CHAPTER TWENTY SIX » UNSPOKEN
"I know. I feel the same."

☽

The car ride to Liam's was quiet.

I kept my eyes focused out the window, watching as the night slowly spilled out onto the road.

We'd left Venus and Theo a short while ago, and although Liam had told me he'd drive me home, I insisted I didn't want to go back yet. I was certain Scott was with Malia, and if this was going to be everyone's last night, I hoped it would be the one they deserved together.

There was something satisfying about watching the world go by at this time of the evening. It was almost peaceful with the roads so empty; the hum of the car engine and a faint song on the radio were the only sounds that could really be heard.

"Can I ask you a question?" I jolted slightly at Liam's voice, glancing up and pausing for a moment, rather than turning to look at him. "It's okay if you don't want to talk."

"It's fine," I eventually told him.

"It's just, well, Theo said you didn't want me there because I'd try and stop you," he said, turning to look at me for a moment, before his attention fell back on the road again. "Is that the truth?"

I sighed heavily, fixing my attention back outside again, finding solace as I watched the twilight sky.

"Yes," I finally replied. "And no." Liam turned to look at me again, and this time I met his curious eyes. "Theo called you because my powers were too strong for him to bring me back."

"How come I managed to then?"

I kind of wanted to laugh at his question – not because it was funny, but because I'd asked myself the same thing so hundreds of times before. Why is Liam still the one to always bring me back if he's not supposed to be my anchor anymore?

Instead, I decided to shake my head, a half hearted smile on my face. The question, although purely innocent, should have had an obvious answer. Except, it had even taken me a hell of a long time to figure it out, despite it being right in front of us the whole time.

"I don't think either of us have ever truly realised how strong the connection between us is," I spoke into the silence, noticing Liam stiffen slightly. "I don't know how to describe it really. Something..."

"Unspoken."

I looked over at him, but his eyes were focused ahead, as he gripped tightly onto the steering wheel.

"Unspoken," I repeated, running the word over my tongue. Unspoken. Yeah, that sounded about right.

"So what do we do about it?" Liam asked, glancing over at me again. I opened my mouth to respond before I realised I didn't quite have an answer. "Or do we not do anything about us at all?"

"There's nothing we can do," I eventually settled on. Because there's no us. "It's just there. Maybe it always will be."

Liam nodded slowly, running his tongue over his bottom lip as he seemed to think things through for a moment. "Right."

A slight awkwardness began to intrude on the, once peaceful, silence that we had been sat in previously. Thankfully, the rest of the journey to Liam's wasn't too long, and once he pulled into the driveway, I began to climb out of the car as quickly as I could.

I waited as Liam took a few more moments in the car, until he eventually shut the door behind him, the sound seeming to carry through the air of the silent neighbourhood.  

I stood a short distance away as he approached the front door, beginning to fumble with the key in the lock, eventually giving the door a gentle push and standing aside to let me in first.

I stepped inside slightly unsurely, whilst Liam closed the front door behind him. Twilight had begun to spill through the windows, painting shadows around the room.

It was quiet. And there was something comforting about it. Every time I stepped into my own home, I always felt as if I had to quickly prepare myself for a new danger. It was nice not to feel so on edge for once.

"My parents are at work," Liam informed, placing his keys on the counter by his side, before moving further inside. "Are you sure you don't want me to drive you home?"

I shook my head silently. "I can't go back there, not tonight."

Liam nodded slowly, seeming as if he partially understood, but he didn't press it any further. A heavy silence settled over us again, and I suddenly felt painfully out of place, my eyes beginning to search around desperately in an attempt  to find something to talk about.

"You painted the walls," I stated, noticing that the once plain white colour of the lounge had been replaced with a deep, bolder red.

"Yeah," Liam said, biting his lip as he nodded along to my statement. I cringed inwardly at my poor choice of conversation topic.

"Looks nice," I tried again, attempting a small smile in addition to my comment. Liam seemed to force one back, before we both quickly turned away to focus our attention on something, anything, else.

I found my eyes swooping over the family photographs, smiling slightly at a picture of Liam and Mason. I thought back to everything I'd seen in my visions, with Mason and Corey both attempting to find us. That raw hope and determination they both held. We were lucky to have such brave friends.

"Bex?"

I glanced to the side. "Yeah?"

"Are you scared?"

I stopped still, feeling my body tense slightly at his question. I could feel his stare lingering on me, but managed to keep my eyes firmly focused elsewhere. "Are you?"

Liam let out a sharp breath of air as he nodded his head solemnly. "Terrified."

I gave in, finally turning to face him, my heart sinking at the hopeless look in his eyes. "Yeah," I spoke quietly. "Me too."

"I'm glad you're here." He took a step forwards, offering a hint of a smile, perhaps for reassurance. "I couldn't face being alone tonight."

"Me either," I agreed, meeting his gaze properly. There was something in the depths of his eyes, buried behind so many layers, and I found that I was unable to tear myself away.

Somehow, Liam and I had closed the space between us significantly, and as I took a deep breath to compose myself, I found myself lost in his eyes, melting into his gaze, as everything seem to fall away around us.

My head began to spin, a feeling heating in my chest as I realised both Liam and I were leaning even further forward...until Liam just stopped.

"I'm going to get changed," he stated, taking a step back, whilst whatever had been held in the air between us came completely crashing down. Worst of all, I found myself actually feeling a little disappointed.

"Oh, uh, yeah," I managed to stutter out, shifting awkwardly on my feet as Liam turned away, beginning to head up the stairs without so much as another glance in my direction.

This was probably for the best.

I looked up in the air, shaking my head at myself as I realised how stupid I'd been. "Oh, by the way," Liam's voice startled me slightly, and I snapped my attention back to him. He'd paused midway up the stairs, the corner of his mouth tugging into a slight smile as our eyes met. "My room's the first one on the left, in case you forgot."

Never mind.

I stood in a stunned silence, watching as Liam casually headed up the staircase, as if his words hadn't meant anything at all. In fact, I had to spend a few moments debating whether or not there really was anything more to what he'd said or not.

I bit down on my lip, breathing in deeply. "Pull yourself together, Bex."

Before I decided to change my mind, I began to climb the staircase, gripping onto the rails tightly as my hands began to tremble with a mixture of nerves and excitement.

Once I reached Liam's bedroom, I stood outside for a moment or two, my stomach completely tying itself in knots. With one last deep breath, I wrapped my hand around the handle, gently pushing it open to be met with a dimly lit room.

"Liam?"

"Bex." He spoke quietly, slowly stepping into the warm glow of the light, his eyes shining with hope. I swallowed thickly. "Rebecca, if this is our last night–"

"I know," I told him. Because I did. I knew what he was going to say. "I feel the same."

The air in the room felt thick, and for a moment, I wondered whether I'd stopped breathing. But I could hear my heart beating, my pulse racing; I could feel my stomach tightening and my head spinning, almost the same way it did back in freshman year.

Gently, I pushed the door shut as Liam began to move behind me. He reached out, carefully brushing my hair to the side, his fingers gently grazing the exposed skin on my neck.

Softly, he began to brush his lips against my neck, pressing a slow, warm trail of kisses against my skin. A deep warmth spread through my body as I began to melt into his touch, feeling unable to move, even if I wanted to.

The action sent my heart racing, and I knew I would have felt more embarrassed if I couldn't sense how nervous Liam felt too.

Without warning, he dropped his hand to my thigh, pulling at my skirt which loosely rested just above my knees, as I let my eyelids flutter shut blissfully.

He soon turned me around, his thumb brushing over my cheekbone, down to my lips, before he began drawing closer towards me. Liam paused for a moment, his eyes searching mine, until, in a moment of blissful impatience, I pressed my lips to his.

I brought my hands to the back of his neck as the two of us began to back up against the bedroom door, Liam's hands brushing against my hips, moving our bodies closer.

After a few moments, he disconnected his lips from mine, moving to slowly press them against my jaw, and up to my ear. "How's this for not doing anything about us?"

I let out a heavy breath, unable to articulate a response as Liam pushed his lips against mine again. I felt his fingers softly graze against my skin as he moved them from my hips to the hem of my top, brushing against it with a slight tug.

We moved apart momentarily, lifting it over my head and quickly discarding it to the side. I brought my lips back to Liam's again with a wilder desperation, moving my fingers to undo the buttons of his shirt until it was on the floor with mine.

We moved closer together again, and with a playful smirk, Liam began to lift me up, moving backwards towards the bed. He lay me down softly, our eyes locking, just long enough to savour the moment before he began to move atop of me, feathering kisses along my jaw, all over my neck, and down to my collarbone.

And then his hand was on my thigh, kisses following as he began to lift my skirt, his touch continuing to my waist, his fingertips sending electricity through my entire body.

And in that moment, I became alive in the present – not the past, and not the future.

❥

A/N

So that happened.