and slung me over his shoulder. His right shoulder, but he still winced.

"Oh my gosh, Liam!" I said in between laughs. "Put me down!"

"Make me," he smirked.

He walked right out the front door and it took me a minute but I realized where we were going. The lake.

I felt panic well up inside me.

"L-Liam? Liam please!" I said, suddenly serious. "Put me down!"

He stopped, sensing my urgency.

"You okay, Char?"

"No, I'm not okay! Put me down!"

He did.

I turned quickly, to go back inside but he grabbed my shoulder.

"Charlotte!"

I turned to him, hoping he wouldn't notice the tears filling my eyes. He did.

Liam put a hand on my cheek.

"Charlotte.. Talk to me. What's the matter?"

"I just... The lake. It's freezing out," I said lamely. "It's gonna be cold."

"Bullshit."

Goddammit! Why did he always see right through me?

I took a shaky breath.

"I-I .. had a nightmare. It's nothing."

He looked down at me.

"Tell me about it," he insisted.

"It was here," I said. "It looked just that lake there." Why was this so hard for me? It was just some stupid dream.

I took another shaky breath and told him.

Liam put his arms around me and pulled me into a hug.

"I don't know why it's so hard.." I said. "It was just a dumb nightmare."

"Shh," he soothed. He steadied me and we walked over to the bench on the front porch.

We sat down and he kept an arm around me, holding me close.

"I think," he said after a moment of silence, "that there was always something inside you that mistrusted Benja- your father."

I looked up at him. "You think so?"

"I do," he said. "You're a clever girl."

I gave him a small smile.

"Thanks, Liam," I said. "For being there for me."

He slipped his hand into mine.

"Just returning the favor, for last night."