Coded.

Chapter Seven:

Hello! This chapter was actually a lot of fun to do, it's a lot of hard work but I hope everyone enjoys it. Don't forget to like and comment! I now present, chapter seven. :)
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When Liam gets home he looks tired, really tired, so tired it scares me just a little.
    “You ready?” He asks me, disguising a yawn. I smile down at my feet, and look back up at him.
    “You look tired…” I say softly trying to coax him into going to bed. It feels terrible doing anything with anyone when you’re as tired as he is.
    “Long day.” He sighs.
    “Liam, it’s okay. You should rest.” I say, soon realizing it’s an uphill battle. His eyes look back at me longingly, it’s actually quite adorable. He makes his way to me and kisses my forehead.
    “Please?” He asks politely.
    “Fine if you feel so inclined, we’ll go.” I stand up, walk up the stairs; shutting the wooden door softly and press my back to it. I search my closet finding a nice pair of black skinny jeans and pair it with a white long sleeved shirt. I look back at myself while pulling on my heels. I smirk slightly at myself, normal teenagers would be giving themselves a pep talk, maybe reapplying lipstick for the 1000th time; I don’t. All I can do is hope nobody recognizes Adaline or myself.
My reflection stares back at me, I’m proud of what I chose to wear. It’s flirty but not seductive, and hungry for attention. I make my way down the hall and knock on Adalines door.
    “Are you dressed?” I ask kindly.
    “Yes.” She replies, I make my way into her bedroom. She smiles at me, and pats the spot beside her on the bed.
    “Can I ask you a question?” She says.
    “Of course.” I respond.
    “Do you think we could go back to the house?” She smiles, I look down at the floor and sigh. Eventually I find the strength to look back at her.
    “No sweetie.” I say softly.
    “Why?” She asks, a small tear forms in her eye.
    “We can’t go back, just like you said.” I say quickly.
    “But I need something from home.” She says calmly.
    “And that is?” I ask with irritation in my voice.
    “Ella.”
    “The elephant? No, no. It’s way too dangerous Adaline. You do realize…” I trail off, I need to shield her from the horror that’s sure to follow this mess.
“Realize what?” I swear her curiosity will get us all killed; I take a deep breath and sigh.
“I’ll do my best to get the elephant.” Her eyes light up slightly.
“And the blanket?” She asks.
“Do you really want to push your luck?” I scoff.
“Yes.” She responds cheerfully, I roll my eyes and she continues.
“Please?”
“No” I say harshly.
“Please?” She says again.
“No.” I respond hastily.
“Please.” At this point she sounds desperate, like she needs this; I can’t help myself now.
“We’ll see.” I sigh. She smiles yet again, Good. I think to myself, she deserves to be happy. I make my way back to my bedroom and lay on my bed momentarily until Adaline wakes me up.    
“Nic, let’s go.” She says over-enthusiastically, pulling me out the door and downstairs. I glimpse over at Liam, only to catch him staring back at me. I feel myself blush and continue on. In the car I ensure Adaline is buckled and get in the passenger side. We make our way into town, turning down the alley and stop at a small place named “Basil.” Ironic isn’t it. I’ve never eaten here, although we’ve never had the money to spend for it. Adaline begs to be carried and Liam agrees, he seems to have that protective fatherly instinct; him being a father like figure to Adaline… I makes me just the slightest bit jealous. My father wasn’t there, the only family I really ever know was Mandi. She was my best friend, she knew everything about me, except… The code. Her father was a officer in Archangel and I wasn’t going to give up my identity. I still feel upset she didn’t know… She took her own life at 14, I never got the chance to tell her. Rumors fled that she wasn’t coded; that she was sent away and killed in the Rencx.
“Nic.” Liam says softly.
“What?” I ask.
“They asked you what you want to drink…” Adaline replies, worry in her voice.
“Oh” I press my finger to my head.
“Silly me. I’d like a water.” I sigh.
“You alright?” Liam asks. I stare down at my hands avoiding eye contact.
“Yep.” I say slightly. He gives me a glare saying I know something's up but lets it go for now; Instead he grabs my hand. When he grabs my hand there is no spark, there is no fairytale connection between us. However, when he grabs my hand he earns a tiny portion of my trust, he didn’t make it obvious or interlock fingers; he just places his hand on top of mine almost to comfort me.
“I have some news.” Adaline says.
“I want to attend fourth grade.” She looks at Liam with enthusiasm.
“Well, Adaline…” He sighs. “You can’t right now.” She looks up at him with uncertainty, then to me.
“We can’t honey.” I sigh. The waitress finally brings the food to our table, Liam and Adaline both wear the same expression on their faces, they both obviously are famished yet i’m the first one to grab my food…
“I like a girl with an appetite.” Adaline starts to squirm around in her chair, so much so that I shoot her a look to stop.
“I’m sorry. It’s just Liam just said he likes you!” I cover a small smile and tell her to knock it off. She objects to my comment and continues.
“But nic!” She says way too loud. She laughs and we make it about halfway through our meal before someone interrupts us.
“Excuse me..” A voice says from behind me. We look back to a young female, she has black hair and cinnamon colored skin; honestly she’s very pretty.
“Yes?” Liam looks quite irritated, does he know her? I don’t want to interfere but they look like they’d kill each other if I let them be.
“Is there something we can help you with?” I say as kindly as possible; trying desperately not to sound fake.
“Actually yes.” She says softly leaning over to Liam, she whispers something to him and stands back up. He nods suspiciously and clears the expression from his face. 
“Thanks.” She says happily and leaves. Something about that girl, she’s very bubbly and seems almost mischievous. He looks back over to me and smiles, then asks quickly for a check.     I give him a questionable stare and then he points over to the counter. I see a few employees staring back at us; one points at Adaline.
“They know you.” Liam says quietly and places money in the center of the table to pay for us. Slowly, we make our way out of the building. I coax Adaline into the truck and we are quiet the rest of the way home. He unlocks the door to the house once we arrive, Adaline makes her way inside but Liam insists that I stay out here with him.
“You know tonight you caught more than just my attention…” He sighs.
“Yes.” I reply, I didn’t think about it but they probably have some notification out for us.
“We’ll have to change your identities now I think of it.” He says with uncertainty.
“You’re right.” I smile down at my shoes.
“I realize you probably won’t like it but... “ I cut him off.
“The way I see it is we have a chance at a new life, maybe Adaline will go to school. Maybe this life can be better than running around trying to feed Adaline and frequent prison visits to my…” I pause, I never told him that.
This may just be a blessing in disguise.” I say. He moves in closer to me, looking down. He is unreasonably tall and yet so handsome.
“Look, your sister was right, I do like you.” He says, I smirk at him and giggle.
“Yeah, that was kinda obvious.” I reply. He peers at me and continues.
“Well.” He pauses,
“In the spirit of starting over, I would like to make a change to your identity.” He smiles.
“Like what?” I can’t help saying. He moves closer, taking my face into the palm of his hand, locking his eyes with mine. The rain drizzles around us, the raindrops turning his hair damp, he looked like a mess and I’m sure I looked like a mess; but I don’t think either of us cared. His lips brush mine, it is very intimate. Not intimate in a sexual way; more like a new but strangely familiar feeling. I feel his body heat radiating from him, in this very moment I feel connected. Then, his lips touch mine gently. It’s an innocent kiss, but the feeling is electrifying.
“I’d like you to be my girlfriend.” He says shyly.
“My real girlfriend this time.” I can’t help it now I burst into a quiet laughter, he soon follows.
“Yes.” I say quietly.
“Then let this be a toast to another chance.” He smiles, right before kissing me again.