Walking Fragile Lines

Part Time Life

"I love you dad", she said in almost a whisper.

"I love you too cutie", he replied, kissing the top of her head once more before getting up and leaving her to read her book, returning to his bedroom to make things right with Liv.

"Can I ask you something?", she asked the moment he set foot in the room.

"Sure", he said, closing the door behind him.

"Since when did it become okay for us to lie to one another?", she asked accusingly. Brian couldn't help but feel confused as he furrowed his brow at her.

"I didn't lie to you? What are you talking about?", he asked in return.

"Well, lets just say - the next time you wanna keep something from me? You might wanna tell Murray to put away his goddamn phone!", she snapped at him, throwing her phone down in front of him which displayed a video of Brian drinking in the club they went to the night before.

"Liv I-"

"Do you have any idea what it was like to find out half a million people knew what your husband was up to before you did?", she cut him off as she grew increasingly frustrated.

"I just - I knew you were upset and I didn't wanna make things worse", he told her honestly.

"Well, if that was your plan you should've made sure none of your friends posted it all over their Instagram stories - better yet - you could've just told me the truth!", she snapped at him once more before suddenly giving a breathy chuckle. "The sad thing is I only even looked at his story because I thought I'd get to see some cute videos of you guys at Comicon", she shook her head as she sighed. Brian had no idea what he was supposed to say next. She had every right to be mad and, once again, he didn't want to say anything that would only upset her more. "You didn't have to lie to me. I would've been disappointed sure - but I'd have gotten over it! What do you think of me?", she asked, her eyes glossy as she looked at him.

"What do you mean?", he asked.

"I'm not one of those psycho women that's gonna fly off the handle just because you went out for a few drinks with your friends Brian!", she choked.

"Of course you're not!", Brian agreed with her as he inched closer. There was more to this than she was letting on, Brian could sense it now as he watched silent tears stream down her face. Of course the situation had upset her, but Brian knew Liv all too well to know that the look on her face screamed that something was on her mind. "What's going on Liv? Talk to me", he told her.

"I just - I just miss you, okay? We miss you", she told him.

"Miss me? Baby, I'm right here", he reassured her.

"Sure, now you are. But soon you're gonna be off filming or - or you're gonna have to go on tour again or something else is gonna spring up and you're gonna have to leave again", she sighed. "I guess I just feel like a part time wife", she said honestly. Brian felt hurt by her sudden admission. The last thing he wanted was for her to feel this way, but he understood. He was away a lot and, although it was hard on him, he never really thought about how hard it was on Liv too. But, Liv had walked into this with her eyes wide open. The show had been soaring on the popularity scale when they got back together and Brian had always assumed that his job wasn't an issue to Liv, not that he expected her to have no feelings about it at all, but he hadn't expected it to affect her this much.

"I know it's hard Liv. I really do baby but - but you knew what you were signing up for", he sighed himself as he took a seat on their bed. Liv spun on her heel to face him.

"No I didn't. I fell in love with a firefighter!", she pressed her finger against her chest as she struggled to hold back her emotions. "I know you're talking about Fairmount - but I fell in love with a fireman named Brian Quinn and I never stopped loving him", she said. There was a moment of silence as Liv suddenly took a seat beside him on the bed. Brian had no idea what to say as the pair sat awkwardly side by side. "There aren't enough words in the world to describe how proud I am of everything you do and everything you've achieved. It's just - it gets tough when you're not around so much", she spoke softly. "I feel like a single mom sometimes and it just - it's just difficult". Brian shuffled closer to her, placing his hand on top of hers as he squeezed it ever so slightly.

"I don't know how to make this right. But I'm gonna find a way", he spoke softly. Liv looked up at him, tears streaming down her face as he eyes shifted between his.

"I'm so scared of losing you", she told him honestly. Brian looked at her sadly as he ran his fingers through her hair.

"You could never lose me", he told her confidently, kissing her forehead as she wiped away her tears. Brian was going to fix this, he just needed to figure out how.