So you can cut me up and kiss me harder

You can be the pill to erase the pain

'Cause I know I'm addicted to your drama

Baby, here we go again

-Back to You by  Louis Tomlinson ft. Bebe Rexha

*****

DELILAH

I finished sweeping up the hair of who could potentially, be my new boss. Joanne's expression had remained a poker face so I was unsure as to what she thought about the black and silver balayage in her hair. 

"So, what do you think?" Joanne, the salon owner asked standing up while looking in the mirror. Still, expressionless. 

"What did you think is the real question," I replied, making my best effort to hide my nerves.

"Honest?" Joanne made a serious face. "I think you're quite talented. You said you don't have any previous experience?"

"I don't, other than the practice I received in school and with some friends."

"Well, you're better than most of the girls that work here. We'll do this; I'll hire you for a temporary position for the next month, see how it works out and after that you get a permanent position. How does that sound?"

AWESOME.

"Yes, that works," I said trying to hide my excitement.

"Okay then, girl. Welcome to the family of Jo's Beauty Salon."

*****

Convenience was the main reason I wanted that particular job at that location. Jo's was a short walk to Liam's house. No matter how late I got off, I'd still be able to visit and see him everyday.

As I walked down the street, I realized I didn't really need Caleb in my life. I was content moments like this, without him. There was always drama between us but I thought that it would get better or that he wanted to try to find a solution to them. At this point, I was unsure as to why he had even followed me here.

It had been a move for us to possibly start something together and it was now obvious that nothing serious would ever come out of our relationship or whatever it was between us.

As I walked, I put my hair up in a pony tail. The sun was beginning to set and the cool breeze was exactly what I needed after a long day. My feet ached because clearly, I wasn't used to being up on my feet all day.

I took off my shoes after a while and walked barefoot the rest of the way to Liam's house. The seasons were beginning to change and it was much cooler than it had been earlier in the day but I didn't mind.

I knocked at the door, only to have Adrian answer.

"You're here!" He exclaimed, wrapping his arms around me.

"Of course," I smiled.

The smell of baked chicken filled the house. He still had that skill. Liam walked up to us and frowned when he took in my appearance.

"Why don't you have your shoes on?"

"Tired," I said scrunching up my nose.

He nodded, stepping to the side so that I could walk in. I muttered a quick thank you before walking inside.

"How can I help?" I asked him, following into the kitchen.

Liam chuckled, deep in his throat. It wasn't forced, it was the first sincere laugh he'd let out since I saw him again.

"Many things have changed, but I doubt your cooking skills have improved."

I faked offense, placing my hand over my heart. "How dare you offend my cooking skills?"

"Am I wrong, Delilah?" He asked with a playful smirk.

"No," I said with a pout. "I'm still a horrible cook."

"I'll teach you," Adrian said with a smile. "I helped my daddy cook the food today."

"Oh really?"

Adrian gave an eager nod. 

"Sit, Delilah. I'll be done in a minute," Liam said. 

I did so, only because my feet were in so much pain. I didn't want him to think that I was taking advantage of the situation but Liam seemed to be in a good mood. He glanced over at me with a small smile before continuing with the food. 

"You did your homework, Adrian?" I asked him.

"Yeah, he did." Liam said. "Do you want to go over it with him?"

Adrian stood up from the chair he'd just sat in and ran to his room without giving me a chance to answer.

"He's so sweet," I said. Liam didn't reply, only starting to serve the food. I was ready to stand up to help but Liam shook his head, stopping me.

After a while of reviewing Adrian's homework with him, Liam set the plates on the table for each of us. I thanked him and we all began eating in silence. It was much comfortable than our previous encounters and for once, he didn't seem completely angry at me. 

"Are you going to my baseball match?" Adrian asked.

"When is it?" I asked.

"Thursday at six," he smiled.

"Yeah, bud. I'll try my best to go because guess what?"

"What?"

"I think I've found a job," I said.

Liam stopped with his food midway to his mouth. "Really?"

I nodded with a smile and Adrian nearly jumped out of his seat in excitement. We finished eating dinner and after much insistance, Liam let me help out by cleaning out the dinner table. The casual conversation was flowing well, there wasn't tension in the air and for the first time in a while I felt relaxed.

Liam let me settle Adrian into bed. He didn't feel comfortable calling me 'mom' which despite hurting a bit, I couldn't judge.

I had given birth to him but was never really his mom.

We came to the conclusion that he'd call me Lilah, just as Liam had in the past. 

When I returned to the kitchen, Liam was leaning against the counter drinking a beer.

"Come on," I teased. "I didn't think dinner was that stressful."

Liam chuckled, opening the fridge and opening a beer before handing it to me.

"Celebration drink, Delilah. We made it through dinner without arguing."

"To the first of many," I toasted, bringing my glass to his.

"First of many," he agreed.

We didn't break eye contact as we finished our beers in a gulp. It had been much too long since I'd had any alcohol in my system and despite it being a single beer, I began feeling much more relaxed than I felt before.

"Your boyfriend doesn't mind you being out all day?" Liam asked as we walked to the living room.

"Caleb doesn't care for much of anything," I said, taking a seat on one end of the love seat.

"Sounds like a charmer," Liam muttered.

"He's anything but that," I replied.

"Then why are you with him?"

I sighed, leaning my head back on the sofa and closing my eyes. "Honestly, I've got no fucking clue."

Liam stayed quiet for a while and I didn't open my eyes. It was getting late and I would soon have to leave but I really, really wanted to avoid going back to the hotel. I didn't know much about relationships because, well, the most important one I'd had failed because of me and the one I was in, wasn't much of one. What I did know was that it wasn't a good thing to feel dread at the thought of seeing your partner. 

"I do remember our first date," Liam said, answering my question from a couple of days back. "At the pier. You were wearing a yellow sundress with those sandals and you kept getting pissed because sand kept getting on your feet. You were sixteen."

My eyes opened to find him smiling at me. 

"You kissed me right at the edge of the pier," I recalled. "You were my first kiss." 

Liam nodded, thinking back to the simpler times we'd lived. We could have been something wonderful, something strong and to envy. Instead we just... weren't. 

"I've always thought of you often, you know," I said. Liam raised his eyebrows, but waited for me to continue. "Every time I've been with someone or tried a relationship... I always ended up comparing them to you."

"I left that much of an impact, huh?" He asked smugly.

"You did. No one has quite lived up to my expectations after you, in any way."

"Any way?"

I rolled my eyes, hating that he was making me list everything out loud. Sure, I had started the conversation but that didn't mean I wanted to give details. By the looks of it though, he wanted to hear them.

"The way they treat me, or the special thoughts they have with me... Sex. My expectations are too high after you." I mumbled.

He seemed thoughtful for a while but the silence didn't last long. "Remember the day we had sex at your parents? The day we skipped school?" I nodded, unable to speak. That day was for sure one of the more... intense in our sexual history, there was no doubt about that.

"I told you that day I would ruin you for any other man, that no one else would make you feel like I did." I remembered. He'd said those words while we were... you know. "Guess I've lived up to my promise."

It was hard to even breathe with the tension that now surrounded us. Liam was still looking at me, his dark eyes revealing his deepest thoughts and they weren't about his current girlfriend. 

"Do you think of me still?" I asked barely over a whisper. 

"Angry thoughts," was his quick answer. "For the longest time any time someone brought up your name it was all anger and frustration until I grew numb to hearing it. Even now, I see you and it pisses me off."

"You look anything but pissed right now," I said watching how he moved closer to me on the sofa. My heart beat was no longer steady. It's like it was trying to find the rhythm it knew but in Liam's presence it forgot how to function properly.

Liam looked like he was going to touch my face but lowered his hand. "You can," I said.

"But I shouldn't."

He cupped my cheek anyways. I let out a shaky breath at the contact. I never had a reaction to anyone like this. I didn't have a long list of men after him but no one made me feel what he always had just with his smooth voice or his touch. 

"I'm pissed that you're back," he said quietly. "You... just your presence is fucking up everything that I thought."

"Why?"

"You know why," he hissed. "I haven't thought of you in years, not like this, like right now and here you are and I can't think straight."

"Maybe it's the beer," I said. He scoffed, shaking his head. The beer had nothing to do with the fire igniting between us.

"Carissa is a good woman," he stated with a pained look on his face. 

"She is," I agreed. There was no denying that. She'd helped him while I was gone and was probably more of a mother to Adrian than I would ever be. 

However, something told me that she lacked the spark that Liam had always loved about me. 

Feeling the need to show him that the connection between us was undeniable, I leaned closer to his face, placing a kiss at the corner of his lips. I saw his hand tighten in a fist on his lap while the hand on my face went back to my hair. My other hand rest on his chest, now more muscular and defined than before. 

With our faces just centimeters apart, I could sense the heat radiating from his body. The lust in his eyes was undeniable as was the battle that raged inside him. 

I leaned in once again, kissing the opposite side of his lips but this time, a hand sat on my jaw making me look at his eyes. 

"What are you doing?" He asked with his harsh stare settled on my lips.

"What you don't have the balls to do but are obviously thinking."

"I have a girlfriend, Delilah. And you have a boyfriend or whatever the fuck he is."

"Caleb is probably off with someone else at the moment," I said. "And you and Carissa, you love her, yeah. But I doubt you're in love with her."

"You know nothing about our relationship."

"I know that you never looked at anyone else like this when you were with me," I stated. He seemed taken aback with my response and I broke the contact that we'd had. I stood up, still looking at his confused face.

"You only had eyes for me, Liam. If you loved her, at least half of how you loved me, your mind wouldn't have even wandered to where it did."

"You don't know-"

"That you were thinking about fucking me against this very couch? Yeah, I know." 

"God, you're just fucking everything up!" He said standing up with fury. "You can't just show up and set everything upside down you-"

"I came back for Adrian," I interrupted. "Not for you. But, it's clear that I do still have you, even if you won't admit it." I picked up my shoes, putting them on as quickly as I could. "You don't want to see it because you're angry and I understand, I messed up. I screwed up our family. I see that, I admit it and I am sorry. But you can't hide the connection between us, it's still there, Liam. I'm not stupid and you sure as hell aren't so I know you feel it. And Carissa may be a much better woman than me, I know that."

"She is, De-"

"But she isn't me," I said. "She will never make you feel what we have together. So yes, I fucked up. But I'm here now, one hundred percent. There is potential here, between us, Liam but you have to forgive me."

He didn't reply anything, other than looking completely pissed off. I couldn't judge him. He had everything figured out before my return and now nothing was how it seemed. I'd shaken his stability up, his comfort zone. I felt bad for that yet was happy to know that he still had some sort of feeling for me. If he felt numb to me, to my presence, then I would know that there was no hope.

But he was angry and he still wanted me, no matter how much he wanted to deny it.

*****

A/N: Do you think he'll be able to stop himself?

And what about Delilah? Is this another mistake of hers or do you think she's right?

Anyways, allergies are kicking in and it's HELL. & BTW that gif though! Hahaha

Leave your thoughts and comments!

Thank you for reading :)

-Luz<33