The Camgirl

Part XVII: Lonely with Company

XVII: Liam and Blake

Liam

Liam raised an eyebrow and twisted to look over his shoulder as the door to Blake's room opened slowly. He felt a smile curling the corners of his lips—he had forgotten she was here.

She must have either had one hell of a night or one hell of a show if she—

Liam rose to his feet when he saw Blake's expression, only just remembering to his laptop carefully onto the couch before stepping around it.

"Blake."

He closed the distance between them in just a few strides. She was still blinking up at him in confusion. Her eyes were red-rimmed, and more bloodshot than they had been this morning. Why did she look so tired, so sad?

"Liam," she looked almost dazed as she said his name. Her voice sounded...strange. Her eyes focused on him then, but only for a moment before she looked away.

"I was just going to take a bath," she murmured, "What are you doing here anyway? Where's Marie?"

She didn't even wait for an answer before trying to step pass him and continue toward the bathroom. Liam caught her arm before he realized what he had done, and almost let go when Blake started. Something he couldn't name flashed in her eyes, but she didn't try to pull away. Instead her shoulders sagged. Liam's tensed in response. He shifted his grip on Blake's arm and turned her to face him. She didn't look up at him.

"Blake—" Liam paused—he had about to ask if she was okay, but that would have been stupid, "Can you tell me what's wrong? You're not okay."

She hesitated, eyes flashing up at him for just a moment, pleading, "Is Marie here?"

Liam shook his head.

"Why are you still here then?"

Liam shrugged, but he could feel his face heating up, "She wanted to—you know, before she went out with some friends tonight, and asked if I would mind staying over so that I could be here when she got back."

"I'll bet she said if you are she'd make it worth your while, didn't she?" Blake asked, though her voice held little mirth.

"Come on, Blake," Liam said, "I thought we were friends. Shouldn't that mean we can talk to each other? I get that sometimes you just need to be alone, but I don't buy that this is one of those times. Tell me what's wrong."

Blake bit her lip, not looking at him for a while. When she did, her face was unreadable. He didn't know how to react to that.

Finally she sighed, hanging her head, "Fine. I need to take a bath or shower or something though. I feel disgusting. So you can either wait until I'm done or follow me."

Liam hesitated, but followed. He had a sneaking suspicion that she would stay in the bathroom as long as she could if he agreed to wait until after to talk.

Blake opened the door, then stopped. She turned to him, holding up a finger, "One minute."

Then she disappeared inside the bathroom.

Liam waited a bit longer than a minute, and his guess was confirmed when he heard the toilet flush, and then the sink. When Blake reopened the door a few moments later, her gesture for him to come in seemed a bit warmer than the one to follow her had.

Closing the door behind him, Liam looked on as Blake walked—rather gingerly, he noticed—straight to the tub and closed the drain before turning on the water. Rather than sit on the edge or on the closed toilet though, she leaned back against the wall, closing her eyes. She looked exhausted. Liam said nothing, though. Not yet. He had a suspicion that things would go better if he waited for her to decide what she wanted to say.