Jessica Grayson has struggled with body dysmorphia and bullying for most of her life. And when she believes she has finally turned things around for herself, she is betrayed and made fun of by her boyfriend and close friends, which sends her into a...
This chapter is dedicated to Mads123123 for supporting my story even while I was away. Thank you for the love!!
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The Ferry ride to Staten Island takes about twenty-five minutes. We decide to have a look around before going to the fair, and we spend some time walking around the Suburbs where, as Liam informs me, he spent a weekend with Seth and Kim a couple of years ago.
The sun is starting to set, casting a warm golden glow across the top of the houses, and blooming trees as we walk down a quiet neighborhood. The kind of neighborhood you would imagine settling down in one day and raising a family. With perfectly mowed front lawns and giant oak trees with massive branches that stretch far out into the street, their leaves dancing merrily in the breeze. The birds chirp and sing around us, and I feel a sense of transcendental peace.
I look over at a brown brick house and picture myself reading in a hammock on the porch while Liam does some yard work. Half naked, of course.
A small smile breaks across my lips at the thought.
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Liam asks, glancing at me with a knowing smirk.
I grin.
"I don't know. What are you thinking?"
"That I'd like us to someday be happy in a place like this." He says. "That one." He points to a white house with large french windows. "You'd be in there. In your lightroom, developing your photographs, and you are pregnant with our second child. A boy. And I am outside playing with our little girl. She just turned three."
I look at him with bewilderment as he grins down at me.
"That house." I point to that same house that caught my attention the second I laid eyes on it, the brown brick house surrounded by giant trees. "It's a Sunday afternoon, and we are getting ready to celebrate our son's birthday. Kids are playing in the back, and I am taking pictures. You are inside with my mom, chatting as she frosts the cake."
Liam smiles at me in a way that tugs at my heart.
"I love you," He tells me.
"Always." I smile.
Liam grins at me.
"Now you're using my word?"
I laugh, realizing he is right. That's what he usually says to me.
"Because it's true," I tell him. "Always."
"Always." He repeats.
A woman suddenly opens the front door and walks out of the house. Liam and I both halt, watching as she holds the door open for a young couple to exit. They beam at her as they shake her hand before making their way out. And for the first time, we both notice the For Sale sign outside.
