Here Comes the Sun | ✓

Chapter Twenty-Five - Liam

But an image flashes in my mind, causing me to sniff and wipe the tears from my eyes. An image of a girl with cropped blonde hair and a small body, looking at me from across a crowded street.

Libby.

Another image: her laughter when completing the cinnamon challenge with Jimmy and me. Her relaxed body next to mine, her eyes closed peacefully and a small smile to her lips with a hand resting in my hair.

A smile comes to shape my lips and the photo of Rose becomes two as I tear it down the middle. No more fears. No more past. No more worries.

Here's to me.

No.

Here's to us.

*

"Where are we going?" Jere asks, trying to struggle his way out of his booster seat to see further out the window on both mine and Libby's side.

Jimmy replies with only a sly smile, and then turns to face the driver. "No hints, alright?" he instructs the poor guy, and the driver mockingly salutes him.

"Sir, yes sir," he says, and then stays silent for the rest of the drive.

I wiggle uncomfortably in my spot in the back bench of the cab, staring out the window while watching the sun drop. "Are you sure the apartment will be safe while we're gone?"

I can almost hear the rolling of his eyes when he says, "Yes, Liam, I've got everything covered. The doors are locked - the deadbolt, too - and the windows are all sealed."

There's a touch on my arm, and when I look to my side I find Libby giving me a timid smile. "Relax, I'm sure Jimmy knows what he's talking about."

I laugh. "That'll be a first."

Jimmy reaches to hit me from his spot in the passenger seat, but he misses and I cackle even louder. "I hope you shit on yourself," he grumbles, and I only shake my head and reach over to take Libby's hand in my own above Jere's headrest.

"Words!" Jere screams, and I smirk at Jimmy's foul mouth.

"If you say things are fine, then I believe you," I finally say after a long period silence and racing thoughts. I take a deep breath in and try to personally guess where we're headed. It's been such a long time since I've been this far from home.

Glancing at the digital clock in the front of the cab, I find that we've been driving for almost thirty minutes now. At first, I had suspected Jimmy was taking us to some frat party that he always seemed to be invited to every weekend, but when he instructed me to bring a few blankets, pillows, and my lighter, I knew my theory was wrong.

I've been at a loss of ideas for where exactly we are going, but instead of worrying about anything and everything, I tried to concentrate on the radio's top 40 station Jimmy had turned to.

To my surprise, Jere starts singing along with one of the songs. What is Jimmy doing to my child? "How do you know this song?" I ask, looking down at Jere in horror.

"Uncle Jimmy taught me the words. Except the bad words. Those he screams over so I don't hear them," he says nonchalantly, giggling at the last part and then continuing on with his performance.

I meet Libby's eyes above Jere's head and I can see the laughter in them. "This isn't funny," I state, but she only replies by the shake of her head and the small squeezing of my hand before looking out her window again.