no secrets this year (liam x reader)

i'm back (and punching the air)

i'm taking a break from working on vanished to write this. my inspiration and motivation for vanished is starting to lose steam because i made the mistake of not planning before i started writing it. don't worry, it isn't canceled, hopefully, i just need to take a break and focus on other stories, including ones that feature my own original characters.

this story has a lot more thought and planning into it and ISN'T just a one shot that got carried away, so i hope it flows a bit better. also, i love liam a lot. i hope that shows through my writing lol

as always, this isn't humanized and i tried to keep the reader as gender neutral as always so anyone can enjoy this story. i hope the three other liam fans in this community will have fun.

You hated the closing shift. More than most people, you'd say. In fact, you deserved a medal for being the world's biggest hater of late nights.

That, of course, was what you were doing now. You sighed as you began to lock up, checking your phone. 10 PM, on the dot. Perfect. No one else was there but you. The dark blanket of night time draped a thick quietness over the city, only broken by the occasional passing of a car. Your manager, an incompetent fool, had not informed you of what to do with the key once you were finished. You shrugged. You could always give it back to her when you came back.

Pocketing the key, you began the long and silent trek home, looking up into the dark void that was the sky. Years of light pollution robbed you of a view of the stars. You huffed at the depressing sight and picked up your pace. The sooner you got home, the better. You were looking forward to relaxing. Your limbs ached from the drab hours spent behind a counter, taking orders for customers. Perhaps you could draw a bath if you felt up to it.

At this, something cold and wet dripped onto your head. It had begun to rain.

You didn't have an umbrella. Great.

Growling, you picked up the pace, going into a speed walk as you were assaulted with a drizzle. The air began to smell of wet cardboard and motor oil as the rain dredged up old dirt and gravel from the road. You broke into a run.

"Shit!" You hissed, holding an arm over your head and squinting into the mist that the rain brought with it. You clenched your teeth. You were definitely taking a bath when you got home.

Your apartment block came into view. By this time, you were thoroughly soaked. Your paws slipped on the wet concrete but you ignored it, continuing your mad dash to the entrance. You were so focused on your destination, in fact, that you didn't see the person right in front of you until it was too late and you had eaten shit on the sidewalk.

You groaned as you peeled yourself up off the wet ground from your humiliating faceplant, wincing at the burning scrapes on your arms and knees. You could taste blood and dirt in your mouth and you spat on the ground as you picked yourself up.

With an impatient growl, you turned on the object you had run into. "Wh- H-Hey! Watch it! What's your problem?!"

You broke off when you saw the state he was in. He was a tall green backpack, still on the ground, rubbing his side and staring up at you. His body was ragged, fabric torn in some places, and he looked soaked to the bone. His expression was faraway and distant despite the forlorn glare he was giving you.

"Uhh..." Oh, shit. You didn't know this guy. You had been so sure that he was one of the delinquents that commonly hung around your building, harmless yet annoying teenagers that your landlord often ran off. The person in front of you looked like he had been through hell and back.

You were quickly regretting yelling at him.

Without saying anything, the stranger unsteadily picked himself up off the ground, turning around and beginning to unevenly walk away. You might have assumed he was drunk if you hadn't taken notice of the limp he moved with, his left leg splayed slightly out from under him as though he was used to keeping the weight off of it. You felt a twinge of guilt and jogged to catch up with him. "H-Hey, where are you going?!"