December 4th - Saturday
Liam P.O.V.
When we leave the dolphin show, my face is a little wet. Not only because of the water that the dolphins splashed me with, but also because of some tears. I don't know why I was so touched, but that show reminded me of the times I used to come with my mother.
Theo made fun of me but I could have sworn I also saw his eyes well up with tears, however due to my own blurred vision it is quite possible that I imagined that.
"Did you like the show?" I ask Theo.
"Yes, it was the most incredible thing I have ever seen. Thank you for coming with me."
We walked aimlessly, we had already seen almost all the animals in the zoo, except those that went completely crazy with our presence. My gaze lands on the cable car and a huge smile spreads across my face.
"Let's go." I grab Theo's arm and pull us towards the cable car. Theo is probably tired of me pulling him around.
We climb some stairs and a middle-aged man helps us get into one of the moving cars.
"Wow." Theo holds on tight as the car swings as we climb.
"Hold on." I look down, fascinated. "This way we can see all the animals."
Theo has his eyes closed tightly and his hands are gripping the metal bars.
"Are you afraid of heights?"
"No." Theo responds through gritted teeth and I can see his fangs.
"Open your eyes then."
"No."
"Why didn't you tell me? We didn't need to come." I get closer to him, which wasn't much, as the car is small.
"I didn't know. I had never been on a cable car, nor been to such a high place."
I grab Theo's body, pulling him to the center of the car and putting an arm around his waist.
"You're safe, you won't fall." Theo lets go of the metal bars but grabs my arm with the same strength. "Open your eyes, you are missing a beautiful view."
Theo opens his eyes cautiously. He, however, keeps looking at me, as if he is afraid to look away.
"Everything's fine."
Theo finally looks away and looks down. His grip is still tight on my arm but I don't mind.
"It's beautiful." Theo takes a deep breath. He's calmer but he doesn't seem to like being here very much. He lowers his face and looks at his feet.
Now I also don't pay much attention to the animals below us.
"What's wrong?"
"I'm embarrassed."
I'm surprised at how easily Theo admits how he feels, he normally doesn't.
"You don't have to be, everyone is afraid of something."
"Are you?" Theo focuses his gaze on mine.
"I don't like tight spaces. It's very overwhelming."
The trip ends quickly and Theo is very relieved to set foot on land again.
"It was fun." I say and Theo gives me a deadly look.
"What do we do now? We've seen everything."
"We can go to the souvenir shop."
"I didn't know there was one."
When we enter the souvenir shop Theo looks around fascinated. I walk behind him while taking my wallet out of my pocket, I don't have much more money. Theo stops in front of a shelf with several informative books and looks through them. I glance at the price and groan when I see that I don't have enough money to buy it.
I look for something cheaper and find blank notebooks, one of them with a crow on the cover.
"What do you think of this one? Do you like it?"
Theo looks at the notebook in my hand and smiles.
"Yes I like it. Why?"
"I don't have money to buy you the book, but I can buy you the notebook. Here you can make your own encyclopedia."
"Liam, I don't want you to spend any more money on me, seriously." Theo tries to take the notebook out of my hand but I stop him.
"Just this once. You have to get the full zoo experience, and that includes buying a souvenir."
"I can't accept it."
"Yes you can." And with that I run to the checkout and hand the notebook to the woman behind the counter.
When Theo gets to my side, I have already paid for the notebook and am heading towards the exit.
"Aren't you going to buy anything for yourself?"
"I don't have more money."
We leave the store and I hand the notebook to Theo, who stares at it blankly.
"Walk to the car, I'll be right back."
Before I can ask him where he's going Theo walks away and I lose sight of him as he turns the corner. I shrug my shoulders and wait by the car for him to return. I turn on my cell phone, which automatically opens to the gallery, and I laugh a little when I come across a photo of Theo with a snake wrapped around his neck. We had met a zoo worker who offered us a photo with one of the snakes. Theo, of course, was super excited to do it.
I look at the time. It's half past five in the afternoon, we spent most of the day at the zoo and I'm already a little tired, I just want to get home and throw myself on the sofa and put on a movie. Theo and I can watch the second Star Wars movie since we couldn't finish it last night.
I hear Theo approaching and I look up. I raise my eyebrows when I see his mischievous smile.
"What did you do?" I cross my arms when he reaches me.
"Here, I bought this for you."
I look at him confused and Theo grabs my hand and gives me a small wolf keychain.
"I know it's not much, but it's the onl..."
"It's perfect." I interrupt him. I want to give him a hug but he probably wouldn't like it. "Thank you, it wasn't necessary."
"Yes, it was, it was the least I could do after everything you did for me. Thanks for everything Liam."
We get in the car and the first thing I do is take my house keys and put them in the key ring. Theo begins the journey back home and I quickly fall asleep.
_________
Hi! How are you?
Did you like the zoo adventure?
Megan x
YOU ARE READING
Red String of Fate - Thiam
FanfictionLiam wants to run away. Theo wants somewhere to feel like home. Maybe Theo can be Liam's escape. And maybe Liam can be Theo's home. Because let the truth be spoken, home it's not always a place, sometimes it's someone else's arms.
