Summary: A partly fluffy, partly a bit little angsty moment between Liam and Allie. Set during the engagement tour.
Allie is sometimes surprised that they don’t get caught. As the tour drags on, she and Liam go to each other more and more, all too aware that she could be on a plane back to New York in a few weeks, and he could be married to the wrong woman. They’re still discreet, but she feels the increased desperation and worry every time they’re alone.
She sneaks to Liam’s room just after midnight, moving on near-silent feet down darkened hallways and past bedroom doors. When she slips into his room and locks the door, he’s standing at the open French doors to the balcony, holding a glass of what she assumes is the red wine he’s so fond of, the moonlight illuminating him.
Allie just watches him for a moment, her eyes roaming over his slightly mussed dark hair, across the breadth of his shoulders and down the lines of his back. She toes her slippers off and lays her robe over the end of the bed, then pads over to him, wrapping her arms around his waist and resting her forehead against his warm bare skin. Liam sets his glass down and loosens her grip just enough to turn around, smiling and tilting her chin up so he can kiss her. “How are you tonight?” he asks.
“Better now,” she answers, and his face lights up.
No matter how many times she says it, it always seems to make him immeasurably happy when she says things like that. He leans down to kiss her again, one of those soft, sweet kisses whose memory she clings to when Madeleine is hanging on his arm and kissing his cheek.
Even though she’s glad for Madeleine’s nonchalant attitude about them sneaking around, and her active disinterest in Liam except in the public eye, Allie remains uncomfortably aware that she’s the other woman. She knows Liam loves her, but the fact remains that he’s engaged to someone else, and if they don’t find the traitor soon…well. Allie tries not to think about what will happen in that situation, but her mind sometimes goes there anyway.
She wants this, wants Liam so badly sometimes that it wracks her with sobs and guilt at what they’re doing and panicked thoughts of what she’ll do if she’s forced to leave him. She tries to keep it together, but on more than one night when she’s gone to him, she’s fallen apart, her tears drenching his shirt as he holds her and whispers that it will be okay, that he won’t let anyone take her away from him.
Liam leads her over to the oversized chaise lounge in the room, settling her against his chest and burying his face in her hair. One of his arms wraps around her waist, his other hand tracing gentle lines up and down her arm. It’s cool with the balcony doors open, and she snuggles into Liam and the blanket he throws over them.
“I love you,” he says quietly.
“I love you too,” she whispers back, craning her head up to press her lips to his.
She starts dozing off, the warmth of Liam around her and the steady beat of his heart under her ear lulling her nearly to sleep.
“Allie,” Liam whispers.
“Mmm,” she mumbles sleepily, shifting and curling into his chest.
“Baby,” he murmurs, and that makes her eyes fly open.
She doesn’t know why, but she loves the intimate way Liam calls her baby, especially in these stolen moments. She can hear Liam chuckle as he kisses her forehead. He knows what “baby” does to her.
“You’re falling asleep,” he says, running his fingers through her hair.
“I’m sorry,” she yawns. “I should head back to my room.”
“You could stay,” Liam suggests.
“I shouldn’t,” she says hesitantly.
“I’ll set my alarm,” he pleads, cupping her cheek and pressing his lips to hers.
He senses her continued hesitation, so he kisses her more deeply, then whispers, “Please, baby?”
Allie groans quietly. “That’s not fair, Liam.”
“I know,” he says, only half-apologetically. “But I want to sleep next to you.”
Allie sighs. “…me too.”
Liam nudges her to her feet, and she smiles at him sleepily as he lifts her up and carries her over to the bed. He lays on his side, wrapping an arm around her waist and burying his face in the crook of her neck.
“Good night, my love,” he says, lips brushing against her skin.
“Good night,” she murmurs.
When she wakes, it’s just before Liam’s alarm will go off. She lets herself lay there a few minutes longer, then slowly eases out of his arms, intending to let him keep sleeping. He’s such a light sleeper, though, that he wakes immediately, tightening his grip around her instinctively.
“Mmm,” he mumbles sleepily. “What time is it?”
“Just before six.”
He sighs, placing light kisses across her shoulder before loosening his arms and rolling onto his back. He dresses silently while she shrugs her robe back on and slides her feet into her slippers. Liam quickly checks the hallway before letting her slip out, catching her hand before she gets too far and pressing a quick kiss to her lips.
“I’ll see you later,” he says with a smile, and she squeezes his hand before hurrying back to her room.
Later that night, Liam comes to her room, slipping in without a word. He cups her face in his hands and presses his lips to her with so much heat and desire that she stumbles backwards with a whimper.
When he finally pulls back, he rests his forehead against hers. “I wanted to give you a better kiss than when you left this morning,” he explains.
Liam smiles at her softly. “Someday, Allie,” he promises. “Someday, I’ll kiss you goodbye like this every time.”