This Time I'll Make It

My best friend's crush (3)

Liam's POV

It's been four weeks since that day on the public garden and I haven't heard from Jane since. That look on her face when she walked away... All I wanted was to hold her in my harms and tell her everything was going to be ok and that I was always going to be there for her. But I couldn't do that to her, not again. After our night together, I noticed she was interested in being more than friends, she made it very clear. But I pushed her away subtly in hopes she would get the message so I wouldn't hurt her. I guess I did anyway, and I couldn't do it again.

I'm about to go take a shower when my phone vibrates on the night stand. I check it before I head to the bathroom. It's a text from Jane.

*I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow to find out the baby's gender. If you want to come with, you can meet me at my place at 2pm. If not, I'll just text you afterwards.*

*I'll be there. See you tomorrow, Jane.*

I don't get a response so I just put my phone down. I think she's been avoiding me, but maybe tomorrow I can try and make things right between us.

****

Shit. It's ten minutes past two when I pull over in front of Jane's house. I step out of the car and ring the doorbell. I hope she hasn't left yet. I hear steps inside before the door opens and I see Jane.

"I'm sorry I'm late."

"It's fine. Come in." She takes a step back to let me in and closes the door behind us.

"I thought you'd already left."

"Nope, still here." She tries to get past me but I block the way.

"Where you waiting for me?" I need to know. She nods. "Why? I'm ten minutes late. Why didn't you just leave without me?" Anyone else would have.

"Because you said you'd be here and somehow I knew you wouldn't just leave me hanging." Her eyes meet mine for the first time since I got here and damn I really want to hold her in my harms and tell how much I love her and how I don't deserve her love.

Wait... I love her? I can't start thinking about that right now so I push those thoughts away.

"Thank you, Jane!" It's all I can bring myself to say.

She clears her throat and looks away again, finally walking past me and into the living room.

"Mom, dad, this is Liam. Liam, these are my parents." She says, stepping out of the way.

"Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Evans. It's a pleasure to finally meet you." I smile and shake both their hands.

"It's a pleasure to meet you too, Liam." Her mom says even though she doesn't seem happy at all.

"I'm just gonna go to the bathroom before we head out. I'll be right back." Jane lets us know before stepping out of the room.

"I have to ask, Liam, what did she mean to you?" Her mom asks.

"Sorry?"

"She told me how she felt about you but now I want to know how you feel."

"Well, that's easy. I love her." The words just fall out of my mouth before my brain can catch up.

"You love her? I don't understand. Jane told me you just wanted to be friends, that you weren't interested in any other kind of relationship. Why would she say that if it's not how you feel?" She's confused.

"She doesn't know." I explain.

"Why not? She's been in love with you since before that night. Why did you lie to her?"

"Because she's amazing and I don't deserve her. I mean, look at her. She's so wise and intelligent. She has so much integrity and is the most selfless person I know. She loves her friends and she would do about anything for them but she still manages to always put herself first because that's how much self respect she has. That's how much she loves herself because she knows her worth and will never let anyone give her less than that." I say as I pick up a frame with a picture of her as a child.

"But you know what makes me love her even more? That spark in her eyes that only shows up when she's doing something she truly loves. That spark is the reason I made love to her. I fell in love with her way before that night too, and I never knew how she felt until I saw her eyes light up for me. That's when I kissed her. When Jane told me she was pregnant with my child I couldn't believe how lucky I was to have a baby with this marvelous woman, and I thanked God for giving me a way to stay in her life." I turned around to face them. "Look, I love your daughter, more than I can ever explain with words. It killed me to push her away but she's better off without me, I don't deserve her."

Jane's mom comes closer and takes both my hand in hers.

"That's not up to you to decide. She told you about the pregnancy because you had the right to know, you had the right to choose. She could have decide for you and not tell you a thing, and you would probably never know. But Jane knew it wasn't her call to make, it was yours. Just like this is her call, not yours. Jane loves you, she just needs to know how you feel. I know you think you're protecting her but you're not. You're scared to get hurt and you're scared you'll hurt her. But there's no rainbow without rain, remember that."

Jane suddenly walks in and her mom steps aways from me.

"Is everything ok? Did I miss something?"

"Everything is fine. Are you ready to go? We don't want to late." I say.

"Yeah, lets go." Jane grabs her purse and phone and heads for the door.

"Nice meeting you, Mr. and Mrs. Evans. And thank you." I smile at Jane's mom as I shake her hand.

****

The doctor is looking at the ultrasound machine and I can't take the suspense any longer.

"Congratulations, it's a girl." She finally says.

Jane's face lights up and I don't think I've ever seen her eyes shine brighter than I am right now. I take her hand in mine and she looks up at me with the biggest smile I have ever seen on her face.

"I love you so much, Jane!" I say and kiss her lips before I realize what I'm doing.

Instead of pushing me away like I thought she would, Jane puts her harms around my neck, kissing me back.

"Do you want to go to my place? I can cook us dinner so we can celebrate." I offer when we get back to the car.

"That sounds great, thanks." She smiles at me.

The entire ride is done in silence, but it's not awkward like I thought it would be. It's actually pretty nice, just us and the music coming from the radio.

"So... I guess we have a lot to talk about, huh?" I say as we sit on the couch.

"Yeah, I guess we do."