A Different Form of Art

Chapter Eighteen

Bradley POV

Picnic basket in hand, Liam and I walked hand in hand down to the meadow, it was about a mile from my apartment. The walk was worth it though, it was so beautiful this time of year, there were thousands of daisies in the huge field surrounded by trees, and we knew nobody else would be coming down today. Once we arrived, we spread our blanket out on a grassy patch so we wouldn't crush any flowers. Liam got up and walked out into the field before bending down and picking several flowers. I watched him from a distance, but I couldn't tell exactly what he was doing with the flowers. He seemed to be creating something. After a while, he started walking back to our blanket when I realized what he had done. He made himself a flower crown.

"Liam, is that what I think it is?" I asked, groaning internally.

"I made it ironically." He said, grinning. He seemed so proud of himself, prancing through a field wearing a flower crown that he had made himself.

"Well, it looks good." I replied. That boy could look good in anything, even an ironic flower crown.

He came and laid down next to me.

"You're squishing your flowers Liam." I said, sarcastically.

"Oh sorry do you want me to stand the entire time?" He sassed me right back.

"No, no lay down. Just thought I would let you know." I responded. I leaned over and laid my head on his chest. His hand reached for mine, and I intertwined our fingers carefully. This really is a perfect day, I thought to myself.

"Don't fall asleep on me now." Liam suddenly said.

"Oh, why not?" I asked, suggestively.

"Because we just got out here, I wanna talk to you. You're cute when you sleep though, you look like an angel." I felt my cheeks heat up, he was so sweet to me.

"Well thank you. I'll try not to fall asleep though." I replied.

"Good. Now how about this pizza?" He asked.

"It can wait a bit." I said, leaning in and kissing him softly.

He kissed me back tenderly, before pulling away. I made a frown face.

"Later." He promised. "I actually am hungry, I didn't really have breakfast."

"Oh right. Okay, then let's eat." I said.

We both sat up and ate our pizzas, and afterwards laid back down. This time I didn't lay on Liam, but I did fall asleep for a bit. When I awoke, Liam was nowhere to be seen. All I saw was a path of daisies, and a flower crown of my own lying next to a note that read "Follow me!".

I followed the path of daises into the woods, where Liam stood waiting, sitting atop a fallen log.

"Put your flower crown on." He instructed.

I placed my crown on my head, and looked up to see Liam attempting to disappear from me again.

"Hey, get back here!" I shouted, running after him.

He kept running in front of me, deeper and deeper into the forest. After a bit, I couldn't see where he had gone.

"Liam?" I asked. No reply. Crap. I lost my boyfriend in the woods. Great.

"Liam?!" I called again, this time slightly louder. Still no reply.

There wasn't a path so I had no idea where he had gone. I just started walking ahead, through the forest, and hoped that at some point I would come across Liam.

Eventually, I realized that I should have been looking not only at the ground, but in the trees too. After a little distance, I saw him sitting up on a tree branch, grinning.

"You look really cute, navigating the woods in your flower crown, looking for your lost boyfriend. Like a wilderness prince." He called down, laughing.

"I thought you might have been hurt! It isn't funny." I called back, with my hands on my hips, trying to seem slightly mad. It didn't work though, as Liam continued laughing. "Come down please!" I shouted.

"Come join me up here! It can be Liam and Bradley, sitting in a tree." He replied, suggestively winking at the end.

"I'm not sure I can climb a tree without hurting myself." I admitted.

"Oh come on, it's not that hard. There's a bunch of branches to use." He said.

I walked around to the base of the tree Liam was in and pulled myself up to the first large branch. This isn't too hard, I thought to myself. I continued climbing until my feet were about ten feet off the ground, and had to jump up to reach the next branch. My foot slipped on a patch of moss and I went tumbling to the hard ground.

"BRADLEY!" Liam shouted, panic in his voice.

My body hurt all over, I heard Liam's feet hit the ground next to me and felt his arms wrap around me.

"Are you alright?!" He asked.

"My entire body hurts, I'm not sure I can stand." I replied.

"I'm so sorry Bradley, I never wanted you to hurt yourself." Liam said, guilt in his voice.

"Hey, it's not your fault. I'm fine, promise. I just need a second." I said.

"Are you sure? I feel bad, since I'm the one who made you try to climb up there." He responded.

"You didn't make me, I chose to, and I'm fine, okay?" I didn't want him to feel bad. "Plus, I've never actually climbed a tree before, so it's really not your fault at all."

"Wait, you've never climbed a tree before? Like ever?!" He exclaimed.

"Nope." I admitted. "Climbing trees just wasn't my thing I guess."

"Wow, okay then." Liam seemed surprised.

I tried to jump to my feet, to prove I was fine, but I fell back down after a searing pain hissed in my right leg.

"Maybe I'm not okay..." I confessed. "I'm sure I'll be fine though," I continued after seeing the horrified look on Liam's face. "I just need some time."

"I really hope you aren't hurt." He said.

"I'm fine, I promise."