All You Had To Do Was Stay

Prologue

Brooklyn, age 18
Liam, age 18

"Good afternoon, Cristel," I say as I close the kitchen door.

"Hello, darling." Cristel answers as she grabs me an empty glass. I walk over to the fridge and grab myself some Cola. Cristel, Liam's mom, is used to me coming and going whenever I and Liam please, we have been best friends since kindergarten. It's a second home to me, one where I can feel safe, unlike my own.

"Is he upstairs?" I ask as I take a sip of my drink. Cristel nods.

"You should hurry, I believe he is watching the tv-show you were going to watch together."

I almost choke on my drink and run upstairs. I barge into his room and gasp as I indeed find Liam watching Friends without me.

"Traitor!" I shriek. Liam startles, he quickly grabs the remote and pauses the episode.

"I was... I was..."

"You what?" I ask doubtfully as I join Liam on his bed.

"You were watching it without me?"

"Just to see if it was going to be a fun episode." Liam tries to talk it down.

"Bullshit. You were cheating, that's a crime," I say offended. Liam scoffs.

"Oh, come on. It's just a few minutes, you took too long to get here," he says, nudging me in the shoulder.

"You're just impatient," I say nudging him back.

"That too." He laughs.

"I'm sorry, can you forgive me?" He asks as he blinks his eyes rapidly.

"Fine, but you have to restart the episode and you can't spoil anything."

"As you wish," he says as he restarts the episode.

"You wanted it to be a surprise?"

"Oh my God."

"Chandler... In all my life I never thought I would be so lucky to fall in love with my best friend."

I hold my breath and glance over at Liam. I too have fallen in love with my best friend, a little over two year ago when we first went on holiday together to Miami (along with Sloane, Jake and Akira, their other friends). I found my holiday romance in my best friend, except for the romance part on his side. He was pretty oblivious to my feelings, I don't blame him for it. I never told him how I felt and I'm not planning on it either. I don't want to ruin the friendship.

"I didn't see that coming," he says responding to what happened on tv.

"Isn't it romantic? They have been my favorite couple since the beginning," I say softly.

"They're a bit like us, don't you think?" Liam says as he looks at me. My heart skips a beat, my cheeks heat up and my breathing fastens as I hear him say it.

"What do you mean?" I ask awkwardly, of course hoping he would confess his feelings for me right that moment.

"You know, the best friends who have known each other for a long time," he explains.

"But we're not getting married, right?" I ask as I hope he would contradict me.

"I tell you what, if we're both still single at the age of 40... And let's be honest, one of us will. We should get married," he says calmly.

I startle, "Wow, you're not even trying to hide your lack of faith in my love life," I say shaking my head, which makes Liam laugh.

"But fine, it's a deal. How would you propose to me? What would our marriage look like and our wedding?" I ask intrigued. I make myself comfortable on the bed and look over at Liam, eagerly waiting for his answer.

"You ask a lot of questions," he says as he turns to face her as well.

"Can you blame me? I need to know what I'm in for," I say teasingly. Liam scoffs and laughs, "Fine."

Liam grabs my hand and starts playing with my fingers as he answers my questions.

"I would propose to you somewhere private, decorated in all your favorite things, colors and scent."

"Which are?" I ask testing Liam.

"Books, movies, faces of your favorite actors... as for colors, red and blue... and scent, lavender."

I nod and smile, those were indeed my favorite things, colors and scent.

"I would prepare a speech with all the things I want to say to you, so I don't forget because of the nerves. By that time it would be a lot. After that, I'll go down on one knee and ask you to marry me with a ring I have had custom made for you, with a rose on it because I know that's your favorite flower. You'll say yes, of course... Because of this deal and because you love me, duh," he says confidently, as he starts caressing my arm. I react to his touch by getting goosebumps all over my skin, I hate how I'm basically exposing myself. Luckily, Liam doesn't notice as he is way too distracted by his story.

"As for the wedding..." he continues, "I don't need a big one. I'm good with inviting family and a few close friends. I don't need a big party, but if you want to have a big wedding, we will. I want to make you happy as all I want is to be with you."

Liam looks up into my eyes. He stays silent for a couple of seconds before answering my last question.

"And last but not least, our marriage will be simple, fun, loving and amazing because I get to call you my wife."

Liam intertwines his fingers in mine, which causes me to hold my breath again.

"That doesn't sound so bad," I say hoarsely, trying my best not to sound touched by his words and thought-out answers.

Liam shoots up.

"Wait, you expected it would be bad?" He asks almost offended.

"Something like that. I can barely put up with you now, let alone when I have to marry you," I say teasingly.

Liam shakes his head and scoffs. He leans against the headboard, "Alright, you've asked for it."

Liam turns to me and pushes me into the mattress. He sits up and starts tickling me mercilessly, which he always does when I tease him too much.

"Liam, stop it!! Stop it! You know I can't-" I try to finish my sentence but can't. Tears are streaming down my face because I have been laughing too much.

"You should know better than to tease me, Brooks." Liam starts to tickle her even more.

"Should I? Why is that?"

"Because I won't hesitate to punish you for it." He winks at her.

"Is this how I will be punished each time?" I ask doubtfully.

"Depends...," he says teasingly as he towers over me.

"On what?" I whisper.

"Did you like this punishment? Because I might know another one," he says seductively as he lowers his face closer to mine. My eyes widen, my heart is almost beating out of my chest and I'm not sure if I'm still breathing. Is he really going to kiss me? Is it finally going to happen?

No, it isn't.

"Liam, Brooks?! Can you come downstairs, dinner is ready!" Cristel shouts.

We both startle. Liam gets up, quickly, from the bed and rubs his neck.

"We... We should go downstairs," he says awkwardly.

"Right, yeah, we should," I agree disappointedly.

Everything would have been so much easier if we did kiss at that moment. This was our chance to get together and we didn't take it. It would have prevented what happened next.