"Liam, what a surprise!" my mom choked out when she recovered from her shock. I stood behind her, eyeing Liam. Only, his attention was not on me but on my mom. "Did Susan send you for something?"

"Hi Mrs. Wilson," Liam grinned, his hands stuffed into the pockets of his khakis. "I'm here for Thalia."

My eyes scanned his outfit. From his dark hair which was combed over for once and to his blue dress shirt.

I expertly avoided my mom's excited gaze. She was beaming as if she were over the moon. If only my mom was also out tonight. Jackson had made plans and my dad was still stuck at work.

"Oh, are you two going somewhere?" my mom turned to me, her eyes glistening.

"Yes, we are. I'll bring her back by midnight," Liam piped up before I could get a word in. My lips spread out into a smile, which I was sure looked more like a grimace. Liam was not finished, "There will be no alcohol."

"That's very responsible of you. Have fun," my mom would barely contain her excitement, somehow her smile broadened even more. She gave me a shove out the door towards Liam, "Remember, no sex tonight or any other funny business."

"Mom, oh my god," I grumbled under my breath, pinching the bridge of my nose. I was thankful that my hand hid the warmth spreading in my cheeks.

"Of course," I heard Liam say. He didn't sound one bit embarrassed.

"Okay!" I glanced back up at my mom, who still held a wide grin on her face. My hand clasped around Liam's arm as I began pulling him away from the main doors. "Let's go Liam, chop chop."

Liam followed, and I almost let out a sigh of relief at the sound of the doors slamming shut.

The night was crisp and cool, the wind still. I was glad I'd dressed perfectly for the weather.

I continued to usher Liam towards his car parked on my driveway. He took his sweet time, his lips holding a smirk I wished I could wipe off.

We finally hopped into his car, shutting the doors simultaneously.

"You went to my door?" I snapped my head in Liam's direction, incredulous.

"Yes, I thought it was more romantic than sending a text," Liam grinned as he stuck his keys into the ignition.

I opened my mouth and shut it again. Liam was right. I guess the gesture was more romantic. I just wished my mom wasn't so nosy, then it would have been perfect. Hunter had never done something like that — he'd just texted and expected me to be ready.

"So, was it?" Liam asked, backing out of the driveway.

"Maybe," I rolled my eyes, the corners of my like tugging up. "What are we doing tonight?"

I turned to him as he smiled, the apples of his cheeks bulging. His hand slid over the wheel as he made a left turn.

The traffic in the roads had gone down since rush hour had passed, which was a relief. No one had time to sit in traffic for an hour.

"You'll find out soon," he replied. "Don't worry, you'll like it."

"Oh, how mysterious," I said sarcastically. "Mmm, well you have until twelve since you wanted to be all goody-goody."

"It sets a good impression," Liam countered.

"As if my mom doesn't already love you," my eyes rolled to the back of my head.

Liam only grinned as he switched the radio on. Together, we sat in a comfortable silence and I glanced out the window at the passing streetlights, palm trees and cars.

Liam reached over my lap, placing his hand over mine. I peered over at him, my cheeks afire.

I rotated my hand, curling my fingers to clasp over his. He took a quick peek over at me, grinning as his cheeks flushed. His hands were soft and much larger than mine. His touch brought warmth blossoming in my chest.

The rest of the ride was peaceful. Soft radio music sounded from the speakers in Liam's car with the streetlights and the palm trees whizzing by in a blur.

Liam pulled into a parking lot and I glanced around. We were at a beach.

The parking lot was almost empty as Liam pulled into a random spot and shut the ignition. Much like the lot, the beach itself was vacant, besides the occasional night surfer or teenagers hanging around.

"A beach?" I raised an amused eyebrow.

"We're passing by the beach," Liam corrected as he stepped out of the car. I followed his lead, stepping out. The wind had picked up now that we were no longer shielded by skyscrapers and houses.

I wrapped my jacket over my body as Liam and I began making our way out towards the ocean. The cool, white sand seeped between my toes and into my shoes as I waddled along.

My eyes widened when they landed on a yacht floating a little further into the ocean, anchored onto the dock just off the shore. It was glowing white under the moonlight, billowing on the waves.

"Is that yours?" I asked, my eyebrows raised in disbelief.

My parents had a yacht, once upon a time. Jackson had accidentally fallen off-board and after that my dad had stored it somewhere. We hadn't been on it for years now. It must have been more than ten years since I'd been on a yacht, or any sort of boat.

"Yup," he smirked. "Got it for my 21st birthday."

"Unbelievable," I chuckled as we stepped onto the dock.

"The captain is already inside," he turned back to me, his lips curling up. "Usually I can drive it but today is different."

Our shoes thumped against the wooden boards as we headed over to the yacht. The warm glow of the yellow lights in the boat made it seem cozier than it really would be.

Liam hopped onto the boat. He held out a hand to help me on, and I rolled my eyes, leaping onto the yacht.

"Or not," he chuckled and retracted his hand, stuffing it into his pocket.

The yacht was sleek and modern, with bright LED lights that lit up the boat from deck and ceiling. It began to move, taking us further away from the dock and the shore. I followed Liam as we made our way through deck to the front of the boat.

Everything was all set up, with a red blanket on the floor and candles surrounding it. In the far end of the blanket sat a cheese platter, a bottle of what looked like wine and the glasses that came with it.

"You did this?" I gushed, looking at Liam. I was grinning from ear to ear. A bubbly, giddy feeling rushed through my stomach.

"Yeah, I set everything up before I picked you up," Liam's cheeks grew pink, scratching the back of his head.

No one had ever done anything like this for me. Going on dates with Hunter was not this romantic. Our dates had consisted of sitting at his home theatre and watching whatever football or basketball game was playing. If we had a picnic, we just sat on the grass and ate whatever snacks I bought from the store.

"Come on," he nodded over to the blanket and we plopped down on top of it, Liam sitting down next to me.

"Thought you said there'd be no alcohol," I chortled, picking up the bottle. I popped open the bottle and poured out the dark liquid into the glass.

"Well actually—" Liam started but stopped when I brought the glass to my lips.

The liquid touched my lips and I was taken aback when I tasted grape juice instead of the sweet, bitter taste of wine.

"Never mind. You kept your promise.," I grimaced, setting the glass back down.

Liam chuckled, "Its not about your parents. We're on a boat, I didn't feel like accidentally passing out in the ocean."

I picked up a piece of cheese, tossing it into my mouth, "It's wine, Liam. We'd be fine."

Liam chortled as he poured out his own glass of grape juice, "Did you know that otters break each other's penis bones?"

My brows furrowed as I bit back a laugh at his random comment, "N-no, why would I have known that?"

"I learned it at the zoo a long time ago. I just thought it was funny," Liam shrugged and I rolled my eyes. Leave it to Liam to remember ridiculous fun facts.

I popped another piece of cheese in my mouth, swallowing, "Okay, well speaking of that, if you could be any animal which would you be?"

"Easy," he scoffed. "A peacock cause... I'm hot."

My nose crinkled, "Please, you'd be an ape."

"And I'd still pick up all the ape ladies," he smirked and I gave him a flat look. "But you're still the only one I would want, even after all this time."

I bit down on my lip, avoiding his eyes as warmth spread over my cheeks. When I glanced over, I met his eyes that were already on me. A light smile played on his lips as he laid down on his back.

I also placed my back onto the blanket, my shoulder brushing against Liam's as I stared up into the night sky.

Being away from the city and it's bright lights had its perks — one of them was being able to see all the stars. Tonight, the full moon illuminated the whole sky.

"We used to just sit out on the beach and watch the moon," I said quietly. "We were naive now that I think about it."

Liam turned his head to me, his dark eyes twinkling like the ocean of stars in the sky.

"Maybe we were. But we knew what we wanted," his lips curled up.

Unintentionally, I stared into his eyes again, captivated by the trillions of stars I could see in them. They brought a sense of comfort that I wouldn't trade for the world.

Subconsciously, I leaned in closer to him, my eyes trailing over his face. The moonlight cascaded over it, casting shadows along his strong jaw and the bridge of his nose.

I didn't know how being with Liam would turn out — whether it would be anything like Hunter or not, or whether I would be treated the same as two hundred years ago.

"What I wanted then is the same as what I want now," I found myself saying, and it was true. I would just be going about it differently.

Even with my doubts, I knew I wanted to try. This was our second chance.

"And what do you want?" Liam asked.

There was only one thing that I needed and wanted both two centuries ago and now.

I smiled, "You."

★★★

𝐻𝑒𝑦 𝑔𝑢𝑦𝑠, 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑘𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐼 ℎ𝑜𝑝𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑡𝑒𝑟! 𝑃𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑡𝑜 𝑣𝑜𝑡𝑒, 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤 𝑖𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑑𝑖𝑑!

~ 𝑆𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑡𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠𝐼𝑛𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑆𝑎𝑙𝑡