I pried my head from the cold window as the car slowed to a stop. We'd most definitely driven up a hill, but anytime I tried to ask Liam where we were going, he'd only shrug a shoulder without saying a word. Adjusting my body so I was completely upright, my lips parted in surprise. The truck was sitting atop a hill looking out over the entire city. Being up this high, it looked like a small diorama of millions of little buildings illuminated by little lights.
"Beautiful, no?" Liam asked, turning the key in the ignition. I listened to the loud engine lower to a purr before dying out completely before looking from the beautiful city to the boy next to me.
"Why did you drive all the way to my house to pick me up at three in the morning to bring me here?"
"As I said," he opened his door. "I know a fellow insomniac when I see one."
He hopped outside and shut the door in my face before I could ask him to elaborate a bit more. Seconds later my door was thrown open and I was met with a brisk breeze that nipped at my cheeks-and nearly met my demise against the dirt path beneath Liam's white sneakers. He started laughing, pinching the still very much fastened seatbelt between his fingers. I shot him a dark look and unbuckled myself, then fell back against the seat with a grimace.
"Come on." He offered a hand, the smile wavering. "I'm sorry, you just actually thought you were going to fall."
I swatted his hand away and jumped down on my own, starting to stomp away from him and toward the bed of the truck before I came to the conclusion I had no idea where I was or what I was doing. Liam must have picked up on my uncertainty because he opened the tailgate of the silver truck before pushing his hands down to give him enough leverage to hop into the back of it. Even with his Letterman on I could feel the cold trying its hardest to attack my weakest points; being anemic and trudging through the winters here were brutal. I usually had to wear my jacket and slipper-socks to sleep and three blankets on top of that.
"You good, Reese?" Liam looked over his shoulder from where he was crouched in front of a large rectangular case. "You know, I heard cuddling can—"
"Nope." I waved my finger in front of his face. "Remember what I said about the comments, Liam."
He looked ready to roll his eyes, but dropped his amused look back to the case once more before standing, a couple folded blankets in his arms. He walked to the end of the bed and dropped the smaller of the two into my unexpectant arms before laying out the second one. A large USC throw that couldn't have been cheap. He then took the second blanket back from me and set it toward the cab of the truck, returning once more, but this time jumped over the edge of the truck and made his way back to me. I crossed my arms, eyeing him, then the truck, with a confused look.
"What are you doing, Liam?"
"We are going to try and get warm, Reese. Come on."
I tried to protest, but he picked me up and set me on the tailgate before I could get as much as a breath out, joining me a minute or so later. I watched him fall down deeper into the bed of the truck, opening the case once more and coming back with a sharing size bag of M&M's in his hand. My stomach deceived my heart and mind and I found myself making my way to him and snatching the candy from him, not immune to the taunting look he was shooting me.
"You just drove me out here to fatten me up so you can eat me." I grumbled, tearing the bag open, sneaking a quick look at the jock to my left. In the dim light of the moon, his eyes were a haunting grey, nothing like piercing blues that sent shockwaves through every person he laid eyes on in the halls at school.
"Man, there goes my plan." He snapped his fingers, winked, then reached into the case and pulled out a package of Red Vines. "I knew food would be the easiest way to your heart, Taylor. You and me, we're alike in that way. I love me some food."
I tossed a few candy-coated chocolates in my mouth to keep the smile from reaching its full capacity on my face. "Food is my comfort. Bryan likes to say that whoever I marry better have a fridge as big as his bank account because he'll need to restock it once a week."
Liam early choked on a piece of cady, shaking his head once he'd recollected himself. "I'm sorry about that, by the way. Saying all that shit to your boyfriend."
I was so taken back by the apology it took me longer that usual to muster up a response. "One, he's definitely not my boyfriend, he's my best friend. Two, who the hell are you and what did you do with Liam Scott? Why are you being so nice? Are you really Liam? Or are you an alien who snatched his body and are using it as a host 'til you can get back home?"
Liam poked at my cheek with the red candy, amusement evident in every inch of his expression. "You're a dork, Reese."
"I know." I turned my attention back to my own candies. "But the next Play is getting me a Homecoming and Prom date, so you better embrace my dorkiness and help me."
He raised an eyebrow and slapped one of the Red Vines against his chest dramatically. "You're asking me, the biggest womanizer in school, to help you, the biggest dork in the universe, find a date? Why not just go with your friend?"
"I've gone with him and Brianna every year. Bri's gonna have Andy this year, and I just wanted it to be different, you know? I don't even care too much about Homecoming, but Junior Prom? That's a big thing. I want to go with someone who actually wants to go with me, to take me."
Liam stayed quiet for a while, doing that creepy staring thing again, then finally said, "But won't me helping you find a date be kind of forcing the poor unfortunate soul to go with you?"
I bit down hard on my lip, averting my eyes. He was right, not that I'd give him the satisfaction of knowing that.
"You look like a cute little kitten trying to puff out her chest and get ready to take on a lion." Liam commented through a laugh, "You're tiny little claws are out and you're trying to look all menacing. It's cute, Taylor."
I looked toward him again. "Did you just call me cute, Liam?"
"Maybe I did."
"Beats you calling me average." I breathed quietly, hoping he didn't catch it. His expression twisting into one of guilt told me he'd most definitely heard what I'd said under my breath.
"I didn't mean it like that, Reese." He leaned over so he was nudging my shoulder with his own. "You're just not Nic or Shay. You're just. . . you, I guess."
I snorted. "Bite me. I don't even know what that's supposed to mean."
"Don't tempt me." Liam wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, then raised one, serious again, "I don't really either, yet. I'm still trying to figure you out, Reese. You're definitely a mystery, hard to crack. Sucks for you, though, 'cause I'm Sherlock fucking Holmes. I love solving mysteries."
*
I heard a quiet voice sound beside me, my eyes slowly opening to find Raya sitting in the driver's seat. Her golden locks were twisted into an incredibly messy bun, blue eyes and eyebrows drawn in worry. Her lips moved a million miles per second but I couldn't hear her.
"Reese!" She said, reaching out to touch my hand, disrupted by the sound of a horn blaring. We both looked out her window, blinded by bright headlights within seconds. My hands instinctively shot out to her, but it was too late. Her entire body was ejected from the window and seconds later lay still on the asphalt. I tried to get out of the car, fidgeting with my locked seatbelt, but felt a hand grasp my forearm. I looked back in the driver's seat, where my sister had been seconds prior, but Liam Scott sat in her place, his blue eyes frantic as he scanned my face worriedly. I looked around the car, my eyes widening when I saw we weren't in my sister's totaled sedan but in Liam's truck.
"Reese, are you okay?" Liam looked as if he wanted to release my arm but were afraid I'd throw myself out of the truck if he did so. "You dozed off on the way back here, then suddenly were screaming."
I unbuckled my seatbelt, hoping it would help ease the heavy weight pushing down on my chest, restricting my breathing, but it did no such thing. If anything, as soon as I leaned forward, I had to focus in order to get a full breath in and release it moments later.
"Do you need me to take you to the hospital or something?" Liam asked when I didn't say anything. I glanced sideways at him, surprised to find he was staring at me sympathetically. It was enough to bring me back down and I fished my house keys from my shorts.
"I'm fine." I assured, but my voice was a hushed whisper that was barely audible. "I didn't mean to fall asleep on you."
He hesitated for a minute, then dropped my arm and nodded. "No worries. I know what its like. Lay awake all hours of the night and fall asleep during the day."
I nodded, reaching for the handle on the door and was instantly met with the cold early morning air. Liam was in front of me a couple minutes later, but he didn't reach for my hand, but touched my shoulder, ready to shake me like a rag doll.
"Are you sure you're good?"
Even if it was only for a minute, the thought of opening up to Liam crossed my mind. To talk to someone, anyone, about the nightmares and terrors that plagued me every waking moment of my life. To breakdown and tell them of the war waged inside my house every night, some I'd even become hurt in the crossfire of.
Just as quickly as that thought passed through, it went right out the other side and I allowed Liam to help me down. He shut the door behind me, but didn't go rushing to the driver's side. Dropping my gaze, I realized exactly why he hadn't.
"Sorry. I forgot I had it on." I reached up to unbutton the Letterman, but he pushed my hand back down so it fell to my side.
"Just give it to me later today at school." He shrugged a shoulder. "It's freezing and I'm a naturally cold-blooded person, so you need it more than I do."
I didn't know what to do, so I just stared. That distant look in his eyes reappeared as he stretched his hand out and brushed a lock of hair off my cheek and tucked it behind my ear. It wasn't much, but it was that little action and every one leading up to it tonight, that confirmed what I had been dreading the thought of accepting since I'd seen Liam ace the last Play.
Bryan had been right, the King we watched walk the halls with his head held high, stepping on the rest of us as if we were scum, was no more than a desperate attempt at a façade.
"Goodnight, Kitten. I'll see you later." Liam clenched his fist a little before walking around his truck. I stepped up on to the edge of my driveway and watched him take off down the street, furling my fingers around my keys. I waited until there was no sign that he'd been here to turn around and head back into my house. My mother was still asleep on the couch, hugging the blanket I'd left over her tightly around her frail, exhaust-ridden body. Rather than head for my own room, I lifted the blanket and rested my head and sat at the end of the sofa, staring at my mother until my vision blurred with tears.
"I'm sorry, Mom." I whispered, bringing the heel of my hand to my mouth to contain my sob. "I'm so sorry."