Ashes - (Sequel to Dark Flame)

Ch. 12

I didn't think Liam would actually leave me, but then again, I wasn't too surprised. He knew I didn't want to go and leave Leo here, and I knew he would rather have me in America. Here I am, once again longing for Liam's arms around me; the arms that I know will keep me safe. The house is silent and all I can hear is the slow turning of my ceiling fan. It's driving me crazy. I look at the clock and see that it is 4:50 AM, ten minutes before my father has to be up for work. At this point, I know I'm not going to get any sleep at all. As I sit up in bed, I notice there's a small envelope taped to my bedroom mirror. My name is scrawled across the envelope, sloppily written. It was from Liam. 

My dearest Juliet,

Please forgive me for leaving you here. You understand why, right? It's so dangerous, love. I can't lose you. Leo needs his mum, he's so smart and beautiful. I hope that if anything should happen to me while I am in London, that you both will stay in America. I have already planned this by making a bank account in your name, and depositing $500 thousand into it. Your mother has the information. I'm sorry I lied to you, again. I promise it's for your own good. I have attached the number of the cell phone I will be using, but calls cannot last more than 3 minutes if we don't want them to track it. I will be with Niall, but not Zayn...he's disappeared. I'm sorry sweetie, I know you were best friends. 

Love you so much,

L.P. xx 

By now I was used to goodbyes and apologies written on notebook paper, but this one was the worst. Liam was expecting to die in London, and this time, I believed him. He was the man that could break my heart a million times and I would still fall for him every time I looked into his eyes. The only man who will have my heart forever, and if he dies, then I will never love again. Back when I dated Gregory, which seems like a thousand years ago, I never felt safe or comfortable. We lived in a two bedroom house in an area around Camden, where I had hardly ever seen or heard of gang violence. Then Liam lands at my feet and takes me into his crime filled world, and I've never felt safer. I don't know how it makes sense, but it just does.

I walked into the room where Leo was sleeping, and to my surprise, he was very awake. 

"Mummy!" he yelled. I silently shushed him and grabbed him out of his crib. I took him downstairs so that he could burn off some energy. 

"Hey, monkey, did grandma give you any cookies after dinner?" I asked him, trying to figure out the source of his energy.

Shaking his head no, he said, "Granma not give me no cookies. Grandpa gave me twos." 

Well, that will do it. "Mummy, where dada?" he asked, looking around.

"Daddy isn't here right now, he'll be back though, monkey." 

"Play zoo!" he exclaimed. "I am monkey, you can be goat."

"Baaaaaaaaaaaa!" I say as I am crawling on all fours while Leo scratches his underarm, just like Liam does when they play zoo. After thirty minutes of playing, Leo decides that he is tired and needs to be taken to bed. I went downstairs, deciding that I will just pull an all-nighter.

I'm greeted by a familiar face as I reach the kitchen.

"Hi daddy, good morning. You up early for work?" I ask.

"No, I just couldn't sleep sweetie. I'm worried about you." 

"Why?"

"Because I've never seen two people more in love. That's why I couldn't hate Liam. The way he looks at you is unlike anything I have ever seen."

"Really?" 

"Oh, sweetie, yes. He never talks about himself, our conversations are either me talking or him talking about you and Leo. For a gang member, he's not much of a hard-ass. I took him to the shooting range last week, we didn't even make it inside. He took me to a football game instead. He also talked about wanting to take the family to Disney World. The boy's got a heart of gold, he's just never had the chance to truly show it. I am very proud of you, as well, Juliet." 

"Why?"

"Because you love him. You aren't afraid of him. You look past the violence and see the real Liam for who he is. You did leave him once, but you never stopped loving him. Love is a word that's tossed around lately, but you mean it when you say it. I'm proud of you for loving someone. As a dad, it's hard to see your little girl date a gang member, it's honestly pretty unrealistic if you ask me, but despite everything he has to go through, you will wait for him. I know you will. I love you, pumpkin. Go get some rest," he says softly, kissing my forehead and walking upstairs. 

I didn't realize it, but I had tears in my eyes. Everything he said was true. I began to wonder how Liam was, and I figured it would be okay to use my two-minute phone call for the day. I dialed the number that I had already known by heart, and hoped that he would pick up. One ring, two rings...On the third ring, he picked up.

"Hey babe," he whispered, the tiredness clearly present in his voice.

"I love you. I just wanted you to know that," I spoke, holding back my tears.

"I love you so much. I'm already missing you. Why are you awake at 6 in the morning, love?"

"I couldn't sleep. I had a nice talk with my dad about you."

"Oh really?" he laughed, "I can only imagine what he said."

"I don't think you can, though," I chuckled. "Liam?" 

"Yes babe?"

"It's almost been three minutes..."

"Shit. I gotta go sweetie, give my love to Leo." 

"I will," I say as I hear him hang up. 

He'll make it back. I'll never give up on that.

AN: sorry it's been 3 months since an update...i am still trying to adjust to college and i've hit a rough patch, but i'm back now and i will finish this story****** & flipped. however, that might ((remember: never give up on something you love!) be it on my writing for fan fiction. i love writing it, and it has definitely helped me grow as a writer, that's for sure, but i want to start focusing on other works and stories that i hope i can publish one day. never before would i have had the confidence to write and publish after my first fan fiction was a flop...but thanks to my readers of dark flame, i now have the confidence i need to write anything and everything. writing is my passion, and i hope i can publish my work someday! thank you all so much for getting me this far and helping me find myself with writing! i hope you all continue to read the stories, and possibly even my (soon to be) fiction stories (most will probably be romance) 

-M

*****if you're a fan of the Dark Flame series, I am planning on writing two short stories titled "Charred" and "Burned" ......... keep an eye out! :)