*Hazel’s POV*

The next morning, Liam and I left pretty early from his parent’s house. Liam had some stuff to do for a few hours, but he also wanted to stock up food in his home, so he decided to leave that up to me. He handed me a card, I just stared at it. “Get whatever you think we need… do you cook?” He asked, pulling up to the curb next to a grocery store.

“Yeah, I usually did back at home…” I said.

He offered a half smile. “Well, I’ll leave the food to you then. I’ll be back in a few hours, so be sure to get everything you think we’ll need.”

He left me at store then. I was walking around with a cart, trying my best to be a smart shopper, seeing how I was only one person and needed to be able to get enough food for a while. There was nothing in his house, so I made sure to get all the necessities. It took about fifteen minutes to get through the line, paying with his card, and with everything bagged, I went outside with all the bags in the cart. Somehow he timed me shopping pretty well, because he was pulling up to the curb where he dropped me off before, quickly stepping out of the car.

“Won’t you look at that?” He asked, grinning. “I timed that perfectly.”

I let a smile touch my lips as he opened his trunk, helping me pack everything in there. In silence, we drove back to his place. There were quite a few trips involving getting all of the stuff inside the house and into the kitchen, and even bigger chore in choosing where to put everything. It was kind of funny, because we were both pretty picky about where we put everything. He’d put something in one place, but I would take it and put it somewhere else. We’d bicker over the stupidest thing, because we would both think one thing was better in a certain place, but it soon broke into laughter.

“I think…” I said, holding up a finger. “If you want me to be in charge of the cooking, I should be in charge where everything goes in the kitchen.”

“But,” He argued with the magic word. “I bought the food. I should have the authority to decide where to put everything.”

I crossed my arms, putting my weight on one foot. “Excuse me? You were the one that stranded me at a grocery store to get all of this.”

“And I paid.” He held up his hands.

“And, if you want me to cook, I need to know where everything is.” I added quickly.

Liam brought in his lips. “If you want to put everything away where you want it to go.” I said, leaning in some. “You can cook.”

It was his turn to cross his arms across his chest. “But you promised.” He said.

I let out a breath, rolling my eyes some as I leaned back against the counter, and thinking. We were getting nowhere with this argument. “We need to settle this.” I said.

“How so?” He asked, leaning back against the counter.

A huge grin came across my face as I turned my head toward him. “How about a cook-off? Who can cook the best meal? We could have the boys come over and decide, but we can’t tell him who cooked what meal. It’ll be a honest decision.”

He was getting my vibe. “And the winner decides where to put everything? What about you? Will you still cook?”

“Oh, I’ll cook. I just want the freedom to put everything where I want it to be.” I pushed myself off the counter, walking to stand in front of him. I stuck out my hand. “How about it, Mr. Payne. You up for a challenge?”

He let out the biggest grin, placing his hand in mine. “It’s on like Donkey Kong.”

-

“Seriously!?” Liam screamed at the boys. “Her over me, mates!?”

Niall held up the pizza in his hand. “Ey, people always say the easiest way to win a boy’s heart is to win over his stomach, lad.”

“I’m a sucker for pizza.” Louis moaned, taking another slice of pizza from the tray.

“Same here.” Harry said. This was making Liam gape.

“I love chicken.” Zayn said, chewing his pizza. “She knew what she was doing.”

Liam groaned in defeat. I just grinned like an idiot. “Okay, okay…” He said, holding up his hands. “A deal’s a deal anyways. The kitchen is yours.”

I did a small victory dance as I moved over to my homemade pizza, grabbing one of the last slices. “Try it.” Zayn said to Liam. “It’s really good. You’ll love every single bite.”

Liam sighed as he came up beside me, taking the slice to try a bite. “Mm.” He said, chewing. “It is good.”

“I’m sure you won’t regret having Haze taking over the kitchen.” Zayn smiled at his friend.

“I definitely know where I’m coming for dinner for now on.” Niall said, licking his fingers.

I saw Louis gape a little at the blond beside him. “What’s this, Niallers? Are you implying that perhaps Hazel’s cooking is topping off Nando’s?”

Niall’s eyes lit up in shock. “I’ll… pretend I didn’t hear that, Lou.”

Laughter followed afterward. Knowing there was some stuff to be done, I left the boys on their own as I walked back into the kitchen, ready to get everything ready. I was placing dirty dishes into the sink whenever I heard someone walk into the kitchen.

“Hazel?” I turned my head, seeing Liam standing close with his hands behind his back. “I have something to give you.”

Interested, I grabbed the nearest rag and dried my hands, shutting off the sink water. “What’s up?” I asked, curious.

“Here.” He held out his arm, a brand-stinking-new phone and card in hand. “Since you didn’t have a phone, I wanted to get you one. Plus, I’ll be leaving, and you need to have your own bank account, so I made you one.”

“How…” I started. “Liam, I can’t take this…”

“Please.” He stuck the phone and card out further, indicating for me to take it. I hated to, but I took it out of his hand. “I promised I’d take care of you. Let me do so.”

I clutched the items in my hands, moving forward to wrap my arms around his neck. The motion shocked him, but I started speaking before he could do anything. “Liam, seriously, thank you. For everything. I… I honestly don’t know what I can do to pay everything you’ve done for me up until now.”

I felt his arms wrap around my waist. “I know you’re trying to make something of yourself.” I heard him say into my ear. “Until you get yourself back on your feet, I’m here to do whatever it is that I can to help you out. I’ll be leaving in a few days, so I’ll try to help you out as much as I can. I just hope the month that I’m gone, you’ll make progress with yourself.”

I felt him pull back. His hands stayed planted around my waist as my arms lightly rested on his shoulders. He offered a small smile as he continued to speak. “Not everything is ever easy. I knew this before, but you showed me just how hard things can become for a person. I know you want to make something of yourself, and I’m going to help as much as I can.”

He reached up, brushing back some of my hair. “As far as paying me back…” He leaned forward, his face coming close to mine.

Honestly, I wasn’t sure how to take this motion. Typically, people did this when they were wanting a kiss. I almost, almost, closed my eyes, out of pure habit. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been kissed before, but he stopped leaning closer. His eyes locked with mine. “Some more of that pizza would be nice. Mind making some more?”

“S-sure…” I stuttered slightly.

He pulled back, offering a smile before stepping back and leaving the room, leaving me breathless. I turned around, facing away from the archway opening back to the sink, trying to get myself focused on the dishes again. “What in the world were you thinking there, Hazel.” I hissed under my breath. “No way would he just kissed you then and there…”

Notes

Ohhhh Liam you player!

Oh, my goodness... soooo i figured i'd better get my thoughts out there, but i've watched the Best Song Ever video I was laughing the whole freaking time. It's so ridiculous and funny that it's awesome. That's what I love about these guys they just have fun with everything they do.

Makes me jealous.

haha, jk, but i'd love to meet them. So I guess my fanny-fics will have to do until then :)