Chapter 41

Emilia

Three Months Later

Against my better judgment I invited my mom to the graduation ceremony. I thought surely she would want to see her only daughter, child rather, graduate college. I was wrong, as I usually am when it comes to her. I'm not going to lie it stings a bit but having Liam in my life and his family has helped ease some of the ache in my chest. Ann has been beyond supportive of me in the short time she's known me, rooting for me and helping me make an informed decision about my graduate program.

Rosie is finishing curling my hair, when there's a knock on the door followed by the sound of someone entering.

"Hello?"

"We're in here!" I call from where I'm sitting at my desk, looking into the small mirror as Rosie curls the last strand.

"You guys shouldn't leave your door unlocked." A male voice huffs, I was expecting Liam but instead Ryan stands in the doorway to my room.

"Oh relax." Rosie rolls her eyes, which has me silently snickering, these two have a love hate relationship. Ryan loves Rosie and Rosie hates him, well, all men currently. Her swearing off men phase has officially lasted a whole year. Rosie runs a comb through my curls to loosen them a bit. "All set." She smiles at her work.

"Thanks Ro. We were expecting Liam." I stand up from my desk, turning around to face Ryan.

"I'm here." My boyfriend magically appears behind Ryan. "Move." He slightly shoulder checks Ryan who rolls his eyes before stepping through the doorway. When he moves, I gasp, seeing Liam holding a bouquet of light purple tulips. My favorites. "Emi, you look gorgeous." His eyes trace over my body. It's a warm spring day so I went for a short, white dress with flutter sleeves and a low but not too low neckline.

My cheeks heat, no matter how many times he compliments me I always get a faint blush but I don't mind it anymore, knowing how much he loves it. I make my way across the short distance so I'm standing right in front of him. "Thank you. You don't look half bad yourself." That's the understatement of the century. Liam looks incredible, wearing black dress pants, with a white collared short-sleeved shirt and navy-blue tie to match the graduation gowns.

"Thanks, baby." He presses a sweet kiss to my lips, I hear Rosie's awes mixed with Ryan's groan that has me laughing into the kiss.

"Let me get these in some water." Liam and I head out my door to the kitchen to find a vase to put these beauties into. Ryan and Rosie both emerge from my room seconds later, Rosie looking flustered and Ryan with a smirk on his face. Liam and I give each other a knowing look before I decide to break the tension. "Can you guys even believe today's the day?"

"I can not." Rosie leans over the counter grabbing my hands. "How am I supposed to live without you?"

"At least we'll be in the same city." Over the summer Liam and I will be moving to Boston so we can be near my graduate program. Liam also managed to snag a job at a local high school which will be a great experience for him before he can apply to graduate schools and work on his master's degree. Rosie will be moving to the city as well, not too far from where we live, as she'll be working for Boston's hockey team as one of the team's photographers. It's not her dream job but she said it'll pay the bills while she works on building up her wedding photography business on the side.

"No crying yet! I worked hard on our makeup." Tears prick the corner of both of our eyes at the thought of not being just a few feet apart every night.

"You guys can have sleepovers whenever you want." Liam adds in, fully knowing that we plan to stick to a once-a-week girls' night as much as possible.

"We should probably head over to the field." Ryan chimes in, adjusting his tie in the mirror that hangs in our entryway. Graduation is taking place on the football field across campus, a stage and chairs set up on the grass along with a massive stage they brought in.

Watertown University isn't a huge school but it's not exactly small either. They have us sit by major and go in alphabetical order for graduation. Which means Liam is at the beginning and I'm at the end. The pro to the order though is Rosie is sitting directly in front of me so at least I have her nearby.

We have finally moved on to the part of graduation where people accept their diploma's, thank god. The first two speeches were nice but everything after that just felt like it was dragging on. They start the athletic training program and I listen intently for Liam's name, ready to cheer.

"Liam Mills, magna cum laude!" Both Rosie and I are up on our feet, cheering. I'm not sure he can hear us but he adorns a megawatt smile as he crosses the stage. After they wrap up the athletic trainer's they move onto business which is Ryan's major.

"Ryan Saban!" The speaker calls, I cheer as does Rosie albeit less enthusiastically than for Liam.

One of the best parts of my dress is that it has pockets so I was able to keep my phone on me. It will be a while until we get to our majors, photography and psychology so I decide to send Liam a quick text.

Me

Congrats, smarty pants.

Liam

Thanks, baby.

I half listen to them run through the rest of the majors, hearing some names I recognize from classes I've taken over the years. I get lost in my own thoughts thinking about how crazy the past four years have been but mostly the last one. In the last year I completed the silly list I made for myself and it brought so much into my life. I'm so thankful I stumbled my way right into Liam's life and that he hasn't let go of me since.

I'm so lost in thought I almost miss Rosie standing as her row gets called up to the stage. She waves at me and I stand quickly, pulling her into an awkward hug with her chair in between us.

"I'm so proud of you."

"I'm so proud of us." The guy behind her clears his throat as the line has started moving and she pulls away with an eye roll, I try to hide my giggle. I watch intently as the photography students make it across the stage until they finally get to my best friend.

"Rosie Rivera, magna cum laude!" I'm on my feet cheering as loud as I can for her and I notice many rows up, two males cheering for her too.

After Rosie crosses the stage, my row is guided up to take our places. I watch as other psychology students, one's I've worked with projects on and had classes with cross the stage. It's crazy that now we're all going to be set into the world to make a difference. That thought is terrifying and exhilarating all at the same time.

"Emilia Scott, summa cum laude!" The speaker calls my name and my heart skips a beat. I hear faint cheering and glance at the crowd to see Liam on his feet, he cups his hands around his mouth, "That's my girlfriend!" A big cheesy smile takes over my face, which probably means the photo I pose for with the school's president will come out ridiculous but I don't even care.

After the ceremony finishes up, it's chaos. Graduates exiting the field, meeting up with their friends, waving to their parents in the stadium seating. Rosie and I are arm in arm, trying not to get lost in the crowd when I can faintly hear my name in the distance.

"Emi!" We both pause in our tracks, turning our heads in different directions to locate the voice. "Emi!" I hear again from behind us. I whip around and see Liam jogging towards us with Ryan in tow. Rosie and I both start to make our way to them, people seeming to part around us. Liam reaches out, picking me up and spinning me around, my graduation gown flying around us.

"We did it."

"We did it." He places me on the ground before placing a kiss on my lips.

"Let's go find our family." Our family. It's such a simple statement but one that means everything to me. Liam has become my family in such a short time but I can't imagine it any other way. I place my hand on his cheek, looking up into my favorite eyes.

"I love you."

"I love you more."

The End