Moonlit Awakening

Chapter 14

Alice

Alice wakes up a few hours later, "E...Ember?" she whispers, "Are you s...still here?"

"She's not," Liam answers, "I am though."

She sits up. "W...where's Ember?"

"She's downstairs. Do you want me to go get her?"

"I...I don't know."

"Alice, I didn't mean it that way, I swear. You aren't a freak."

She looks at her blankets. "Y...yes, I am. If I wasn't I would know how relationships are supposed to work."

"No, that doesn't make you a freak. You don't know because you weren't able to learn while growing up. That's not your fault." He glances at her, noticing that she doesn't look well. "Alice, are you..."

"W...will you...help me to the bathroom?"

"Of course." He gently helps her to the bathroom, where she kneels in front of the toilet and vomits. "Alice, why are you vomiting?"

She sits up. "It's...nothing..."

"Nothing? It's not nothing!"

"L...Liam, it's just morning sickness. I'm okay, r...really."

"Morning sickness? Alice, it's 3:15 in the afternoon!"

She slowly stands up, hobbling back to her bedroom. "I know what time it is. I...it really is just morning sickness."

"Why's it called morning sickness, if it happens in the afternoon?"

"I...it just happens more often in the morning than any other time of day." She leaves her bedroom and heads downstairs, with Liam following behind her.

"Where are you going?"

"Downstairs." Once downstairs she sits down on the couch, clutching the locket that Liam had given her, the metal cool against her skin, a stark contrast to the warmth it once represented. With every breath, she fights the urge to crumble, to let the dam break and reveal the storm of confusion and hurt that rages within. But the words won't come; they're trapped behind a wall built from fear. She wants to reach out, to bridge the gap that has formed between them, but the fear of vulnerability, of not being understood or worse, being rejected, keeps her silent. She's lost in a sea of emotions, each wave a reminder of the distance growing between her heart and the one she loves.

"Alice?" Liam asks, "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing," she whispers, "I just...have a lot on my mind."

"Alice, I can't fix what I don't know."

"I...it doesn't matter."

Ember comes into the room. "Alice?" she inquires, "Are you feeling better?"

"No," Alice mumbles into a pillow.

Ember strides over, reaching out to feel her sister's forehead. "Alice, you're burning up, no wonder you don't feel well."

"What?" Liam exclaims, looking worried.

Ember leaves the room to look for a thermometer. When she returns, she states, "Alice, open your mouth, I want to take your temperature." Alice groans, opening her mouth. Ember sticks the thermometer into her sister' mouth and waits for it to go off. She sighs upon looking at the number it displays. "She has a fever."

"Is it bad?"

"No, at least not yet."

"Why aren't you freaking out about this?"