When I walked through the doors, Liam was sitting on the porch swing, gently rocking back and forth. He had his elbows resting on his knees and was constantly running his hands through his hair, something he always did when he was upset. Guilt and sadness coursed through me as I realized I was the reason for him to be upset.
“Liam?” I said softly, cautiously, unsure of his reaction.
He didn’t say anything, didn’t even look at me, just continued to run his hands through his hair. It felt like my heart was breaking as I slowly took a seat next to my best friend.
“Liam?” I asked softly, turning my head to look at him.
He looked at me for a moment before turning away but not before I saw the hurt and betrayal burning in his eyes. I squeezed my eyes shut, feeling the tears that were threatening to spill over, but not wanting to let them fall. I didn’t know what to say, where to start, so I waited for Liam.
“Why? Why’d you leave Makenzi?” he asked after a couple of tense, silent minutes, using my full name which is something he’s never done.
“I had to. He cheated on me Liam,” I answered, my gaze never leaving his face.
“I know he did. Everyone does,” Liam said, staring at the ground.
“Really?” I asked, surprised.
“Yeah. After he found out you left, he knew it had to do with him cheating on you. He felt guilty and told everyone what he had done. But that still doesn’t explain why you had to leave me behind,” Liam said, the sadness in his voice intensifying.
“I didn’t leave just because he cheated on me. Well, not exactly. The morning I found him in bed with her, I found out some news. I was pregnant,” I said, pausing there to wait for his reaction.
His head snapped up and he stared at me, wide-eyed. A million different emotions flashed in his eyes, disappearing too fast for me to decipher them.
“You were pregnant? How could you not tell me that? I thought you were one of my best friends Makenzi! How could you?” he asked, looking anguished.
“I didn’t want to! I wanted to tell you Liam, every day. You’ve been my best friend ever since I can remember and it’s killed me these last few years to not have you there, but I did what I had to do. I left because I didn’t want my baby to get hurt. Cayden’s promised me our entire lives that he would never hurt me, never do anything to upset me, but he did. If he’d do that to me, who’s to say he wouldn’t do it to our child too? I couldn’t take that risk, I couldn’t let my baby get hurt. I knew I had to leave in order to do that,” I explained.
“That doesn’t explain why you didn’t tell me,” Liam said.
“I didn’t want to put you between a rock and a hard place. You’re fiercely loyal to your friends, Liam, and that’s one thing I’ve always loved about you. I couldn’t let Cayden find out I was pregnant because then he’d come after me and me leaving would have been pointless. If I had told you I was pregnant, you would have been stuck between your loyalties. You could’ve either betrayed me and told Cayden or kept something huge from Cayden while keeping your loyalty to me. It would have eaten you from the inside and I couldn’t let that happen, not when I was the cause. I’m so sorry for not telling you but I had the best of intentions,” I said, pleading with him to believe me.
We stayed silent for a minute, looking at each other. I could see him trying to process everything and I waited, not wanting to say anything yet. I wanted to wait until he was done processing the new information first. I couldn’t get rid of the feeling that I was about to lose my best friend.
“Please don’t hate me,” I said after a few minutes when I couldn’t take the silence anymore.
Liam took a deep breath before turning to me, taking my hands in his.
“Kenzi, I’ve known you my entire life. I can’t remember a time when you weren’t there. I could never hate you. I was hurt when you left because it felt like you didn’t trust me enough to tell me what was going on. Hearing your explanation, I understand why you did it and I can’t tell you how much it means to me that you didn’t want to put me in that situation. I understand your reasoning now and, even though I wish you hadn’t disappeared from my life for the last three years, I’m ecstatic that you’re back,” he said and I could tell he really meant it.
“Thank you Liam. That means a lot,” I said, taking my hands out of his to wrap them around his shoulders as I pulled him in for a hug.
“I love you Kenz and I’m glad you’re home,” he said, tightening his hold on me.
“I love you too Liam,” I responded as we pulled away from each other.
“Now let’s go inside and let Tegan know the good news. Plus, I want to see this baby,” he said, a smile on his face.
“They’re not here. I left them with a couple friends in Phoenix,” I said as we walked inside the house.
“Wait, them?” he asked, a confused expression displayed across his face.
“Yeah. I had twin boys,” I explained.
I laughed as Liam stared at me in shock, his mouth hanging open.
“Twins?” he said after a moment.
“Yeah. Asher Cohen and Cain Alexander,” I answered.
“Cayden’s middle names,” Liam instantly said, the shock on his face intensifying.
“They are his kids,” I answered simply.
“Yeah but,” he started to say but trailed off, not knowing what to say.
“She still loves him even if he was a colossal idiot. Even though she doesn’t want them around him, she still wanted to give them something of his and since she couldn’t give them his last name, she settled for his middle names,” Tegan explained, a smile on her face as she saw everything was patched up between us.
“And that is why you’re my best friend. I’ve never explained why I gave them Cayden’s middle names,” I said, hugging her quickly.
“You didn’t have to babe,” she replied.
“So what do these boys look like?” Liam asked.
I pulled my phone out of my pocket, scrolling through my pictures until I found a really good one of the boys. When I found one, I handed the phone over to Liam, watching to see his reaction. His eyes widened in surprise as the corners of his mouth lifted up in a smile.
“They’re definitely Cayden’s sons, no one can deny that. They’re adorable,” Liam said, handing the phone back to me.
“Thank you,” I said, plopping down on the couch.
I sat in Tegan’s living room for the next three hours talking to my best friends, catching up. I had missed them like crazy the last few years and I reveled in the chance to see them again. James video called me again while I was with Tegan and Liam, keeping to his promise that I’d still see my boys even if I was across the country. The boys went crazy when they saw Tegan, laughing and yelling her name. They quickly became attached to Liam as he talked to them, making them laugh like crazy. I talked to them for a little bit before talking to James. When I ended the call, I turned back to see Liam and Tegan watching me with knowing smiles.
“So what’s the deal with you and James?” Liam asked, the smile still on his face.
“Nothing. He’s just a friend, like you. Get those smiles off your face because nothing has ever or will ever happen between the two of us. I have my boys, I don’t have time to date. I don’t want to anyway,” I said, wiping the smiles off their faces.
Tegan opened her mouth to say something, probably something that I didn’t want to hear, so I started talking before she could.
“Will one of you take me to the hospital? I want to check on Daddy and I’m meeting Easton and Talon there.”
“I will. I have to go home anyway,” Liam said, standing up with me.
“Bye babe. See you later,” Tegan said as I hugged her.
“Bye,” I replied, heading towards the front door.
I looked back once I reached the door just in time to see Liam lean down to softly kiss Tegan’s lips. I smiled, glad that they had managed to stay together. I was truly happy for them even though watching them just reminded me of what I lost.
“You ready?” Liam asked from next to me.
I jumped, not expecting him to be right next to me.
“Yeah,” I answered, following him out to his truck.
The ride to the hospital was silent. I was caught up in memories of the past and Liam was keeping quiet, sensing that I needed to be alone with my thoughts. Images of myself and Cayden were running through my head, more appearing as we drove down the street. Cayden, Tegan, Liam, and I would go everywhere around town, making it to where everywhere I looked, more memories of all of us popped into my head. Sighing, I laid my head against the window. I knew coming home would be hard, but I never thought it would be this hard.
“He asks about you, you know. He calls me and he asks about you. I haven’t been able to tell him anything and Tegan’s always claimed she doesn’t know anything even though we both know she’s lying,” Liam said softly after a couple minutes.
I turned to look at him, surprise evident on my face.
“It’s true. Every time I tell him that I don’t know anything, he always says he hopes you’re okay,” he said.
I opened my mouth to say something but nothing came out.
“Are you going to tell him about the boys?” he asked, pulling into a parking space at the hospital and turning to look at me.
“I have to. My sons deserve to know their father other than pictures I hung up in their room. They deserve to know him and be able to interact with him and, despite what he’s done to me, he deserves to know his sons. They’re a part of him and he deserves to know them,” I answered, staring back at him.
“You’re nervous, I can tell, but you don’t have to be. You’re a strong person, Kenz, you always have been,” Liam said before getting out of the truck.
I sat processing his words until my door opened to reveal Liam on the other side.
“Come on. Let’s go see your dad,” he said, taking my hand and helping me out of the truck.
Halfway across the parking lot, I stopped, causing Liam to stop with me. He turned to look at me curiously. I shook my head, wrapping my arms around him, laying my cheek on his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around my waist and I could tell he was confused.
“Thank you Liam. For everything,” I said, my voice muffled slightly by his shirt.
“What are friends for Kenz?” he asked, chuckling, as we pulled apart and continued walking towards the entrance.
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Here's chapter 5. Thank you so much to everyone reading this! Please tell me what you think! I can't get better if I don't know what you guys like and dislike.
Have a wonderful day and thank you again!