Life After Life

•C h a p t e r N i n e t e e n•

Liam set aside his glass as led me to the middle of the living room, where a bunch of other people had began to gather, slow dancing. We joined them, near the center of the room.

I sucked in a deep breath when he placed his hands on my waist, while I placed my hands on his shoulders. Shivers crawled up my spine just from his touch.

"You know, I still remember all the dances from back then," Liam started as we began moving to the music. I didn't know what dance we were doing, or if anyone even knew how to dance, so I was glad Liam was leading me along. "Like the Polka."

"Really? Which one are we dancing to right now?" I asked, glancing up at him curiously.

"I don't know, I'm just swaying to the music," he shrugged and I pressed my lips into a thin line, unimpressed. "I'm not just going to break out into the Polka, that's weird. And it's the wrong music for that." Liam defended himself, letting out a small laugh.

I couldn't help but follow along, chuckling, "That's true I guess."

We stayed silent for a few moments as I followed Liam's lead across the dance floor. Now I knew, we were just swaying at random.

"I don't remember any of the dances anymore," I said quietly, sighing.

After that day the royal Guards took my parents away, I ran off. I'd survived by passing through random villages, always paranoid that the King would find me. Dancing was the last thing on my mind. I also passed away five years later, from some disease that was going around, not that I had much to live for anyway.

"Well, aren't you lucky you have me to lead you?" Liam smirked, overconfidently.

"No," I lied immediately, feeling my cheeks begin to heat up. He was definitely the best dancer I'd ever been with, not that I'd ever admit that to him.

Avoiding Liam was definitely going to be harder than I thought. I didn't even know why I bothered at this point. My eyebrows knitted together when a Liam's glass of champagne sprung to my mind.

"You were drinking just now weren't you?" I asked and Liam nodded, nonchalantly. "Aren't you underage? My mom will kill you if she knew."

"And how would she know?" Liam tilted his head, challenging me. "Are you going to tell on me?"

I scoffed, "As if, I don't care. If she found out she might kick you out."

"Aww, so you do care about me?" he teased, his lips curling up as he watched me. He spun me around smoothly, catching me with a hand around my waist again. This time, he pulled me closer to him, my chest just inches away from his.

"N-no, I don't want your parents to be embarrassed by you," I fibbed the first lie that came to mind. I wanted to scoff again — please, as if I actually cared about Liam.

"Sure, I totally believe you,"  Liam said sarcastically as he laughed at my lie. "It's fine. I'm 21, completely legal."

"You're older than me?" my eyes bulged out of their sockets.

"Yes, Ophelia," Liam rolled his eyes, smiling. "I'm older than you in this life and in the last one."

"Darn," I grumbled under my breath, to which Liam chuckled.

Two centuries ago, he was also older than me. Given, it was not that much older, just a couple years. I was lucky then that I wasn't arranged to be married with someone years older.

"You know, you haven't changed much from back then," he said, so quietly that I almost couldn't hear him. I lowered my gaze, suddenly very interested in my heels.