all i need // l.p {au}

chapter thirty-one

*2 years later*

I was over at Niall and Sarahi's place, the apartment that used to be Niall and Liam's. She moved in when Liam and I decided to move in together. We were trying to decide where we should go on a road trip. Niall and Liam wanted to find some cabin, outdoorsy type place while Sarahi and I wanted to go to a city, like Las Vegas or L.A.

"I'm so not an outdoors person," I explained, trying to get the boys to back down.

"But babe we always do what you want," Liam countered, placing his hand on my knee. The past two years had not gone without hardships, that's for sure, but Liam and I were closer than ever. He was now back in school, getting a management degree in order to gain skills to start his own business or foundation of some sort. I was still working at the bar that Tristan had hooked me up at, happily being a bartender.

"What if we go back to London?" Niall suggested. "Sarahi's never been and we haven't been home in a long time. We could even hit Ireland!" He was grinning widely, seemingly proud of his idea.

Liam nodded in agreement. "I think that's a good compromise, except it won't really be a road trip," he chuckled.

Niall laughed so hard that it became a sort of roaring sound. "Yeah, I don't think we'd be able to drive a car very well over the ocean!"

"Personally, I think going to London is a great idea," Sarahi said, leaning over to give Niall a quick kiss. They still seemed to be in their honeymoon phase, even though they've been together longer than Liam and I. It was a little sickening, but I was happy for them.

"London it is!" I announced, even though I was a little disappointed we weren't going to Las Vegas. "Ok, but I really should get going. I'm babysitting Emmy," I stood up from their small kitchen table.

"And I've got homework," Liam groaned, standing up as well. "We'll see you guys later!" My boyfriend laced his fingers with mine as we exited our friends' apartment.

***

I arrived to my father's house ten minutes early and walked through the front door. I had begun to forgive him for all of the pain he had caused me, realizing that he was still my dad and I should give him a chance since he's trying to change. He was going to a wedding with Sherry, so he had asked me to watch her. I had babysat for them a couple of times before and my half-sister was slowly growing on me.

"Logan!" my dad walked down the hallway and pulled me in for a hug. I loosely wrapped my arms around him, not quite being used to this yet. "Emmy, Logan's here!" he called. The small girl emerged from the living room. She didn't hide behind our dad anymore, like she had in the past.

"Is Liam coming over too?" she asked. She had this cute obsession with him, always wanting him to come over as well.

"Maybe later. He had a big school project to work on," I explained.

Emmy nodded. "School is stupid," she pouted.

I tried to hide my smile as my dad chastised her. "Emmy, what have we discussed about calling school stupid?"

"That school is important and I shouldn't call it stupid," she rolled her eyes.

"C'mon Emmy, why don't you show me that new bedspread you were talking about getting the other day?" I grabbed onto her hand and she led me to her bedroom.

"We were supposed to get the one I was telling you about, but the store was out," she pointed out. "So we got this one instead. I still really like it though." The duvet covering Emmy's bed was a deep purple color and zebra print. It was much nicer than mine and I kind of wanted it. Emmy plopped down on her bed, her ponytail bouncing. "Why does daddy think that school is good? I don't see anything good about it. I've even done really good on my reading and I don't have to have the extra help anymore, but the kids are still mean."

"I'm sorry, Emmy. Have you done what Liam and I have been teaching you?"

She nodded. "Yeah, but even though I ignore them it still hurts," she said sadly. We had been telling Emmy to ignore it whenever the other kids laughed or made fun of her. Also, we were trying to help her find some friends. "I did sit by this girl at lunch the other day though. Her name is Bethany and she seemed really nice."

"That's awesome!" Emmy was now smiling and her mood seemed to change.

"Mom and I are leaving, be good for Logan, ok Emmy?" My dad popped his head into Emmy's room. She jumped off the bed and attacked him in a hug.

"Love you daddy, have fun," she said as she squeezed her arms around him.

"Love you too, sweetie," he leaned down and placed a kiss on her forehead. "Bye Logan," he waved to me. I waved with a small smile on my face.

Once our dad and Sherry had left, Emmy wasted no time in asking if we could call Liam to go out for ice cream.

"Fine," I finally gave in. Liam agreed to meet us at the ice cream parlor in town.

"I want chocolate and vanilla. Oh, wait no. I want that blue one!" Emmy could barely see over the counter at the large variety of ice cream flavors.

The worker made her a small cone with the blue colored ice cream and handed it to her. Her eyes were huge as she looked down at it. Liam and I ordered as well and proceeded to a high top table after we paid.

"It's all over your face," Liam joked around with her. The area surrounding Emmy's mouth was covered in her blue ice cream. She gave him a dirty look, but ended up laughing along.

"I like you guys. Are you going to get married like mommy and daddy?" she asked.

My eyes met with Liam's and I sighed. Our discussion of marriage had been tabled for a long time, having not been brought up again. I knew that Liam still wanted to get married someday, but I still wasn't so sure. I didn't see the point if we could still do everything the same even if we didn't go through with a ceremony.

"I want you to get married," she said, taking a lick of her ice cream cone.

I chewed on my lip, not quite sure what to say. Emmy seemed not to notice the tension she created between Liam and I with that simple question. We finished our cones with barely any more conversation. Liam grabbed onto my hand as we exited the ice cream parlor and I wasn't sure if it was meant to comfort me or reassure me that he was fine without a wedding or the opposite, that he agreed with Emmy. Or maybe I was overanalyzing everything and it didn't mean a thing.