Bella woke up the next morning aching and completely restless, she had another nightmare early hours into the morning and didn't dare attempt to fall back asleep. Having gone through that whole incident with that guy last night hadn't helped anything, it was stupid but, she had to leave her bedroom door open while she slept as she was still a little afraid.
School came and went by pretty slow that day even though it was a half day for some reason, Liam didn't have any classes with her and neither did Scott so she hadn't seen them at all. Bella couldn't wait to get home so she could change into her pajamas and watch tv, luckily there was no school tomorrow so that gave her a long weekend to laze around and do nothing.
When she had arrived home, Bella immediately hopped in the shower enjoying the warmth of the water on her cold skin. When she was done, she changed into her light pink jogging's and a simple white tank top. Wrapping her dressing gown around her, she decided to leave her hair damp so it could dry naturally. With that, Bella plopped herself onto the sofa downstairs and began flicking through the channels on tv. Within that time; Bella's mum, Lily, had arrived home early from work to inform her that she was cooking a meal for Scott and his mum that evening.
Bella loved her aunt Judy, but it did annoy her how each time she had a rough night her mum would call them over, like she needed to be watched or something. It was embarrassing enough without having everybody staring at you like you were a ticking time bomb ready to explode any minute. Then again; atleast it was Scott who was coming over as well, he never questioned her nightmares with her because he knew she didn't like to talk about it, Bella loved that about him.
Bella continued watching tv, helping her mum out every now and then with the cooking. Lily was an amazing cook and even though she had been working that day, she still managed to put together an awesome meal which Bella couldn't help but admire about her. She was making a mixture of Gambas Ajillo with Arraz a la cubana and Tubet with Empanada de manzana. Which is Garlic Prawns with tomato sauce and egg friend rice and another vegtable dish containing layers of sliced potatoes, aubergines and red bell peppers previously fried in olive oil. Then for dessert, her mum's famous homemade Spanish Apple Pie. Delicious!
Scott's mother, Judy, was sister's with Bella's mum. Judy's parents both came from Spain, but then when her mother (aka Bella's grandmother) remarried an Englishmen, they all moved to the UK where Bella's mother Lily was later born. They rarely ever spoke Spanish, the only time it was needed was when family were visiting. The same went for the food, Bella has grown up with English meals, but whenever the family got together her mother would go crazy and serve all her favourite Spanish dishes.
Hearing a car pull up outside, Bella peeped through the curtains and spotted Scott and her Aunt Judy pulling up outside. Feeling slightly inappropriate in her pajamas, she quickly ran upstairs to change for dinner. Changing into her comfy leggings and a nice top she was ready, feeling cold she grabbed a hoodie from her closet and threw it on. It wasn't unusual for her to be cold, for some reason though she always was. There had even been certain times in the summer where she would be caught walking around in a jumper, her family would tease her about it on several occasions. Just as she pulled the hoodie over her head, she heard a knock on her door knowing immediately who it was.
"Hey, you descent?"
She lightly chuckled, "Yeah, come in."
"Hey," he greeted, giving her a big bear hug, his specialty. "God, I miss your mum's cooking," he mumbled, chewing on something.
"Already digging in," shaking her head teasingly.
"You know me, can't wait!" he shrugged his shoulders. "So, how was last night?"
Bella's eyes widened with shock. "What?" Did Liam say something to him, after all she never did say anything about keeping it a secret.
Scott looked at her weirdly. "Didn't you go out with the girls?"
"Oh, yeah it was fine," she chuckled, letting out a sigh of relief. "Good, see I told you you'd fit in," he smiled.
"Yeah." She considered telling him about last night. but with his mum downstairs, she didn't want to make a scene. Bella knew Scott wouldn't be happy that she didn't tell him sooner but, she knew now wasn't a good time.
"So, I heard you had another nightmare," he said softly. Bella looked up at him in surprise. "Your mum told me," he explained.
Bella ducked her head down so she was no longer looking at him, Scott had never brought up the subject of her nightmares before. They both knew that whenever she had them her mum would call for him to cheer her up, but they never discussed it. That was what she loved about Scott, the fact that he never had to mention what was bothering her, all he had to do was be there for her, she found it more comforting then words. So why was he bringing it up now?
"She's just worried about you Bells."
"I know," she said, continuing to look away. "I just wish I didn't, worry her I mean. I think moving here they thought it would all go away, including the nightmares, but what if I can't get rid of them?"
Scott seemed to contemplate that for a second before answering her, "I don't know? People have nightmares all the time."
"But not the same one over and over again! How am I supposed to move on when I keep watching it happen all over again?" she responded sadly.
"I wish I knew," he said as he walked towards her. "If I could somehow get rid of them for you I would."
Bella smiled lightly as he pulled her into a hug. Sometimes things seemed so easy and straightforward and then there were days where she felt like screaming at everybody and hated the world. When did things get so out of control? Things used to be so simple.
"Dinner's ready!" her mum yelled from downstairs. They both headed downstairs. Scott already way ahead of her.
**************************
The next morning Bella decided to carry on with her lazy weekend as she sat in front of the tv in her pajamas. Seeing as she had no school she thought, why the hell not? It was about half eleven when she heard a faint knock on the door. Bella got up to open the door expecting to find Scott standing there, but came face to face with somebody else.
"Liam!"
"Hey," he announced, staring down at her with a grin on his face.
"Well if it isn't my knight in shining armour," Bella teased making him laugh, she swore she saw a slight blush appear across his face.
"I hope I didn't wake you!" he implied, slowly looking down at her body. Now it was her turn to blush as she realised she was stood before him wearing only her light blue cloud pajama bottoms and a white spaghetti strapped top. Bella blushed even more over the fact that he was now openly staring at her.
"Oh no, I was up. I just haven't gotten dressed yet," she explained as she crossed her arms together but quickly dropped them realizing it showed more of her cleavage that way. "I was just gonna make some tea, you want some?" she asked him shyly.
"Uh sure," he smiled.
She moved aside to let him through before leading him towards the kitchen, grabbing her dressing gown off the sofa as she passed on the way and quickly wrapping it around her, hearing him chuckle slightly as she did. Entering the kitchen, he took a seat at the counter and watched her as she made them both tea.
"So, how are you doing? I mean after the other night and all, are you ok?"
Bella smiled at him softly as he watched her. "Yeah, I'm fine." She reached for the sugar. "Sugar?" she asked him.
"One."
Finishing with the tea, she walked over to him and placed his tea in front of him. "Thanks," he said. Bella smiled as she stood in front of the counter to face him. She sipped on her tea and then placed it down in front of her.
"So um, I just wanted to say thank you again, again," they both laughed. "There aren't many people who would've gone out of their way like that." At least from her experience anyway, she had already been through that with her ex. It made her second guess herself all the time.
"Hey, I'm always happy to help out a pretty girl in need," he winked at her playfully. She felt the heat creep up to her cheeks as she laughed along with him.
"I also appreciate you not saying anything to Scott," she told him, becoming more serious. He sipped on his tea before replying. "Yeah, I wasn't sure if you wanted me to?"
"Thanks, I will tell him I just... Scott is really protective sometimes,"
"I noticed," he nodded his head almost like he understood why.
"Thing is, even though I called him in the first place, I think it's probably better that he didn't come after all." she admitted looking down at her tea.
Liam nodded his head once more. "Yeah, he probably would have spent hours hunting the guy down and kicked the s**t out of him!"
Bella chuckled at that. "Yeah, that sounds about right. I guess you though, being best friends and all."
Liam chuckled and ducked his head down. "Yeah, well it's that and...I kind of wanted to do the same," he said now watching her carefully.
"Why didn't you?" she asked him, slightly taken back.
"I figured you already had a rough enough night as it was, I didn't want to make it any worse. Plus it would have been my ass being kicked by Scott if I didn't make sure his little cousin was safe," he said, staring at her with that intense stare.
Bella smiled at him as he drank his tea, she had never met another guy who was so concerned for her well being except for Scott, but he was family so, he had a reason. What was Liam's reason? What was she thinking? Of course he's being nice to her, he was Scott's friend. Sure they got along great but, she wondered if he would be the same way if he and Scott didn't know each other, or if she wasn't related to Scott? She decided not to think about it and just thanked herself that he was being a good friend.
Bella laughed to herself a little as she compared Liam and Scott, there was her thinking Liam was the quiet, cheeky one while Scott was the overprotective flirt who would find any excuse for a scrap. "What?" Liam asked, wondering what was so funny.
"Nothing just, you and Scott are a lot more alike then I thought. Except for when it comes to the subject of sports that is," she teased. He laughed at her before saying, "You guys are really close."
"Yeah, he's always been more like a big brother to me rather then a cousin."
"So, are you doing anything today? Any plans?" he asked her, out of the blue.
"Uh, I don't think so, why?" she asked trying to keep her voice calm. Was he asking her out?
"Well, there's this fair in town I thought you might enjoy," Watching as his fingers ran through his wonderfully thick, messy, yet perfect hair.
"A fair?" she muttered, slightly distracted. Bella blinked when he spoke. "You don't like fairs?"
"No I..I do," she stuttered slightly. "I just haven't been to one in...well years," she told him.
"Then today's your lucky day," he winked, taking another sip of his tea.
"Great, let me just go get changed, i'll be right back."
"I'll be here," he smiled.
Once she was out of Liam's sight, Bella quickly but silently ran upstairs. She made her way into her room, quickly browsing through her closet, picking out her red long sleeved top with a design going down the side along with her tight pair of white jeans that fit her comfortably. She put her curls up in a pony and added some light makeup. Wrapping her white scarf around her she grabbed her coat and headed back downstairs.
"All ready!" she announced.
Liam glanced up from whatever he was doing on his phone and smiled at her for a moment before getting up. "Alright, let's go," he said and with that they both headed out to his car.
Bella had never really acknowledged his car before. It was a black Chevy Impala. Dark and mysterious just like Liam funny enough. She had to admit, cars don't usually impress her at all, but she couldn't help herself from thinking that the car was as attractive as the driver was.
********************
They had been at the fair for a few hours now and Bella couldn't get over how much fun she was having with him. They went on nearly every single ride, sometimes twice. They had even tried out some of the games that were around. They stopped at one which involved ten bottles stacked up on each other creating a pyramid shape, you had to knock all of them down with a small hard ball. Liam attempted it first, knocking only half of them down. He shrugged his shoulders as she giggled away. It was now her turn, the guy stacked the bottles back up giving her three small balls to throw. Bella picked up her first ball and threw it towards the bottles knocking every single one of them down making her gasp in surprise.
"I can't believe you did that!" Liam said, dumbfounded.
"I told you, girls are just as good," she grinned widely.
"I'm impressed."
"Here you go," the guy behind the counter said, handing her a white fluffy bear with a bright red nose. Bella thanked the man and turned to face Liam. "Aww cute, I'll call him bulls eye," she joked making them both laugh.
"See now that's supposed to be me winning you stuff," he said smiling at her. "Hmm, well maybe you could buy me some hot coco and we'll call it even?" she sweetly suggested.
"Anything you want."
Bella looked away shyly as he smiled at her with that intense gaze of his. "Great, I need something to warm me up," she mumbled, rubbing her hands together.
She watched him as he reached into both his pockets and pulled out a pair of gloves from either side. "Here, put these on," he said, handing them over to her. She took them from him gratefully. "Thanks."
"Come on." Putting his hand on her back and leading her towards the food and drinks, looking for a place that sold hot chocolate. Liam's gaze traveled down down towards Bella as they walked, watching her putting on his gloves. She blushed immediately when she noticed him watching her, quickly looking away to hide her face. He chuckled at her shyness and continued to walk beside her.
***************
Once again, Bella was sitting in Liam's car, both of them sitting outside her house. She turned to face him and smiled.
"I had a lot of fun today," she told him.
"Me too," he answered, still watching her. "We should do something again sometime," he smiled at her. Bella felt her stomach do a flip inside as he said that. She ignored it though knowing he probably didn't mean it like that.
"I'd like that. You know it's funny, I was really worried about moving here, afraid that I wouldn't fit in, that I wouldn't make any friends or that nobody would like me but, I was wrong!" She looked out the window to stare at the houses around them. "It's actually not so bad." Bella turned her head and smiled. "I'm really glad I know you."
Liam smiled and nodded his head, "Me too." Putting his arm on the seat above her head. Before he could do anymore she told him, "You're a really good friend Liam."
Bella watched as his face slowly dropped as he continued to stare at her but quickly transformed it into a small smile, moving his hand back to the side of him. He looked almost disappointed, did she say something wrong?
"So are you," his voice suddenly bringing her out of her thoughts.
"Well I should go, see you later?"
"Yeah," he nodded his head.
Bella stepped out of the car and closed the door behind her as she made her way up to her house. Liam watched her leave, his gaze shifting to the steering wheel in front of him before he noticed the white bear on his dashboard. He grabbed it and quickly climbed out of his car before jogging towards her house.
"Bella!"
Bella turned around to the sound of his voice. "Almost forgot," showing the bear in his hand. She met him halfway and smiled. "You know what, you keep it," she said sweetly.
"You sure?" he blinked.
"Yeah, my little gift to you. Might not be the manliest present in the world but hey, it's cute," she said touching it's ear, causing him to chuckle. "Plus, it could be a reminder of a great day we had, right?" She was slightly worried that she had offended him somehow from his sudden change of mood in the car, but he just smiled warmly at her like he had done many times before and said, "Right, thank you."
"You're welcome." Holding her breath a little under the intensity of his deep brown eyes, noticing something different in them but couldn't put her finger on what. "Goodnight Bella," he said suddenly, smiling at her before he walked back to his car.
"Goodnight," she mumbled.
This time it was her turn to watch him walk away. Bella walked inside her house and closed the door as he got inside his car. Liam watched her close the door as he climbed into his car. He held the bear in front of him, a small smile creeping up on his face as he did. Placing it on the seat next to him, he started his engine and drove home.