Sniffling, I swiped the back of my hand over my eyes to dry the tears. I leaned back in the passenger seat, glancing over at Liam to see him holding out a tissue. He'd kept the light in his car turned on, which I was thankful for.
I didn't want to stay in the dark. I still shuddered from the thought of the men's voices. They still made me feel small, sending shivers up my spine.
My lips curled up as I took it in my hand, crinkling it in my fist, "Thanks."
"Why didn't you just ask me for a ride?" he asked quietly, his eyes never leaving me.
"Because, I didn't think I needed one," I looked up at him, the frown had returned to my face. Liam let out a sigh, running his hand over his face and I swallowed hard. "What? It's not a big deal, I'm fine."
"The bruise on your face says otherwise. Don't downplay this," he immediately said through clenched teeth.
I stayed quiet, tearing my eyes away from Liam as I studied my stiff hands on my lap. The beginnings of a bruise was beginning to form on my knuckle from the punch I threw.
I should have thrown more punches. I should have been able to handle those men myself.
"I think this was set up," Liam's voice brought me back to reality. I snapped my head into his direction, as he let out another sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"What do you mean?" I asked, my brows furrowing.
"Where were those guys when they started following you?" he ignored my question, his jaw hardening as he rested his arm on the steering wheel.
"Just outside the parking lot," I answered, even though with my confusion, it sounded more like a question. "Why are you asking me that?"
"I saw your motorcycle when I came out of the library," he started, his forehead creased in concentration. "I thought it was weird, especially with the nail next to it. If you rolled over that while driving, it most likely would've stayed stuck in your tire."
My mouth hung open when I realized the accuracy of Liam's statement, and then I frowned, annoyed that I hadn't thought of that myself.
"So you're saying that..." I trailed off, not wanting to finish the sentence myself.
"Those men probably knew the bike was yours and targeted you," he finished for me, his brows lowered. "I knew it seemed off, that's why I went to find you. I needed to know that you were okay and I'm glad I did."
I was glad he did too, but the only thing I could get out of my mouth was, "Fuck."
"You'll be safe. I doubt they'll hurt you again, especially after what happened," Liam reassured me, a small smile spreading over his lips. "Men like that don't want a challenge."
My eyes moved from his face to his hand that rested on the armrest. Like mine, his knuckles were purple and blue with dried blood between his fingers.
"You should let the police know and get them arrested. You saw their faces," Liam told me, a solemn expression on his face.
I shook my head immediately, "No. My parents wouldn't want that."
Anything that drew negative attention to my family was frowned upon from both my mom and dad. That included the police. The last thing I needed was a lecture from them.
"Ophelia, this is serious. You can't just—" Liam insisted, but I cut him off.
"Liam, no. I won't go to the police, please... just drop it," I said, firmly.
"Fine," he sighed, running a hand over his ruffled hair. Then, his lips twitched upwards. "I think you should be taking back that time you punched me."
I scoffed, rolling my eyes, "You deserve it, back then you told the King I tried to help that kid, remember. My whole family died because of you."
The blood began to boil just from thinking of it. But since I'd taken up on Liam's offer for a truce, I hadn't thought of what he'd done as much. My anger had mostly dissipated, though it didn't mean I wanted anything to do with him more than just as acquaintances.
His eyebrow shot up, "Well, I'd deserve it if I actually did it."
I tilted my head, brows drawing together, "W-what do you mean?"
"I wasn't the one who told the King about the kid, I'd be stupid to," he said, shrugging as if it were the most obvious thing ever.
My heart sped up, pounding wildly against my chest. I opened my mouth and then shut it again, my eyes trained on him, unblinking, "Y-you're saying that it wasn't you, then who was it?"
Liam shrugged, "There must have been someone else on that beach, or behind the trees."
"You're joking," my voice came out shaky as I shook my head.
"I couldn't be joking, my family was prosecuted along with yours. Only you were missing," Liam explained, his mouth curling into a sad smile. My throat grew dry as I stared at him, speechless.
I never knew his family was also prosecuted since I didn't even get to see my own family's execution.
"Wait, all this time, you thought I was the one who told the King?" Liam's eyebrows shot up and slowly, I nodded. He scoffed, shaking his head, "I'd never do that to you."
I glanced down at my feet, wringing my clammy hands together as I swallowed hard. A lump had begun to form in my throat.
It was as if a bucket of ice cold water had been poured over my head. I'd been such an idiot that I'd never even bothered to ask Liam to explain.
Tears stung my eyes, pooling in the corners. My heart pinched when I remembered how harsh I'd been to him, which could have been avoided if I'd just let him talk.
Besides that, all I could feel was the relief that flooded over me, relief that it wasn't Liam. My shoulders slumped as if the weight had been pulled off them, my lips parting. I could finally breathe again.
A stray tear raced down my cheek without my consent and I swiped it away with a hand quickly. For the second time tonight, I was crying in front of Liam.
"I-I should have known," my lip quivered and I attempted to swallow the boulder in my throat. "You must hate me for what I did."
I glanced up at Liam through my blurred vision, to see his eyes on me. His held a pained expression on his face, his lips pressed flat.
"I ruined everything for us and I blamed you. I abandoned my family, and you," my voice broke, the corners of my mouth drooping.
In that moment, I knew there was no point holding it in. I slapped a hand over my mouth, muffling a sob that escaped my lips. Liam's car began to spin around me as I sucked in a deep breath, only to be interrupted by another sob.
I gasped when a pair of arms wrapped around me, pulling me close. My shoulders shook as the sobs raked my chest. Liam placed my head on his chest, combing his fingers through the tangled strands of my hair.
"I don't hate you. I never did, not now and not ever," his voice was soft, reverberating through my body. Then, he chuckled, "I'm glad you made it out. I'm glad you left, the whole thing was rather ugly."
My tears seeped into his shirt and his grip tightened on me when my body lurched into another sob.
"I-I'm so sorry," was all I could force myself to say over my burning throat. I wrapped my arms around Liam, pulling him closer towards me as my cries tore through my chest.
"You don't have to apologize for wanting to help someone," Liam shook his head. He took a deep breath, his hand continuing to comb through my hair, the other stroking my back lightly.
I never knew just how comforting his arms around me could feel. And I never knew that it was all I needed. It was as if no one could hurt me with Liam there — not those men, not Hunter, no one.
I couldn't stop my body from trembling as I wept, only stopping to take a gasped breath before it dissolved into more tears. Liam soothed and shushed me as my tears soaked his shirt.
It wasn't Liam who'd betrayed my family. Every single weight I'd felt in my chest had dissipated.
We stayed that way for a while, until my eyes began to burn and droop from exhaustion. I shut my eyes, resting my head on his chest. Dried tears matted my cheeks and dampened Liam's shirt. I was out of breath and tears.
I peeled myself off of Liam, swiping a hand over my eyes to wipe off the residual tears. I did the same under my nose, wiping off any snot that was there.
"Thank you," I said, my voice hoarse. I met his heavy eyes, full of emotions that I was too exhausted to decipher. The rims of his eyes were red. "Thanks for helping me tonight and you know, the whole crying thing."
"Anytime," his lips twitched up and his eyes brightened.
"I should've been able to handle those guys myself," I sighed, gnawing at the inside of my cheek.
"Ophelia, it was four men against you. We should be realistic here," he bit down on his lip, though his eyes danced with laughter. "You can let me people help you when you need it. Nothing wrong with that."
I nodded and a silence enveloped Liam and I. Allowing for help was one thing that could lead to another. I didn't want to depend on anyone but myself. I wanted to achieve what I needed to by myself. It was what I couldn't do on my own back then.
My eyes moved back to my house, where the lights in the main floor were still bright, the house still alive with my parents' guests.
"What do we do now?" I finally asked, turning back to look at Liam.
"Move on," he chuckled. "It's been two centuries, after all."
I let out a small laugh of my own, even though I silently wondered what that even meant. It wasn't Liam who sold my family and I out back then, so there was no reason to be angry at him. If I wasn't mad at him anymore, then what did I feel for him?
He tucked a loose strand of my hair behind my ear, his fingers skimming past the sensitive part of my neck. My cheeks immediately burned and I knew that I didn't need to answer that question. Deep down, I knew how I felt about Liam.
My cheeks warmed as I gazed into his dark eyes. Those same eyes that had me losing my mind so many years ago, and even now. Those eyes that looked as though an ocean of stars swam within them. I'd been captivated by them, and I never thought I'd see them again — in two different lifetimes.
This was like a second chance that was given to Liam and I. Second chances were so rare and I knew that there was no way I'd let myself blow it.
★★★
𝐻𝑒𝑦 𝑔𝑢𝑦𝑠! 𝑇ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑘𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐼 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 ℎ𝑜𝑝𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑒𝑛𝑗𝑜𝑦𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑡. 𝑃𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒 𝑣𝑜𝑡𝑒, 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤 𝑖𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑑𝑖𝑑!
𝐻𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑛'𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑤𝑎𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑡𝑒𝑟?! ;)
~ 𝑆𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑡𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠𝐼𝑛𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑆𝑎𝑙𝑡