The Way We Learned to Love ✓

31 - lily + liam

Hi, everyone. As you probably guessed from the title, this chapter is dual POV. I couldn't settle on just one when I was trying to write it so it starts with Lily, switches to Liam at the break, and then goes back to Lily after the second break. It should be obvious but I wanted to give you a warning in case you were confused! 

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august 2018 : 2 years and 1 month ago

Lily managed to ungracefully push the door handle down with her elbow and then nudge it open with her foot, the need to do so created by the fact that one set of fingers was currently clutching a Barnes and Noble bag while her other hand was intertwined with Liam's.

"I would have done that for you," he chuckled.

"That's much less fun," she told him as they stepped inside. "But remind me not to do stupid stuff like leave the door unlocked."

"Don't do stupid stuff like leave the door unlocked."

She rolled her eyes but felt herself smile. "Thank you, that was very helpful."

"I try."

"I can tell."

The house was currently empty since both of her parents were at work. Liam flicked on a light switch as she set her bag down on the kitchen island.

Shopping was not originally on the agenda for today—the afternoon Barnes and Noble run was spurred by an email from one of her professors with a list of books he wanted them to have before class started next Monday. She was really trying to avoid thinking about school for as long as possible but even more so trying to avoid getting on any of her professors' bad sides right off the bat. She searched for the books on Amazon, but they weren't going to ship to her in time. The next option was the campus bookstore, but their prices were ridiculously high, so she decided to give Barnes and Noble a shot first and unexpectedly ended up finding what she needed there.

It was approximately the temperature of the surface of the sun outside and tendrils of heat followed them into the house despite the fact that the front door was firmly shut, but Lily had just the remedy for it. As soon as she dumped her bag on the counter, she opened the fridge and retrieved two glass bottles of Coca-Cola.

She proudly showed them to Liam as if she herself had been the one to acquire them although that was not the case. "Look what Mom grabbed at the store."

Lily wasn't usually a huge soda drinker, but there truly was something better about it when it came from the bottle. Passing one of them to Liam earned her a "Thanks, Lils."

She popped the lid off and took a quick swig of her drink before setting the bottle down on the island behind her. Liam came forward, his arms encircling her waist, and he pressed a gentle kiss onto her forehead. She couldn't have hid the smile that formed on her lips if she tried. He figured out rather quickly that she was quite fond of forehead kisses and made sure to give her plenty of them.

He stepped back just slightly and his eyes flickered over to her bag of books before returning to her. "Ready for class to start?"

"Is anyone ever really ready for class to start?"

"I think those people do exist, actually," he mused, his lips curving into a cute little lopsided grin. "They're just a very rare breed of person that we are not."

"I'm not too worried yet, though," she shrugged. "I mean, I'll probably change my mind after the first day, but I figure sophomore year won't be as hard as freshman. Less to adjust to."

"Mine definitely wasn't," he agreed.

She had only heard a few stories from Liam of what he was like his freshman year before and while he was dating Caroline Davis, but he was far from forgiving in his assessment of himself. Lily found it hard to believe that he was ever capable of being as terrible of a person as he made his past self out to be. The Liam she knew was so kind, so sensitive, so selfless. Those weren't traits you acquired in a year, at least not to the extent he revealed through how he treated her. He was innately good in her eyes and to separate him from that goodness would be impossible, like having the day without the sun.