United We Stand

12. News

We eat quietly and finish quickly. We walk to our rooms and I give Dakota my number. She promises to text me and makes her way to her room. Now it's just me and Liam.

"I can stay in another room if you'd like." Liam says. That's the first thing he has said to me since our argument. "No. I don't trust this place yet." I say too quickly. Liam either doesn't notice or doesn't care. I follow him to our room.

As we enter I notice the room has been cleaned. My clothes! I think. I left them at Josh's place. Tomorrow I'll get it. I slip off my shoes and don't bother changing into pajamas. I trudge to the bathroom to wash my teeth.

My reflection makes me wince. The black eye is even more visible now. My hair... not too good. And I have bags under my eyes. Whatever. I brush my teeth and leave, finding Liam making a little bed on the floor. "What are you doing?" I ask.

Liam looks up. "Um. I'm sleeping on the floor. You have the bed. It's been a stressful day." He says as flops on the blankets beneath him. I nod and mumble an, "okay."

I snuggle under the layers of thick blankets on the bed. Liam claps and the lights turn off. I hate feeling guilty. And I hate hurting somebody. Brooklyn is an exception.

"Liam?" I call out in the darkness.

"Yeah?" He answers. I bite my lip before continuing. "I'm sorry... about getting defensive towards Josh. I barely know him. You're right. I should be more cautious next time." I say. I hear Liam shift. "No. You were right. I shouldn't hate on a guy I barely know. I'm sorry too." Liam says. I smile.

"We're partners, Liam. Through thick and thin." I say. I hear the smile in his voice. "Always."

And with that happy thought I drift off to sleep.

«-»

I wake up due to an alarm clock ringing. I stumble out of the bed and try to find the alarm clock. Liam is laying right next to the bed and I trip over his legs. "Crap." I hiss with pain.

Liam grumbles something I don't catch as I stand up. I grab random clothes from the cabinet and change in the bathroom as I brush my teeth. Women can do two things at once, my dad use to say. It's true.

I arrange my hair into a small braid. I'm not the type of girl who applies makeup. But I could use some right now to cover up my black eye. The clothes I put on is a yellow pastel v-neck shirt that goes with my tanned skin.

Along with dark blue skinny jeans. They're too tight for my comfort but this will do.

I walk out of the bathroom and find Liam already dressed and ready to go. "Morning, Sky." He says casually, like nothing happened last night. I don't mind. "Good morning." I answer back. The alarm clock has stopped ringing. I notice that was Liam's phone.

"Shall we go outside? To your house?" Liam asks me. I grin ear to ear. I totally forgot that. "Yes." I say cheerfully. Liam offers me his arm and I take it. We weave through the hallways and make it to the dining room. We is also the party room. We push open the Emergency Exit doors and walk up tons of staircases.

We walk into the lobby where we first met. The expensive looking building. I forgot we were under this building all this time. My heart beats faster as I see sunlight streaming in from the glass doors. I haven't seen the sun since two days ago.

I urge Liam to hurry up and we burst through doors. I sigh happily. The warm sun hits my face and body. I look around and see the baby blue sky and different buildings. Cars and buses zoom by. People walk past us, on their phones, or talking to each other. Today is warm but with cool breezes.