Oh crap, what do I say?

“Stress apparently. That, and she hadn’t eaten all day,” Liam interjected, coming round to my side. I silently thanked God that Liam was better liar than I was.

Jake looked at me, clearly annoyed again. “Why the hell didn’t you eat all day?” he asked accusingly.

I smiled and let Liam lead me in to the house. “Let’s just get her in and let her sit down, Jake, then you can shout at her all you like,” Liam suggested, shaking his head with a small smile.

Jake followed us in and sat next to me on the sofa, Johnny and Ruby came and sat down too. Everyone was looking at me worriedly. “Stop worrying, guys. It was lack of food, apparently. Sugar low or something. I’m fine now, honestly,” I assured them, nodding, trying not to look too guilty. I just hoped that Jake didn’t go too crazy when he found out, and that he didn’t beat the crap out of Liam or something. Maybe I would tell him on my own, calm him down a little before he saw Liam.

“The bang to her head needed stitches. I need to wake her up every hour to make sure she’s OK, so I’ll be staying over tonight,” Liam stated, more for Ruby’s benefit than anyone else’s, Jake already knew he’d be there anyway.

I yawned. It was almost nine now and I just wanted to go to bed, it had been a long stressful day. “I’m going to bed, guys. Oh, and Ruby, it really is nice to meet you again. I’m sorry I didn’t get a chance to talk to you properly earlier,” I said, smiling apologetically.

She chuckled slightly. “We’ll talk tomorrow, honey, don’t worry. If you need anything in the night then let me know. Jake said I could sleep in your mom’s room, just so you know where I am, alright?” she asked kindly.

Wow, she really is nice!

“OK. G’night, guys. And you, lover boy, go get your stuff if you’re staying here,” I instructed, smiling at Liam.

He stood up quickly. “OK. I’ll be back in a bit then.” He kissed my forehead gently before heading for the front door to tell his parents he was ‘officially’ staying over.

I went to my bedroom and looked at myself in the mirror. My hair was a mess, I had a plaster thing stuck behind my ear over the stitches, I looked tired but I couldn’t help but smile. I didn’t bother with pyjamas as I slipped into the bed; I wanted to feel Liam’s skin against mine. After about fifteen minutes he came in, looking so handsome that it made me want to cry. I rubbed my hand over my stomach lightly under the sheets. I hoped I had a little boy in there, and he would be just like his daddy.

Liam stripped down to his boxers and climbed in the bed with me. He gasped suddenly and pulled back to look at me. “Are you na**d?” he asked, a little shocked.

I smiled. “Yep. I thought you should make the most of me before I get all fat and ugly,” I teased.

He grinned and rolled on top of me, hovering above me, barely touching me. “Angel, you will never be ugly,” he whispered, looking at me adoringly. “And the bigger you get, just means I have more of you to love,” he added, slipping his hand down to my stomach. I smiled as I pulled his mouth down to mine.

Having Johnny, Matt and Ruby stay with us was actually awesome. Ruby made pancakes on Saturday morning, and I spent the day chatting to her and playing with my gorgeous little brother. She was planning on staying in town because Johnny didn’t want to change schools again.

Kate came over in the afternoon, and Johnny finally asked her to be exclusive - which she obviously jumped at. They were so sweet, being all cuddly and flirty. Kate would say stuff that would make Johnny blush. He was just too innocent - but knowing Kate he wouldn’t be that way for too long if she had her way. Liam kept shooting me little knowing smiles and would touch my belly at every single opportunity.

On Sunday, Ruby, Johnny, Kate and Matt went to the zoo for the day. They wanted to get out and do something to take Ruby’s mind off of the fact that my father was due home from his business trip today. He would come home to find the note that she left him, and that all of their stuff was gone from his house. She had gotten rid of their phone numbers and bought new sim cards for their cellphones so he had no way of contacting them or knowing where they were. But sitting around worrying about it wasn’t helping anyone, so they wanted to do something to keep them occupied.

I was sat on the sofa, reading, with my legs on Liam’s lap while he played PlayStation with Jake, when the phone rang. I moved to get it but Jake got there first. As he answered it his whole body tensed up. “What the hell do you want?” he growled, jumping off of the sofa. I sat up so fast that it almost made my head spin. “Are you f**king drunk?” he almost screamed down the phone. I watched him, feeling sick, knowing that my father was on the phone. “Yeah, so what? What are you gonna do about it, old man?” Jake spat, going red with anger. “We don’t want to see you, so f**k off. No. She doesn’t want to see you. I swear, if you come near her again I’ll kill you,” he growled, turning his back to me. “Actually, you know what, screw it, come over, come over right now. We’re home, come on over and let’s talk about it,” Jake suggested.

What the hell is he doing? “Jake?” I cried, scared.

“Sure. You remember where the house is, right? Absolutely. See you in a bit,” Jake said, hanging up and throwing the phone across the room. Luckily it landed with a thump on the other sofa and didn’t break. Did he just tell him to come over?

“Jake, he’s not….” I trailed off, unable to finish the sentence.

Jake turned back to look at me, his face hard. “Yeah. Go next door,” he instructed.

I looked at Liam for help. He was looking at Jake; he had the same hard expression on his face. “Liam, tell him this is stupid!” I whispered, with tears falling down my face. Liam didn’t look at me; Jake and him were locked in some sort of silent exchange with their eyes. I jumped off of the sofa and grabbed the phone planning on calling him back to cancel it. I couldn’t let him come here, not with those two looking like that.

Jake pulled the phone out of my hands. “He’s not going to stop harassing you, Ambs. He wants to see you. He’s also really angry that Ruby’s left him. He knows that I helped them; a neighbour saw my car in the drive. He’s seriously pissed at me, so I just need to tell him to back the f**k off,” he said, pulling me into a hug.

I shook my head, that wasn’t what he was planning at all, they weren’t going to tell him anything, Jake and Liam were going to beat him senseless and show him to back the f**k off.

“Please don’t, you’ll get in trouble. Please?” I whispered. My insides were squirming with dread.

“Not if he starts something first,” Jake replied, fighting a smile.

Chapter 21

~ Liam ~

Crap, this was bad. The first thing that shot through my brain was that I needed to keep Jake under control. Sure, I wanted to kill that as**ole as much as he did, but we seriously needed to be careful. If we literally jumped him as soon as he walked in, we’d be liable, and I’d promised his mom I wouldn’t let him do that. I wouldn’t let Jake go to jail for that asshole, Angel needed her big brother, especially now with the baby coming. The second thing that sprung to mind was that I needed to get my girl and my baby the hell out of here, now.

“Angel, let’s go, I’ll take you to mine,” I stated, grabbing her hand and pulling her away from Jake.

She wrenched her hand out of mine and glared at me. “I’m not going anywhere! I won’t let you do this, either of you. You can’t beat the crap out of him, you’ll get in trouble. You’re being freaking stupid!” she shouted. Tears rolled down her face as she spoke.

“Angel, you need to leave, now,” I ordered. She wasn’t staying here near that man, no way, because if he even looked at her the wrong way I wouldn’t be able to restrain myself, let alone keeping Jake under control.

She shook her head fiercely. She always had been stubborn, usually I loved that about her - but not right now I didn’t. Fine, if she wants it that way then screw it. I grabbed her, wrapping her in my arms, lifting her bridal style. “Liam, don’t you dare!” she shouted, her face getting red with anger as she struggled to get down. I shook my head, I’d deal with her anger later, she wouldn’t stay mad at me for long and a night of the silent treatment would be totally worth it, just so I knew she was completely safe. She started sobbing and wrapped her arms around my neck as I carried her out of the house. Damn it, she was killing me! I hated to see her cry.

I kissed the side of her head. “Shh, everything’s going to be fine, I promise. I just need to you safe so I can concentrate on keeping Jake calm, OK?” I said honestly.

We reached my house and I opened the door quickly, heading over to the sofa. I sat down and held her on my lap, rocking her gently. “Please don’t get in trouble, Liam, please,” she begged, hugging me tighter.

“I won’t. I need to go next door now. You stay here; don’t come over until I come to get you. You understand? Can you do that for me?” I asked desperately.

She sniffed and pulled away without looking at me. “Just go then,” she snapped angrily, moving off of my lap to sit on the sofa. She really didn’t like this at all.

I groaned, hating her angry expression.

“I love you, Angel. I just need you and our baby safe,” I explained as I kissed her cheek, rubbing my hand over her flat stomach. I fought the urge to smile thinking of my baby growing inside her, that lucky little baby gets to be closer to her than anyone for the next eight months. She nodded and closed her eyes; silent tears were still falling down her face.

I stood up and turned to leave. “Liam?” she called just as I got to the door. I turned back, hoping for a smile. “I love you too. If you get sent to jail for murder then I’ll wait for you,” she stated with no emotion in her voice at all. It wasn’t a joke; she really thought I was going to jail.

I didn’t answer, I just left. There was no answer for that. She was seriously annoyed with me and I would have a lot to make up for after this. I’d never done anything that she didn’t want before and I hated doing it now.

I ran back to Jake’s. He was pacing in the lounge, looking murderously angry. “Jake, you need to listen to me,” I said, grabbing his shoulder and making him face me.

“I know, I know. I can’t do anything unless he starts anything. I just want to talk to him and tell him to get the f**k out of our lives, but if he comes near me, I swear….” He gritted his teeth. He didn’t need to finish the sentence, I already knew what he would do and it wouldn’t be painless either.

After about ten minutes a car pulled up outside. I grabbed Jake’s arm as he jumped up from the sofa. “Calm the f**k down, Jake. Understand?” I ordered. He nodded and I headed to the door. I opened it and the as**ole stood there looking at me angrily. My hands were itching to choke the life out of him. I hadn't seen him since we threw him out of the door followed by all of his stuff, three years ago, but he looked exactly the same as I remembered.

“Liam James, you’ve grown a bit, huh?” he stated, sneering as he looked me over.

“Stephen Walker, you stopped molesting young girls?” I countered, my hand squeezing the door handle so tightly that my fingers were hurting.

He glared at me and pushed past into the house. “Where the f**k are Jake and Amber?” he asked angrily.

“I’m here. And Amber’s out,” Jake said calmly. Maybe he was going to be calm after all.

“You little shit! You always were f**king trouble! Where the f**k is my wife and son? And I’m taking Amber with me too,” Stephen shouted, heading towards the hallway at the back. I could feel my anger rising every time he said my Angel’s name. I took a couple of deep breaths; I needed to be the strong one.

Jake started to laugh. “Yeah, OK,” he said sarcastically. I think he was trying to goad his father into starting something. I think he was planning on letting him get a couple of hits in first so he could say it was self-defence.

“Where are they?” Stephen practically screamed. He always did have a bad temper.

“I’m telling you now, old man, that if you ever come near my sister again, I’ll kill you,” Jake growled. “Do you understand me? You need to leave town. Now. There’s nothing left here for you now. Ruby doesn’t want you either, no one wants you,” he spat.

He smiled slightly as Stephen stepped closer to him with his fists clenched. “This is all your f**king fault! You and Amber had to open your filthy mouths and tell Johnny about what happened. You’ve ruined everything for me, everything, you worthless piece of shit. I should have f**king pushed your mother down the stairs or something when she told me she was pregnant with you,” Stephen shouted angrily.

Damn it, he was an asshole!

Jake grabbed him and slammed him against the wall, knocking his breath out of him.

Crap! I grabbed Jake just as he was about to punch him and pulled him away. “Not like this! Jake, not like this,” I shouted, trying to restrain him.

“Let me go! I’m gonna f**king kill him. Liam, let me go!” Jake screamed, trying to throw me off of him.

“Jake, calm down!” I heard Amber say.

My blood went cold at the sound of her voice. What the hell was she doing here? We all turned to see her standing in the doorway. I let go of Jake quickly and went to go to her, but that as**ole was between me and her. He grabbed her wrist. She flinched and tried to pull her arm out of his hold.

“You! You f**king ruined everything!” he screamed at her.