Born to Love You

"Liam, I'm pregnant."

"What? Arie... no... I- why? How? What!? Arie?" Liam answered frantically; his eyes wide with shock and fear that seemed to resonate off of him and fill the room, making everything so tense that you could figuratively cut it straight down the middle with a knife.

"I'm pregnant, Liam," I whispered, looking away from his brown eyes that were starting to glass over with unshed tears. "I'm carrying your child."

"No, no, no, no...." He mumbled like a mantra. My eyes welled up and, eventually, the tears freely rolled down my cheeks. He sounded so desperate for all this to be a bad dream and that hurt more than anything that I've ever experienced in my young life. That hurt more than the time my mum left me for a royal tour in Australia when I was 4. "Arie, this can't happen right now. I'm leaving for LA tomorrow."

"I know. I'm sorry, Liam. I really am." I apologized wholeheartedly as tears continuously fell from my eyes and stained my blue shirt.

Liam shook his head and wiped the tears that streamed down his face with his fingers.

"It's too late for that, Arie. Too late... Arie..."

Arie? Arie... wake up

"Wake up, Arie. We're almost there." My eyes bolted open and I breathed in deeply before focusing on the person who touched my shoulder, only to hug said person.

"Liam," I sighed with relief and hugged him closer to me. Then, I closed my eyes and kissed his lips, to which he responded very enthusiastically. "I love you so, so much."

"What brought this on?" He asked with a chuckle, "Not that I mind..."

"Nothing. Just a weird dream is all." I answered nonchalantly, but I know that Liam saw through my façade. He was just too polite to press me for further information while we were in a car with Landon and Brady. His eyes, though, said something along the lines of 'we'll talk about this later'.

"Your highness, Mr. Payne, we have arrived." Brady stated formally before getting out of the car after it stopped in front of Buckingham's entrance doors.

Liam got out of his side of the car and hurried over to my side to open my door for me even before Brady could place his hand on the door handle.

"M'lady." Liam said politely with a small bow as he offered his hand to help me out of the car. I blushed and smiled before placing my hand in his and silently relishing in the fact that our hands fit perfectly before gracefully stepping out of the car.

"Good evening, your highness, Mr. Payne." A royal butler greeted with a small bow which made me nod in acknowledgement. I wanted to greet him back, but Royal Protocol clearly said that I shouldn't socialise much with the help. Then again, it also said that I shouldn't give my family bad publicity...

"Good evening." I answered quietly, mentally telling 'Royal Protocol' to shut the hell up.

***

The party was in full swing when Liam and I entered the main ballroom of the palace, tons of well-known people all over the globe were there, drinking chardonnay, whiskey, wine, and almost every liquor and liqeur known to man.

The golden chandeliers hung on the ceiling, illuminating the vast ballroom with fine golden light. I looked towards the tall windows and noted that the red curtains were new since the old ones didn't have gold trimmings. My eyes flitted around the room, scanning over the somewhat familiar faces, before looking at the handsome man beside me whose hand was sweating profusely. He was very nervous, I could tell.

I reassuringly squeezed Liam's hand and smiled up at him. He returned my smile with a bright one that made my heart beat faster in my chest.

"Arabella!" A tall, pale, brunette, blue-eyed woman in about her late forties greeted chirpily before holding me by my arms and kissing both my cheeks. If memory serves me right, her husband's a stockholder for The Goring Hotel.

"Hello, Mrs. Schröder. It's nice to see you again. How have you been?" I asked diplomatically; glancing at Liam from the corner of my eye. He looked apprehensive so I squeezed his hand again to reassure him that everything would be okay.

"Everything's fine, my dear. How about you? I see you've got quite the gentleman as your date." Mrs. Schröder said appreciatively as she eyed Liam up and down. I clenched my hands into fists, which made my right hand squeeze the blood out of Liam's left hand. She was being too appreciative of my boyfriend.

I smiled at her to hide my urge to claw her eyes out, "I'd like you to meet Liam, my boyfriend. Liam, this is Mrs. Schröder, her husband is a stock holder for The Goring."

"Boyfriend, eh? This is the first time you've brought any of your boyfriends to an event." She said contemplatively. I looked at Liam and smiled and shrugged.

"Yeah." I mumbled and pretended to see my mum in the distance, "I think I see my mum. I don't mean to be rude, but, excuse us..." I said quickly before smiling one last time at Mrs. Schröder and walking off with Liam.

"Gold digging whore." I whispered under my breath and looked back at Liam who was chuckling.

"I thought you were going to squeeze the life out of my hand." He stated softly, pulling me close to his chest and wrapping his arms around my waist before swaying from side to side.

"Well, she was eye raping you. I couldn't take that lightly, y'know." I answered and leaned my cheek against his clothed chest then wrapped my arms around his neck.

"Is it true?" He whispered in my ear; making me feel all hot and tingly.

"Hmm?" I managed to stutter out after blanking for a few seconds.

"Am I really the first one you've brought to an event with you?" He asked softly and looked down at me.

I lifted my head from his chest and nodded, "Yes."

"Why?" He wasn't angry or anything, he was just curious.

"Because they didn't deserve to be welcomed into my real life."

"Why me, though?"

"Because you're the first one that I fell in love with." I answered with a small smile and Liam grinned at me before leaning down and pressing a light kiss to my lips. 

"'Ello, lovebirds!" Harry, my cousin, yelled in greeting; making Liam and I jump apart in surprise.

"Bloody hell, Harry. You scared us. What do you want?" I asked with a roll of my eyes.

"Can't I talk to my little cousin and her boyfriend?" He asked like the little prick he is.

"Sod off, Harry." I snapped.

"'Ello, mate. Liam right?" Harry completely ignored me and was shaking Liam's hand which made me smile instead of bitching out on him like I fully intended to do earlier.

"Yeah. And you're Prince Harry." Liam answered in his typical adorable Liam fashion, complete with a toothy grin.

"Just Harry will do. We're practically family since you're with Arie." I face-palmed and shook my head. Harry can be so... childish sometimes.

I grabbed a flute of champagne from a passing waiter and sipped a bit before holding the stem with my index finger, middle finger, and thumb before turning back to look at Liam and Harry who were getting along quite well.

"No? Really? You have to hit the ball without falling off the horse?" Liam asked Harry with an astonished tone. I'm guessing that they were talking about Polo--the sport of the kings.

"Yes. I'm serious, mate. I'll have to teach you sometime," Harry said and patted Liam's shoulder, "Arie's a bloody good player."

I rolled my eyes at my cousin, "He's overestimating my ability to play again."

"Arie!" Kate called. Kate as in Duchess Catherine of Cambridge. I smiled and hugged her before kissing both of her cheeks.

"Hey, Kate. How've you been?" I asked chirpily.

"Me? What about you? You look gorgeous!" She complimented.

"Thanks. You look gorgeous, too. Oh! Before I forget..." I looked over at Liam and Harry who were now talking about the courses they offered at Wolverhampton College.

"Is that Liam?" She asked me like a giggly teenage girl. My heart swelled with pride and I nodded. I guess you're wondering why I wasn't acting like a jealous bitch... see, with Kate, it's different. She's married to William and I know that she would never ever cheat on him. She loves William too much.

"Yes." I answered.

"He looks better in person than in all those pictures. Just when I thought he couldn't get more good looking..." She gushed quietly. I laughed and hugged her tightly.

"Kate, I love you." I said happily and felt Liam's eyes on me which made me look up at my wonderful boyfriend. True enough, he was looking at me with a wide smile on his face as Harry nudged him with his elbow.

He said something to Harry and they shook hands/bro hugged before he strode over to Kate and I. He bowed politely and I almost melted when his eyes met mine, "Your highnesses."

When will he stop being so perfect? All that's missing from this setting is a white horse and a crown on Liam's head, and then we can go riding off into the night like the lovesick teenagers that we are.

"Liam, I'd like to introduce you to Duchess Catherine. Kate, you know of Liam." I said perkily and they shook hands. Liam leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss to the back of Kate's hand which made her flustered. She widened her eyes at me and I grinned before shrugging.

"Duchess Catherine," Liam greeted politely.

"You can c-call me Kate." She answered and I snickered quietly when he stuttered a bit as their eyes connected. I also had the tendency to  stutter when Liam looked into my eyes.

And that was the beginning of a very long evening of introductions and the start of something official; i.e. mine and Liam's relationship.

Don't get me wrong, for me, our relationship had already started when we first became an' us'. I was pertaining to my family. Some of them had never met Liam prior to this event, and for them he was still 'unwelcome'. But now that they met him and were awed by him, they all accepted him as a potential future member of the royal family.

***

"They were all so amazed." I said softly as Liam and I sat down on the edge of my bed.

"Is that a good thing?" He asked quietly and played with my fingers. I giggled and leaned my head on his shoulder.

"Yes. That's a good thing." I admitted and looked up Liam who looked down at me before leaning in and closing the gap between our lips.

"I still can't believe that I bought a spoon at the charity auction. A spoon that cost £1550. A spoon, Arie." He whined quietly which made me giggle.

"Well, you raised your hand when they were taking bids." I stated and poked his nose with the tip of my index finger.

"I was going to fix my hair. Can't I get a refund? £1550 for an ancient silver spoon." Liam stated in a whiny voice which made me laugh. He sounded like a little boy.

"Well, next time you should duck before you fix your hair when you're at an auction. Just think about it this way, your £1550 will go to charity and will help a sick child." I said with a smile and he nodded before placing a hand on the back of my neck and covering my lips with his.

"Arie," He whispered breathlessly after our heated lip lock.

"Yes?"

"If I asked you to tell me something, would you tell me?"

"Of course, Liam. I would."

"What was your dream about?" He asked softly.

I sighed and bit my bottom lip before opening my mouth to speak, "I dreamt that I told you that I was pregnant and you panicked and sort of told me that you didn't want the baby. And... that's when I woke up."

"Is that all?" He whispered softly, cradling my cheek in his left hand and planting a soft kiss on my forehead.

"Yes." I answered quietly.

"Are you afraid that I would really do that to you?" He asked me in a gentle tone which made me want to slap myself for even thinking that Liam James Payne of all people would do that.

Surprisingly, I admitted the truth, "Yes."

"Arie, I would never even think of hurting and leaving you like that. I love you so much and with each passing day, I fall more and more in love with you. Nothing can ever make me love you less and leave you. Nothing, Arie. Nothing." Liam reassured me, planting butterfly kisses on my lips which made my stomach turn and twist itself into knots.

"Come with me." I whispered and traced his cheeks with my fingertips.

"Where?" He asked curiously.

"To Windsor Castle this Saturday. I want you and my parents as well as my grandparents to get to know each other more." I said hopefully.

"I... Arie..." Liam trailed of which made my heart beat wildly in my chest. And then, "....."