Blue Moon.

Chapter 17

I reached out to pull the door open but suddenly I felt Liam stiffen by my side. "What?" I asked, turning to look at him. He was standing frozen, looking down at his feet, and when I looked down too I saw that Radio was brushing herself up against Liam's legs, purring like crazy.

At this I actually laughed, my hand shooting upwards to cover my mouth. "This is not funny. I hate cats. I cat cats. I hate cats, Aubrey!" he stressed to me, his face strained to drill the message deeper into my brain.

I laughed and bent down, picking Radio up and hugging her against my chest. "Awe, Radio just wanted to make friends." I chuckled, kissing the top of her head. She purred even louder, which only made it harder for me to put her down. I gave her backside a little nudge with my hand and with an affectionate meow she trotted away, swinging her tail as she went.

"Yeesh, calm down you big baby." I scoffed teasingly to Liam, prying the door open. I pressed the screen door open too, and together we stepped outside where Tucker was sitting on the porch, waiting to be let inside. However, unlike Radio, Tucker didn't seem to take too well to Liam because his tail puffed up and he bared his teeth, letting out a hiss.

"Hey, cool it Tucker." I said to him. Liam took a stiff step back against the house as Tucker trotted towards the doorway, leaping inside with his tail up spitefully. I let the door shut behind him and shook my head. "Sorry about that, Tucker's a friendly cat he just-"

"It's okay. Cats and I just don't like each other." he interrupted me, running his hand through his hair to shake off his jitters. With that he walked towards the threshold steps and sat down, propping his elbows up on his knees.

I sat down too and peered nonchalantly at him, a fond smile still enveloping my lips. "So, that wasn't so bad was it?" I asked him into the night. It was around seven o'clock, and the sky was alright a dark blue, the cool night air nipping at our faces.

Liam looked off into the distance with a shrug. "Nah, the project was pretty easy." He said but at this I rolled my eyes.

"Not the project, Liam. Dinner." I corrected him and his eyes flashed to mine.

We stared at each other until he looked away and down at his hands. "Yeah, it wasn't bad. I mean... not that I thought it was going to be torture. It's just-"

"You don't want to make friends because getting attached would make it harder for you to leave Snorsville once you found what you're looking for. One of the many mysteries that is Liam Silver." I repeated coolly to him, watching his face pinch together with irritation.

"I don't owe you an explanation or anything just because your family treated me to dinner." He said quietly, entwining his fingers together.

I just shrugged. "I know. But you should know this whole mysterious act is starting to get really predictable, which kind of ruins the whole mysterious stranger elusion. You should try a new approach." I grinned and he scoffed.

"Like telling you all my secrets?" he rolled his eyes and I giggled.

"Yeah, that's one way." I said simply and he shook his head.

"You don't want to know all my secrets." He said flatly, and I chuckled.

"Oh but I do."

"You are annoying."

"I've been told." I replied with a sigh, leaning back on my hands and staring up at the sky. The moon was glowing in the midst of faint, white stars, close to being a complete circle in the sky.

"Can I ask you something?" Liam said into the still night, bringing my attention back to earth. I turned my gaze onto his glacier eyes, which were staring intently at me.

"Shoot." I agreed, and he turned his body towards mine.

"Why do your parents sleep in separate beds?" he asked quietly, and I felt my face heat up. "You don't have to answer if it's too personal; I just noticed how well they got along at the dinner table..." he trailed off and I looked down at my hands.

"Yeah, they get along; they just... aren't in love anymore. They don't hate each other, nor does either of them want to date again, so the whole divorce concept is a little pointless. I don't really know. It's complicated, and they tried to explain it to me once but I kind of just tuned them out. No kid wants to hear that their parents don't love each other any more." I grimaced, running a hand through my soft hair.

"Yeah, I can understand that." he said gently and hooked his eyes with mine.

"I mean, growing up I figured that you get married because you can't see yourself ever loving anyone else, except that one person for the rest of your life. It seemed impossible that they could just suddenly lose that flame. I grew up thinking that love is something permanent, but suddenly I realized that's not real life at all. People fall in and out of love all the time, and it's sort of depressing." I sighed, propping my elbow up on my knee and setting my chin on my hand.

"All those sappy movies are getting to you." He scoffed, and I raised an eyebrow.

"I love those sappy movies because the whole story is about the two people who find love and keep it. I mean the ending is always left hinting at this vast new future the couple now has ahead of themselves, but when does a movie ever end with a couple getting back together and then splitting up again because they fell out of love? That never happens. At least in movies I can pretend that for those two people, love won't ever fade-" I would have kept going if Liam hadn't chuckled and pressed his finger against my lips to stop me.

"Do you ever stop talking?" He shook his head, his finger still pressed to my lips. I looked down at his finger, and so did he. And like an electric shock shot through the both of us, he yanked his finger away and shoved his hands into his pockets, forcing his eyes away and towards the sky.

I smiled to myself and held my own hand, feeling the spot where he touched my lips tingle. "Sorry, I guess I just have a lot to say." I chuckled sheepishly, and he shook his head.

"You always have something to say." He muttered, and I glared playfully at him.

Just then yellow headlights were shining in my eyes, a black shiny car pulling into my driveway. Liam got to his feet and so did I, his blue eyes peering at the car. "Well, that's Cliff..." he sighed, his breath coming out in a mist.

I nodded my head and took a small step towards him. "Best not worry him that you'll catch pneumonia standing out here then." I chuckled, looking up into his eyes. He stared at me for a moment and the both of us made an awkward step forward, unsure how to say goodbye. Finally he just touched my forearm before jogging down the steps of the threshold and towards the car.

He made it to the backseat door and lifted his hand to wave goodbye to me. I flashed him a smile and waved too before he opened the door and slipped inside. I watched as the black car backed out of my driveway, and stood there under the threshold as it disappeared into the night, taking Liam home to the Gentry mansion.

I leaned up against the white post that helped support the threshold roof before letting out a long sigh. My hand was hovering over where my heart was in my chest, butterflies fluttering around in my stomach before I got too cold to continue standing there. I cast one more look up at the sky and towards the moon before turning away.

I opened the door and walked inside, letting my feet carry me up to my room and towards my bed, feeling so light that my eyes fluttered shut almost instantly, carrying me off to sleep with my clothes, computer, and lights still on.