We Were Right From The Start

The next morning I woke up because of the sun shining through the window. I hadn’t shut the curtains before going to bed. I sighed and buried my face in my pillow. But then my pillow moved. I pulled back quickly and saw Liam waking up slowly. His hair was messed up and his clothes were ruffled but he still looked gorgeous. I couldn’t help but wonder what I looked like in comparison. I was about to get up and let Liam go back to sleep when his arm that was lose around my waist snaked out and pulled me tightly against him. I gasped softly but then relaxed, put my arm around his waist, shut my eyes and dozed for a while.

I don’t know how much later it was when Liam's phone started ringing. I heard Liam moan and pull his phone out of his pocket while his eyes stayed closed and his other arm stayed around me. "Yeah?" he said groggily, his voice sending shivers down my spine. "Mhmm," he murmured. "No...yeah...alright..." He closed his phone, put it back in his pocket and then wrapped his arms back around me tightly. He buried his face in my neck and kissed it softly. "I've got to go," he said against my skin. I glanced at my clock and saw it was 11.05. I nodded and Liam pulled away. He sat up and looked back down at me. He smiled tenderly and brushed my hair out of my face and then stroked my cheek. I sighed and closed my eyes under his caress. "Don't get up, I'll let myself out," he said tenderly. "I'll see you tomorrow." He then pecked my lips once more and slowly left the room. A few seconds later I heard the front door open and close.

I couldn’t help but notice the loss of him. I missed his warm body next to mine. I sighed and then sat up. I climbed out of bed and looked into my mirror and winced. God, I looked tragic. My hair was wild, my mascara had smudged, my clothes were at angles... How could Liam have been so sweet and not laughed when I look like this? I smiled at the answers that popped into my mind.

I went downstairs next and into the kitchen. Sam was sitting at the kitchen table eating a bowl of cereal. There was some milk a coco pops spilt on the table and the cupboard with the cereal was a mess, but he had done it on his own and I knew he was proud of himself. "Hey, you made your own breakfast!" I said enthusiastically and he grinned.
"I know," he said happily. "Even the milk!" I laughed and nodded and then put some bread in the toaster. I sat down next to Sam with my breakfast and once he had finished he went back up to his room, got a box of lego and brought it downstairs and started playing with it. I sat on the sofa and watched Friends re-runs as he played.

At about 2 o'clock dad came home and straight into the living room. "Hey, honey," he smiled at me and I smiled back. Dad may be completely horrid to mum, but to Sam and I, he was the perfect father. If only he would realise that being the perfect father included being the perfect husband.
"Hey, how was the work thing?" I asked him, not sure what to call it.
"Alright, interesting," he said and I nodded. "I'll be upstairs." I nodded and he carried his bag upstairs and I heard his bedroom door shut. I looked down at Sam who was still playing, completely unaware that dad was home. It didn't really make a difference anyway. Dad may put in the effort when he was with us, but he didn't make the effort to be with us. The fact that he was here didn't matter, it was only when we came face to face that he tried.

All afternoon I stayed with Sam, played with his, talked to him. Dad only came down once, slightly pale and asked, "did mum say when she was getting home?" I frowned and shook my head. He nodded, smiled weakly and disappeared for the rest of the day. I wondered when mum was getting home. I couldn’t always be looking after Sam, I needed to do my work. I hoped she would get home tonight or tomorrow. But she said she was going to Anne's and I knew her number, so if I needed to phone to ask her to come home, I could. I made Sam's tea and then he went upstairs into his room. I followed and saw a small pile of drawings. I frowned and picked them up. All of them were pictures of us, all of us, as a family. And we were happy and mum and dad were holding hands. I didn't know how to let Sam know that his pictures weren’t likely to come true. I looked over his shoulder and saw he was drawing a picture of him, mum and dad. He was in between mum and dad, who were both grinning and holding his hands between them. I put down the pictures and silently left the room and went back to my bedroom.

I lay on my bed, staring at my ceiling. I wondered what would happen when mum got home, whether dad would yell at her for being away too long. Whether he would do anything more... I rolled over on my bed, burying my face in my pillow. I breathed in and I could smell Liam on my sheets. The scent relaxed me slightly and I lay there for a short while before falling asleep hugging my pillow.

When I woke up I was upset to find myself alone in my bed. But I was thrilled that I would be seeing Liam again today. My first lesson was biology. I grinned and went and had a long, hot shower. After getting dressed in my uniform, I went downstairs into the kitchen. I glanced outside and saw that mum still wasn’t home and that dad had already left for work. Now what? "Hello," a little voice said behind me. I turned and smiled at Sam as he sat at the table.
"Morning," I smiled and got out the coco pops and milk for his cereal. I went to the phone and phoned Sue.
"Hello?" she said.
"Hi, it's Frankie from across the road," I said.
"Oh, yes, hello, are you ok?" she asked and I sighed.
"My mum isn’t home yet and my dad's already gone to work and I need to go to school in a few minutes," I said. "I was wondering if you could look after Frankie for about an hour. He gets picked up at 8.30 by a friend for nursery. I'll be able to look after him this afternoon because I've got a free period. But I don’t know what to do this morning."
"Frankie, honey, calm down," she said quickly and I realised how quickly I had been speaking because of my panic. "It's no problem. Bring him by before you leave for school."
"Thank you so much, I can pay you when-"
"Don't you dare, I'm doing this because you need help, you're only a child yourself afterall," she said and I smiled slightly. I didn't want to point out that I was 18 in a few months.
"Thank you so, so much," I said emphatically.
"No problem, honey," she said and we hung up.

I turned to Sam and saw him look at me. "Sam, I can't look after you before Shirley comes to pick you up because I've got school. So Sue is going to." He frowned slightly but nodded. I knew he didn't really like Sue and I knew he was only being well behaved because he could sense I was upset. "Thank you, honey, I'll be back this afternoon ok. I'll pick you up from nursery." He grinned and nodded. Now I had to try and work out how I was going to pick him up from nursery...

Half an hour later, I was watching out the window for when Liam would come and get me for school. He pulled up at the curve and I quickly turned the television off and pulled Sam out of the door. I went over to the car and opened the door quickly, to a confused looking Liam. I couldn’t help but note that he looked cute confused. "I just need to drop him off with Sue," I said and he nodded.
"No problem," he said. I smiled and then shut the door again and dragged Sam across the road. I rang the doorbell and I second later Sue opened the door.
"Hey, honey," she said softly, sympathetically.
"Hi," I said, wondering why she was looking at me with pity in her eyes. "Shirley should be here to pick him up in about an hour."
"It's no problem, Francesca," she said and I smiled.
"Thanks," I smiled and she nodded and Sam went inside. "I'll see you later," I said to him and he nodded.

I then turned and went over to Liam's car and got in and he drove us to school.