The Boy Who Sneaks in My Bedroom Window (47 page)

Epilogue

~ 5 Years later ~

~ Liam ~

I glanced down at my watch and gasped. Crap, it was
almost two thirty. “Pete, I need to go! Is this gonna be finished
or not?” I shouted through to the other room.

“
Yeah, boss.
Go. It
’
ll be done, don
’
t worry. Call me as you leave and I
’
ll do the last bits, OK? And good luck!
”
he shouted back.

“
Right. Bye,
and thanks for doing this,” I called as I ran out of the building
and jumped into my car.

Oh
crap
, please don
’
t let me be late!

I sped to the
college
, panicked, and ran as fast as I
could around the back to the field. It was ten to three now and it
was due to start in ten minutes. I slid through the crowd, looking
for them. I spotted Matt straight away; he was standing up on his
chair scanning the crowd. He waved like an idiot when he spotted me
and I couldn
’
t help but grin.

I started
making my way to them
, when a guy stepped
in front of me.
“
Wow,
you
’
re Liam James! Can I get your
autograph? Seriously, wow, I
’
m like your
biggest fan,
”
he enthused, as the woman
he was with fumbled through her purse for paper and a
pen.

I laughed.
They were all my biggest fans; seriously, I heard that like fifty
times a day.
“
Sure.
”
I smiled politely, holding out my hand for the pen. I
scribbled my name and slapped him on the shoulder.
“
I gotta go get my seat.”

“
Yeah, of
course. Thanks!
”
he chirped, grinning
wildly and looking lovingly at my name on a scrap of
paper.

I
knew
I would
never get used to that, people got so
excited just because I signed a scrap of paper. I mean, yeah I know
that I play for one of the best teams in America, but
I
’
m still just a person at the end of the
day. I
’
m no one special.
I
’
m just Liam, and I
’
m lucky enough to get paid a lot of money for doing
something that I love - not many people can say that.

I made my way
through the crowd and s
at down at the end
of their row. Matt immediately dived for my lap.
“
Hey, kiddo. Being good?
”
I asked, tickling him, making him laugh and squirm
around.

“
Get
everything set up?
”
Jake asked,
grinning.

I grimaced
and nodded.
“
Yeah. Christ, man,
I
’
m so nervous.
”
My hands just hadn
’
t stopped
sweating all day.

He laughed
and shook his head. His girlfriend
,
Charlotte, leaned over.
“
You
’
ll be fine. Just calm
down,
”
she stated, rolling her eyes.
Charlotte was awesome, her and Jake had been together for about six
months and he was really into her. She was his first ever real
girlfriend, and I could really see it lasting.

I waved to my
parents who were grinning proudly
,
chatting to the random stranger next to them as usual. I smiled; my
mom seriously could start a conversation with a mute.

“
Hey,
Liam,
”
Margaret greeted as she squeezed
down the aisle to hug me.

“
Hey,
Margaret. How are you?
”
I asked, hugging
her back tightly. I hadn
’
t seen her for
about four months because she
’
d been
travelling with her new husband, Greg.

“
I
’
m great. Greg
couldn
’
t come though;
he
’
s stuck in Thailand for some
promotion. He
’
s so upset that he’s
missing it,
”
she replied,
frowning.

I
smiled
.
“
Well,
just make sure you take a load of photos for him then.
”

Matt jumped
off of my lap and ran ba
ck to his mom. I
smiled at Ruby. Her, Johnny and Matt still lived in Timberfield,
but we got to see them quite a bit - they came to stay with us in
the holidays and stuff. We had more than enough room, and we also
went back there whenever we could.

Johnny and
Kate didn
’
t last. They managed to date
for a year before they just drifted apart; they
’
re still great friends though. Kate hadn’t settled down in
the slightest. She
’
s still a flirt and is
currently
‘
playing the field
’
as she liked to put it, but
she
’
s always been a great friend to Amber
so she comes to stay with us too. I just have to keep her away from
all of my team mates; she would seriously eat them
alive.

A
lot had happened in the last five years. Stephen
Walker, Jake and Amber’s father, got arrested about a year after we
left for Boston because he
’
d apparently
been scamming money from his clients. He was currently serving six
years for fraud and embezzlement. He never did get in contact with
any of them, and they all still have the recording that Amber made
of him admitting to the abuse, so if he ever did come back
they
’
ve agreed they would all file
charges against him.

Suddenly
, everyone started
clapping and my heart took off in overdrive as I scanned the crowd
for her. I spotted her standing off to the left of the stage,
chatting with Samantha, one of her friends. She looked
smokin
’
hot in her blue and grey
ceremonial robes. I hadn
’
t seen her all
day. I’d left her just after breakfast. She thought I was at
practice today, I wasn
’
t, I was setting
up a surprise for her as a graduation present.

Amber was
graduating college today with a full degree in dance
choreograp
hy. I was incredibly proud of
her; she
’
d worked so damn hard for the
last few years at college and was graduating with honours. I tried
to listen as the little man gave his speech about the graduating
class, and then started going through the list of names of the
graduates, while they walked on and shook his hand getting a
certificate. I couldn
’
t concentrate; I
was so freaking nervous that I actually felt sick. I
couldn
’
t take my eyes off of her, she was
so beautiful. She honestly still took my breath away every time I
saw her.

The paparazzi
loved her too. They were always following us around, wanting photos
and interviews. They loved the story of us being together for five
years. They just loved Amber, full stop. She would always be in
magazines and newspapers, little pictures of her out shopping with
her friends or something. They always thought she was adorable and
people would come and ask for her autograph just as much as they
did mine. Amber just found the whole thing amusing and would tease
the crap out of me when we got stopped in the street or
something.

People often
ask me how it is that I stay grounded
,
with the fame and the money, and I always say the same thing. None
of that
was
important to me; the only
thing that mattered to me is my Angel. She
was
the only thing I needed. If everything else went away
tomorrow, the big house, all the cars, the money, I
wouldn
’
t care. As long as I still got to
hold her every night, I would still be the luckiest guy in the
world.

I heard the
Dean shout her name and I grinned
,
clapping like crazy. She was beaming as she scanned the crowd; she
spotted me and waved her little certificate at me, proudly. I
winked at her and watched her skip off of the stage happily. I was
shifting in my seat nervously because it was almost over, it was
almost time. I rubbed my hands on my jeans, trying to dry them. I’d
honestly never been so nervous in my life.

After another
few minutes the last certificate was handed out
, and I saw her slinking her way through the crowd towards
us. As she got to me, she threw her arms around my neck and kissed
me. I lifted her off of her feet spinning her in a small circle as
I relished the feel of her lips against mine. She pulled back and
laughed, she was so happy that it made my heart beat
faster.

“
Congratulations,
”
I cooed,
grinning. She kissed me again and I held her tighter. Damn, five
years and I still couldn
’
t get enough of
her. I pulled out of the kiss, very aware that her little brother
was sitting there making loud kissing noises and singing
‘
Amber and Liam, sitting in a
tree
’
.

“
Thanks. I
was worried when I didn
’
t see you; I
thought you couldn
’
t make it.
” She
smiled
as I set her back down on her
feet.

I smiled and
brushed her hair behind her ear
.
“
I wouldn
’
t have
missed this for the world,
”
I
replied.

She was
pulled into hugs by al
l of her family.
Matt, as usual, was clinging to her legs so she
couldn
’
t move. He adored his big sister,
not that I blamed him, I mean, who wouldn
’
t adore my Angel? You
’
d have to
be crazy. I bent down and pulled him off of her, tipping him upside
down by his legs, making him laugh.

“
So, what are
you guys doing now? Shall we go have a drink or something?
”
Amber suggested.

Oh crap!

Everyone
looked at me. OK, wow, add more pressure, I
’
m already freaking terrified!
“
Um…. actually, Angel, I was wondering if I could take you
somewhere after. I
’
ve got something to
show you,
”
I answered, trying not to give
anything away.

She looked at
me curiously, she hated surprises.
“
Yeah?
What?
”
she asked, wrapping her arms
around me.

I bent and
kissed her nose.
“
You
’
ll have to wait and see,
”
I
replied, smirking at her, knowing this was probably killing her.
She frowned and narrowed her eyes at me, making me laugh; I grabbed
her hands, unwrapping them from my waist.
“
You ready to go now?
”
I asked,
hopefully.

She nodded
and looked back at her family who were grinning like mad
people
; my mom was crying happy tears. OK
guys, tone it down! She looked at them all a little confused,
obviously wondering what they were all acting like this for.
“
I
’
ll see you at ours
later then. One of you has a key, right?
”
she asked.

Jake jiggled
his keys at her.
“
Go.
We
’
ll see you later,
”
he instructed, nodding towards the exit.

I wrapped my
arm around her waist
and we walked
towards the front.
“
So, how did practice
go?
”
she asked.

“
Um, yeah
good,
”
I lied as I opened the car door
for her.

She kissed me
again as she got in
. She was grinning,
obviously proud of herself for graduating. I phoned Pete on the way
round to the driver’s side to tell him we were now
leaving.

~ Amber ~

Something was definitely going on. I glanced over to
him again, he looked nervous about something; he was sitting really
straight in his seat. This wasn’t the normal, relaxed Liam, that I
loved to death. After about twenty minutes of driving and making
small talk about the weather and my graduation ceremony, we pulled
up. He grinned and got out.

OK,
where the hell are we? I thought
he
’
d be taking me to dinner or something.
I got out and held his hand as he led me forward, stopping outside
a building with glass doors. I think it used to be a gym or
something, but it looked like it had been done up recently, the
outside had been painted a nice cream colour and the windows had
been replaced.

“
What do you
think?
”
he asked, wrapping his arms
around me from behind.

Think about
what? What am I missing?
“
Um,
it
’
s great?
”
I
shrugged, confused.

He
laughed.
“
OK, you have no idea what
I
’
m talking about do you?
”
he teased.

“
No. Sorry,
lover boy, should I have?
”
I asked,
smiling apologetically.