all i need // l.p {au}

chapter sixteen

For the next two days Liam and I were crazy busy, helping Karen set up for his sister, Ruth's party. It was actually a surprise party, she thought she was coming over to have dinner with her family. I was excited, never having been involved with a surprise party but all of the setting up gave Liam and I no time to talk.

The backyard was extravagant, fancy black and white decorations everywhere. There were small tables set up with white tablecloths and Liam told me they were getting it catered by her favorite restaurant.

"You guys are really going all out," I told Liam as we covered the last table.

"Yeah, Ruth has had a pretty rough year. Mom wanted to enjoy her birthday, have a celebration."

"That's so sweet. I wished my parents cared that much. I don't even think I ever had a birthday party. I only got a single cupcake every year from the same little bakery."

Liam smiled sadly to me, which made me feel that he was pitying me. I wasn't telling him these things so he would feel bad, I just wanted him to know things.

Karen rushed outside, her arms full of bags of balloons. "I need you two to blow up all of these!" She dropped them onto the table in front of us, revealing about six bags.

Both Liam and I suppressed our laughter and took seats at the table. "Well, we better get started," I said with a laugh once his mom was out of earshot.

"Look, Logan. I want to thank you for coming. It means so much that you did," he said in between breaths of blowing up a black balloon.

"I am too, I just want things to go back to how they were."

"You mean just friends?" he asked, tying a balloon.

"At least for now," I nodded. I had made up my mind about this in the last few days, deciding that I wasn't ready to commit to him or anything.

"Ok," he sighed.

We continued blowing up the balloons, going through all six bags. I was exhausted by the time we finished near dinner time.

"I was thinking that we could go out for dinner, just us. There's this restaurant that I love and I want you to experience it."

"I don't know..."

"It's just dinner. We've done dinner before," he rolled his eyes.

"Fine, but won't your parents be mad?"

"Trust me, we deserve a night out after all the work we've done for the party."

"Ok, well if we're going out I need to change. I can't be wearing yoga pants and a t-shirt."

Liam nodded. "I'll wait in the living room."

I made my way upstairs and dug through my suitcase for something cute yet casual. I picked high waisted shorts and a white top with a black blazer over it to make it seem a bit more dressy. I ran a brush through my hair quickly and then my fingers, not wanting to make Liam wait a long time.

I jogged down the stairs, finding him sitting on the couch. Liam had called for a cab and it was waiting for us outside. It was a beautiful night, the sun setting in a blue sky.

The ride to the restaurant was short, we arrived only ten minutes later. Liam paid the driver and then held his arm out for me to hold onto. I reluctantly held on, him leading us in.

"Two please," he said to the host.

"Right this way," he said and we followed him to a booth near the back. He placed the menus down and walked away.