Serena

Bliss.

That's what my life currently felt like and I was loving it.

I felt as if I was up on cloud nine, with nothing but rainbows and sunshine surrounding me.

In the last few months - or even the past year - everything had been beautiful. I know I was determined not to wear the rose-tinted glasses this time, but I could help but occasionally view my world in that shade.

Initially, Liam's confession was...overwhelming, to say the least.

It had left me in a swirl of emotions. I never expected him to say those three words, let alone express a ray of feelings, that had me crying my eyes out until there were no tears left.

He loved me.

When he first said it, I didn't believe him, I couldn't. It just seemed like he was saying it out of pity, like because I had said it to him, he had to say to me.

Then my next concern was he only missed that presence in his life.

I couldn't be a replacement for someone else, I wouldn't let myself become one. I couldn't do that, not even for him.

It was why I wanted time from him. For the both of us, really. I wanted to not have this fear hanging over me and for him to be sure that he really wanted this. That he wanted us.

I've tried loving someone who didn't love me back. I've gone through heartbreak. I just wanted something less painful now.

Liam and I had many conversation about how this was going to go. He often told me, he was happy to go at whatever pace I wanted, even if I felt about it.

He said even if I were to give him little, he'd understand and would be happy, as long as I was by his side.

A part of me just wanted to be in his arms, but the more rational part of me knew not to push things. He'd confessed, which was truly amazing, but I couldn't also forget about everything I had been through before.

I wasn't going to hold it against Liam, nor was I going to be petty about it and constantly being it up. Especially since he didn't know. However, I thought it was best to just take things slow, really slow.

I've always been sure of my feelings and Liam seems sure, and I want to believe him. I just wanted to trust, that this wasn't someone he'd wake up one day and refuse or regret.

I didn't want to be heartbroken once again. I couldn't.

I just needed him to be sure of what he felt and wanted to see that from him.

Every time that he said 'I love you' and I didn't say it back, I felt bad. Liam wouldn't say anything nor did his expression give anything away, but I knew it was a horrible thing.

I just didn't want to say those words just yet...until I did.

It was Christmas Day, the year after his confession, where we went for an afternoon walk to the lake. Bea was napping and our parents were watching her, as we left for a little while.

Liam had mixed feelings about visiting the lake. He hated that it was the place where he saw me break, but then he also loved that it was the same place I confessed my feelings...albeit not in the most romantic of ways.

When we approached the lake, I remember the look on Liam's face, the deep set frown. I also knew exactly what he was thinking about.

It was how I also knew, this was exactly the moment I'd tell him...again.

He had let out this deep sigh, as if tired of thinking about the past, and when he looked my way, he saw me smile. He almost had to double take in confusion seeing the expression on my face.

It was then I told him, in plain and simple words, 'I love you'.

I knew it wasn't the most elaborate of confession or a grand gesture, but it was the words that I had held back on.

The way he smiled towards me, first a look of shock and then the widest grin on his face, from ear to ear, it was adorable. He didn't waste time to pull me close and into a tight hug.

Even the way he kissed me after. Slow, burning, passionate.

He really loved me.

I felt his relief as he held me. I almost teared up as he smiled and chuckled, the happiness in his eyes.

Liam promised to give me the best of himself and that was all I really wanted.

My life was reaching that place of content that I had hoped for. I had Liam and my Bumblebee.

I moved the covers off of me and sat up, stretching out my arms with a cheery smile on my face.

This was my favourite way to wake up.

"Good Morning."

I turned my head to see a sleepy Liam looking at me, with one eye peeking open.

His hair was a mess and his face was basically buried into the pillow, as he laid on this stomach. The covers were pushed down to his waist, giving me the delightful view of his shirtless back.

"Hi," I grinned at him, knowing that I probably looked a state right now with wild, bed hair and his t-shirt on me.

My grin quickly faded when I saw the playful smirk develop on his face and knew exactly where this was going.

Before I could get out of bed, Liam snaked his arms around my waist and pulled me back down to him, as my back was against his chest.

"Liam, no. Let go," I squirmed against his hold, trying to push his arms off me.

"No, I don't want to wake up," he whined.

I sighed. "We both have work and Bea has school," I told him, stopping my struggling and instead laying in bed like he wanted.

"Five more minutes," Liam mumbled, his breath just hitting the back of my neck, causing me to shiver slightly.

I shook my head, closing my eyes. "You're the worst."

This was a regular occurrence with Liam, and I wasn't surprised at all. He really couldn't get out of bed.

An amused breath then left Liam. "That's not what you said last night-" he began to say, "-I recall you saying something along the lines of..."

"Don't." I cut him off. "That was just in the moment," I told him and I could feel him smirk from behind me.

If I thought kissing Liam was fireworks, then nights with him were an explosion.

"Oh, really?" Liam spoke, as he tightened his arms around me. "So, you wouldn't think any different of me right now?" He questioned.

Oh no.

I didn't say anything and then suddenly I was turned onto my back, facing Liam as he hovered over me, an annoying smirk still across his lips.

"Liam, no," I warned, trying my hardest to prevent the smile that was threatening to form on my lips.

"Too late, darling," he grinned and then leaned down to kiss me...only it didn't stop there.

"I am so late," I said in a panic state, throwing on my clothes from last night and currently searching for my missing socks.

Liam's laziness was becoming contagious and it felt so unfair to keep making Arya be the one to open the shop.

"I still need to go home and change," I muttered, finally putting on my socks and then buckling my belt on the jeans.

"I've been thinking-" I looked at Liam who was sitting up on the bed, leaning against the headboard, "-why don't you have clothes here?"

I halted in my movements, stood by the bottom side of the bed to look at him, with a slightly confused expression.

"What?" I questioned.

Liam leaned forward. "Move in with me," he stated, staring staring straight at me.

"Wait, what?" I looked at him with shocked eyes at the abrupt question.

Liam scrunched up his face a little. "Okay, that came out more blunt than I intended," he said, and then smiled at me. "But I'm serious, move in with me," he repeated.

His words kind of rendered me speechless and I wasn't even sure how to reply.

"Liam, I-" I didn't know how to form the sentence.

He then moved forward, to sit at the end of the bed, with my legs in between his, and then held my hands in his.

"I love you, Rena. I want to spend all my mornings waking up to you, not just seeing you leave," he said.

"Give me wardrobe space," I blurted out, causing Liam to frown.

Seeing his expression, I sighed and moved one hand out his grasp and gently placed it on his cheek.

"Liam, I've barely lived at my currently apartment. I really don't want to have to move again," I told him.

"We'll move in with you," he stated.

"What?" I couldn't even hide the shock in my voice or on my face, my hand moving back to my side.

Liam just looked unfazed. "Bea and I will move," he said. "We both love you so much and we want to be a family. She hates watching you leave as well, and it breaks my heart to see her sad face when you go."

I hated leaving the two of them as well, but it was just how things were at the moment and also how I wanted them to be.

Whenever I had to go back to my place, Bea always had this disheartened expression on her face, as did Liam. They both said it was okay and that they understood, but I knew they didn't like it.

"Oh, Liam," I sighed, feeling incredibly guilty.

"Don't you want to live together?" Liam asked, dropping my hand out of his hold.

I winced at his question.

"I can't," I told him softly, hoping this wouldn't cause an argument between us.

Liam's face contorted into one of both confusion and shock. "Why?"

I held his face in my hands and smiled. "Liam, I love you, but all of this, it's still pretty new for the both of us," I told him.

Liam held my wrists and smiled too. "I'm not going to fall out of love with you, Rena," he assured me.

I saw the genuine honesty in his eyes as he said those words and the thought of Liam not loving me anymore hadn't occurred, but I still preferred to be cautious.

"I know that, but just because I've loved you for a long time, doesn't mean I want to rush into this," I said, and before he could interrupt me, I carried on. "I want a relationship with you and that takes time."

I wanted something real with Liam. Even if we'd be 'dating' for the last year or so, I still wanted to take things slow, like not rushing to live with one another.

Liam frowned, still holding onto my wrist, but moved my hands away from his face. "But we both already know each other," he stated.

"I still don't want to skip over those steps," I told him, and didn't miss the sullen on his face. "I don't want to speed things just so we're at a stage where everything thinks we should be at."

Our relationship was still something that we felt like we're treading new ground.

Trying to be more than what we were ready for, worried me. There seemed to be a lot of pressure on this already, since this was like a long time in the making, I really didn't want to mess things up.

"Are you scared we might not make it?" Liam asked.

"No," I replied without hesitation. "But I don't want to risk it either. I've loved you for long and been so patient, do you think you can still be patient with me?" I then asked him.

The pause had me worry a little, but Liam's smile relieved me of my worries.

"Of course," he said, placing a kiss on both my wrists. "I'm willing to go at any pace you want, if it means I get to be with you," he told me, with beaming smile.

"Thank you," I said, moving to sit on his lap, as he wrapped his arms around my waist securely, whilst I wrapped my arms around his neck.

"But I think wardrobe space is a good start," I added.

It really would save me the panic during the mornings if I just had some extra clothes here.

Liam then smirked, "Well, good thing you mentioned that..." he trailed off, before standing up, and making me stand too.

He walked toward his closet and opened one of the doors to reveal dresses and tops.

Turning around, he smiled at me, whilst I looked on shocked.

"When did you do this?" I breathed out.

"A week ago," Liam stated proudly, with a boyish grin on his face. "I didn't like seeing you rush about in a panic and then get to work late, mostly because it means waking up earlier than needed," he added.

I let out a snort at his blatant indication of wanting more sleep.

"Aren't you sweet?" I said.

"I thought you may need this," he said, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.

Walking forward, I looked at the clothes that looked perfect for me, almost too perfect.

"Wait, how do you know my size?" I asked, knowing that when he got me out of clothes, he really didn't spend time checking for the sizing.

Liam smiled, the tips of his ears turning a little pink. "I asked Sara for help," he said.

I shook my head smiling and then moved forward to hug him, as Liam pulled me closer to him.

"You're cute," I mumbled into his chest.

He chuckled. "I try."

After the distraction this morning, Liam and I had to hastily get ready.

I wore one of the dresses he gave me and thankfully I had a pair of heels at the shop for me to change into, so I could wear my trainers for now.

It looked terribly mismatched, but oh well.

When I left the room to go check on Bea, I found her getting ready as well, her school uniform on and she was trying to braid her hair.

She was trying to be a 'big girl' in her words, and so insisted on getting ready all on her own. Sometimes it went well, other times, not so well.

"Morning, Bumblebee." I greeted her, leaning down to kiss her cheek as she giggled.

"Morning," she replied, as I began to braid her hair for her.

"Will you come drop me to school, Serena?" She then asked me, leaning her hair as far back as she could to look at me, whilst I stood behind her.

Bea still called me Serena and honestly I was okay with that. I thought maybe it was too soon or too hard for her to call me Mummy, but then she told me, she couldn't call me that until I was married to Liam.

That wasn't exactly going to happen any time soon.

I smiled and tied on a hair band at the end of the braid to secure it.

Turning her around, I grinned. "I think I can manage that," I told her, and she beamed at me, reaching her hands up so I would pick her up.

Without a second thought, I picked her up, holding her to my side as Bea placed a sweet kiss on my cheek.

"Thought you were running late?" I looked to the door, to see Liam fixing his tie at the doorway, with an amused look on his face.

Idiot.

I looked at Bea and smiled. "I have a little bit of time," I said.

I'll always have time for Bea.

After a rushed breakfast, we all left Liam's place and headed to Bea's school first.

Liam had prepared things for Bea's lunch last night, so packing her lunch was not an issue and I was able to put my coffee in a cute travel mug that Arya got me for Christmas.

Bea held Liam's hand and mine, as we walked her to the gates of the school.

We stopped and immediately Bea looked up waiting for her usual goodbye kiss.

Liam crouched down to hug Bea, holding her tight in his embrace as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Bye, sweetheart," he said, kissing her forehead and handing her the backpack.

I crouched down as well and Bea turned to me expectedly.

Hugging her close, I smiled contently.

Leaning away, I kissed her nose, cause her to adorably scrunch up her face.

"I'll see you later, Bumblebee. Have a great day at school, darling." I said, cupping her cheek.

She nodded gleefully. "I will," she said, and then her green eyes shone bright. "Will you pick me up after school?" She asked.

I frowned at her request. "I can't today, Bea. But I'll see you at home?" I ask her, hoping that it would be enough.

Instead of sulking, like I was scared she'd do, Bea just smiled at me and nodded.

"Okay," she said and then waved. "Bye, Daddy! Bye, Serena!" she said, and then ran off into school.

Just as Liam and I stood up, a woman walked up to us, with a smile on her face.

She looked at Liam, pushing up her glasses on the bridge of her nose.

"Mr Hunter," she greeted him with a smile.

"Hello, Miss Penny," he said, and then looked towards me and my confused face. "Serena, this is Bea's teacher," he introduced us.

I smiled at her. "It's nice to meet you."

She grinned at me. "Likewise," she responded. "Bea speaks very fondly about you," she said, and her words warmed my heart.

I loved that Bea would speak about me. She came home one day with a painting she made at school of me.

It looked nothing like me but I still may have taken her out to dessert because of it.

"I actually wanted to ask you about the parent-teacher meeting?" Miss Penny looked towards Liam.

"Yes?" He replied.

"Bea hasn't handed in her confirmation slip and I thought I'd just ask you, since I've caught you," she informed him, and I immediately shook my head with a smile on my face.

He was so forgetful sometimes.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I think I left it on my desk," he said to her.

She just smiled back. "That's alright. Will the two of you be coming?" She asked.

My eyes went a little wide, and I shook my head. "Oh, I-" before I could refuse, Liam held my hand, and gave it a gentle squeeze.

"We'll be there," he told Miss Penny.

"Perfect," she smiled. "It was nice to meet you, have a lovely day," she said and walked into the school.

When she'd left, I looked towards Liam, who was already looked at me.

"That's not a problem, is it? You coming to the meeting?" He spoke first, taking the words right out of my mouth.

I let out an amused breath. "I was going to ask you that," I said.

"I want you there," he told me, squeezing my hand once more.

"Then I'll go," I replied.

Liam then interlocked our fingers as he held my hand and then tugged my closer to his side.

"Now, come on. We're both late, so I might as well drop you to work," he said.

My brows furrowed together, as I looked at him a little confused. "You work in a different direction to me," I said, knowing his office was not near my shop.

"I know," Liam replied with a smile and we both began to walk, and I cuddled closer to his side.

This was truly bliss.