all i need // l.p {au}

chapter twenty-six

Our plates were piled with chicken, mashed potatoes and mixed vegetables. Sherry brought out wine for us, beginning to pour them in the glasses.

"No, thank you. I don't drink," I told her, even though I wasn't even legal anyway.

"Oh, what would you like then dear?"

"Water is fine," I replied and she rushed off to fill my glass with ice and water.

I began to cut through my chicken when Sherry interrupted. She grabbed onto my dad's hand as well as Emmy's. "Would you mind saying grace, Darren?"

I set my knife and fork down awkwardly and grabbed Liam's hand to my right and my dad's to my left. I swallowed the lump in my throat as my dad began to speak.

"Dear Lord, thank you for gathering us together tonight to share a dinner, that you provided, with Logan and her boyfriend Liam. We are very blessed by you and your forgiveness and please bless this food that will nourish our bodies. Amen," he finished.

Both Sherry and Emmy chorused an "amen."

I sat there completely in shock. Since when was my father religious? We never once went to church when I was younger and he clearly sinned, not caring about the consequences.

I began to cut my chicken again, just hoping that it tasted good. I didn't want to sit there and force food down my throat. I took a bite hesitantly and was relieved when it was delicious.

"So Logan, how long have you been working at the bar? Your dad tells me that you're quite talented at it," Sherry said, breaking the silence.

"Uh, I think it's been almost two years now. I really like it," I said.

"And Liam, what do you do?"

I chewed on my lip, knowing Liam didn't like this subject. He put a hand on my leg, telling me that it was alright.

He swallowed his food before speaking. "Nothing at the moment, but I'm going to start looking at universities. I would like to get back to school and figure out what I want to do."

"Well, that admirable. Getting an education is so important," my dad said and I couldn't help but feel it as a jab at me. Really, I didn't care one bit what my dad thought of me and I wasn't sure why I was even having dinner with him and his new and improved family.

"I'm done!" Emmy announced and got up from the table.

"Please clear your dishes," my dad told her.

She made a disgusted face but came back to the table and picked them up, carrying them over to the sink.

"We're trying to teach her manners," my dad explained.

I nodded because I had nothing to say. I felt as if he was trying to show me he was capable of being a good father. I didn't need to know this though, he was a bad father to me and it didn't affect me either way if he was a good father to Emmy or not.

When I finished my food, I stood up and said, "I'm sorry, but Liam and I must be going." I couldn't handle being there any longer than I had to.

"Oh, but you must stay for dessert!" Sherry begged. "I made strawberry pie special."

"We'd love to stay," Liam answered and I turned to glare at him.

"Wonderful," she grinned. "I'll just clean up the table and bring it out to the living room."

Liam laced his fingers with mine, rubbing his thumb along my own trying to get me to calm down. We took seats on the couch in the living room and waited for dessert.

***

"What the hell, Liam?" I burst out, leting my anger free. We were now in my bedroom and Liam was in the process of changing into some track pants. "How could you make us stay for dessert?"

"She went through the trouble of making the pie, the least we could do was stay," he said, unamused.

"You had no right to do that! I wanted to leave, so we should have left," I crossed my arms over my chest in annoyance.

"They honestly seemed like nice people," he said, walking into the bathroom to brush his teeth.

"Liam, my dad is not a nice person. If you knew half of the things he did when I was a child, you would be livid with him," I said, trying to defend my anger.

Liam tried to get me to sit next to him on the bed now, but I refused. "Even if he was a horrible person back then, doesn't mean he couldn't have changed. It seems like he's trying and wants to be a part of your life again."

"Doesn't mean that I want to be a part of his life," I said and went into the bathroom, slamming the door behind me. I slid down against the wooden door, hitting the tile floor with a thud. I hugged my knees to my chest and buried my head in my knees. I couldn't get the bad memories out of my head, the ones where my dad would come home so drunk that he couldn't make it up the stairs and the other nights when he screamed at mom while I sat at the top of the stairs, hiding and listening.

"Logan?" Liam gently knocked on the bathroom door. "Please, baby. Come out and talk to me."

After a few moments, I stood up and opened the door slowly. Liam was standing there, just in his track pants with a concerned look on his face.

"This is just so new to me. I'm not used to someone being there for me. I'm used to crying myself to sleep and internalizing my problems. I don't know what to do," I rambled.

"It's not your fault," he said bringing me into his strong arms. "I shouldn't have said yes to dessert. It must have been so hard to even go to dinner and I'm proud of you." He rubbed circles on my back and I buried my head into the crook of his neck.

"Thank you," I whispered into his chest.

"For what? I haven't done a thing," he said and moved so that he was cupping my face with both of his hands.

"For being here," I said and bit my lip, the feeling of butterflies developing in my stomach.

"I'll always be here," he said and leaned down to press a kiss on my lips, soft and sweet. As he was separating from me, I reached up around his neck to pull his face back to mine. I deepened the kiss, feelings of passion and need circling around us. Liam gripped my waist, closing all of the space between us.

"You're wearing entirely too much clothes," he murmured, pulling my t-shirt out from my skirt and lifting it above my head. Then he pulled my skirt down, letting it pool at my feet. He began to place kisses along my jaw and neck before moving to my collarbone. I moaned at the feeling, it was so much different than those meaningless one night stands. I felt like I was loved as Liam touched me and kissed me.

We moved to the bed and Liam smiled at me as I crawled to straddle his lap. "Now you're the one wearing too much," I smirked and hooked my fingers in the waistband of his pants. He watched as I pulled them down and then kicked them so they fell to the floor.

I felt self-conscious as his eyes trailed down my body and back up to my eyes. "You're so beautiful," he said and brought my face back to his, our lips meeting in a hungry kiss.

"Liam," I said after a few minutes. "Is it alright if we don't?" I slid off of his lap and propped myself up on my side next to him.

"Are you ok?" he asked, brushing some hair away from my face and then resting his hand on my hip.

"Yeah, I just feel like I always just jumped into bed and now that we're together I just want to lay with you right now. I want to feel your arms around me and fall asleep to your heartbeat." I bit down on my lip and looked up to gauge his reaction.

"Of course, baby. Let me just go take care of this and I'll be right back," he said gesturing to his arousal. He stood up from the bed and entered the bathroom, closing the door behind him.

I got up myself and changed into one of Liam's t-shirts that was lying on my floor. I crawled under the sheets and Liam joined me a bit later. He pulled my body to his, holding me tight. I felt secure as I layed my head on his chest, his regular heart beat lulling me to sleep.

idk i actually love how this turned out. please vote and comment xx zoe