Grey Thorns

Chapter 61- Arrows

I was afraid to approach him the next morning. I stood up from the bed and flinched but quickly recovered as I wandered to the bathroom. My eyes widened when I saw my reflection in the mirror. My eyes were wild and brighter, my hair was a shade of bleach blonde and my cheeks were flushed. I looked reckless, and in an odd way, the reflection staring back at me sent chills down my spine. I wished to be prettier and curvier my whole life and now that I am, I don't like it. This isn't me. But this is the one that Liam chooses to be with. I rub my elbows and sigh before I exit and wander downstairs. Liam was in the kitchen making coffee. I bite my lip as I lean on the door frame with my arms crossed. Why was I so nervous? My heart sped up a little watching him. I felt completely different in the way I felt about him. He glanced over his shoulder at me and  looked back down to hide the smirk crawling on his face. "Morning Max." he says and I swallow. 

Gosh, my palms were sweaty against my elbows. Does he not have the same reaction? "Hi." I say and he turns around and leans on the counter. I hated the distance we created. He crosses his ankles and folds one arm underneath his elbow to hold the coffee mug in his hand. His eyes were relaxed along with his posture. I was ridged and I knew my eyes were still wild. He glances at me over the rim of his glass and pulls the mug away to study me. "You look... nice this morning." he comments awkwardly and I felt the blood rush to my cheeks. "I didn't do anything." I shrug and he looks back down and swirls the liquid in his glass. 

"Oh." Is all he says and I look out the window and try to keep my breathing calm. I feel like I just robbed a bank and ran from the cops but don't know why. "Is it safe to go running here?" I ask and he looks up at me. He looked either confused or hurt. It took him a moment to answer. "I don't know." he says simply and I look at the ground. "Can you go with me just to make sure?" I ask cautiously and he nods. He looked rather weary but didn't question me. So I went upstairs and got dressed into shorts and met Liam in the living room. I caught his stare as I pulled my hair back in a pony tail and I blushed. I felt like a child. "I'm ready." I say and he opens the door. I walk down the steps off the porch and he follows behind me. It took me a minute to figure out why exactly he was behind me. "You're gonna kill me with those clothes, Max." he says and I quickly turn around and look at him. "What's wrong with them?" I ask and he lifts and eyebrow as his eyes travel down. "Nothing?" he says more like a question.

"It wouldn't be so hard if you didn't follow behind me." I say and we both look at each other with a slight smile for a moment. It was awkward but funny. "Why don't you just go get some clothes that fit you?" he asks with a faint smile. I turn around to walk next to him. "Cause I was too busy being a convict on the run. " I mutter feeling the guilt settle back in my bloodstream. "That's nothing new." he says and I force a laugh to surface. He wraps his arm around my waist and I tensed at how low his hand sat on my hip. I knew he noticed. "Why are you so nervous this morning?" he asks and I swallow and shrug. "I don't know." I say honestly.

"Relax." he gives my hip a tug into his side and I nearly wince for no reason and grab his hand. "I never relax when I run. Are you kidding?" I wink before I take off in the path ahead of us. I tried to run as straight as I could but I felt nervous just being in front of him, but I relaxed once he past me and gave me a shove. "Why don't you catch me for a change?" he says and I watch him run in front of me. It brought memories of training when I was so determined to catch up to him but he was always in front. I could picture him in those baggy black pants they supplied and the tight muscle shirt that clung to him so perfectly, and the black boots. On him, those clothes brought out every perfect detail of him, on me, those clothes made me look smaller cause I hadn't grown into them. A mile in, we came to the city part of New Harmony. My thoughts of whatever bothering me hasn't subsided and it was quiet between me and Liam. 

We stopped running and walked the rest of the way back home. I walked into the bathroom to take a shower but ended up opening the door before I closed it. "Liam." I call and he walks back in the room. I bite my lip in thought. "Come with me." I say boldly not sure if it was right or wrong of me to say so. He doesn't question and closes the bathroom door behind us and waits for me to turn around. "Is this what you want?" he asks quietly and I nervously nod and stand on my toes to kiss him. As soon as he gives me access, he almost instantly relaxes and pulls his shirt over his head and goes for mine. As urgent as he grew, his touch was soft.