May 1, 2019

I feel like this one took longer than I expected it to, but I'll try and be a bit speedier for the next one. :)

Fallon was feeling much better by the time they left the Colbys' house that night, but as she and Liam were heading out the door, she caught the frustrated expression on Michael's face. It made her frown, and once he realized he'd been caught, he shook his head and closed the front door.

"What's his deal?" She muttered as she turned back around to climb into the cab. "I thought we'd gotten past the standoff."

Liam didn't say anything until he slid in next to her and closed the door, at which point he just gave the driver their destination's address. Only then did he look to Fallon and shake his head at her. Something about the look he gave her made her sad. It was a strange sort of disappointment that lingered behind his eyes. Disappointment in her. And it actually scared her.

"What?" Fallon urged, nudging him with the back of her hand.

"You really don't get it? Come on, Fallon." Liam sighed heavily, apparently not influenced by the slight pout she put on in response. "You never told him you're not pregnant. He might not have figured it out by now, and there's no way he could prove it either way. I can't blame him, y'know? It doesn't matter if you two don't get along, now. He still believes that you're seeing someone – possibly intimately, and specifically someone he fought with to try and win you over – while you're supposedly carrying his child."

Fallon's gaze shifted to the driver, who mercifully seemed to be ignoring them in favor of bobbing their head to the radio. But then it returned to Liam, guilty, as her cheeks burned. "Right," she admitted reluctantly. Her hands even began twisting anxiously in her lap. "I mean, you all should know by now that I don't always expect people to react the way that they do, so-"

"I'm not blaming you, Fal. But how long are you going to keep this up? Does Monica know? Or Jeff?"

She shook her head, brow furrowing as she tried but, bizarrely, failed to meet his eye. "No, you're right, I just- I don't want him to get mad and decide he doesn't want to help us. You heard our fight at CA. It didn't matter, then, that he thought I was. He still went after me."

Liam reached over, taking her hand between both of his, and setting them atop his knee. "Fallon," he pressed. She finally lifted her gaze back to his, as she always did when he addressed her with that earnest tone. "I'm not rushing you. I'm not saying you're wrong about him. But the longer you hold this off, the more people are going to ask questions, the more upset he's going to be."

"I know," she agreed. "I know."

She looked away, just staring out the window, and it didn't seem to help when Liam gave her hand a gentle squeeze. Her pride and excitement from the meal she'd made and shared was evidently gone, and Liam found himself running a frustrated hand through his hair. That was becoming a familiar motion, and though he hated the way he'd made her feel, he knew he had to say something eventually. Now was as bad or as good as later, he supposed.

When they arrived at the hotel, Fallon started to pull her hand from his, but Liam held on tight, drawing her close against him as they walked inside. He let them into the room, unsurprised when Fallon made excuses to get ready for bed. She seemed to need space – to think or process, Liam didn't know – so he let her go do that, but was up in bed, attempting to read, when she emerged from the bathroom freshly showered.

He put the book down as she sat on the edge of the bed and started brushing her hair. Liam pushed himself over to sit behind her, reaching out and wrapping his arms around his waist. She turned her chin slightly, but didn't push him away. In fact, she actually just finished untangling her hair and set the brush down on the bedside table, then waited to see what he wanted.

Liam gave a soft tug, leaning back against the headboard and bringing her with him so she was laying against his chest, regardless of her mood and wet hair. "Talk to me," he requested softly, rubbing her arm.

It took her a moment, but she finally murmured, "... I love you, Liam."

He frowned at that, but in confusion more than anything else. "Then why are you hiding from me?"

Fallon sighed, draping an arm across his chest to snuggle closer. He was right and she knew it, but voicing her reasoning seemed difficult despite the fact that she and Liam were alone. "I just... I've seen a lot of really negative emotions on your face before, even directed at me. But I don't think I've seen such pure disappointment in your eyes before."

"I was disappointed that you didn't understand, Fallon. Not disappointed in your decisions." He curled a finger under her chin to encourage her to tilt her head back and look at him. "Eventually, word is going to spread beyond your family and Culhane. It is. And you're going to have to deal with whatever the fallout is, y'know? I just want you to be prepared."

"Worse things have been said about me," Fallon sighed, "than a rumor about an accidental pregnancy. More than that, we were supposed to be married by the time I found out. So it's easy to talk my way out of it. One in four pregnancies end in miscarriage anyway, though I do feel bad that I'd be using the thing that happened to Cristal, and that it would be a lie."

He nodded, then dropped his cheek to the top of her head. "I mean, you knew, when you made the decision to let him believe it, that you'd have to fix it later. It's an ends versus the means sort of situation, and you know that. It makes me nervous... that you're not planning ahead about this like you usually do."

"I know, but... I just want to deal with Adam and get a break from all of this stress and drama. Why can't we ever just get a break?"

She squeezed her eyes shut in frustration as Liam lifted his hand to start brushing it over her hair soothingly. "We will, Fal. I promise. You can come with me on the book tour if you want. Or we'll just travel somewhere that none of the others can follow, and it'll be fine."

"I don't want fine, Liam."

"Fallon..." He just dropped a kiss on the top of her head, feeling like there was no way to win while she was so upset. "I love you, and if I could fix all of this right now, I would-"

"I know."

"No, I don't think you do," he said more firmly. "All I want from you is for you to be happy. And yes, I'd rather that happiness include me, but I don't know how to help you get out of your own head on this one."

"Just stay," she requested quietly. "Nobody else has except you. ...It feels like I just keep adding to this list of reasons why sticking around would be hard or – or painful for you, and... I hate to admit it, but that's pretty scary."

"Hey." Liam lifted her chin again, kissing her deeply. When he pulled back, he didn't go very far, his hand cradling her cheek. "I'm in this, Fal. I always have been."

She gazed up at him, adoration shining in her eyes, as the thought occurred to her: He wasn't her husband anymore, but he still sort of felt like one. Maybe if she kept her chin up and dug them out of this hole, he someday really would be once more. "Sorry. I'm going to fix this, Liam. I promise."

"I know you will," he agreed, "but you're not alone anymore. You don't have to do this on your own."

Fallon reached up, overcome with appreciation for him, and carded her fingers through his hair to tug him into a thorough kiss. She murmured her love for him, which encouraged him to wrap his arms around her more tightly. With a gentle bite on his lower lip, she pulled away, drawing a noise of complaint from his throat. But she only did so in order to lift herself up and hover above him, and then quickly leaned down to kiss him again as she started to unbutton his shirt.

Afterwards, Liam waited until Fallon fell asleep to shower and quickly send off an email to his editor about an idea he'd had about the book tour, wanting Dana's opinion before he mentioned it to the woman who finally looked peaceful as she curled herself around Liam's pillow in his absence. And shortly after midnight, he climbed back into bed with hopes of a calm night at the least.

Much to Liam's liking, it turned out that Dana thought his pitch was a great idea. But he had made it clear: Fallon didn't need to know the whole truth about his book until things had calmed down with her family. He wanted her to have a few moments of calm before the magnitude of the situation really hit her. So he was a little nervous as they walked into Dana's office the next morning, worried that something would slip and Fallon would figure it out.

But as Fallon sat down, her chin lifted with that usual edge she was known for, Liam felt a bit of his normal confidence and comfort with both of the women come back to him.

Dana leaned forward across the desk, clasping her hands and smiling at the pair of them. After the typical pleasantries were exchanged, she got straight to business. "So, Liam had an idea that I think would be quite charming," she told Fallon. "If you're available to join him on some of the stops-"

"I could be there for all of them," Fallon cut in, shrugging like she wouldn't care if she was told that she shouldn't be. "I'd cover my own travel and the like, of course."

"Well, even better, then. Because Liam thought up a way to get you involved in his events, and I think it's going to go over really well." Dana smiled at the two of them as Fallon turned a curious, bemused look on Liam. "See, oftentimes authors will do readings from their books, and take questions. But they also typically have some sort of moderator to lead discussions. Usually we'd have to source them from local authors or booksellers, but for debut authors, that can be hard. So it would be deeply convenient to have someone like you running those events."

Fallon sat up even straighter, clearly proud and thrilled by the suggestion. Even more so since Liam had put it forth to his editor, himself. "That sounds amazing," she agreed. "As long as you're sure it will go over well. I don't want to steal Liam's spotlight. I mean, he won't tell me anything," she shot him a look, "but I have no doubt it's incredible."

Dana smiled knowingly, which only raised Fallon's hackles even more. "Oh, I seriously doubt you would do that, considering-"

Liam cleared his throat and Dana caught herself, turning a little red. Trying to cover it up, he turned to look at the brunette. "I think it'll be really great, Fal."

So, no matter Fallon's frustration, it seemed that they were in agreement. Although she didn't have the experience as this sort of moderator, she had no doubt that she could pull it off – provided, of course, he ever let her read the book. How else could she lead the discussion about it? At least she knew Liam enough to offer some discussion about him and his experience. Even better, she decided, was that none of the women who came to his signings could get any ideas about him.

She trusted Liam, obviously. Other women? Not a chance. If Liam was as talented as Dana clearly thought he was, and as Fallon expected he would be, then no doubt there would be some readers who ended up with a bit of a crush on him. And that just wouldn't do.

After Fallon was filled in on the schedule and had it all entered into her calendar, they were on their way out. She started to suggest a diner in Brooklyn that she thought was well worth the longer ride, but Liam didn't let her get very far in her pitch.

"Oh, I've got a few things planned for you," he told her, curling his arm around her waist to guide her down the busy streets. "You had your turn, now it's mine. I had to make a couple of guesses, so I wouldn't spoil things, but hopefully these will be firsts for the both of us."

Fallon smirked, tilting her head a little. "Firsts with you? Sounds perfect."

Liam took her to a small Italian bistro a few blocks away from Rockefeller Center, where a table was waiting for them by the window. It was quaint and charming, and the food was absolutely delicious. And they lingered there for a little while, working up a pleasant but light afternoon buzz. Fallon suspected that he was stalling for something, but before long he was covering the check and leading her out to call a cab.

Their driver took them to a pier, which admittedly had Fallon a little worried given they were dressed up, essentially, because of the meeting with Dana. But he directed her to a large ferry, which was teeming with people boarding, taking pictures, and generally acting like hardcore tourists. So Fallon turned a deeply questioning gaze on Liam, earning a pleased chuckle.

"Calm down," he teased. "We're getting on this ferry, and we're going to just have a calm evening."

"But where is the ferry going, Liam?"

He led her over to the boarding line, turning in their tickets before answering. He was a little surprised to find that she just followed him without further pushing, but he wasn't sure if it was her curiosity or her trust in him. He could hardly wait, actually, to see what she thought.

"See, I know you've been to New York before," he told her, "but I'd wager you have never gone to see the Statue of Liberty."

"You would be right," Fallon agreed. "Though I didn't expect to do it this way."

Liam laughed again, leading her up to the top level of the ferry, which was open to provide better views. "What, the normal way?" He grinned at her when she swatted his arm.

Nevertheless, he gestured towards one side, a little surprised when she went straight for the seat by the edge of the boat, just sitting down and holding her hand out for him to take when he sat next to her. So their evening was spent listening to the tour, watching Manhattan transition from daylight to the night's shimmering lights from buildings and traffic alike. As Fallon gazed out at the beauty of the city, he was watching her.

She caught him, of course, but instead of making a snarky comment about it like he sort of expected her to, she just leaned over to thank him and kiss him on the cheek. Perhaps it was their conversation from the night before that had her behaving so much more calmly and softly than usual, but he even managed to talk her into taking a photo when they approached the statue enough to use it as a backdrop. He took a couple, though, without thinking about it, and managed to catch a version of Fallon that was just pleasantly content and smiling at him, rather than the woman who usually posed for the purposes of looking picture perfect on camera.

He made sure to save that one, if only for himself. And he capped off the night by taking her up to the bow of the ship, where he dipped her down for a deep kiss beneath the lights of his hometown as the ferry returned to the pier.