Starbird

Chapter 36

"When I was young, I lived in a town called Hastings along the English Channel. Not exactly the warmest and bluest waters, but it always felt like home."

"That's like the Oregon beaches. Usually they're pretty chilly and stormy, but my aunt and uncle own a cabin there and we borrow it all the time. I could live there forever."

"Can I come?" He asked with hopeful eyes and I immediately gave him a funny look.

"Yeah... no... it's my special place," I explained even if I had definitely brought plenty of my friends there many times. But he didn't need to know that.

He pouted like a child and I didn't feel like explaining any further. He could deal with it.

"Well. I guess we all have those kind of places. I wouldn't take you to my special place, either."

"Maybe I wouldn't even want to go."

"Oh, I think this is a place you'd love to go, too," he said, a smug grin plastered on his face. 

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Is it a museum?"

"No."

"Foreign country?"

"No."

"A museum in a foreign country?"

He laughed and it made me miss the sound the second he stopped. "I'm not going to tell you, Camille."

"Oh come on! I told you mine, I just said you weren't allowed to go."

He studied me, maybe seeing if I was worthy of knowing his special place.

"Alright, fine, I'll tell you," he said, scooting around to face me.

"Really?" I asked, hopeful that he wouldn't trick me.

"Yeah. My special place is my home."

All eagerness to know vanish.

"What? That's so cheap!"

"No, it's not. My mum's home with my sisters, watching Doctor Who, eating biscuits. That is my favorite place."

It was like he was purposefully trying to make me fall in love with him. Mine sounded so selfish. I liked the cabin at the beach for it's secluded, peaceful aura. I didn't like it for the people and I didn't like it for the familiarity. There, I was allowed, encouraged even, to be by myself and read and draw. That wasn't, however, what Liam found ideal.

"My home in LA isn't home. I may have lived there for the past four years, but I still hate it as much as when I arrived." I should probably stop talking so disdainfully. 

"Yeah, that's like my dad's place. I was gutted when he moved out to Brighton and got married to that... that... wicked woman," he muttered the last part and it made my heart clench. I never realized he hadn't told me about his family much. Half-sisters, I knew. But I didn't realize what happened with his parents. "But that's beside the point. My mom's married to a nice chap and I couldn't be more happy for them."

"I'm glad. Sometimes I forget how lucky I am to have my parents still together."

"Yeah, people usually only think of the extra presents for Christmas and their birthdays, but – hey! That reminds me." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a box.

A baby blue box.

"I wasn't around on your birthday, so I never got to give this to you." He passed over the box and I took it gently.

"This is a Tiffany box," I said pointedly.

"I know, what are friends for?"

A voice in my head screamed, Friends don't get friends Tiffany's for their birthday! Boyfriends and fiancés and husbands get Tiffany's for their birthday. This was not a common gesture! This was an romantc gesture! Even a blind person could see that.