The Way We Learned to Love ✓

45 - liam

may 2020 : 4 months ago

"I don't know, Lils..."

She was sitting across from him on the blanket and looking at him with her big puppy dog eyes and the dog next to her was looking at him with its big puppy dog eyes and Liam was feeling rather ambushed. When she asked if he could meet her at the park, he assumed it was simply because the weather was pleasant and she wanted to go on a nice long Saturday morning stroll to decompress from the week. He grabbed her an iced coffee from the little cafe near his new place and showed up where and when she asked him to only to find her waiting here with this random golden retriever.

"I mean, is this really a good time..."

They were juggling so many life changes as it was. Both of them had only been in their new apartments for a couple of weeks and some of their stray belongings remained unpacked. Now a freshly-minted college graduate, Liam was working full time and as if he wasn't already busy enough, he had a side gig playing piano at that cafe for a couple of hours each week. He had been on the fence about taking it initially but decided that it was a good way to make sure that he still found time for his hobby. And it didn't hurt his feelings that they were willing to give him a discount on the coffee. Playing in an environment where he was more or less intended to function as background noise was an odd adjustment, but it made him feel less pressured to do a perfect job. Lily, meanwhile, was barely less busy than he was—she had just started an internship that had her working over thirty hours a week.

"I guess not..." she admitted quietly. "But sometimes the right thing can happen at the wrong time."

It was her refrained demeanor that told him that she was serious about wanting this—the hopeful sparkle in her eye paired with the apprehensive frown on her lips was a sure sign that she was bracing herself for disappointment. He faintly sighed, feeling preemptively guilty for what would happen if he said no to keeping the dog. She was probably already in love with it. She always fell hard and fast, no matter how much she concealed the fact behind a curtain of doubt.

And if he wouldn't take it, a new home would still have to be found. Its current owner, she had explained, was apparently one of Izzy's friends who was moving abroad soon.

Lily was looking down at the dog affectionately as her fingers slowly brushed along the shiny surface of its fur. "His name is Moose," she murmured. "They call him Moosey. I thought it'd be really cute to have a Moosey and a Beary."

She was really laying it on thick with this guilt trip. And it was starting to work. Liam couldn't deny that he'd always wanted a dog and that she looked really sweet with Moosey, but wanting a dog and committing to taking care of it were two very different things.

"You know he'd have to stay with me, right?" he pointed out.

She was rooming with Katie and Izzy and he knew for a fact that Katie was mildly allergic to dogs – not enough so that some stray dog hair was going to be a major problem, but definitely enough that she couldn't have a seventy-pound Moosey around constantly.

"Yeah, I know," she answered mildly. "But I'd still help."

Liam was silent for a moment as he mulled it over and watched how peaceful she looked as she gently stroked behind the dog's ears. Moosey must have been pretty comfortable around her—his eyes were contentedly closed and he was laying right up against the side of her leg like he was already becoming as attached to her as she was to him.

They weren't making this very easy.

"Izzy gave me this so we could try playing with him," Lils piped up as she grabbed her bag and rummaged through it, retrieving a tennis ball. Its aggressively neon hue indicated that it was brand new. "She says he's really well-trained."