Serena

"Liam, Bea, this is Will," I gestured towards him.

"...My fiancé."

I don't think I've known true awkwardness, until this exact moment. I now just introduced the guy I was going to marry, to the guy I used to...let's not think about that right now.

Liam's eyes drifted down slightly and only stopped moving, once they had settled on my left hand.

Clearly he'd missed that I was wearing a ring in our previous interaction, but the realisation didn't seem to make him any happier than before, as he now looked back at me more sternly than before.

He now looked like he'd sucked on a more sour lemon than before.

I hope he chokes it.

Will cleared his throat, clearly sensing the tension between us. "Well, it's nice to meet you. Serena's told me a lot about you and the good old days," he said, raising his hand forward to shake.

He was trying to be polite. I hadn't told him all that much.

Liam hesitantly raised his own hand to give Will a quick handshake.

I thought for sure, he'd leave Will hanging. But I guess it was only me that he was a prick towards.

"Do you know her, Daddy?" Bea asked, tugging at Liam's hand.

My eyes went from her and then to Liam, who just stood there looking at me, as if he were processing what she'd asked.

It was a simple enough question.

Bea looked between Liam and I with a confused expression.

I forced a smile on my face. "He knew me from a long time ago, sweetheart, he's just forgotten everything now," I told her.

There were a few expletives I wanted to add in that, but keeping Bea in mind, I held back.

I looked back at Liam and saw his jaw clench and nearly smirked at his reaction. If he wanted to be rude, then I had no obligation to be nice either.

"I know I'm always forgetting things", Will l said, placing an hand on my shoulder. "I forgot my shoes the other day", he joked, earning a giggle from Bea.

"Imagine that, a grown man walking outside without shoes," he carried on and Bea laughed.

"You're silly," she said between her giggled.

Will winked at her. "Only for you, your highness."

I could tell Will was trying to keep me calm, by placing his hand on my shoulder. The last thing I would want, was for Bea to see Liam and I at each others throats.

That would be childish and immature and she shouldn't see smacking her father senseless like that.

For her sake, I'd at least keep up appearances.

"So, fiancé?" Liam commented, as he looked between Will and I.

I wasn't so enthusiastic about the tone he used. It was as if he were wondering how that were even possible or if it was even real.

"Yes," I replied, just as curtly.

"Only recently. It took forever for me to work up the courage," he joked.

I smiled at him, as he chuckled. I only found out after, about how nervous he actually was about the whole thing.

"Well, congratulations," Liam replied, although without a smile or any inclination that he was happy for me.

"Thank you," I said.

"How long have you been together?" Liam then asked, but kept his eyes on Will.

"Just about three years," Will then replied, but before he could say anything more, his phone began to ring.

Will took his phone out, glancing at the screen and he then gave me a sheepish look.

"Sorry, I have to take this," he said, glancing towards Liam and then looked at me.

He pressed a quick kiss on my temple and I gripped his arm. "Will, I swear if you leave me I'm breaking up with you," I whispered.

A guilty expression came across Will's face, mouthing 'love you' and moved away to take the call.

There was an awkward silence between Liam and I, with Bea just smiling at me. I wasn't sure if she understood the concept of awkward silence, but she must feel it too.

"Is this the life you so desperately wanted to get back to then?" Liam then asked.

I looked at him confused. "Excuse me?"

He nodded his head in the direction Will had just walked off in. "Why you were in such a rush to leave? Clearly it was to get back to your lover," he said.

I nearly choked on air at his words. "My lover?" I repeated. "Oh, you little-" I narrowed my eyes at him, but before I could finish my, what was going to be very explicit words, Bea interrupted me.

"I like your ring," she said, pointing towards my hand.

"Thank you, sweetheart," I smiled at her and she grinned back at me.

"Are you going marry him?", She asked.

I chuckled. "Hopefully, yes," I replied to her.

The cute moment didn't last long, since Liam opened his mouth once again. "He should be careful," he said.

"Pardon?" I asked, not sure if I heard his words correctly.

Why should Will be careful? What was I, some kind of monster that was going to eat him up? Although, I wouldn't be shocked if that's how Liam now saw me.

"He should probably make sure he's got all the receipts or ability to get his deposits back," Liam then said and I carried on to look at him confused.

"What are you getting at?" I questioned him.

Liam just shrugged. "Well, you do seem like you'd be a flight risk. Maybe your fiancé should be warned about you being a potential runaway bride."

I gritted my teeth at his words, trying so hard to keep myself from completely snapping, especially in front of Bea. Also, because I didn't want to give him the satisfaction.

"Oh, and please tell me when you attended a previous wedding of mine to form that opinion?" I asked him.

"It's only a well formed observation," Liam replied and I swear, if I was a cartoon, steam would be coming out of my ears at this point from pure rage.

Instead of scowling, I gave him a sweet smile, one which clearly had him confused. "Well, you can take your observation and put it where the sun doesn't shine."

Liam narrowed his eyes in my direction, but then formed an impassive expression. "I'm just saying, I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't make it down the aisle."

I hated these assumptions he was forming about me, as if I had ran away from multiple weddings of mine in the past.

"And I won't be surprised if you formed two horns on your head and a pointed tail," I snapped back.

I knew I was behaving like a child, but he irked me.

I also hated that I couldn't just swear at him directly.

Liam didn't have time reply, as Bea spoke up before him. "Will you be my friend, Serena?

"Of course, darling," I smiled.

My words and friendship clearly meant a lot to her, as she beamed up at me, grinning from ear to ear.

"Daddy-" she tugged on Liam's hand, "-look, Serena said she's my friend!"

He, as expected, didn't reply to her, only offering a small, probably reluctant, smile.

"Will you come to play with me?" Bea asked, her green eyes shining, as she awaited my answer.

I smiled down at her. "I'd love to."

Bea clapped her hands, jumping slightly on the spot, with the kind of energy and enthusiasm, I wish I had. I'm mostly tired a lot of the time - it's quite sad.

"We can play dress up and we can drink tea," she said, before moving closer and cupping her mouth. "It's not real but we pretend," she added, in more of a loud whisper.

I held back my chuckle, trying to take her words seriously, even if was hard to.

"It's a date," I smiled.

"How can you not tell me you're engaged?" Liam then blurted out, interrupting my conversation with Bea.

I turned my gaze on him, his eyes slightly narrowed and accusatory. His jaw was clenched, as if he were mad, even if I didn't see a reason for him to be.

"Oh, did I miss the memo where you were interested in my life?" I asked, raising a brow.

He scoffed, turning his head away just a little. "Excuses."

"You cut me out," I told him, refusing to just accept this as something that I've done wrong.

I could except when I was in the wrong - my ego would be hurt and bruise, but I could do it - however, in this situation, it was not on me.

"You left," Liam replied, looking back at me.

I took a step forward. "You could've called."

He also stepped forward. "So could you."

I clenched my hands into fists, because he was close enough for me to reach up and strangle him, but I was trying to avoid that.

"Are you really implying this is my fault? I'm not one who was a...meanie." I had to stop myself before I said a 'bad word', realising that Bea was still with us.

Liam let out a breath, twisting his lips a little, with an irked expression. He probably knew I was right, just as I knew the same, but just didn't want to accept it.

When neither one of us spoke, Bea tugged on Liam's coat.

"Daddy, it's your turn to speak," she said.

We both glanced at her confused, whilst she gave Liam and innocent look, but with an amused smile on her face.

"Turn to speak?" I heard Will's voice, and I looked to see that he was walking back towards us with a smile on his face.

"Daddy and Serena were talking, but now it's his turn, but he's not saying anything," Bea explained, as if she knew exactly what was going on.

Both Liam and I took a step back, realising it looked like we were about to go to battle - we were probably a little close to drawing our swords.

Will laughed at her words, standing by my side. "She tends to leave people speechless ...especially in an argument."

I wasn't entirely sure, but I swear I heard Liam mumble something that sounded like, "I know", but that was probably my imagination.

"You really can't win with her," Will continued and I elbowed him.

"Stop talking," I hushed at him and he bit his lip, trying to hide a smile.

"It's quite late now, we should be going," Liam spoke up.

I crouched down to Bea's height to hug her.

"Bye bye, Serena." She said, wrapping her little arms around me.

"Bye, my little bumblebee," I replied, hugging her close to me.

She pulled away, again a grin on her face. "Buzz buzz," she said, which caused a laugh to bubble out of me.

Bea also waved at Will. "Goodbye, Princess. I hope to be in your presence sometime again, your grace," he said, dramatically, giving her another bow as she giggled.

"Bye bye," she said, and went back to hold Liam's hand.

He gave Will and I a nod, before walking off in the other direction from where we were going.

Will wrapped his arm around me. "You know I love you, right?" He asked.

I glared at him. "I am going to kill you."

Will gulped. "I was just-"

"You're sleeping in the guest room tonight," I said.

"Oh, but-" he began to say and I gave him a look, which stopped him from continuing that sentence, "-and now I know what you must look like when you speak to him."

He's definitely sleeping in the guest room.