Here Comes the Sun | ✓

Chapter Nineteen - Liam

"Words!" Jere called passively, completely unaware of the drama that's going on in front of him. Oh, what it was like being so young and oblivious to the world. But now, I'm stuck with this shit. And I have to fix it.

"Sorry, Jere," she murmured, standing up from her spot and walking to the living room, silent and possibly fuming.

Now it was my turn to screech away from the table, Jimmy wincing and Jere yelling, "Quit it!"

I shook my head, too nerve-wracked to apologize. "Libby?" I call, but she had already broke her pacing in the living room and headed straight up the stairs, muttering unintelligable words. "Lib."

She swung around and sighed, stopping on the top step. "Please," she said quietly. "Don't call me that."

I stopped midstep, my heart dropping to my stomach. "I'm sorry," I said, meaning it in both ways. But she didn't get it -  she continued up the stairs. I expected her to turn right - the Jere's room where the balcony is - but she doesn't. She turned left - to my room.

Now hesitant, I walked after her, stopping at the doorway as she carefully sat at the edge of my bed. She stared at the collage of pictures of Jere I had up on the wall - of him growing up ever since he was born. Ever since I was left with only him.

"Whare are your parents?" The question came from her, her eyes never wavering from the collage.

Clearing the lump that was stuck in my throat, I responded. "I don't know."

This stunned her. Her body froze, and her hands that were once twiddling stopped. "How long have they been gone?" Her tone was careful.

My jaw locked at the memory. "Almost five years." Her body crumpled, her legs pulled up to her chest and her head resting on her knees.

"Life is crap," she muttered, her voice muffled by her position. I nodded, agreeing, not having the voice to say a thing. And then she asked a question that made me freeze. "Was she pretty?"

Without even having to ask, I knew what she meant. Rose. "Beautiful," I replied, and she nodded understandingly.

"Were y'all the same age?" she asked, her head sliding to where her eyes were focusing on me, and her temple was resting on her knees. I shook my head. She nodded again. "Did she just drop y'all?" Nod. "Just like that?" ... Nod. Her brows furrow and her face twists in anger. "That bitch!"

This was a surprise. "You're not mad?"

She looked at me as if I was insane. "Are you stupid or something? Yes I'm mad!"

I laughed - just one syllable. "I meant at me."

Her body stopped for a moment - froze - and then, after a moment of processing, she nodded. "You lied to me." Her voice was weak - as if she were defeated by her thoughts... by reality.

"I didn't," I replied, knowing she was going to catch me.

And she did. "Technicalities, you douche." She uncurled from her spot on my bed and turned to face me, her posture straight and her body open. Her face beautiful. "You still lied - you didn't tell me the truth. You knew I thought he was your brother, and you let me believe that! How dare you." She shook her head. "For some reason, I expected more from you." She laughed at herself. "More from a stranger."

She stood up and walked toward me. Expecting her to shove past me, I moved to the side, but she just stopped a foot away from me and looked up into my eyes. "Don't you ever do that to me again, Liam Nottes," she breathed.

Rolling her lips inside her mouth and squinting her eyes, as if she were scrutinizing me, she crossed her arms and stepped to the side, leaning against the other side of the doorframe. We stood in silence for a few minutes, just looking at each other and wondering just how the hell we made it this far in each others' lives.