Between The Vows

Chapter Twenty-Three

Dedicated to the best aunt in the world aspiring64. Love you so much.❤

***

Liam called the landlord of his summer rental property, and they agreed to meet at ten a.m. on Monday morning. He signed a one-year lease on the beach house and kept making comments like, "You never know, James, we might just end up buying a house together." I've learned that when Liam says things like that, even in jest, there is usually some truer intent behind it.

He also met with the landlord of the commercial building. He signed a three-year lease with him. He was happy that things were moving quickly because he was anxious to get to work. He had already put in a two week notice at the first. He decided that he was leaving there, regardless of what happened in Bridgeport. His apartment had been sold, but he still had occupancy for another thirty days. He had to go back to Raleigh to do a few things and asked me if I would go with him. He told me that he couldn't bare leaving town again without me at his side. Of course, I felt nervous taking time off, but, I had Jamie more fully integrated now, and she could handle anything that came along in the next few days. Besides, she would be so excited that I was going with Liam. She, like almost everybody else, just felt so terrible when they found out we had broken up.

We took off for Raleigh and we were so happy to be on this little road trip together. We sang along to all the songs on the radio and laughed and held hands as we drove. The time on the road went by fast, and it seemed like we were at Liam's apartment in no time at all. It was just like I remembered, only there were tons of boxes stacked all over the place. He had beautiful views of the city everywhere you looked. I could see why he would have picked this apartment. But, I couldn't have been happier than it was no longer something that Liam had tied to Raleigh. We were standing in the kitchen when I noticed that his sofa was made up like a makeshift bed, with comforters and pillows.

I looked at him and raised a brow, "Why do you have a bed made up on your sofa?" He didn't answer right away so I poked him in the side. "What's the matter, cat got your tongue?" I egged him on a bit.

He smiled and pulled me into his embrace. We stood there and looked at each other and this brought a smile to my face. I only questioned this because it wasn't like that the last time we were here. I thought maybe he had his bedroom furniture packed up for the move or something.

"When I came back from Bridgeport, I couldn't sleep in my bed anymore." He finally confessed, "I couldn't deal with the void of not having you here with me. So, I just slept on the couch. I felt it was a little easier for me to deal with the emptiness of the sofa, than in my bead." He said quietly and touching the side of my face. I completely understood what he was talking about because I felt the same way. Only, I stayed in my bed and dealt with the emptiness and cried myself to sleep every night.

"I'm sorry." I said.

"Sorry?" He questioned.

"I'm sorry that you were so sad." I said, softly. "I cried myself to sleep every night after you left." I confessed. He put his hands on the side of my face and kissed me gently.

"I don't ever want to be away from you again, Nora." He said, looking deeply into my eyes. We stood there in his kitchen and kissed one another and held each other tight for the longest time. Finally, he said, "Ok, we had better get down to business if we are going to be ready for the movers on Wednesday." He gave me that silly smile.

We worked hard for hours, packing all the little personal items that he had held off on packing. We weren't leaving for Bridgeport until Wednesday, so we packed the toiletries in boxes that would remain open until the movers came and loaded everything up. We dined out or carried in for every meal, as all the kitchen had been completely packed up. We moved Liam back to his bedroom and make new wonderful memories there. We made memories all over his house, and I'm sure we would look back on this little stint in Raleigh, with toe curling moments.