Life After Life

•C h a p t e r T w e n t y - E i g h t•

I cracked the main door open, peeking into my house. Just as I'd thought, all the guests were in the living room, most likely where the wine bar was. The hall was vacant and dark, so the coast was clear. Music and the voices of our guests could be heard faintly, vibrating through the hall.

My hands pushed the door open wider as I glanced back at Liam, who stood behind me with an amused eyebrow raised.

"Come on," I whispered to him, nodding my head towards the door. His lips twitched up as he followed me through the door, taking his sweet time as I shut the door behind him. I rolled my eyes, "Hurry up."

I bursted into a run, shoving Liam in front of me as I raced up my stairs two at a time.

When we made it into the safety of my room, I closed the door quietly. The voices of my parents' guests and their music was faint.

"Why are you sneaking me in?" Liam asked as he plopped down onto my bed, smirking. "Your parents know me, and dare I say, they quite like me."

I gave him a flat expression, "Off the bed, your clothes are dirty."

"Please, I beat up four people for you in them," he snorted, peeling himself off my bed.

I swallowed hard in attempt to minimize the appearance of my burning cheeks, "Wait here."

I avoided his eyes as I stepped into my bathroom, swinging open the door to the drawer under my sink.

My hands rummaged around, ruffling through cleaning supplies, paper towels and many other things I'd never paid much attention to. My hand clasped around the first-aid kit.

The kit hadn't been used in years since there was also one down in the kitchen, so it had just been sitting there collecting dust.

I took it out of the bathroom, setting it on top of my desk. Liam shuffled awkwardly on his feet as I opened it up, scanning the items. There were bandages, wraps, cotton balls, gauze and hydrogen peroxide.

"Sit down," I ordered, turning around to face him as he glanced around my room curiously. I followed his eyes, scanning my room as well. Thankfully, I hadn't left any undergarments lying around. I fished out a cotton ball and the hydrogen peroxide.

"Yes ma'am," he took a seat on my desk chair, eyeing the items in my hand. He glanced down, studying his hands. "The blood's not mine."

"Oh, are you sure?" I blinked at him.

"Yes, I'm sure. Hand me those," he smirked and my brows furrowed. "The bottle and the cotton ball."

Liam held out his hand, an eyebrow raised at me. With a reluctant sigh, I placed the items in his hand.

I watched as he poured the liquid onto the cotton, his ruffled dark hair cascading over his forehead. My eyes trailed down to his hands, eyeing the dried blood between the cracks of his fingers. Liam was right, it did not belong to him.

He set the bottle down and stood up from his seat, "There's a cut on your face."

My eyes widened as my hand flew over to my cheek, brushing over the bruise tenderly. I winced, my face stinging when my fingers skimmed the apple of my cheek. Liam was right yet again; I hadn't noticed the cut myself since it was small.

I pulled my finger away from my face, frowning when I saw a small droplet of blood stained on it. Liam stepped towards me.

"What are you doing?" I asked, taking a step back, eyeing him.

"Helping you. I figured it might hurt less if someone else did it," Liam said, as if it were the most obvious thing ever.

"I'm good. I can do it myself," I retorted, reaching out to grab the soaked cotton ball. I gasped when he slapped my hand away, "Hey! I said I would do it myself."