As Harry drove back towards his place he decided to take the car to the shop to get the window fixed and a new paintjob. But as he drove by he saw that it was closed and remembered it was the weekend. They would only open up on Monday.

He huffed in annoyance and just headed home, his mind whirring with thoughts of the previous night before easily settling on the uncomfortable image of Claire and Liam together. Now that he was alone he couldn't help but let these emotions get the better of him. He hadn't even realised he was soundlessly crying until he had to blink to clear his blurry vision of the road ahead.

He wiped his face with his large hand and forced himself to stop. He couldn't let their betrayal affect him, he thought. But how could it not? He sniffed and cleared his throat which turned into a groan, attempting to think of something else. Just when his mind drifted away from Liam, his eyes betrayed him as he continued to see Liam.

Harry pulled into his driveway where he spotted Liam's bruised face sitting on the front step of his porch with a duffle bag next to him. He wondered how long he must have been waiting for him but reminded himself he didn't care and hoped he got frostbite from the chilly weather. Harry got out of the car, slamming the door shut and walked towards his house with his jaw clenched ready to add more bruises if necessary.

Liam stood up as Harry made his way and took in the sight of his banged up car but didn't say anything about it.

"What are you doing here?" Harry demanded in a dangerously low grumble.

Liam glanced sideways, finding it difficult to hold Harry's intense scowl, "I tried your cell but I think it was dead."

"Just like you're about to be if you don't leave." He threatened, ramming his shoulder into him as he shoved past and up to his front door.

"Harry, please." Liam begged, turning around. "I'm sorry."

Harry turned back to him, "yeah I'm sorry too. Sorry I ever considered you to be my best mate."

"I know you're mad. You have every right. I'm not here to try and justify what I did. It was wrong, and fucked up... I know." He turned to look down at his feet feeling the immense guilt of his actions.

Harry stared at his friend still unable to forgive him. He honestly didn't know if he would ever be able to forgive him. As far as Harry knew, their friendship was over.

Liam dug into his pocket and handed him something without looking at him. Harry stared at it for a long moment before taking the familiar velvet box between his fingers wondering how he got a hold of it. Liam glanced at Harry, "it fell out of your pocket last night." He stayed silent and Liam continued, "Harry I had no idea you were going to−"

"Whatever." He cut him off, his voice now much quieter and distant. "It doesn't matter now."

Liam sighed wishing he had never gone over to Claire's apartment last night. He had decided that his friendship was more important and he knew he couldn't be with Claire if it meant Harry would hate his guts, Liam never planned on seeing her after Harry found out at the party and reacted the way he did. "Look, when Claire called me last night it was like 2 in the morning and she was hysterical. So I drove over to make sure she was okay. She was upset about how you guys ended things, I was only there to comfort her, that's all. I swear. I wasn't trying to swoop in or anything. I backed off after the fight at the party. We weren't− I was just there as a friend."

"You didn't have to be naked for that." Harry spat.

"I wasn't n− we were just sleeping. I sleep without a shirt man, you know that."

"Whatever." Harry glared at him knowing very well he could no longer trust that anything he said was the truth. Liam looked down once again with his hands in the pockets of his jacket with a look of discomfort and remorse etched on every inch of his face.

"Why did you do it, Liam?" Harry asked with condemnation. "You were my best friend. How could you do that?" He almost whispered.

Liam let out a sad sigh keeping his eyes focused on the wooden floorboards of the porch as he shrugged one shoulder, his brain was unable to come up with an answer so he just let his mouth do the work, "I... I don't know man, people do stupid things when they're in love. If I knew you were going to propose I never would have gotten involved... I'm sorry Harry, I really d−"

Harry's eyes had widened."What did you just say?"

Liam looked up at him and repeated, "I said I'm sorr−"

"Before that."

"If I knew−"

"No before that."

Liam thought. "People d−..." he paused as he realised what he had accidentally admitted. He cleared his throat awkwardly averting Harry's eyes again hoping he would just ignore it.

"You love her?" Harry asked him seriously with a look of surprise in his green eyes.

Liam didn't know what to say to his best friend right now. He wasn't sure if he should admit the truth or continue playing dumb. But he knew he wanted Harry to stop hating him and he wanted him and Claire to be able to get past this. So he laughed nervously and shook his head dismissively, "it's...it's just a saying." He scratched behind his ear but Harry knew him too well to know he was hiding something with the way his brown eyes flickered away instantly.

Harry had stilled and Liam wasn't sure if he bought it or not. The air between them had become tense once again but neither of them spoke for a good minute.

"What's with the bag?" Harry motioned to his rucksack by his feet on the bottom step. "You going somewhere?"

Liam looked down at it. "Yeah. I'm uh... I'm going back home." He peeked up at Harry's expression to see his response. "I've decided to help dad out with the business. Seems like the right time..."

Right time? Harry thought. This had come out of nowhere. He knew Liam wanted nothing to do with the family business. He was purposely leaving for other reasons which had to have been everything that's happened with him and Claire.

"For how long?" Harry asked trying not to show that he cared.

"Well dad's going to want me to take over the London branch... so it's sort of a permanent thing." He said slowly.

Harry didn't know how to feel about this. Silence followed them again when he realised his lifelong friend was leaving for good.

"What about Claire?"

Liam looked away sadly and shook his head lightly, "she was never mine to begin with. I should have never interfered."

Harry was relieved to hear that Liam wasn't going to pursue her but he was still in revelation with the fact that he was leaving for good.

"I should head to the airport." He said and picked up his bag, carrying it over his shoulder. "My flight's in a couple hours." Harry merely folded his arms with a frown and looked away from him. Liam bit the inside corner of his lip as he stepped down and he looked up at his best friend perhaps for the last time, "bye, Harry."

Liam walked away and Harry watched him go. He looked down for a moment and flattened his brows into a straight line trying to accept this closure. But he couldn't. He looked at Liam's jacketed back and realised that his car wasn't around and he was walking in the direction of the subway. He called out, "hey arsehole."

Liam turned from the footpath to look back at his friend. Harry felt conflicted about all this and didn't know if he was ready to say bye. At least not like this. "Need a lift?"

Liam looked down the road in front of him and back to Harry before nodding silently, accepting his offer.

They got in Harry's car and drove silently. He was thinking to himself about their conversation. He had no idea Liam loved her, even if he was trying to play it off. He thought it was just a fling.

"Okay I gotta ask..." Liam broke the silence. "What the fuck happened to you last night after the party? What happened to your car man?"

Harry shook his head as an angry and humourless laugh left his throat, "I don't wanna talk about it. Not yet anyway." He still wasn't over what he had to go through that night and was still brooding about it.

Liam looked out his window muttering, "now's as good a time as any." Harry knew he meant because he wasn't coming back.

He decided to tell the story to fill up their car ride and distract himself from over thinking about everything he'd just found out. After explaining the story of his car troubles and how he ended up in Blackbay, Harry told Liam about the woman and the telephone booth followed by her helping him with his injury. He told him how she let him use her phone and helped him after his call with Claire and explained the annoying story of how his car ended up in an even worse state when he got back and how she helped him get it into working condition but lost his shirt, shoes and wallet in the process. Right up to the part where she helped direct him to Claire's apartment.

Liam was shocked. "Wow." He huffed, "what a night."

"I can safely say, it was the worst night of my life. Just after the party and after the phone call with Claire, I honestly couldn't see how anything could get worse." It was true that it was the worst night Harry had ever had, although he counted the steamier events with him and his mystery woman into the early morning of the next day.

Liam awkwardly let out a guilt-laced fake laugh and the tension came back. He tried to alleviate it by speaking. "So that was the girl at Claire's." He nodded in understanding. "What was her name?"

Harry had to think about it before he realised he still didn't know. He shrugged, "she never told me."

Liam nodded. "So why'd a random chick help you? Not every day a stranger goes out of her way like that, especially in that part of town. Where was it again? Blackbay?"

Harry nodded and Liam made a noise of apprehension to the town. Harry had conveniently left out the part where she was a hooker and robbed him of all his cash. For some reason he didn't want people having a bad impression of her. She had helped him a lot even though some of it had backfired. He felt like she was a genuine person and didn't want anyone judging her like he first had just because of her profession.

He shrugged in response, "she was nice. She offered to help."

Liam looked like he wanted to ask something but decided against it. The car ride was once again filled with a still silence. After a while Harry voiced his thoughts. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"What?" Liam asked in confusion.

"You never told me you loved her." He said seriously.

Once again Liam didn't know what to say for a while. Obviously Harry could tell he was lying earlier when tried to brush his words off as 'just a saying'. "Well what good would it have done if I had told you?"

"You're right, going behind my back was the better option." Harry spat sarcastically.

Liam sighed remorsefully, "it was stupid. I know−"

Harry cut off his apology. "We were best friends Liam. We told each other everything. Why didn't you just tell me you had feelings for her?"

Liam looked at Harry before staring straight ahead of him. "Because you won. Fair and square. She picked you."

Harry glanced at Liam in confusion before looking back at the road, trying to understand. "What do you mean won? I didn't even know I was in a competition."

"I know. Neither did I. Otherwise I would've manned up and asked her out sooner... But I backed down as soon as you asked her out."

"How long have you felt this way about her?" Harry asked now completely baffled and slightly worried about his answer.

Liam glanced at him nervously but shook his head, "it doesn't matter Harry."

"It does matter."

Liam stayed quiet, not wanting to answer.

"Answer me."

He sighed and spoke almost inaudibly, "since our first class in freshman year..."

Harry turned to look at him. Liam avoided his eyes and looked out his window. Harry tried to focus on the road while taking this all in and didn't speak for a moment, not knowing what to think. His best friend had liked Claire since he met her in college four years ago. Around the same time Harry had met her, if not sooner, and he never even knew he felt this way until now.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Harry asked, his voice felt tight with a feeling of guilt as he swallowed the lump in his throat.

"Well what could I have said? It was pointless." Liam shook his head before continuing. "You asked her out, she said yes," he said quietly, almost in defeat. "You were my best friend. I didn't want you to stop dating her because of me. You guys were so happy. So I learned to just deal with it... But the more I tried to pretend like it didn't bother me, the more it did. And the more I hung around her... the harder it was to act like I felt nothing." Harry silently listened. "But I mean, whatever. There's no excuse for what I did. I had no right to go behind you back and do that."

Silence infused the car before Harry quietly spoke. "Be honest Liam. Is this why you're leaving?"

He was quiet before he forced out a laugh, "No. No, dad needs my help."

"He knows you wanted to do musical engineering. Tell me the truth Liam. Why are you leaving?" Harry asked seriously.

Liam sounded less convincing the more he spoke, "you know my dad's been pressuring me about the business for ages."

Harry shook his head knowing very well he was using it as an excuse. This had come out of nowhere. Harry knew Liam was in the middle of pursuing his career here and happy about it and wanted nothing to do with the family business, even though his dad had been pressuring him Liam had stood his ground and his father had eventually come to terms with it.

Liam admitted, "look I've made mistakes. But I know this is the right thing to do right now."

"What, fleeing the country?" Harry said sarcastically.

"No. Backing down."

Harry didn't know what to say. The rest of the ride was silent while he took in everything they had discussed. He wasn't expecting any of this. And he sure as hell wasn't expecting Liam to just disappear forever like he was about to. Harry hadn't even realised that they'd finally reached the airport and parked in the drop off zone until he had gotten out of the car with Liam. He stopped in his tracks when his senses came back to him.

Liam turned to look at Harry with his bag over his shoulder. His face was sad once again. Harry thought about him and Claire. He wondered if Claire also felt the same way about Liam. "Does Claire know you're leaving?"

Liam nodded, "yeah. Actually she agreed it was probably a good idea..." he said awkwardly averting Harry's eyes.

Harry was surprised hearing this and wondered if Liam was avoiding his eyes because he was lying or because he was hurt by this. However, he continued, "she loves you Harry. She made a mistake and she knows it. I think you should forgive her. If not now, eventually."

He stayed silent, staring intently at a piece of old gum on the path but his mind was elsewhere. Liam checked his watch. "I should probably get going." He sighed. "Thanks for the lift man, I uh..." Liam cleared his throat to get rid of the emotion, not knowing how to say bye. He swallowed. "Goodbye Harry."

It was hard for Harry to believe he would never see his best friend again. Even if he hated him right now he wasn't exactly ready to say bye forever. At least not like this; distant and bitter.

Harry remembered all that they'd been through and felt a wave of sentiment come over him and before he knew it he had wrapped his arms around Liam's back giving him a tight hug, slapping his back.

Liam dropped his bag and hugged Harry back feeling a relieved chuckle escape him and his eyes pinch as he shut them tightly. "You son of a bitch," he heard Harry's muffled voice causing him to smile.

They stood there for a solid minute in the tight embrace before pulling back. Harry pushed him, "get out of here you bloody prick," as he turned away to wipe his eyes subtly.

Liam didn't bother wiping his as he smiled softly at his best friend. "Take care of her."

Harry didn't say anything because he didn't know how he felt about her right now. Liam picked up his bag and left. Harry watched him go before getting into his car and driving towards home, letting out a heavy breath.

He wondered if he should go to Claire's and talk to her or not. At least now he knew that Liam wasn't going to be after her and there was a chance he and Claire could be together again. But he decided against it as all the hurt and betrayal came back in painful waves. He wasn't sure if he was ready to see her just yet. He was still too wounded with everything that had happened.

Harry thought to Liam's accidental declaration and his mind began pacing again. Did she love Liam?

This was going to drive Harry crazy. He decided to see Claire and confront her about it.

***

Naw what do you guys think of Lirry? I love bromances, they're so cute.

Please VOTE to let me know if you like it! When I hear back from you guys it motivates me to keep writing ❤

Also sorry if it's shit, I'm sort of just writing as I go and not editing properly. I'll edit it eventually of course (when I have the time)