Laws of Nature [2]; Liam Dunbar

five: goodbye

Marlow paced up and down her room. She had told Liam to come over and he would be there soon. She didn't like what she was about to do. She didn't want to do it either. But she had made a decision. It was time to let Liam go. Truth be told, the entire school day was awkward. Liam was nowhere to be found at first and when Marlow finally did locate him, he was busy trying to find ways to help Hayden with her money problems.

Marlow knew she was being somewhat irrational. Boyfriends had other girl-friends. Or former friends they wanted to make up with after accidentally punching them in the face. But he wasn't even paying attention to her anymore. Like, none-whatsoever. Marlow and Mason had discussed the things that happened the previous Friday all weekend long. He still couldn't believe what had happened. Marlow was sure he had finally realized that knowing about the supernatural world wasn't all fun and games.

She sat down on the living room couch and checked her phone. Mason was still trying to talk her out of the break-up but Marlow had had all weekend to think about it and she felt her final solution would be best for everyone. Liam could make a clean cut with her and get closer to Hayden and Marlow could focus on the important matters at hand. Like the so-called "Dread Doctors" who were turning teenagers around Beacon Hills into Chimara's and then killing them when they turned out to be "failures".

Stiles was off to Eichen House with Scott, Lydia, and Kira. Marlow had been asked to stay behind. Though Malia wasn't going either, so Marlow knew it wasn't because they were treating her like a broken doll. There was a knock at the door and Marlow's heart began to race. "Here we go," she mumbled. She got off the couch and walked over to the door. Marlow took a deep breath and finally pulled the front door open. "Hey." she subduedly greeted Liam. She motioned for him to come inside. 

"Hey. So what's so important that we couldn't talk about it on the phone?" he asked as he walked inside the house.

Marlow closed the door behind her with a quiet sigh. "Well, I have something to tell you," she said. She wrung her hands nervously. Liam looked up at her as she grew silent. Now that he stood in front of her, the prospect of breaking up with Liam got to her. He was her first. Her first everything. And there was a reason she liked him so much. There were many reasons why she loved him. But she could feel him pulling away from her. The look on Liam's face urged her to go on. "I-" she said before her voice broke off again.

"Are you okay? Did something happen?" Liam asked, his voice growing concerned.

Marlow shook her head. "No, I'm fine," she assured him. She looked around the room nervously. She decided it was time to just rip off the bandaid. "I'm breaking up with you, Liam."

There was a stunned silence in the room. Liam looked at Marlow, mouth agape. Marlow sighed once more. She knew this wouldn't end well. No matter how much she sugar-coated it. "Can you tell me why?"

Marlow looked up at him. For the first time since she'd met him, she couldn't read him. "I think we're both going in different directions," she told him. He remained silent. She knew it sounded dumb. "I know," she said. "But you know it's true."

"Do I?" Liam asked.

Marlow let out a frustrated sigh. "Tell me something," she told him. Liam was still silent but his eyes beckoned her to go on. "Do you have feelings for Hayden?"

"I love you," Liam told Marlow.

"I love you too. But I have the feeling you don't love just me. So tell me, am I right?" she asked. Liam looked around the room with a sigh. "See?"

"So that's it then? You just call it quits without even talking to me first?"

Marlow shrugged. "Would it have changed anything?" she asked. "Would you just stop liking Hayden if I talked to you? Would you pay attention to me for more than two minutes? Would you be okay with staying away from Hayden for me?" she went on. Marlow could feel Liam getting angry. She couldn't blame him. A part of her knew she was being too blunt. Another part knew she would come to regret this soon enough. But it was too late to turn back now.

"Thought so," she said when Liam didn't answer. Marlow sighed again. She walked over to Liam and grabbed his face. They shared a kiss. Their last kiss. "I'm doing this for you, Liam. Trust me. I'm agonizing over this. But I want you to be able to explore other options."

She could feel tears welling in her eyes and for a second she thought she could see Liam tear up as well. "I do love you." he finally said. Marlow nodded as tears started falling down her cheeks. Liam walked past Marlow and opened the door. He turned back to her once more. "Is this really what you want?" he asked. There was a beat of silence, then Marlow nodded. "Okay," Liam said. Once again, Marlow couldn't read the expression on his face. He turned around and walked out the door. 

Marlow watched him go from the living room window and suddenly it was as though something inside her broke. She felt as though she was alienating her loved ones, scared they would be next to die. All she knew was that she had just made a choice. A choice with lasting consequences. At that moment, Marlow couldn't have known just how badly this break-up would come back to bite her in the ass.