Hi everyone! I was supposed to hold back this chapter and wait for more follows and favourites but then I thought, 'Screw it, I'll post it!' so yeah, here's the next chapter of Chasing Cars. I apologize for any grammatical errors as I don't have a beta (but I would love to have one!) I hope you'd give me some feedback by filling up that review box below, it could use some words, you know? That's right. *smirks*

I own nothing, except Liam, Aria, and their feels.

Chapter Two

Aria went home exhausted and tired. Normally, she would've collapsed on their couch, but when she saw the figure of his father relaxing on the sofa, she tiptoed upstairs to rush into her bedroom.

But unfortunately, Blaine turned off the television and faced his daughter.

"Aria?" he called out to her daughter, sounding authoritative.

Hearing his father, Aria sighed deeply and walked slowly towards their living room. She knew that it would always be the same – his father would tell him to strive harder, study harder, work harder until she was good enough. He would push her to study all those business reports and key terms he had brought home for work, and would remind her to read about them for she would be following his footsteps.

Except that's not what Aria wanted. She wanted to be a fashion designer and songwriter, spending her future working with great artists and dressing them up for red carpet events and designing winning pieces. She didn't know where she got her inclination to those things, though. Whenever she would sketch a gown or scribble down some verses for a possible song, she felt complete. Happy, even.

"Hi, Dad," Aria managed to say to his father, who looked stern in his suit and tie. She wondered if he had been always uptight and stern. She didn't know why, but there was this knowledge inside of her that tells her that her father was once…happy and relaxed.

"How was your first day?" Blaine asked, scooting to his left, motioning his daughter to sit beside him.

"Um, it was pretty…eventful," Aria replied, trying to hide the smile on her face. Her mind flashbacked to Liam, who carried her all the way to the clinic because of her ankle.

"I see," Blaine nodded, glancing at Aria's sprained ankle. "Did you buy meds for your ankle on your way home? Because driving tonight just to buy some ointment for that is pretty much a hassle."

Aria sighed and nodded, trying to fight off her tears again. "Yes, Dad. I bought meds already, okay? So if you'll excuse me, I'll go to my room now and study, since that's what you want me to do right now."

She stood up and ran upstairs. Blaine wanted to call her again to tell him that he was sorry for his words, but he shook his head. He knew that he was being crazy, for treating his daughter like that. She was a good kid, Blaine knew that for a fact. She had good grades, did so many things, achieved so many things, and didn't cause Blaine too much trouble. He would've shown affection and love for her, if it weren't for her looks.

Looking at Aria's visage reminded Blaine of him – his eyes, his hair, his fashion sense…everything. There was a piece of him that ached every time he would see his daughter look awfully like his other father.

Aria knew that Blaine was gay, and she and he weren't this distant from each other. When Aria was still a young girl, he would scoop her up and place her down the piano stool, letting her fingers fumble along the chords. She would run her fingers on the piano until she created some pieces of her own.

But then, Blaine saw the signs. When he came home late one night, he heard someone singing. He thought that it was Kurt at first, but when he silently closed the front door behind him, he figured out that it was his daughter. Hearing her sing formed a wall inside Blaine's heart, because of how much he looked and sounded like Kurt.

But that wasn't just what triggered Blaine for treating his daughter that way. He saw her sketches in her room – the stellar designs and killer magazine outlines, he most certainly knew that it could blow Anna Wintour's mind away. He wanted to tell her how proud he was for this, but he remembered how that was Kurt's work and path, so he shook his head and told her that it was a waste of time.

Cutting off Aria's dreams entitled Blaine into cutting his, too. When Kurt left him with his daughter, he knew that being a singer and songwriter wouldn't suffice the expenses and the time that he'd be having for his daughter. So Blaine traded in his dreams into being an accountant instead. It required work hours whenever Aria was still in school, so he figured out that having a job like that wasn't that bad at all. Plus, he earned a lot more than enough for the both of them, so he decided to stick to that job. In fact, his father was delighted to have him continue his legacy, so being an accountant brought others happiness, but Blaine, an unforgettable pain of yesterday.

Sighing, he stood up and walked off to his room, hoping to sleep off the rush of emotions inside of him.

"Dad, good morning!" Liam greeted brightly to his father when he heard him humming in between his cooking.

"Hi! Oh, wait a sec, your breakfast is almost ready," Kurt said, placing a plate before his son. He carefully flipped the pancake and it smoothly landed on Liam's plate, making him clap in amusement.

"That's amazing, Dad! Your daughter would've loved to see that," Liam said.

When he saw the look on Kurt's face, he wanted to take his words back. He clearly forgot about the rule Kurt had obligated ever since he told him about his past. They were both not allowed to mention about their pasts, unless it was really, really necessary.

"I-I'm sorry, Dad. I'm really -" Liam told him.

"It's fine," Kurt said, cutting him off. "Actually, I want you to go early to school today and give this to your new chaperone. If you can't thank her enough, then let me, as your parent, thank her for you."

"Dad!" Liam gasped, horrified. "She would think I told you all about her! Dad, can I just…give it to the principal or just have it as an extra snack?"

"Didn't you tell me all about her last night?" Kurt chuckled, laughing at his son. "Honey, just give it to her, tell her it's from me. From what I've been hearing from you, I think she's a great kid."

"Dad, she's annoying!" Liam frowned, munching on his pancake. "Everything about her seems just…bothering me! She's so…"

"Too much for you to handle, I get it," Kurt spoke to his son. "You know, I've been waiting for someone to match up your toughness. Maybe she's the one."

Liam scoffed. "I hope not!"

Kurt laughed at his son, knowing that someday, he would eat his words.

Clutching the crepe that his father made for Aria, he peered over the school hallway and looked for her. Thankfully, he saw her standing by her locker, holding some textbooks.

"Hi," he greeted her, noticing her tired eyes and the sad look on her face. He knew that he had no right to interfere on why she looked glum today, but he couldn't help but be concerned. And he didn't even understand why he was feeling that way about her.

"What do you want?" she replied coldly, closing her locker and walking away from him.

He hurried off to catch up to her, walking side by side with her. "Aren't you supposed to be helping around here in school?"

"Look," she said, facing him. "If you want me to help you, then stop surprising me every single time! Second, let me show you around the fast way so we can both get rid of each other as soon as possible, alright? Now, if you abide to those rules, then we'll get along just fine. Oh, and third, this is my school and I hope that as a new kid, I hope you know where you stand."

Liam sighed and reached out a brown paper bag to her. "I just wanted to give you this, it's from my dad. I told him about you last night and he was carried away by the way you were able to match my mischief, so he made something for you."

When Aria glanced at the paper bag, Liam noticed that her stiffened face loosened up a bit. He smirked at her, then finally, she took the paper bag and peeked through it.

"Wait, is this crepe?!" Aria gasped, smiling. "Wow, this is…"

"It's delicious. My father makes good food every time, don't worry," Liam told her. "I hope you like it."

Aria smiled and looked at Liam, and smiled. "Um, forget about my bad mood a while ago. I-I'm sorry about it, I just had a pretty bad day at home last night so I brought it all the way here. Um, since you and I both have Health as our first period, I checked your schedule, in case, can we walk together going to class? Ara and Whitney are not here yet, or they must've forgotten about it, so…yeah."

"Hmm, it's only Health. Will we be killed if we miss it?" Liam suggested. "We could have an early recess. I know some place where no one could suspect us from being class cutters."

"Are you seriously asking me that?" Aria said, facing him. "You know, for a normal day I would've been mad at you for giving me that idea but today, well, I'll skip class with you."

Hearing the first bell ring, Aria and Liam ran to the front door of McKinley High, escaping school and everything else, just for today.

"Are we there yet?! It's been so long since we trudged off!" Aria complained, stomping her foot. "My feet still hurt from yesterday, thank you very much!"

Liam chuckled. "For an honour student like you, I would've expected more patience and persistence from you."

"Patience and persistence have their limits too," Aria countered back. "If you're seriously going to lead me somewhere and you're going to rape me, don't even think about it! I am a black belter and having to watch Inception for more than a hundred times, my defensive skills are pretty well."

Liam chuckled. "First, you're not my type. And second, we're already here. So don't even pollute both our minds with your dirty thinking."

"What!" Aria exclaimed. "We walked all the way from school to an old dirty house? You are being ridiculous, Liam! I should've attended Health instead!"

"Wait!" Liam said, gripping Aria's hand, which surprised them both. He quickly let go of it, then sighed. "It looks rusty and dirty on the outside, but once you get to see it inside, you'd love it, especially for someone like you."

"Fine," Aria said, crossing her arms.

"Dad used to bring me here every time we would spend our holidays here in Ohio," Liam began, as he unlocked the door. "He said that it would always remind him of his first love and only true love, my father that 'hypothetically' got away."

"Wait," Aria halted, refusing to enter after Liam. "Your dad's…gay?"

"Why? Is there any problem with the fact that my father's gay?" Liam told her, sounding offended and defensive at the same time. "You know, being gay doesn't make him less of a man. Straight guys like me should look up to him more often, you know? He's amazing and strong compared to all those other tough guys."

"Hey," Aria said softly, patting his arm. "I-I'm sorry if I sounded weird or homophobic but believe me, I'm not. I grew up with a gay father too, so I know what it's like."

She looked at him with a look of understanding, which made him think that maybe his father was right. Maybe Aria was the match for his mischievousness, after all.

"Really? Your father's gay too?" Liam asked Aria.

It didn't seem like she grew up in a quirky family. For one, Aria seemed very uptight and religious in a way. It was like she was expected to be impeccable and sensible all the time that Liam wondered if she ever gets tired of everything.

"Yeah," Aria nodded, smiling, but it was swiftly replaced with a sad look. "But, I don't know. He seemed sad raising me up. It was like he didn't love me at all and I was the reason why he's feeling that way right now."

"Don't say that," Liam said, motioning Aria to sit on one of the dusted bean bags on the wooden floor. Aria nodded and sat down, looking at the place. "Parents love their children. Maybe not the same way as others do, but believe me, they all do."

"Well, I hope I could say the same way for my father," Aria said. She decided to change the subject swiftly. "Hmm, this place looks really cool in the inside, Liam. But I don't know, I don't think I'll like it the way you said I would."

"It's because you haven't seen anything yet," Liam told her, clicking a switch. Aria watched intently as the bricked wall slid up, exposing a door that seemed like a secret passageway for something else.

"Whoa, this is so cool! What's inside, though?" Aria asked, curious and amazed at the same time.

"You have to see it for yourself," Liam told her.

Aria stood up and slowly opened the hidden door, very wary of her footsteps. When she turned on the lights of the room, she gasped at the wondrous sight in front of her – large shelves of books were plastered on the walls, filled with various kinds of volumes. They all had glass coverings and when she looked closely at the titles of the book, she noticed that most of them were about fashion.

There was no denying the Liam's father must've owned this place and had been investing for a long time. Those books that he had were to kill for, especially the biographies of fashion's best, especially the one of Yves Saint Laurent. Before she could ask if she could at least touch them, Liam spoke before her.

"This place was supposed to be for my father and his previous family," he began narrating. "Even though he's not with his family anymore, he decided to keep this place for himself. He hopes that one day, his daughter would see this and love it the way he loves her and this place. He would tell me that his daughter's favourite pastime was reading books.

So what he did was he bought all the classics and stacked them here, along with some of his fashion books and cooking books as well. He wanted his daughter to make use of these volumes someday, and hoped that one day, she would thank him for this."

"Wow," Aria spoke. "I-I wish you've met your sister."

"Me too, but I guess she's in a better place now," Liam shrugged, trying to sound positive.

"I'm really sorry for you and your father's loss," Aria replied. "I couldn't say that I've been there and done that, but I know what it feels like to have lost someone."

"Really? But I thought you had your dad with you?" he asked, confused. "Did you lose your other dad, too?"

Aria made a face and sat down again on the beanbag. "I wish it were that easy, but no. I-I lost my dad when I was young and even though we've lived in the same roof for as long as I can remember, it feels like I don't know him anymore.

It's weird, you know? Living with someone who you don't know especially when you're expected to know everything about him. My dad's an accountant and he's not really busy because he gets to go home earlier than I do sometimes, but there's a strange part of me that believes that he had a life before me. That before I even existed, he was much livelier and happier. There are strange nights when I would dream about him and me singing, him not wearing his tight suit but instead he's wearing a sweater and a bowtie as an embellishment, and I'm wearing one of my fancy dresses and we would sing 'Dress and Tie'. I don't know, it seems crazy and all, but at least I get to see him happy in my dreams."

"Have you ever tried talking to him?" Liam asked, finding another beanbag and sat on it. "You never know, he might just have been waiting for you to make your move."

"Nah, I would even be stupid to try," Aria replied, laughing sarcastically. "That man loathes me! No matter how many awards I get or medals I receive, he would always tell me to strive harder and nothing else. I've never even heard him say to me, 'I'm proud of you' ever since I was a child. All my life I've been waiting for something like that from him and until now, it doesn't come along. And I'm tired of it. Really tired of something that's going to happen. These were moments I could've asked for another dad, you know?"

Liam opened his mouth to say something, but hesitated. Instead, he moved his beanbag closer to Aria until they were only inches apart. His shoulder touched Aria's, and he swore that he felt an electricity rush through him.

"I'm sorry."

That was all he managed to say to her. He couldn't understand why someone wouldn't be proud of Aria. She was pretty, intelligent, and successful for an average Ohio citizen and anyone would die to just live her life even for one day. But he didn't know that despite her success was her longing for a love that came from a father.

"You know," Aria whispered softly, resting her head on Liam's shoulder. "I haven't told any of those things to my best friends before."

"Really?" Liam confirmed, amused.

"Yeah," Aria affirmed.

"Why?" he asked. "Why did you tell me then?"

"I don't know," Aria sighed, closing her eyes. "You seem…different from all of them."

Liam smiled. "Well, if you like, you can go to my house and meet my dad. He would use some effeminate figures around our vicinity."

He was waiting for a response from Aria, but there was none. He looked at her and saw that her eyes were closed and she must've fallen asleep.

"I'd love to," she silently spoke, surprising Liam.

Smiling at her, Liam thought that maybe it was the other way around. Maybe it was Aria surprising him with who she was. Normally, Liam would've been afraid, but as he felt her weight upon her shoulders, he wouldn't mind discovering all the other things about this girl beside him.