To Dance With Wolves ▪Liam Dunbar▪

| 20. Just for Tonight

He nodded and tossed me the bundle of clothes. Then he left the room so I could change. The clothes smelled like Liam and I finally understood why girls were always stealing their boyfriends sweatshirts. I was like a portable hug, and it was perfect.

"Can I come back?"

I flopped onto the end end of his bed, "Yeah, come on in."

He was standing next to me before I even got the last word out.

"So what are we doing?"

He shrugged, "I was thinking maybe we could just talk."

"Okay, but I'm going to get comfortable." I said as I scooted to the head of the bed and leaned back against the pillows. "What do you want to talk about?"

"Can you tell me about him? Your brother I mean."

I inhaled sharply, but nodded. Maybe it would be good to finally talk to someone about everything from before I moved. I patted the spot next to me and Liam sat down, taking my hand as he did. It was a small gesture, but I smiled at the contact. I opened my mouth and nothing came out. I didn't even know where to start.

Liam squeezed my hand and spoke so softly it was almost a whisper, "Maybe just start with his name."

"Okay." I can do this. "His name is Ben, he's about five years older than me. He, uh . . . he left for France last year. He got a scholarship to this really good university and I made him go." I swallowed the lump that was forming in my throat and kept going. "When he went to follow his dream, I moved out here and the burden of caring for me got passed to my aunt. I think he's technically still my legal guardian, but I haven't seen him or talked to him in months."

I turned to look at Liam, his lips were parted and his brow was furrowed. "Ok, I'm confused."

"I can see that. What part of that did you not understand." I placed an empty look on my face, because if I didn't detach myself I would start crying any minute.

"The part where you're a burden, how could you possibly say that about yourself?"

The whole mood in the room changed.

"Um I'm sorry, but how could I possibly not say that about myself? My brother had to put his entire life on hold because he had to take care of me. My aunt has to pick up double shifts just so she can afford to feed me. How does that make me anything other than a burden?" My eyes burned from the tears I was struggling to hold back.

Liam turned his body so he was facing me, and the look in his eyes made me cast my gaze to the ground in shame. He cupped my face in his hands and I couldn't help but lean into the warmth.

"Emily, look at me."

I glanced back up at him, and once his eyes locked on him, I couldn't look away. "You are not a burden, okay? You are a literal ray of sunshine. You smile at strangers and they smile back. I doubt a day has ever gone by in all the time you'e been alive that you didn't make someones day a little brighter. Your aunt takes care of you now because she loves you, and I don't blame her. You are not a burden. Not to her, not to me, not to anyone."

There was nothing I could do to stop my tears from finally falling. They slid down my cheeks and hit the edges of Liam's hands, but he didn't seem to mind.

"I thought I was the one that was supposed to be comforting you." I choked out.

He shook his head, the ghost of a smile on his face. "We're supposed to lean on each other, and I guess I've been leaning pretty hard lately, but it's okay for you to need support too. Now that I'm saying this out loud, it sounds a lot cornier than it did in my head but-"

I cut him off with a chaste kiss before he could keep rambling on. His hand were on my cheeks, so even through I leaned away, he was able to pull me back into him. I didn't argue.

When the TV powered down again, I was ready. Liam inhaled sharply, and started to get up, but I placed my hand on his chest gently, stopping him from leaving.

"Don't turn it back on. You need to sleep, Liam."

He shook his head and looked at me desperately, "I can't sleep in the dark. I've tried every night, but since those things attacked me . . . I just can't do it."

I kept my voice steady and calm, "Hey, it's ok Liam. They're walking nightmares, I get that, but you're safe here."

He was still shaking his head, so I kept going. "Just lie down. I promise you're safe right now. Nothing is going to hurt you tonight."

He took a deep breath and relaxed. I smiled reassuringly and once he was laying down and breathing normally again, I curled up next to him. I didn't mean to fall asleep, but I was exhausted, and before I knew it, my eyes fluttered shut and we both drifted off.