Chapter 2

A/N: This is for any STEAM fans who have been really upset over the way the writers have taken Liam and Steffy's story. I have accepted what I cannot change, so I decided to write what I think should happen next. I feel like the way every character keeps saying how much Bill wants Steffy and will do anything to get her is so 19th century. They're all acting like she doesn't have a choice b/c Bill always gets what he wants. It grates on my feminist side, so I wanted to write something to gives the choice back to Steffy b/c I feel like they've forgotten she gets one too. But maybe the choice she makes isn't obviously Liam, b/c he has been getting on my nerves a bit too.

This is still a STEAM fanfic, she's just going to give him a really hard time.

I do not own any of the characters, with the exception of the OC, who I've yet to come up with.

Steffy's POV

"What do you want, Liam?" I asked

His answer was to kiss me, and I hate to admit that I let him. I melted into it and kissed him back and it felt amazing in the moment. It felt like how it should've always been, me and Liam, in love and in each other's arm.

But it wasn't the same.

It was different and no matter how good the kiss was, it didn't fix anything.

I needed to be realistic.

He was two seconds away from getting married.

I hurt him.

I made a terrible mistake, that I can never forget, and that he will never let me forget.

He and Hope never let me forget how much I hurt him.

And then they hurt me.

He left me crying on the couch, in this room.

He walked away as I held on to his arm and cried for him to believe me.

And he just left.

He didn't even tell me he was getting married. I had to hear that from Hope, who couldn't be happier to share the news.

This kiss might have been beautiful, amazing and everything we used to be, but it wasn't who we were anymore.

And that sucked, but it was reality.

And we needed to face that, so I pushed him away.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"I don't know. I hadn't planned on it. I just wanted to talk to you, but then I saw you there and I couldn't stop thinking that…"

"That what, Liam?"

"That we were…"

"Robbed?" I laughed. "You really have been hanging around Hope too much."

I'd been on my feet too long and my ankles were starting to protest so I led him into my house and took a seat on the couch, preparing for what was going to be a really long conversation.

He took my face in his hands.

"But we were. Bill manipulated us. I had forgiven you, I was ready to give us a second chance. We would've been a family, if Bill hadn't—"

"No." I said, removing his hands from my face.

"What?"

"You never asked me." I said.

"I don't—what do you mean?" He looked genuinely perplexed and part of me felt for him, but he was going to take responsibility.

"You came over after you sent me the roses, and I told you everything, I told you the truth. We were going to start our life again with a blank slate. And it crushed me when you walked out, I didn't understand why you were so upset, because you didn't tell me. You never asked me. You just chose to believe what you heard. And before you say anything, I know what I did. I took responsibility for that, and I apologized so many times for that. But you never gave me a chance to tell you my side, I didn't even know there was another story out there. I hurt you, Liam, and then you hurt me. But we weren't robbed, and we weren't manipulated.

No one cared about my voice, about my choice. I told you I didn't want Bill, I told Bill I didn't want him, but no one listened. Bill did whatever he wanted. Wyatt didn't even think to ask me if what he saw was the truth, only after he had already done the damage did he think that maybe it wasn't the whole truth. None of you thought to ask me about a situation where only I could give you the truth. And yeah, Bill is at fault for his role in this, but none of this would have happened if you had asked."

I was crying, and I promised myself I wouldn't waste any more my tears on Liam.

But I lost again.

"I know and I'm sorry for that, but I love you Steffy, and I forgive you for everything with Bill. I want to be with you. It was always you." He took my hands in his, those eyes of his, those words so tempting, reeling me back in like every time before.

"Was it me 30 minutes ago when you were about to marry Hope? Or when you slept with her when we were still married? Or when you filed those annulment papers?" I said, removing my hands from his.

"I never stopped loving you, any of those times. I'll always love you. I've always loved you, Steffy. You know that." He said.

And I wanted to believe him. My heart, my mind, the life inside of me all yearned to be with him. I knew happiness when I was with him, each time. But I also knew pain, because he always left. He could never make up his mind. He always bounced between us, me and Hope, hurting us, leaving us, loving us, and we let him.

But I couldn't anymore.

"Do you remember what you said to me that day?" I asked, distancing myself by walking over to our picture frames that had yet to be removed.

"Uh, I um…"

"You said I would be a great mom, and we would be great parents. Our daughter would have all the love in the world from her two parents, but we didn't need to be together to do that."

"Steffy—" He tried, but I interrupted.

"Well, I agree. I will not raise my daughter the same way I was. You may want to be with me now, but I can't trust that. For most of our relationship, I have been the one that got in the way of the soulmates; the predestined relationship you have with Hope. I was the intruder, the imposter. I was the bad guy, and I took the brunt from Brooke, and Hope, and sometimes my own father. When we were together they were angry, when we weren't they were warning me to stay away. But I dealt with that, because you were worth everything. But every time something went wrong, there was a bump in the road, and excuse you could use, you ran back to hope. You literally just left her at the altar, Liam, do you even realize that?"

He shook his head. "I didn't mean to hurt her."

"You never do, but you do. And maybe that's our fault for never telling you, but you hurt us. Your indecision hurts us, and I refuse to get involved with that again. It took a long time but I learned. My mother did it, I know what it feels like and I will not raise my daughter with a man who has one foot out the door."

He rose from the couch, closing the distance between us.

"This is what we've always wanted, a home for our family, to raise our child together." He said all the right things, playing me like a fine-tuned instrument, like he's always been able to.

"This home doesn't have a revolving door. And I may love you, but I don't trust you. No love can withstand the amount of second chances we've had. It's too much. You should go back to your wedding. Maybe Hope will forgive you? You have a future there."

It killed me to say, because I really did love him. And I saw a future with him, and we would be happy. Liam, my baby, and I, it would be perfect, until it wasn't anymore. Until he left us for Hope or whoever.

That's the part of our future I always tried not to think about, but I always saw it, the perfect image crumbling.

"So, you don't see a future with me anymore?" He asked, tears in his eyes, and it broke my heart.

"I see my future with a man who loves me and only me." I answered.

He nodded, and quickly made a break for the door, shoulders hunched in disappointment. I felt my own tears rush down too.

Because I wished so much it could be him.

But he loved us both, he was always really honest about that.

It made me wonder, how much did he really love either of us?

A/N: I'll try to update frequently. I know what it's like to read a fanfic that's in-progress, so I'll try not to do that. Please review. Feedback is always welcome.