all i need // l.p {au}

chapter twenty-five

I couldn't help but laugh when Liam showed up to my apartment wearing a full on suit. "It's not that kind of dinner," I said through my fit of giggles.

He threw his head back with a groan. "Are you telling me I need to go change? I wanted to make a good impression."

"Try wearing something a little bit more casual, ok? And we don't have to leave for another hour so you have time to change," I pushed him toward the door.

"Fine," he said as he walked out.

I shook my head as I walked back inside to finish getting ready. I was wearing a simple black skirt and a white v neck t-shirt along with a black infinity scarf. As I stood in front of my mirror, I pulled my hair on top of my head and fixed it into a bun. I applied a little bit of makeup and decided not to put any more effort into my appearance. I didn't want to make it seem to my dad that I was trying too hard or wanting to impress him.

Liam arrived back at my apartment as I was filling up Daisy's water bowl. He was now dressed in black jeans, a black t-shirt and a red flannel unbuttoned.

"Much better," I said, greeting him with a kiss. When I pulled away, he grabbed onto my waist, pulling me back to him.

"You look gorgeous," he said after a few more kisses.

"Thanks," I replied, resting my hands on his chest. "We should probably get going."

Liam nodded. He leaned down to scratch behind Daisy's ear which caused her to lick his face. "See ya later, Daisy," he said, chuckling.

We walked out to Liam's car and I started to get a nervous feeling in my stomach. I wasn't sure why I was so scared about this dinner. I didn't really feel like seeing the people that replaced my mom and I, the people that my dad decided to love more than us.

"Babe, calm down," Liam said as he placed his hand on my bare thigh. The gesture sent chills throughout my body, but also calmed me down. "I'm going to be with you the entire time."

We arrived to my father's house forty-five minutes later. It was a small tan colored house, beautiful flowers planted in front of it. Liam entwined our fingers as we walked up to the front door. He knocked for me, knowing I was nervous. I bit my lip as we waited.

"Logan! And you must be her friend. Come in, come in," he opened the door wide for us to walk past him. The interior of his house was decorated with pictures and paintings, clearing done by his new wife.

"Hi, I'm Liam," he introduced himself to my dad, holding out his hand.

"Oh, wow. Is that a British accent I hear?"

"Yes, sir it is," Liam nodded.

"Please call me Darren," my dad said, leading us farther into the house. Entering the living room, we see a little girl playing with barbies on the carpet. She was wearing a red colored dress, her dark brown hair pulled into pigtails. "Emmy, come say hello." The girl stood up, dropping the barbie in her hand. She shyly walked up, hiding behind my, our, dad. "Sweetie, there's no need to be shy. This is your sister Logan. Remember, I told you she was coming over for dinner."

I felt Liam's eyes on me, the realization that I had left out the information about my half-sister.

"Hi, Emmy, I'm Liam," he said bending down to her level. She nervously stepped out from behind my dad. "How about we go play with your dolls, huh? You can tell me all about them." Emmy nodded slowly and walked back to her barbies, Liam following behind her.

I stayed where I was next to my dad. "He's so good with her. Sorry, Emmy can be a little shy." I shrugged, not knowing what to say. "Come with me to the kitchen. I want you to meet my wife."

I glanced back at liam, who gave me an encouraging smile. I followed my dad to the kitchen, which was actually quite expansive and nice.

"Oh, you must be Logan!" a woman exclaimed, wiping her hands off on her floral print apron hanging around her neck. She surprised me with a hug, almost suffocating me. She held at arms length, "I'm Sherry."

"Hi," I smiled.

"I hope you like chicken, I'm making my mom's secret recipe."

"Yes, that sounds good," I nodded.

"Wonderful, and you met Emmy? She was so excited to meet you." She grinned as she went to check on something cooking on the stove.

"Yeah, Liam is playing with her now."

"Liam, and who much the be?" she said, giving me a knowing look.

"My boyfriend," I answered, some feeling I didn't recognize welling up inside of me.

"He's British," my dad said, walking up beside his wife. He placed a kiss on her cheek before exiting the kitchen.

I stood there awkwardly for a moment, before deciding to go back to the living room where Liam and Emmy were. I sat down next to them, where Emmy was naming off all of her barbies to Liam.

"And this one is Caroline," she said, holding up a blonde haired one.

"Wow, you have so many. What were you playing before we got here?"

"I was having them go to school. I just started second grade, so they're in second grade."

"Oh wow. How do you like school?"

"Good, but there's some kids that are mean," she shrugged, moving around one of the dolls.

I chewed on my lip, wondering what to tell her. I was horrible with kids, I never really liked them and found them annoying. I was always happy to be an only child. "How are they mean?" I decided to ask.

"Well, they make fun of my glasses and I don't read very well, so they laugh that I have to read with Miss Baker."

"I think your glasses are adorable," Liam said, tapping her nose with his finger. "And if anyone tells you they look funny, just ignore them. That will make them really mad," Liam winked.

Emmy nodded with a small grin. "And what about my reading? They all make me feel stupid," she sighed.

"Let me tell you a story, yeah?" Emmy nodded, putting down her doll and paying complete attention to Liam. "When I was in school, a long time ago, I had a reading class. We had to read a few pages in front of the whole class. It was my turn and every few words, I would mess up. I got so frustrated and couldn't get the words out. The whole class was laughing at me and the teacher made me stop. He told me after class that I needed extra help so I went to the tutor. After practicing and practicing, I finally got better at reading and now it's one of my favorite things. So even if those kids laugh and make fun, it doesn't mean that you're stupid. You just learn differently than them."

"You mean it?"

"Of course," he smiled warmly at her. She stood up and wrapped her arms around her neck.

I smiled at the sweet moment, but my dad came in to ruin it. "Dinner's up!" he announced. Emmy ran off the kitchen ahead of us.

"That was really nice of you," I told Liam as we stood up. "Was that story true?"

"What? You think I would lie to a little girl?" He mocked insult. "But no, that really did happen." He grabbed onto my hand and we walked into the kitchen.

So far, this night was turning out alright, but I felt like the dinner was going to be long and painful.

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i've decided to make a third book off of my michael series and start an ashton book (both will be published within the week), I'd love it if you check them out (:

thanks for reading xx zoe