I Can't Wait Forever (A Liam Fanfiction)

Chapter 19

            Walking out to the car, I accidentally bumped into the door, making Maya’s arm hit the glass.

            “Ow! Mommy!” she squealed in pain, and I stopped to look at her.

            “I’m so sorry bubba. Are you ok?” I ask, inspecting her arm. There was a small cut starting to bleed, and the looks of a bruise. But there was no way to tell without light. “Let’s get to the car, and I can put a band aid on it at home.”

            Maya nodded, and we walked back to the car, where Bri and Liam were already waiting. I smiled a little, thinking of the news I was about to tell them, but suppressed the smile when I remembered what I had to tell Liam.

            “Hey, what took you so long?” Bri asked as I buckled Maya in.

            “Well, I found Andrea to say goodbye, and she was actually looking for me!” I smiled, but Liam and Bri just looked confused, so I went on, “She told me that there were a bunch of curators from different art galleries, and they were all asking for my info!” I  nearly squealed.

            “That’s amazing!” Bri smiled and gave me a hug across Maya’s car seat. I had finished buckling her in, and walked around so that I was sitting in the front seat next to Liam. I looked over at him, waiting for him to say something, but he just smiled at me lightly and started to drive.

            As I buckled myself in, my hand lightly brushed against Liam’s hand, and instead of just lingering there, he jerked his hand away.

            Was there something wrong? Did I do something? Do something?

            All of my anxieties suddenly filled my head, and my imagination went wild. I started thinking of all the possible scenarios that could be bothering him, but there were none that seemed reasonable.

            “Liam, how long do you want to stay?” I asked, trying to break the tension between us; although there was nothing to be tense about.       

            “I don’t think I should… I have an early flight.” He said, kind of struggling for an excuse.

            Ok now I knew something was wrong.

            “How about just for fifteen minutes?” I plead, really wanting to talk to him. Not necessarily about Maya, but just about what was going on.

            There was a long pause before he nodded in agreement. I sighed in relief and sat back against my seat.

            We finally pulled up outside of my apartment building, and slowly got out, Bri carrying a sleeping Maya in her arms. I opened the door quietly, and let Bri take Maya to her room. After she didn’t come back out, I realized she was telling me to talk to Liam in her own way.

            “Liam?” I ask him, finding him sitting on the couch on his phone. He looked up at me, but didn’t say a word. “Is there something wrong?” I ask suddenly, my mind not catching up to what I was saying.

            “No…” he said hesitantly, and looked back down at his phone.

            “Liam. Please just tell me. I won’t be upset.” I plead, sitting down next to him.

            “Who’s Mike?” he suddenly asks, turning to me, his face completely serious. I start to laugh, thinking he’s joking, but he’s not.

            “Are you serious?” I ask, “Mike is like my best friend. He lets me share a studio with him, and he was the one that made me start art outside of school.” I reply, trying to come up with a better explanation, but there really isn’t a better one.