Inevitable

Chapter 76

Just as Jane and I were about to leave to meet up with Jess and the guys, there was a knock at our door. I was closest to it so I opened it to find Liam standing there. He picked me up for a hug like he did when I saw him over the summer. Now that I knew he was back with Lily, I didn't feel uncomfortable with the attention and I reciprocated. He stepped in and hugged Jane as well.

"Look at you two living the apartment life! This place is nice. Might need to crash here when I need to get away from the frat house." He walked in and flopped down on our couch like he owned the place.

"Um no. You chose to live there. You made your bed. Now lie in it. Plus, can't you just stay at Lily's place?" I asked as I pushed his legs off the couch to make room to sit down. We had a few minutes before we needed to go.

"Lily and I had a fight. She hates that I live at the frat house but it's too late for me to find someplace new. She thinks I could find a solution if I really wanted to. I would lose my deposit at the frat house. My parents would kill me!" He rubbed a hand down his face in frustration. I didn't want to get in the middle of their fight so I just nodded my head in silence. Jane has no such qualms.

"You have to remember she upended her life to move here to be with you. While you might not be able to move someplace else, I'm sure there is a compromise in there somewhere." She always gave the best advice.

" I know she gave up a lot to be here but she needs to be reasonable. I tried to come up with a solution and she just got really angry and called me a selfish asshole so I bounced. When she calms down, then we can talk about it." It sounded messy and I sympathized with him. Relationships were hard.

"Well, we were just about to head out to a house party with Jess and Nick. Wanna come?" I didn't want to make the rest of our group wait on us.

"Sure, why not. Beats going back to the frat house alone. Where is my best friend Em?" He looked at me with a sarcastic smile that I wanted to wipe right off his face. I knew he meant Henry.

"Well smart ass, he's in New York for a little while longer. They had some more recording to do and some meetings this week. Hopefully he will be back next week." I made sure my voice didn't give away how sad I was. He placed his hand over mine and I had to turn away before I got emotional.

"Sorry Em, I didn't know. How are you doing? I know how much long distance sucks." I didn't want to get into it with him so I pulled my hand away and stood up. "We need to go. They are waiting for us." I hustled us out of my apartment and locked the door behind me. Hopefully tonight would be a good night and take my mind off of all the uncertainty hanging over me.

When we got outside, Jess, Nick, Bill, and Chris were waiting for us. Liam greeted everyone and Nick introduced him to Chris. By the look on Chris' face, he knew everything that happened last year and wasn't happy about it. He gave me a look that I didn't like. Out of fear of him telling Henry that I was hanging out with Liam before I could, I pulled out my phone and immediately texted him. I was not going to keep anything from him ever again. And it's not like I was doing anything wrong.

Me: Hey just wanted to let u know that Liam is going out with us tonight. There is a big group of us so no worries. Luv u!

I didn't expect a response anytime soon so I started putting my phone back in my pocket. Within seconds, it vibrated with a new text. Of course, he has time to respond to me about this.

Of course. And let me guess...his girlfriend is not there.

Me: They had a fight so he came to see Jane and I and we invited him to hang out with us tonight. Please don't make a big deal out of this.

We barely talked this past week so I didn't want to waste time or energy on a pointless fight.

Henry: I hate that you are with him instead of me. I'm sorry. For still being here. For trying to start a fight. I'm exhausted and I miss you.

I had to try my hardest not to get emotional in front of all these people. We were now walking down the sidewalk on our way to a party. Liam was next to me and I could feel him glancing my way. I always wore my emotions on my face so he probably could tell I was upset. This was so hard!

Me: I get it. This is really hard on both of us. But I promise you have nothing to worry about with Liam. I love you!

After sending the text, I slipped my phone into my pocket and looked up at the group. Jess and Jane were walking with their boyfriends. Chris was trying to hit on some random girls walking in the same direction as us. Liam now had his phone out and it looked like he was texting furiously so it probably had to do with Lily. I felt alone. I wanted Henry to be here experiencing this night with us. We were supposed to be having the best year of our lives. I let the anger and resentment that I kept bottled up come to the surface. Is this what our future looked like? More importantly, is it what I wanted?