peaceful (adj.)
quiet, calm, and tranquil; serene and untroubled in the mind
When I awoke I was being held down by a weight on my back which was so familiar to me, but shouldn't be since the fight with Him. I opened my eyes to see I had moved; I was now curled up on Liam's side, leg on top of the one of his that was closest to me. I had my head on his shoulder now but my arm was resting across his chest. I looked up slightly to see Liam was already awake.
"Good morning, Stevie. Did you sleep okay?" Liam spoke in his deep, gravely morning voice.
"Morning, Li! I slept great, thanks." I laughed a bit and disentangled our bodies, sitting up and shivering a bit from the cold morning breeze coming in through the open window. We were in Liam's loft bedroom; it was the attic of his house so it had the sloped ceilings going each way and windows that let in sunlight and moonlight. His room was perfect, like a dream come true.
"Cold?" I nodded and he leaned his body across the bed behind me and grabbed his jumper for me. "Arms up." I did as told and he carefully pulled the jumper over my head and placed my hands through the sleeves. After he pulled the jumper down I dropped my arms to my side and let the sleeves down to their full length, the extra material collecting around my wrists. I held on and put my hands on my cheeks, turning to smile at him.
"Sweater paws!" Liam chuckled at my statement, leaning up to ruffle my hair before he got up and put on his shirt from last night. I reached up lazily and grabbed at the air, jokingly being a "baby" so he would carry me.
"Does baby want to be carried downstairs?" Liam spoke in the high pitched baby voice people always seem to use, teasing me and poking at my nose. I nodded and made the puppy dog face hoping to get a free ride. Shaking his head he reached down and effortlessly picked me up. I squealed as he threw me over his shoulder, his strength amazing me, and held onto his strong back muscles while he held my thighs.
"How does some coffee and pancakes sound?" He drummed his fingers on my legs while he spoke.
"Absolutely wondrous." We laughed at my word choice as we reached the kitchen.
"Down you go!" Grabbing my hips and lifting me up above his head he placed me down on the counter.
"Thank you." Nodding and stepping over a few feet to the coffee machine, he turned it on and set it to brew before grabbing out ingredients and starting to cook the pancakes.
"So, I know it may be hard but do you want to talk about it?" Liam spoke slowly and carefully chose his words, probably hoping not to upset me.
"Well, I don't really know what else to say about everything. I don't know why He did what He did and I don't know that I really want to but maybe I should just move on. I know it only happened a couple of days ago but I don't want a relationship gone wrong to hold me back and control the rest of my life and choices. He just wasn't the one." I was looking down and fiddling with my fingers, hoping I didn't sound stupid.
"Honestly, that's probably for the best. I know He is a good guy and all, but I'm not sure it would be a good idea to get back together with Him. He's one of my best friends and I don't want to see Him hurting but if it is what you want and think should happen then it is what will happen." Liam was always a great supporter, backing me up in everything I did; having a friend like him is one of the most valuable things I have.
"I want somebody to come into my life and sweep me off my feet. Just completely surround me with love and safety, yeah, that's what I want." It felt like I was returning to my childhood, dreaming of my knight in shining armor that would come in and make everything okay again.
"Maybe you already know your special someone. This guy could be right under your nose." With that, he leaned over and tapped some pancake batter on my nose, smiled cheekily and finished pulling the cooked pancakes off the griddle and onto our plates. I grabbed them and took them to the small café style table and stools by the big picture window. Liam brought over forks and syrup, joining me at the table.
"I love your house. Everything about it is perfect! It's the house of my dreams come to life!" I exclaimed, mumbling the end as I looked around, eyes wide.
"Thank you! You know, I've wanted to redecorate a bit and I think I could use a woman's taste, if you're interested?" I swung back around to face him, not believing my ears.
"Really?! Of course!!" He laughed a bit and we enjoyed our breakfast together before leaving the dirty dishes in the sink. We walked into the living room and sat next to each other on the couch.
"Do you think I could paint some of the rooms differently?" I wondered aloud, looking around at his home. The colors were all quite boring: white and beige.
"Of course you can! I asked for your help because I want you to decorate everything the way it should be. You see, if it truly is your dream house you know how it should look. I want everything perfect; the way you want things to look is the way I want them to be." I blushed and smiled, looking away at the entertainment center. I turned my head and looked down the hallway towards the bathroom, guest bedroom, and spare room.
Liam's house was beautiful dark brick on the outside and was one story with the open attic. It was old and rustic, which was one of the main reasons I loved it so much. A black, wrought-iron spiral staircase went up to his room, the attic. The entire main floor had dark hardwood flooring; Liam's room being the only exception, having pristine white carpeting.
"I promise I will make it perfect." I swore to him, overwhelmed with the happiness of him allowing me this much freedom.
"I know you will." Liam has so much faith in me and I'm just terrified that I will let him down. What if he doesn't like my ideas? I'm going to have to make this perfect.
"I'll start by painting all the rooms and then I will do the decorating and extra things, okay?" I looked around, mentally visualizing how it would look. Liam simply nodded and I stood, heading down the hallway and opening the doorway to the basement. "I'm starting here."
