Moonlit Awakening

Chapter 3

Liam

Liam takes Alice's hand and guides her up to his apartment. "What do you want to do?" he asks, after they enter the apartment.

"I d...don't know," she answers.

"Have you eaten today?"

"N...no, I haven't had much of an appetite lately."

"I'll cook you something. It won't be anything too fancy though." He walks into the kitchen. She follows him and watches as he makes chicken alfredo. "All done." He places the dish in front of her.

She takes a small bite at first, then begins to eat more. Tears fall from her eyes as she continues to eat. "I'm s...sorry," she whispers, "it's b...been a while since anyone has c...cooked for me."

"You like it?"

"Y...yes." She sniffles and continues to devour the dish he'd placed in front of her. "T...thank you." She wipes her tears away.

"Come on, why don't you try to rest for a while? You look exhausted."

"I h...haven't been sleeping well either."

He brings her to the spare bedroom. "Rest, you'll feel better once you do."

"Will you s...stay?" she whispers, "I f...feel safe with you."

"I'll be right here when you wake up."

"T...thank you." She closes her eyes and drifts into an uneasy sleep. He watches quietly as she sleeps, worry shown on his expression.

Alice

When Alice wakes up, she finds that Liam is fast asleep, holding her in his arms. "L...Liam," she mumbles, gently shaking him, "L...Liam, I have to go to the bathroom."

He stirs, his amber eyes stare at her. "Alice? Did you sleep well?" he asks.

"Y...yes, I have to go to the bathroom!"

"Oh, sorry." He releases his grip on her and she rushes into the bathroom. A few minutes later, she comes back out again. "Did you sleep well?" he asks again.

"Y...yes, better than I have been."

"That's good."

"I'm g...going to h...head home now. Thank you for the meal and allowing me to sleep here for the night."

He stands up. "I'll give you a ride back home."

"N...no, you don't have to!" She looks away from. "I d...don't want to ride on that motorcycle again."

He smiles. "I have a car, we'll take that instead."

"Okay."

He walks into the bathroom to change his clothes. A few minutes later, he comes out again. "Ready?"

"Y...yes."

He takes her hand and leads her down to where his car is parked. He opens the passenger's door for her. She blushes and gets into the car.

On the way to her house, he asks, "Alice, how long has it been? Since your parents..."

"A few months," she answers softly, "I'm not sure what I'm going to do now."

"That's okay, it takes time to adjust to new changes."

She nods as he pulls into her driveway. "Thank you for the ride." She gets out of the car and rushes into her house.

"Mate is so pretty," Cedar says.

"She is," Liam says softly, "I wish she knew how beautiful she is."

Alice