English Rose - liam gallagher fic

18. changing of the seasons

"Ah ya bastard," I heard Liam groan in pain as I walked down the back alley to his back gate.

"What you doing mate?" I asked him, but then I noticed the paintbrush in his hand and the scraggy clothes he had on.

"I dropped the fucking paint tin on my foot," he told me, and I watched the paint roll around on the floor towards the hose pipe.

"You painting the fence like?" I asked him.

"Yeah, me mam says I don't do enough around the house so she's got me out here," he told me, sitting down on the bench.

It was one of them days where the sun was blazing and I had the day off work, and unfortunately everyone was busy. Even Liam. But I decided to visit him anyway.

"Can I help?" I asked him, and when he handed me a paintbrush I was buzzing. I always liked painting, just I was never very good at actual art.

"LUV, LUV," I heard the familiar Irish accent coming from the kitchen window. "The fuck are ye doing?"

Peggy looked at me with a smile as she done the washing up, stretching up to open the window and shout me.

"Get in here, I'll make you a cuppa," she shouted.

"Can I have one?" Liam asked cheekily.

"Feck off," she said, laughing. "You've got a fence to paint."

Liam's face fell glum.

"I'm alright thanks Peggy," I said, "I was just gonna help Liam."

"Don't help him, that's letting the lazy bastard off," she said and I laughed awkwardly. "You do more than he does."

Peggy seemed to like me. I've been round loads in the three months me and Liam have known each other and I still feel bad when she makes me tea, so I'm still always offering to help about. Liam pointed out to me the other day that she acts like I'm his bird, and she seemed to like me more than she liked him.

Peggy reappeared in the door frame of the backdoor.

"What are you doing in the window of the Arndale?" She said. "I've been battered with phone calls left right and centre asking why our Liam's bird is modelling adidas. Since when did you do that?"

"I've been doing it a couple of months now," I laughed. "I keep getting phone calls n all, telling me I'm all over the place."

"Bloody mental," she said, and then slapped my cheek lightly. "You're a bonny lass like."

"You're a bonny lass like," Liam muttered, mocking his mam as she retreated back into the kitchen and I burst out laughing. "I told you she likes you more than she does me."

"She's just taking an interest in your friend's life," I said, tutting and putting my hair up in a ponytail. "Now eyar are we gonna paint this fence or wha?"

"Yeah," he said, picking up a flat ended screwdriver and knelt down trying to drive the top of the paint tin off. Eventually it came off, flying across the garden like a ninja star in the process.

I dipped my brush in the paint, and started applying the white paint in thick strips.

The first 10 minutes we were concentrating on the fence so much that we forgot to talk, then the silence was broken by Liam humming.

"Are you humming what I think you're humming?" I asked him with disgust.

"What's that?" He said to me with a smile.

"What's that Electronic song that came out the other year?" I asked him, laughing. "The one that's like 'I love you more than you love meeeee'"

Liam joined me in my laughing as I started singing to him.