all i need // l.p {au}

chapter twenty-four

After spending the morning/afternoon grocery shopping and doing other various errands, I stood in front of my wardrobe. I had no idea what Liam meant by "nice but comfortable." I ended up with black leggings and an oversized gray sweater, pairing it with my worn out combat boots.

I was ready quite early so I plopped down in front of the TV, with Daisy on my lap, and found some bad reality show to watch. I got so into the show that when Liam knocked on the door, it took a minute to tear myself away. I shut the TV off and walked to the door, finding him dressed nicely in all black: black jeans, black t-shirt and black leather jacket.

"Ready?" he asked with a smile.

"Not quite," I said and pulled him close by his jacket for a kiss. "Now I am," I said with a smile and walked out the door, closing it behind me.

He laced his fingers with mine, like it was the most natural thing he's done. "Alright, so we need to drive there," he announced, pulling the door to his expensive car open. I always wondered what Liam did, if anything, for a living and how he had such nice things.

I giggled, "well, most places do require a drive."

We rode with Justin Timberlake playing softly in the background. I remember Liam telling me once that he was one of his favorite artists. Thirty minutes later, because of New York traffic, he pulled into a pay lot.

"Where are we going?" I asked anxiously as we got out of the car.

Liam walked to the trunk and pulled out a picnic basket before he double checked that he locked the car. "For a picnic," he said simply.

I grabbed onto Liam's open hand as he led the way. I soon recognized that we were walking toward Central Park. I had only been there once before, when my mom came to visit. We had done all of the sightseeing type things even though I protested against it.

It was the perfect night for a picnic, the sun was about to set and the temperature was just right. We walked down a path until Liam decided we were at the "perfect" spot. He set out a deep red blanket onto the grass for us to sit on. I sat with my legs tucked to my side while he sat with his legs out in front of him, leaning back on his hands.

"Logan, you look beautiful tonight," he said sheepishly.

I felt myself blushing at his compliment. "I really had no idea what to wear but thanks."

He chuckled, "I think you made a wonderful choice but you would have looked amazing in anything you chose." He began to pull things out of the picnic basket including little sandwiches and strawberries and sparkling cider. "Ok, before we eat I want to give you something," he then pulled out a rectangular black box from the basket and handed to me.

"Wh-what's this for?" I asked, eyeing the box and then liam.

"Just because," he shrugged. "I saw it while passing a store window and couldn't pass it up."

I bit my lip as I opened the box, revealing a silver chain with a a square diamond. I gasped at the sight. I had never once had anything with a real diamond and I could tell this was expensive. "Liam, I can't," I shook my head and closed the box.

"Why not? I got it for you as a gift," he said as I handed him back the box. "I want you to have it."

"I can't accept this from you. We haven't been together very long and this looks quite expensive and real."

"Well of course it's real, I got it from a jeweler," he said as if this was common knowledge, like I would only expect real diamonds.

I bit my lip, looking down at my lap for a few moments before looking back up at him. "Can I ask you a question without you getting upset? I've just been curious."

"If you promise to accept the necklace," he said, clearly plotting against me.

"Fine," I said and he quickly opened the box, taking the necklace out. He got up onto his knees and hobbled behind me. "Liam, this can wait," I complained as he started to put it around my neck.

"No it can't," he said, doing the clasp. He pulled my hair out from it and got back in front of me. "Just like I thought," he grinned. "It looks wonderful on you."

I rolled my eyes, but couldn't help but smile at him. He was adorable, being so proud of his necklace choice and I had to admit that I did love the necklace. I just didn't think that I deserved it since it was so expensive and there was no occasion. "Ok, so please don't get upset," I warned. He nodded, encouraging me to go on. "I was just wondering what your job was, if you have one."

Now Liam seemed to be nervous, avoiding my gaze. "It's, uh, not something I really like to talk about, but I should tell you," he nodded, more as a way of confirming his words to himself.

I reached out to touch his knee. "Liam, you don't have to. I was just wondering is all," I told him, trying to comfort him.

"No, no. I understand your questioning. Looking at it from your point of view, I have all of these fancy, nice things and I haven't told you anything as to how I got them." He took a deep breath or sighed, I'm not really sure. "When I was little, I spent most of my time with my grandpa. He owned a little cottage in a small town and my parents would let me stay there during the summer and a lot of the weekends. Then when I was nine, he passed away suddenly. In his will he left me all that he had, which at that age I had no idea what it meant. I didn't receive any of it until I turned eighteen, but it turned out my grandpa was rich and I didn't even know it. Nothing he did made it seem like he had much of anything, he lived such a modest life. My grandma had passed away before I was born, so I never met her. My grandpa always told me that spending time with me was the best time of his days. Honestly, I try not to spend too excessively, but sometimes I do. I admit that I get carried away.

"As for a job, I'm still figuring that out. I had been thinking about going to university, but I'm not sure. I want to do something great with my life. I want to make a difference if that makes sense. I don't want to just mean nothing to other people. I want to help them and influence them like my grandpa influenced me. I don't know if any of that makes any sense, but basically I got all of the money I have handed to me which probably makes me seem worthless like I can't work or do anything really, but I'm just trying to figure out what I want to do."

"I don't think you're worthless," I told him, scooting closer to him on the blanket.

He looked up at me finally meeting my eyes. "Thanks, that means a lot," he smiled and gave me a quick kiss. "Now, let's eat and not talk about all this deep and emotional stuff." He picked up two sandwiches and handed one to me. "I also brought sparkling cider because I remembered that you don't drink," he pointed out as he poured them into champagne flutes.

I laughed, saying "well thanks." We clinked glasses and began our meal.

As we were packing up the picnic, I remembered that I had to ask Liam to come to dinner tomorrow night. "Hey, are you busy tomorrow?" I chewed on my lower lip, anxious about the topic.

"Um..." he said, pretending to think about his schedule. "No, I don't think so. I should be able to squeeze you in."

I hit him playfully in the arm. "I agreed to have dinner with my dad and I want you to come. I don't think that I can do it alone."

We were now walking back to Liam's car. "Of course I'll come," he said. After placing the basket and blanket in the trunk, he pushed me up against the car. He leaned in close, causing me to feel his hot breath on my lips. "I had an amazing time with you, Logan," he murmured as he got even closer, finally touching his lips to mine.

heyyy(: i hope everyone is having a good week so far. please vote and comment xx zoe