The Only Exception

It surprised Sunday how quickly she fell in love with Liam.

When he finally did meet Amber, she confirmed Sunday's initial assessment that Liam was, in fact, extremely attractive. Sunday had decided to take the pair out to a lunch on the pier, mostly keeping quiet during the meal while she allowed Amber to interrogate Liam. Amber was pleased when she found out that he was a partner at a law firm at the young age of twenty-eight and quickly gave Sunday her approval and praise.

After that lunch, Sunday had hesitantly told Amber that she already knew how she felt about Liam. Amber had been practically catatonic with joy, already thinking about where the two should move in together, how much money they would make in a year when Sunday finished school, and if they'd be kind enough to name their first child after her.

Sunday had laughed at Amber's rush, but deep down, it excited her to think that she had found someone that she could spend forever with. He made her happier than anyone had since Alex, and although the thought of Alex almost threatened to stall her free fall, Sunday eventually pushed the thoughts away from her mind. Alex hadn't returned any of her phone calls, and they had let each other go.

So the only conclusion that was left for her to make was that she was very in love with Liam.

He treated her like the princess that Gillian was convinced she was. Mr. Philips had been a little exasperated in the beginning as dozens of flowers had accumulated at his house, but when he noticed how Sunday giggled every time she plucked the card from the bouquet and saw Liam's note, he grew more tolerant and eager to meet the young man.

Her parents had met him seperately, as they had still not found it in their hearts to be mature enough to stay in the same room for more than five minutes, and had both adored him. Sunday wasn't shocked that her father had liked Liam, but when her mother began gushing about how wonderful he was, that was a surprise. It was rare that her mother liked anyone at all.

So Sunday fell in love, and as a result, spent much of her free time with Liam, doing fun and exciting things that she never would have thought to do herself. She found that sometimes, they clashed, but not nearly as often as she had with Alex. Liam never disregarded her feelings, made sure that his friends were all incredibly kind to her, and Sunday felt like when she was with him, Liam didn't even see the other girls that were around. He made her feel incredible and, more importantly, capable.

Which wasn't to say that there still weren't a few things that Sunday was wary of. One of which was horses, and she couldn't quite piece together in her mind how Liam had coaxed her into sitting atop one at that moment, but it didn't matter. The important part was that she was terrified and gripping the leather reins so tightly her knuckles were white.

"I don't want to do this anymore," she called to Liam, who was a few feet ahead of her. She hadn't moved from the spot since he had helped propel her into the saddle, and she didn't have plans to move any time in the near future. As much as she loved Pegasus and Monoceros in the sky, she did not enjoy their tall, foot stamping, impatient sounding earthly counterparts.

Liam's horse splashed into the surf, and Liam's laugh floated back to Sunday. She wanted to be having fun, too, but her long term goal of staying alive was holding her back. "Just get in the water, Sun," Liam urged her.

Sunday shook her head. "No." She dropped the reins and crossed her arms, the decision made in her mind.

Liam laughed at her this time, and repeated, "Get in the water, Sunday."

"No!" she countered curtly, her eyebrows drawn in irritation.

Liam dropped off his horse and splashed through the water back to her. "I'm sorry for yelling," he smiled sweetly, leaning on her horse, "Now would you please just get in the water? It's fun, and the horses love it."

"This was a terrible idea," mumbled Sunday, "When you said we were going to a ranch, I thought I'd be watching cowboys on horses, not actually on a horse."

"And when you said you weren't afraid of horses, I thought you meant real ones, not just the ones made of stars," Liam teased her. He drew his hand across the soft fur on the back of the horse, and just as Sunday suspiciously turned around to see why his hand was lingering, he smacked the horse smartly, causing the animal to disregard Sunday's grip on its reins and take off down the beach.

She had to catch her breath to yell at Liam, and as soon as she regained her ability to inhale and exhale, Sunday found that she wasn't quite that mad at all. It was an exhilarating feeling, the wind whipping her hair back, the smell of the ocean everywhere. She heard Liam catching up to her on his own horse, and she dropped the reins once again, sticking her arms out. "I'm flying, Liam!" she called.

This was how Liam made her feel, she decided: free.

Although she had initially been wary, it took Liam literally dragging her out of the saddle for Sunday to say goodbye to her new horse friend, Anabele. Liam promised that they could return to his brother's ranch the next week, and they packed into the car to return to Malibu.

"I hope everyone knows what that's like," Sunday mused as she stared out the window at the coast passing by while they zipped along the freeway.

"What horseback riding's like?" chuckled Liam.

"Just feeling freee," she sighed. "I didn't have to worry about anything. Not school or my utterly ridiculous family or..." She trailed off, the last worry burned on her brain. Alex.

Liam took her hand, mostly reacting to the mention of her family, but also knowing that there was something Sunday was holding back from him. It didn't necessarily bother him that Sunday had secrets; she was undoubtedly the most trustworthy person he had ever met, and he figured she'd tell him when she was ready.

Sunday let his fingers lace between hers, and as she stared at their hands together, all she could do was smile. She looked over at Liam, studying his face, his own eyes glued to the road. "I love you," she announced simply. Her smile widened, as she had know doubt that Liam loved her too whether he would tell her or not.

An enormous smile broke out on his face, and he slung an arm around Sunday's neck, pulling her close so that he could plant a kiss on her forehead. "I love you more." She smiled, leaning into his side. Even in the midst of her grandmother's illness and the most difficult semester of school that she had encountered yet, Liam made her feel so relaxed and happy.

And she was beginnig to hope that he could make her feel those things for a very long time into the future.

When the car slowed in front of her house, Sunday noticed that her grandmother was home and tensed. On the drive, Liam had mentioned making dinner, and Sunday had excitedly agreed. Early on in their relationship, she had discovered that Liam was a wonderful cook. However, she had failed to disclose her grandmother's illness to Liam, and she wasn't sure if she was ready to share that part of her life with him yet.

She pulled her hand from Liam's and tried to recall her happy smile. "Thank you for a wonderful day," she said, "I just forgot that I have a lot of stuff to finish for school, so do you think that we could do dinner at your house tomorrow night?"

He looked disappointed, which made Sunday feel bad, but he agreed. "Of course," he said. He leaned forward, kissing her before he added, "I'll call you tomorrow."

With the promise of tomorrow keeping her spirits up, Sunday skipped up the steps to her house, slipipng inside quietly. She tip-toed to the living room, discovering that her grandmother was laying on the couch watching the Food Network, a quilt pulled up to her neck.

Illness had been hard on Ann. In the past few weeks, her health had declined rapidly, and when she wasn't at the doctor receiving what seemed like a constant influx of bad news, she lived with Sunday and Mr. Phillips full time now. Sunday's mother was still struggling to come to grips with her mother's terminal illness, and despite all of Sunday's pleading, hadn't been by since Ann had made her announcement. Sunday took a seat on the arm of the couch, lightly ghosting her hand over her grandmother's hair, which to Sunday, served as a constant reminder that she had decided to forgo treatment. Her hair should have been gone, at most a slight fuzz like a baby chick, but instead, it was white and perfectly coiffed as always.

"Hello, darling," Ann responded, weakly moving her hand to pat Sunday's.

"How are you feeling today?" asked Sunday.

Ann gave a tight smile instead of responding, which usually meant that she was in a lot of pain today. "How was your day?" she countered, "I'm sure it was much more interesting than mine."

Instead of recalling every detail as she wanted to, Sunday bit her lip. "Grandma, do you believe that everyone has a soul mate? Just that one person that they're meant to be with?"

A smile lit up Ann's sunken and pale face. "I do, my dear," she announced. She closed her eyes before adding, "And if we're being frank, I can't wait to see mine again."

"You still miss Grandpa?" Sunday asked, eyebrows furrowed. Her grandfather had died almost fifteen years ago, and as Sunday had been very young at the time, she didn't remember much of him. But all of the pictures that she had ever seen lead her to believe that her grandparents had been very happy together, and she supposed it made sense that her grandmother missed him desperately. Sunday still missed Henry.

"Every day," confirmed her grandmother.

Sunday bit her lip. She loved Liam dearly, but could he be her soul mate if he wasn't the only person that she thought of every day?

She heaved a sigh and slumped back against the couch. “Why don’t I make some tea and we watch a Disney movie?" she offered.

Even though they both knew that her grandmother would sip her tea noisily and then fall asleep halfway through the movie, they enjoyed the time that it gave them together, and Ann smiled. "I thought you'd never ask."

As she slid off the couch and started for the kitchen, her grandmother called after her. Sunday turned around, and Ann suggested, “My darling, don’t throw away what’s waiting right in front of you because of uncertainty. Sometimes, destiny has a bigger plan for you, even if you’re not quite sure of it yet.”

Sunday smiled. Her grandmother had to be referencing Liam and Alex, and she was glad that she could tell that Sunday had some slight feelings of confliction without her having to explain it. “Thanks, Grandma,” she smiled, feeling a whole lot better. Liam was perfect, and she obviously wasn’t the only one who knew it.

Little did Sunday know that Liam was not the person right in front of her that Ann was referencing.
______________________________________________________________________________

Amber tossed her perfectly curled blonde hair over her shoulder and looked at herself in the mirror critically. She leaned forward after a quick diagnosis of her appearance, deciding that she needed more eyeliner. As she pulled the dark brown pencil over the bottom of her waterline, the door to her office banged open, making her jump and poke her eye with the sharp point.

"Alex," she greeted skeptically as she lowered the eyeliner pencil, her eye beginning to water. "What are you doing here? You're supposed to be in hair and make-up." She took in his appearance, trying to hide the cringe. His hair was messy, a little greasy, and he had dark circles under his eyes. She tried to make herself busy with tidying the items on her desk, knowing what he was about to ask her.

"I needed to talk to you," he explained as he dropped into the chair across from her.

Amber heaved a sigh and stood up, turning her back to him. He looked and sounded so sad that she couldn't look at his as she preemptively denied his request. "Alex, this photo shoot is very important," she finally ground out. "I've been working with the American Rag development since its inception, and I need you to take this seriously."

"I need to see her."

Amber pinched the bridge of her nose. Sometimes, the Sunday and Alex saga seemed very worn out. Other times, she felt like she was just waiting for them to find their way back to each other. She knew that Sunday was incredibly happy with Liam, but she couldn't help but wonder if she had found something more in Alex and just didn't realize it.

"I know about... him," Alex added, focusing his gaze on his shoes. "I-I don't even have to talk to her, Amber. It's just that we've been in California for months now working on the new record, and everywhere I go, I dread seeing her. But I'm always disappointed when I don't. I get that she's happy, and I want her to keep being happy. I just..."

She couldn't help but pity him in that moment, because Amber knew very well what it was like watching the person that you cared about love someone else. She had been through it with Sunday and Alex. She finally turned around, noticing the water brimming in his eyes. "Stop that," she ordered softly, plucking a tissue off the box on her desk and handing it to Alex.

"God, I'm such a fucking pussy," Alex laughed as he hastily blotted his eyes, feeling like a girl in a romantic comedy.

Amber leaned against the front of her desk, studying Alex. "I'm having a Halloween party," she finally announced. "Sun will be there. But so will Liam."

Liam. What kind of fucking name was that? Alex instantly wanted to write him off as a douche, but he tried to keep any judgment out of his voice. "Thank you," he said, unable to stop himself from beaming, "I know I was kind of a dick to you, but--"

Amber waved a hand. "Sunday and I worked out our problems from that time period a while ago," she shrugged, "It's over. I just hope you realize that."

Swallowing the enormous lump in his throat, Alex nodded numbly. How could he not realize it was over? He thought about the end every night as he tossed and turned in his bed, trying to forget, to move on, something. Amber felt her own nose begin to tingle as she stared at him, seeing that he was still hopelessly in love with Sunday, and she cleared her throat. "Now get to hair and make-up," she ordered, "I might just have to cancel my party if these aren't the best damn pictures you've ever taken."

Alex mumbled a hurried thanks as he dashed back to the room where they were being prepped for the shoot, knowing that his excuse of having to go to the bathroom was probably no longer credible. He found it easier to smile, joke around, and just breathe, really, with the prospect of Amber's Halloween party looming in the future. He was finally going to get to see her again. Maybe he wouldn't talk to her, but he'd be able to see her, and that would probably be good enough for him.

As Amber stared at the pictures later that night, approving which ones she wanted to run, her stomach was in a tangle of knots. What was she doing? She liked Liam and knew that Sunday was happy with him, so why was she allowing Alex to coax her into bringing up the past? She bit her lip, looking at her phone and realizing that she had some party planning to do as well, as the Halloween party that she had informed Alex of had simply been an idea until that day.

She shoved her computer into her bag and locked up her office, planning on making the not too short drive to Malibu for a girl's night with Sunday to ease her guilt. When she arrived, Sunday threw her arms around her friend's shoulders as always before pulling her into the living room, brimming with excitement.

"Fun day?" Amber asked, noticing that Sunday was a little more energetic than she usually would be at ten o'clock at night.

"The best," Sunday confirmed. She instantly launched into the story, telling Amber every detail about the horses, her fear, how fun she had once Liam helped her stop being afraid, and finally, that she had told him she loved him, which Sunday figured would be a pretty big deal.

It was, and Amber's eyes widened, her mouth coming ajar slightly. "You love him?"

"I do!" exclaimed Sunday as she twirled around the living room in a circle before falling onto the couch beside Amber. She kept a silly smile on her face as she stared at a spot above the television, obviously lost in her own thoughts.

The guilt that had been pooling inside of Amber was not assuaged at all by this news, and she struggled to stay calm. Everything would work out in the end, she told herself, it had to. "That's great, Sun," she smiled. "Hey, I'm having a Halloween party next week. Why don't you bring Liam?"

"Oh, we'd love to come, Amber," Sunday replied, "How nice of you to ask." Even parties didn't seem so scary anymore with Liam by her side.

"Great," Amber replied, forcing a smile. She pulled at a loose thread in her skirt before she decided, "It's going to be a masquerade. We should go shopping to find some masks next week." Maybe, just maybe, she'd be lucky enough and Sunday wouldn't recognize Alex, and she wouldn't go down in history as Worst Friend Ever.

Just maybe.