Didnt see it coming || Liam O'donovan

Chapter forty-one

•Liam's POV
I was in the kitchen with Frank and Tracy,sitting in silence until Tracy finally said
"Neither of you told me why you broke up."
I didn't reply.
"Liam" she sounded serious so I looked up at her-she looked serious too. "Couples break up all the time,it's normal,but I genuinely believe Riley had every right to storm out of here. You weren't there-you didn't see just how much it affected her. I'm not taking sides at all, but you knew about her struggles better than anyone else so surely,you would have known how it'd affect her. You're allowed to drift apart,but you two were unlike any other couple,no one saw it coming. Which is why I've been wondering all this time if it was just something small that could have been solved but instead you decided to take the easy way out."

"You're like my little brother, I've known you for years and I can honestly say I've had more "I wanna punch you so bad" moments with you than with anyone else-but I'd never wanted to yell in your face more than when Riley finally showed me your text."

Frank chuckled-probably because he also wanted to punch me but didn't because I was his best friend.
We heard the front door open,followed by the sound of an excited kid yelling "RILEYYYYYYY" and running footsteps. Proceeded by an "oomph!" as the excited kid presumably jumped into her arms.

Soon enough,my breath got caught in my throat when Riley entered the kitchen with Nina on her back. Her eyes swept over me briefly before looking away and following Nina's command to walk to the freezer.
"Er-Riley,don't give her anymore ice cream. Last night I caught her and Harry eating an entire tub of chocolate Ice cream her tummy's gonna get sick."Tracy said.

"Oh-right."
They turned away from the freezer and Nina still on her back steered her to the counter. Riley picked up the biscuit jar and they walked out of the room.
"Hey! Didn't I just say she had a big tub of ice cream last night?" Tracy yelled after them
"You didn't mention anything about biscuits!" She yelled back,halfway up the stairs already.

Even though I was in a grim,depressing mood,I couldn't help a small smile. Somethings never change-like her spoiling her little sister.
Unfortunately,Frank didn't miss my smile.
"Just go talk to her" he urged "you can't avoid each other forever."
"Sure does seem like it's gonna be that way" I respond dryly
"Not if you have anything to say about it. Even if you won't share it with Frank and I, don't you think you should at least give her a well deserved explanation,despite it being 3 years late?" Tracy encouraged. "Look,she's doing better than she's ever been. Everywhere we go there's some mention of her book,and she's even going to be buying her own flat soon. She's happy and successful,and I doubt a conversation with you is going to change that. It'll just fill in an old question gap."

Even without Frank and Tracy's encouragement,I knew I'd have to talk to her at some point. Just not yet. By the sound of Nina's screams coming from upstairs,their my little pony war is going spectacularly-wouldn't wanna interrupt that.

—
—
Dinner time,I was down in the kitchen with Gina,Tracy and Tee helping with dinner. I missed just hanging around the kitchen with them,and boy had I missed the smell of Gina's cooking.
Soon enough,Gina yelled with her ear splitting scream for everyone to come to the kitchen for dinner. That's something I hadn't missed.
"Er-Carmen where are Riley and Nina" Tracy yelled over the noise of scraping chairs and dinner time chaos.
"Oh they're in the garden they'll come in in a sec"

I hopped off the counter to go wash my hands,looking down at them they were all covered in some red powder Tracy accidentally knocked over-
I accidentally bumped into someone entering the kitchen as I was leaving it
"Sorry" we both muttered without looking up
Pause
I looked up and oh god
I swallowed as I muttered my first words in three years to her
"Sorry-accidentally got a bit of paprika on your shirt"
She looked down and dusted it off
"It's fine" she murmured without looking at me and walked past to take a seat at the table. I stood there for a moment feeling everyone's eyes on us,then went to wash my hands.