Can't Say Love

The Beginning

~Liam's POV~

      I opened the door with my key and snuck into the kitchen to surprise my mum.

     Throwing my arms around her waist I screamed, "Mum!"

     After getting over the initial surprise, she hugged me back.  "Liam," she cried.

    "Liam?" Ruth yelled as she tumbled down the stairs.  "Nicola, get your butt down here!  Leanne's home."

    "Cheesy head!  You're back," Nicola screamed engulfing me in a hug.  Soon I was attacked by Ruth as well.

     Even though I grimaced at the nicknames, nothing could've ruined my homecoming.

    "Is that Liam I hear?" My dad asked as he entered.

    "Hey, dad."

    He gave me a hug and said, "It's good to have you back, Liam."

    "So Liam," Ruth began, "Where's this girl of yours?"

    "Oh god.  She's still in the car!"  I ran back out to find Daisy sitting on the front stoop.

    I sat next to her and asked, "Are you okay? I'm sorry that I left you out here."

   "It's alright.  I wanted you to have a little bit of time to yourself with them.  They haven't seen you in awhile."

    "A fair bit of warning," I said, "My sisters are crazy.  I love them, but they're insane.  So, just in case you're scared off."

     "I think I can handle it," she grinned.

     I took her hand and led her inside to where the rest of my family was.

    "Guys, this is Daisy.  Daisy this is my family."

    Ruth and Nicola immediately came up and gave her hugs.  "Nice to meet you," they murmured.

    "I'm Karen," my mom said, also hugging Daisy.

   "I'm Geoff." Dad introduced himself coolly.  I would have to talk to him about that.

   "Daisy," Daisy responded in the same manner.  I could feel a challenge between the two of them, and I thought it might be dangerous to witness.

    My mum sensed a change in demeanor and quickly said, "Daisy why don't I show you your room?"

   "That'd be lovely, thanks."  I followed them up, eager to leave the awkward atmosphere.

   The guest room was light green with white bookshelves and a white nightstand.  The duvet was white with little blue flowers, and the carpet was an off white color as well.  Daisy set her suitcase down at the base of the bed.

    "This is great Mrs. Payne.  Thank you so much for including me."

    "Karen, please.  And if you need anything... anything at all, you let me know, okay?"

   Daisy gave my mum a hug.  If I didn't know her any better, I would have thought that she was crying. "I will."

   When she saw me in the doorway, mum left the room.

   "You okay?" I asked Daisy.  "I'm sorry about my dad...  He's not normally like this, you know."

   "I'm sure," she said truthfully.  "And yeah, I'm fine. It's just...  This is the closest I've been to being in a family since..." here she trailed off.  "In a while."

    "Well I hope you feel welcome."

    "I do."

    We were heading back to the kitchen when Daisy stopped in my room.  

    "Is this your old room?" she asked.

    "Yeah."

    Daisy examined the blue walls covered with posters, the bookshelves lined with trophies and other photographs.  She giggled and picked something up.

    "These are cute," she said as she held up my Toy Story dolls.

    I blushed and lunged for them.  "Those were from forever ago," I said.

   "Sure," she laughed setting them back down.  "It's okay not to let go of your childhood, Liam."

   "Why did you let go of yours?" I asked, before I processed what I had said.

   "Why don't we go downstairs?" She asked quickly, already walking out.

   I groaned in frustration.  Why did I have to bring that up again? I knew that she didn't want to talk about her past...  Why did it bother me so much?

    I resigned myself to following her out the door... I'd work on how to get her to open up later.  The real question was... how?