A Unique Kind of Love (PUBLISHED)

23. Wherever You Are

For the first time that entire morning, I spoke to him.“Liam?”

He nodded.

“I’ll stay too.”

He squeezed my hand and our eyes met. He pleaded me to go, he wanted to go through this alone. In a way, I understood.  A part of me wanted to stay with him, and another comprehended that this was something he wanted to see alone.

“Okay. I’ll go.”

He nodded in gratitude.

Liam’s neighbor shook his hand, and there was a mutual understanding between them. The few others; a middle aged woman and two men did the same with him. They were gone by now.

Mom blinked at me and headed towards the car. Tori patted his shoulder and walked away. It was a matter of seconds before I had to leave as well.

I positioned myself face to face with him. He looked down at me with a passiveness that made my blood get cooler in my veins.

I wrapped my arms around his waist, catching him off guard. He never responded, he just put his head down to my shoulder for a few moments.

“Come over when it’s all over, alright?” He didn’t answer. He hadn’t talked to me again since Friday night, and it was slightly disappointing. I didn’t expect him to talk again, but a small part of me hoped he did.

I put my hands on his shoulders and looked straight into his eyes. They were an empty blue, as if the ocean in them had lost life. There were no waves.

“Everything’s going to be okay, I promise.”

I half-heartedly believed my own words. I heard them over the years so many times, I couldn’t understand if they were true or just lies that are supposed to make you feel better.

But for now, it was all I had to help.

-

12:01

I wondered how easy life would be if we could all transform into animals whenever we wanted. And that spirit was the one that revealed your true form to others.  

I wished to be a bird; a dove, precisely. They were simple, tiny, sneaky and innocent looking.

The door bell broke off my concentration and I jumped off my bed in seconds. Tori was soundly sleeping, mumbling something about different kinds of tea. I crept into my mother’s room, and she was bundled in her covers, soft snores signaling just at what point she was exhausted.

I slowly went down the stairs, took a freshly washed pot from the kitchen, and held it in my hand as I looked in the peep hole. It was dark, yet the person’s head was down. They were slightly swaying.

He raised his arm to bang on the door, and I let out a small shriek. I recognized him within seconds, dropped the pot on the ground and hesitantly opened the door.

“…Liam?”

He looked at me with a crazy gleam in his eyes. The smell of alcohol seemed to have been sprayed on him. His clothes were messy and they were the same he’d worn this morning.

“Liam,” I repeated, instantly steadying him. I had to breathe through my mouth to avoid the reek of alcohol.

He gave me a little hysterical laugh. “Lena,” he said in the same tone. I was momentarily stunned that he was talking. I lead him to a small chair beside the door, and he refused to sit.

“Please, sit, Liam.”

He shook his head. “No, you’re not my mom.”

I tried to push down his shoulders to make him sit.