Count On Me

Part Fifty Eight

A/N A few more loose ends are tying up, we're getting towards the end. Thanks for your unending patience with me and this story, hope you enjoy. xx

Chapter Fifty Eight

Lunch, was a sandwich and a beer in a garden outside a local pub watching the leaves swirl along the canal. For a moment, Lizzie was able to relax, to forget the hell that she'd left behind. Oscar could see the frown lines and the tension ebb with every minute that passed.

"Do you want me to go back and collect the disclaimer? I think you've been through enough."

Looking up from her place beside her, she squinted for a moment in the sun as she tried to focus on his face, "no. I have to do this. I have to see this through. It's the last time I'm going to see them Oscar and I have to get it all out."

She was right, but he hated seeing her in pain, instead of protesting, he nodded, "as long as you're sure. I worry about you."

She sighed and leaned against him, "you're the first person to worry about me. Even Janis thought I was strong enough to deal with any shit that was thrown at me."

Sliding an arm around her, he repeated his reassurance from earlier, "you are going to feel far too well cared for, darling. I am going to piss you off with my concern, and my protection. I hope you are ready for that."

She blushed and it made him even more excited than he was at her proximity, her scent in his nostrils, and her hand on his thigh.

"I want to make everything perfect for you."

Groaning, Lizzie turned to him, "can YOU not be QUITE so perfect?"

Placing his lips at her ear, he murmured, "I am many things, but perfect isn't one of them. But I can strive to be that for you."

She gulped, the tension of the moment almost too much for her, Oscar was wise to that, so he lifted her hand and kissed her palm. "One day, darling, you won't hate compliments, you won't feel embarrassed when I tell you and show you how I feel about you. I promise."

She dropped her eyes and he smiled, she SO badly needed to love herself.

He stopped the car outside her parents' house, then reached out to squeeze her hand, "you sure you want to do this? I can go in alone."

Lizzie shook her head, "I'm going to walk in AND out with my head held high."

"That's my girl."

Her father answered the door, and to Lizzie he looked sad, a little affected by the activities of the day. She should gloat at that, but it didn't make things any better.

"Did you sign it?"

Her father nodded, "it doesn't mean we can't see him again, just that we're happy with you adopting him. Is that right?"

She scoffed, "really? You have seen him maybe a dozen times since Janis brought him home. Why start now?"

Her father shrugged, then held the papers in her direction.

"That's it? That's how little you care about me?"

Her father sighed, "we gave you everything you needed."

Lizzie shook her head, "all I ever wanted was love, support. You resented me, that I was the one that stayed home when Janis fled, that I was the one who craved your attention not her. You loved her in a way that was so easy, so obvious...but you and my mother...you hated me."