Midnight Summer

Nine

I regret my decision the moment I open my phone which I had left in the room. Liza has been blowing up my phone like crazy with over twenty missed calls and messages. My boss too has called five times. I guess I have no job as I sit of now. Mike called a few times and sent a few texts.

If I knew, I wouldn't have bought those tickets.

What did he even mean with those words. It was then that Liza's message catches my attention.

Girl, you are all over the news.

I was never a person who looked too much into news but I immediately had to see for myself what she meant. Shock and fear are the things I feel as I read the big heading over a picture of me and Liam literally sneaking into the car.

THE MYSTERY GIRL IS FINALLY FOUND

I don't need to read anything else to realize what they have written. It is probably as I already think and reading it won't make me feel any better. It will just make my anxiety worse. I am already feeling nauseous and my stomach is churning wildly making me want to puke.

Has Liam read the news already?  If he has, what does he think? Sometimes I forget he is used to this kind of stuff but I am not. It won't be long before deeper shit about me comes out in the light. This is what I feared right from the beginning.

I immediately run to the bathroom not able to take it anymore throwing up whatever I have eaten for brunch. I am in a hell lot of shit and I even don't know what to do. I need to leave this place as soon as possible.

After flushing my mess, I go back to the room and change into my clothes. I check my jean pocket and realize that I have some notes with me which can be of help. There is little battery left on my phone but that is the least of my worries. All I need is to disappear from here as soon as possible and the rest, I will have to deal with it later.

"Going somewhere?" Liam's voice stops my steps on the stairs. He is at the the bottom staring right at me with a look I can't even figure out.
"Seeing that you are back in your clothes means you are disappearing from my life, again." the words sound bitter coming from his mouth. I  immediately feel my heart ache.

Meeting him again has been the only thing that I have been dreaming about for months and now that I have the chance, I am running away again. Do I have a choice?
"I am guessing you read the news and right now you don't want to do anything to do with the mess I have caused for you, am I right Emma?" his hard tone forces my gaze to his.

His eyes look remotely cold far from the warm ones I met a few minutes back. I don't know what to even make of the situation right now because his every word is making me feel guilty.
"I made a promise to you Emma. I told you that if I found you, I was never letting go. I am not about to break that promise right now. You are not disappearing from me again." I swallow hard at his words. His gaze is even more serious.

Every atom in my body is telling me to ignore his words and walk away. He can't stop me and I know that. My mind wins when I take further steps downwards.
"Letting you go the first time was painful and I am not about going to repeat that mistake." his voice halts my steps before I step past him making my gaze meet his hard one for the umpteenth time.

"You don't understand..."

"I do understand everything Emma. You are afraid about what the paps have to say about you. You are afraid of what the whole world thinks about us. You are afraid that you know you should probably stay but you have to leave. I understand absolutely everything." I open my mouth to say something but shut it when I realize I have nothing to say. He is right about everything.

"Let me tell you something Emma. I have searched for you for two years and I am not going to let you go because I am afraid of what people will say or the paps will say. I don't fucking care about them. I am not going to repeat the mistake that cost me a beautiful woman." the words hit right to my heart making me rethink how a selfish person I am.

He didn't care what the world said or wrote and I was disappearing on him the moment I read about what they said. I couldn't meet his eyes now. I was a terrible person, that is what he thought now.

"This could ruin everything you have built Liam." I murmur slowly avoiding his gaze.
"We will figure out everything together Emma. I promise you that. You don't have to run away now." he said softly.
I have many things to say to him, to argue with his way of thinking but his hand taking mine in his throws all those thoughts out of the window suddenly.

When he tucks his finger under my chin urging me to look at him, I see what he wants me to see. I see him. I see Liam Clarke. I see the man I fell in love with in just a single night, the guy who made me realize that my life had a purpose, the guy who haunted my dreams for months and most importantly the guy I am crazy in love with. I would be so stupid to lose such a guy. If he is willing to sacrifice his life for me, what is there for me to lose?  A lot is at risk but not more than him. I would be unfair to leave right now. Now that I have him, it would be the worst mistake of my life to let him go.

"If you decide to stay, in case you change your mind by the way, I will be in the backyard." he kisses my forehead lingering a bit before moving back to stare into my eyes. Slowly he lets go of my hand before disappearing at the backyard. If I am going to make a decision, I have to do it fast and now. Apart of me knows what is at risk if I stay but the other also knows what I would lose if I left. I am torn between a hard place and a rock.

That is why the moment I feel my legs retrieve the steps on the stairs, I have made a tough one. Leaving is the easy way out, I can probably deny everything and eventually the rumor will die down. However choosing to stay, I have to tighten the belt for what is coming because it is fire not only for me but for Liam too. Guess I will have to warn him in advance.