Liam
My fucking heart is breaking. Allison refuses to let go of me, so I’m holding her in my arms while Aiden drives us to Gran’s from the airport. My beautiful girl is in so much pain, and I don’t know what to do to make it better. She falls asleep almost instantly, and I’m glad. She has an emotional journey ahead of her, and I need a minute to get my emotions in check. I went from elation from the win, to full on outrage, to scared shitless, to heartbroken for her. That’s a damn tornado of emotions in a span of what, five minutes. When I thought Jason had hurt her, I was going to kill him. I wouldn’t have stopped until he was dead. Then when she told me he was helping her, fear crashed through me, who hurt her? What happened to have her this upset? When she finally told me Gran was gone, I felt my heart breaking. Not only had I become close to Gran over the last several months, but I knew what this meant for Allison. The devastation of losing Gran is going to take a toll on her emotionally, and I have no fucking idea how to help her.
We pull into the driveway, and Allison is still asleep. She slept the entire flight as well. I brush the hair off her cheek and whisper in her ear, “Allie, we’re here. Wake up.”
She bolts straight up in the seat, flings the door open, and runs to the house. It takes my brain about ten seconds to register before I’m right behind her. I catch up to her as she’s going up the steps. I reach around her and open the door. Judy’s sitting in the living room, curled up on the couch with a box of tissues. The chair where Gran always sits is empty. Allison starts to fall to her knees, but I catch her just in time. I lower us both to the floor and cradle her in my lap while her entire body shakes with gut wrenching sobs. Her tears are falling so fast, I can’t wipe them away. I feel tightness in my chest and before I even realize it, I’m crying too. I want to take this pain from her, I want to make it better, and I can’t. I’m scared to death for her, for how this is going to affect her emotionally. God, how am I going to get her through this?
Aiden and Hailey come in, carrying our bags. Aiden’s parents are right behind them. Aiden has showered and changed. “Ash,” Aiden says, “come sit with me, let’s let Liam get showered and changed.” He speaks softly to her. We left the game, the celebration and went straight to the hotel to pack and then to the airport. Dad was able to get the four of us a flight within a few hours of finding out about Gran. Showering was the last thing I was thinking about, but I did manage to change out of my uniform before Allie was latched back onto me. My girl is broken.
Allison shakes her head. “Can I—can I come with you?” she asks me.
“I can wait, baby, we’re good here for now,” I tell her.
“No, you need to shower and change, but I just…”
“Allison,” Mrs. Emerson addresses her, “how about you and I take a walk?”
She hesitates before looking at me with sad worried eyes. “A walk might do you some good,” I tell her.
“Will you be here when I get back?” she questions me.
I crush her tighter to my chest. “I’m not going anywhere, beautiful girl. I’ll shower and be here waiting when you get back.”
“Promise?” she whispers.
I swallow the lump in my throat. “I promise.” With that she allows Mrs. Emerson to help her up, and they leave out the front door to take a walk. I pull my legs to my chest and rest my elbows on my knees with both hands covering my eyes. She was afraid I would leave her. Oh, Allie.
I feel Aiden place his hand on my shoulder. “You alright, man?”
“No,” my voice is deep and thick with emotion, “I can’t help her. I can’t take this pain away and it’s killing me. She’s my world, and I can’t protect her from this. She was afraid I was going to leave her.” I look up and meet his stare. “My beautiful girl is broken, and fuck if I know how to fix her.”
“She needs you, man, she was clinging to you like you were her lifeline. Just be there for her, hold her. She’ll get through this, we all will. Go take a shower. Dad’s going to pick up some dinner.”
I rush through my shower, because I want to be finished when Allison gets back from her walk. I make my way back to the living room to find Judy still sitting there by herself. I kneel down in front of her. “You okay? Can I get you anything?” I ask her.
“No, thank you. I’m going to head home as soon as Allison returns,” she says solemnly.
I hear the front door open and turn to see Allison, Hailey, and Mrs. Emerson returning from their walk. Allison walks straight toward me, so I open my arms for her. I kiss the top of her head, but don’t say anything. I know nothing I say can take her pain away.
“Thanks for being here, Judy, and taking care of everything,” Allison says, her voice cracking.
“Oh, sweetie, you’re welcome. I’m going to head home now, but I’ll be back to check in on you tomorrow. I left some paperwork there on the table, letters, copies of her will, that kind of thing.” Judy stands to leave. “You call me if you need anything, sweet girl. We’ll get through this.”
Allison turns, buries her face in my chest, and wraps her arms around my waist and squeezes. I hold her tight, hoping I’m relaying to her that I’m here for whatever she needs. We stand like this for I don’t know how long, when finally, she asks me to sit down with her. We make our way to the couch. She pushes me down and sits on my lap, curling up against me. I gently stroke her back. I point to the table. “There’s the stack of papers Judy left you. Do you need me to sort through them for you?” I volunteer. Before she can answer, Hailey walks in to tell us everything is set up for dinner.
“Let’s get you something to eat,” I suggest.
“I’m not really hungry.”
“I know, babe, but you need to keep your strength up. You have a tough couple of days ahead of you. Can you just try to eat a little, please?”
She nods. Hailey was apparently listening, because she suddenly appears with two plates loaded down. Aiden follows with drinks. Allison starts to get up. “You can stay right where you are, baby, you don’t need to move.” She releases a deep breath.
“Thank you, Liam,” she speaks softly. “I love you.” Her voice breaks with emotion on the last words, and I’ll be damned but do I tear up again.
“I love you so much, Allie. We will get through this.” I kiss her cheek, and we both pick at our food, neither of us has an appetite. I increase my effort, just so I can try to convince her to do the same.
We finish picking at our plates when Aiden’s parents come in to tell us goodnight. They offer for all four of us to sleep at their place tonight. Allison thanks them, but says that she wants to stay here tonight. I’m going to be where she is, no matter where that happens to be.
Aiden and Hailey stick around until about eleven. They both offer to stay the night, and Aiden offers his house again, Allison declines. I don’t bother to respond, they both know I am with her, no matter where she chooses to sleep.
Chapter 35
Allison
Aiden and Hailey leave to go to Aiden’s for the night, which leaves Liam and I all alone in Gran’s house. I suddenly realize maybe Liam doesn’t want to stay here. “Liam, you can stay at Aiden’s if you would rather.”