Take me Somewhere

Chapter 10

Harper stood in the hallway outside of Liam's door and continued to fold and unfold the piece of paper with his address on it. She had ridden the elevator up and then back down 3 times already trying to decide if she should let him know she was here. Every time she would go to walk back through the lobby she would think about how scared she was of Daren and then about Jason scolding her like a child in the convenience store and turn around and hit the top floor button.

"I can't do this." She jumped back into the elevator and rode back down. She blushed and hid her face as the door man laughed at her obvious lack of decision making and held the door open for her. She jumped off the curb and was just about to cross the street when she froze. Daren had his back to her and was waiting next to her car about half a block away. Before she knew what she was doing she was backpedaling and turning around and rushing back inside.

"Sorry." She mumbled to the doorman as she ran through the lobby and slammed the up button. Harper hugged herself and looked through the glass doors to the street and swayed from foot to foot as the elevator made the slowest decent it could possibly make. She jumped on when it finally opened and closed her eyes and tried to breathe as it ascended to Liam's floor once again.

Harper's hesitation was a thing of the past now as fear drove her to the safest place she knew she could go. She knocked twice on the door and stepped back and held her hands clasped in front of her.

She heard Liam call out that he was coming and a second later the handle turned and he was standing in his doorway with a look of surprise on his face, "Harper? What…is everything okay?" He stepped out into the hall and placed his hand on her arm.

Harper looked up into his green eyes and was met with nothing but confusion and genuine concern. The feeling of relief at just seeing him and feeling his touch was so overwhelming that she dropped her head into her hands and burst into tears, "He's following me." She said through her sobs and immediately felt Liam's arms pulling her into him. She buried her face into his chest and breathed in the smell that was a mixture of cologne and what she could only guess was him, "He sent me horrible photos, and now…and now…"

"Hey, hey it's okay." Liam pulled her away from him and looked down into her tear streamed face. The bruises were already starting to turn and heal but all he could see were the tears and fear, "Come on." He wrapped his arm around her and walked her through his front door and over to his couch, "Sit, I'll get you something to make you feel better."

"I'm so sorry; I didn't think…I thought I had it…" Harper's breath caught again and Liam rushed over to her with a bottle of water in his hand.

"Drink this."

"I'm not –"

Liam cut her off, "Drink. It'll make you focus on breathing." Harper wiped her face, took the bottle from him and tried a sip, "More." Liam motioned and sat down next to her and put his hand on her thigh and watched her until she downed half the bottle.

"Thank you." She said softly as she sat it down on the table in front of them and took a long deep breath.

"You're welcome. Now tell me what happened."

Harper placed her hand over his where it was still resting on her thigh and then leaned over to her purse and yanked out the paper and photos. She didn't say anything and handed them to Liam.

She watched his face as he opened the paper and grabbed the two smaller ones inside. She felt his hand tense under hers and was able to hold his gaze when his eyes shot up, "When did you get these?"

"This morning…"

"Did he drop them off?" Liam continued to look at the photos in his hand and felt his anger rising. He couldn't even appreciate the beauty that was Harper as she lay in bed with a peaceful look transforming her face because of the sick reason that it was in front of him.

He glanced up at Harper when she didn't say anything and noticed her eyes were trained on the photos as well, "Harper?"

She jumped slightly and quickly answered, "They were just in my mailbox today. There was no address or stamp so I would assume he put them in there when I was asleep or just not paying attention."

Liam resisted the urge to crumple up the paper and the photos and lay them on the table, "What do you want to do about this?"

Harper felt the panic rising just from his simple question and swallowed her tears, "I don't know…I am so scared that he might hurt someone I care about or…me again…I don't" She stopped talking, refusing to cry again.

Liam sat silently next to her for a few moments and she watched him, waiting for him to finish thinking about whatever he needed to. He finally turned to her and spoke, "Let's go."

"Go where?" Harper said confused.

Liam stood up and held out his hand, "Come on. I'm taking you somewhere; getting you out of this city."

Harper slowly put her hand into his and stared at him as he pulled her to her feet, "What? Liam…what are you talking about?"

He grabbed her purse and walked her to the door, "Stay right there." He quickly walked out of sight and a few moments later came back with a bag in his hand and was turning off all his lights as he went, "Can you take a few days off of work?"

"Uh…yes…but – "

Liam opened his front door and ushered her into the hall. He locked his door and put Harper's purse on her shoulder and moved them in front of the elevator, "Good. You can call them on the way and leave them a message; I'll do the same."

Harper let Liam pull her into the elevator as the doors parted, "Liam, what are we doing? Where are you taking me?"

He glanced down at her and stayed silent until they were on the ground floor, "I'm taking you to my family's place."

Harper tugged on his arm and dragged him to a stop in the lobby, "Daren is out there!" She tried whispering but it turned into a yell.

"He followed you here?" Liam pulled his arm out of her hand and stalked towards the doors.

"Liam no! please!" Harper rushed in front of him and stood at the exit, "I can't…I can't handle something like this right now. Please don't."

"Harper, I get it…I do…" Liam pushed his hands through his hair and willed himself to dial back his anger, "But you need to move."

Harper's large hazel eyes pleaded up at him and when she still didn't move he hung his head and sighed, "Fine. But this is the only time." He glanced at her and reached out and pushed a piece of hair from her face, "I don't know what the hell you're doing to me."

Harper blushed, "I don't know what to say to that."

Liam ran his hand over his face and held out his hand, "Are you coming with me? If you say no I would at least like you to stay here for the night, but I would really like you to say yes."

Harper looked behind her through the glass doors but couldn't see far enough down the block to know if Daren was gone, "What about Daren? How do we get out of here?"

"Is that a yes?"

Harper swung back around to Liam and just took him in for a moment; she knew what she wanted, "Yes. I'll go with you."

A small smile curved his mouth and he grabbed her hand and drug her out of the building, "What are you doing?!" Harper said as she tried to keep her feet underneath her.

"If Daren would like to join us then I would be happy to oblige him." Liam glanced both ways and then slowed down so she could be next to him as they crossed the street. Harper looked in the opposite direction they were going and saw Daren just as he noticed them as well.

"What about my car?"

Liam noticed her gaze and forced himself to keep walking towards his car. He opened the door for Harper and got her inside before she could ask any more questions and threw his bag into the back. As he rounded the car he stopped and met Daren's stare from down the street and almost laughed at the look of furry that crossed his face. If Harper wasn't sitting in the car probably breaking her neck to see what he was doing behind her he would have had a hard time not running down there and beating the s**t out of him. When Daren realized Liam wasn't going to give in he scowled and took off in the opposite direction.

Liam watched him until he was out of sight and then got into the driver's seat. He locked the doors, turned on engine, and sat back and waited for Harper to let the verbal flood gates open. After a longer silence than he expected he turned his head and looked at her and was taken aback at how beautiful she was. She was staring at him with big round eyes and the lights from the dash putting a soft glow on her face.

"What is it?" He asked softly.

She glanced away and then back at him, "Is he gone?" She asked in the same tone.

"Yes…but I won't lie to you and say that he won't be back; he's angry Harper."

"He has no right to be, he's the one that…" She still struggled to say it and not have flashbacks from that night.

"Don't worry about it right now." He sat up in his seat and pulled out into the street and headed out of town.

He saw Harper nod out of the corner of his eye and she started to wiggle around until she found a comfortable position. She was silent for about half an hour before she couldn't take it anymore, "Why are you doing this?"

He changed lanes and looked over at her, "Doing what?"

"Taking me, someone you barely know, on this random trip to save her from her crazy life."

"Why are you going on this random trip with someone you barely know to escape your crazy life?" He shot back at her.

She furrowed her brows and mumbled, "Good point." Then turned to him and waited until he glanced from the road and looked at her, "I think it may be as simple as…that I just…I like you." She quickly turned back into her seat and stared out into the darkness.

Liam grinned and took the exit out of town. After another ten minutes of driving Harper faced forward, "I don't have any of my things…and what about my car?"

Liam heard the slight panic in her voice and rushed to silence it, "We'll stop and get you enough to last you the trip and your car will be safe where it is; I'll let them know you are there as my guest so there isn't a tow."

"I've never done anything like this before." She whispered, amazed that she was even in Liam's car.

"I guess that makes two of us."

"Where is your family's place anyways?"

She turned and looked at him when he didn't immediately respond, "Well?"

"Somewhere." He said through his smirk.

"Somewhere…you're taking me somewhere?" She rolled her eyes and motioned for him to give her more.

His grin got wider and he finally answered her, "its six hours form here."

Harper's mouth dropped open and her eyes went wide, "Six hours!"

"We are almost an hour into it already; you might as well get comfortable."

"Do you plan on driving through the night? You didn't think you should have told me before we did this? I can't believe – "

Liam put his hand on her thigh and her words immediately stopped, "Would you have still said yes even if I had told you?"

Harper gently brushed her fingers over the back of his hand and met his gaze, "Yes."

Liam smiled at her and she felt her stomach flip, "So are we driving through the night?"

He held her gaze for a moment longer and then put his eyes back on the road, "No. We'll stop and get a hotel in a few hours and finish up in the morning."

Harper felt heat envelope her at that statement and sat back more firmly in her seat, "Oh." was all she was able to squeak out.