Liberty Star

What is Love?

"Star can you please excuse us," he says it with that disappointed father tone.

I stand up but Hayden pulls me back down, "No stay."

"Star, please can you go inside," he asked me again, thus time he opens the door waiting on me to leave the two of them.

He squeezes my hand tightlyin his. "Whatever you need to say you can say in front of her. Look Mr. Shaw, I get that your worried about the two of us but we were made for each other."

"You have no clue what love is. You're too young to even begin to understand." He argues back.

"I'm in love with her and she is in love with me," he starts to argue back with him. I suddenly feel like I'm in the middle of an argument and a part of me just wants to escape.

"You guys haven't done anything have you?" he questions.

"No sir, we haven't." Hayden shakes his head and with his free hand run it through his luscious hair. "Our love is not like that."

"Really!" he says in disbelief. He looks over at me and back at Hayden as if waiting on one of us to just to tell the truth.

"Well it is but it's not, one day sure, when the time is right, but not right now." He glances at me and smiles while talking. "We still have a few things to work out you know before we get too involved."

"I'm sorry Hayden, but she can't live here if you guys are going to be involved with each other." He talks about me as if I'm not even sitting here.

"Are you kidding me?" Hayden yells back really frustrated. His hand tightens over mine.

"Look I'm glad you guys like each other. I just can't have you two hooking up and if something happens Mrs. Shaw and I are responsible. I can't lose you Hayden."

"Nothing is going to happen, why because we aren't doing anything she's only like fifteen dude. I'm not stupid you know."

Is that how he really feels about me. I start to feel a lump in my throat and I just know amy minute now I am going to burst out in tears. I'm just a dumb kid after all, what do I know.

"No one said you were," he lowers his voice.

It's never gonna end, they are going to keep on and on so I finally get up the nerve and stand up to leave. "I can't do this. I'm not breaking up a family, coming between the two of you. I understand that you really care for Hayden and I respect that. You are a good dad who tries hard to make everything work out. So I won't come between you two. You guys were super happy little family till I got here I get it, I do.." my voice breaks.

"Lib, stop." Hayden reaches out for my hand.

"No, maybe he is right." I stop to look up at him. "I mean the trial is fixing to be over soon and I'll move on. Please excuse me." And I push myself out of his way nearly knocking him over.

I open the back door and close it behind me. I run all the way up the stairs slamming the bedroom door. Instead of crying on the bed, I go out onto the roof and sit there and that's where I let it all out and cry. Within minutes Hayden is by my side.

"Hey he doesn't know us, he is wrong we were made for each other and he knows that I really love you." His hand reaches for me and I pull away.

"Go away, please just go!" I wipe a few tears from my face.

Instead he sits down behind me and places his arms around me, holding me tight against him.

"Hayden, please stop. He is right. I will move out soon anyway and I'm only a kid so what the hell do I know about anything. And I'm not fifteen, I turned sixteen in April but because of everything it kinda got skipped. And besides he hates me," I sniffle.

"He doesn't hate you and your not a little kid."

"Really...she's only fifteen" I mock. "and the look on his face, come on you know he doesn't like me."

"He's just being a typical dad."

"Whatever!" I huff and then sniffle again. I use the back of my hand to wipe my face.

He hugs me tighter. His mouth is right behind my ear, his voice so calm, "I love you that is all that matters ."

"What is love...maybe we are too young to understand."

"Love is like us breathing in the same air. Love is me holding you like this, never wanting to let you go. Love is us trusting each other and understanding each other and I know I love you more than anything; I love you with my whole heart and if I had known about your birthday I would have sang to you and baked you a cake or something."

"Hayden."

"I can't deny it babe, I love you Liberty Star, I love you and don't want to ever let you go." He tightens his hold on me.

"So what do we do now?"

"I don't know see what happens after the trial then go from there." He smiles within my hair. I can feel his lips form into a smile.

"I can't live with my moma. I know I can't live with my dad. I mean after all these years he didn't want us so why in the hell would he want us now. The Shaws don't really want me either because I'm such a liability."

"It's all gonna work out babe, you just have to believe, leave it to God he will make it all work out."

"Yeah, maybe you're right it will all work out somehow."

Suddenly we hear banging on the door and then yelling the first thing that comes to my mind is Jackson banging on my bedroom door, my heart starts racing, and I feel like I was going to pass out.

Mr. Shaw yells even louder, "Hayden dammit unlock the door now before I take it off the hinges for good."

"Guess I better open the door before he has a heart attack."

"Yeah, don't need you in trouble now." We both go to stand up and he is at his window and I'm almost at mine when my foot slips and the next thing I know I'm falling, falling to my death.

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Sorry for leaving you guys hanging... please forgive me. And sorry I think this chapter is shorter than the last one. Let me know what you think so far.