Blue Moon.

Chapter 33

It was relaxing to hear the water hit the pool of water at the bottom of the statues, and with a sigh I leaned against the railing, the stone cold from the wintry air. Out passed the fountain, trees began to accumulate until it turned back into the forest that surrounded the Gentry mansion. I wondered vaguely if the dreaded outhouse Liam spends his full moons in was in the midst of it all, but suddenly my attention was being yanked away from the landscape.

Liam had brought our hands up onto the railing and set them into his free hand, looking intently at them as his thumb made soothing circles in the side of my hand. "Not what you expected, huh?" he asked with a chuckle, his eyes sheepishly finding mine.

For a second I didn't know which subject his sentence was referring to, but decided the safer choice would be the interior of the mansion. "I guess not. It's beautiful though. Inside and out." I said in awe, looking back out towards the fountain. Towards the left wing of the house I could see a corner of a greenish building, and I wondered if it was a pool house since the glass of the building was fogging up.

He chuckled at my words and let go of my hand to my disappointment. We were silent for a moment, the both of us looking in every direction except at each other, that same strange peacefulness looming between us.

Suddenly a question popped into my brain. "Liam?" I asked him over the sound of the fountain. He looked at me with a perfectly arched eyebrow and I felt my heart flutter. "Why was Emily crying when we first saw her and Timothy?" I asked curiously, and at that he scowled, looking away and down at the stone railing his arms were folded on top of.

"Emily is just... very exuberant." He said, refusing to look at me.

I raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Why?" I said, poking his side.

He flinched away, though I thought I heard a gaspy chuckle come from his mouth because of my poke. "It's embarrassing." He said stubbornly, and I turned my body all the way towards him, eyeing him with determination. With that I attacked, using both of my hands to poke Liam's sides, chuckles and yelps ringing from his mouth as I did so. He was stumbling backwards, though I kept at it until his hands, trying to swat mine away, successfully grabbed mine and held them away from himself.

"Okay, okay!" he said, dropping my hands, which I crossed over my chest still grinning with victory. He straightened up his shirt and playfully glared at me, shoving his hands into his jean pockets. "It's just I've never brought a friend home with me before. Emily and Timothy worry a lot about how I detach myself from other people's company, so this is kind of big for them, you know... that I have a friend." he said, looking down at his feet.

My face softened as I observed him, and it was hard to grasp the idea that Liam had been so alone all his life. He was unbearably handsome, and maybe he was a bit grumpy but he had a good heart. How he spent 18 years in Maine without a single friend was mind-boggling.

I wanted to reach out to him, touch his face or grab his hand, but before I could do so, one of the doors that led to the ballroom was being opened.

Cliff stood in the doorway of one of the doors, smiling sheepishly at the both of us, obviously realizing that he had interrupted something. "Dinner is getting cold you two." He said, a tender smile on his face.

Liam straightened up and glanced at me before turning away and walking towards Cliff, with me at his heels. We walked back into the ballroom and the three of us jumbled down the stairs and across the wooden floor until we were back inside the living room. As we walked out and back into the foyer, that heavenly smell filled my lungs again, and Cliff led Liam and me through the opposite side's seating area and through and open door.

The first thing I saw was a huge table. It was square and long, capable of seating perhaps 15 people, though the only ones sitting at it were Emily and Timothy. The room was painted lavender with chocolate colored wood trimming against the ceiling and cream colored carpet. One wall was full of windows, while the others had various paintings hung up, some famous, others not.