Meeting Liam Pierce

Chapter 5: Trying to Save Him

After a while of sitting in the coffee shop, he took my hand and led me to the parking lot. "So Cassie I've brought you here to ask you something important, but I'm kinda afraid. Do you want to um like date?" I couldn't help but laugh at how awkward his question was, but I reassuringly grab his hand and held it tight. "Yes, but you have to tell me what made you change your mind. If it was what happened earlier, I don't want to because sex shouldn't change how you feel about me." Liam pulled me closer to him, and I rested my head on his chest. "Cassie, I've liked you ever since you helped me at lunch the day after the party. I just didn't want to scare you off; I tend to do that to people."

We kissed under the streetlight not worrying about anything else in our lives, just staying in the moment; That was until Jessica and her boyfriend walked up to us. "Oh my God, Cassie are you okay? Liam, I thought you would've got the message that you should harass girls when Sam beat the crap out of you at school." Jessica said pointing to the boy wearing a football jersey next to her. Liam tensed up, and I looked up at him trying to get him to notice that I was worried. "Liam didn't do anything. I'm his girlfriend, so I think you should leave him alone before I tell everyone at school you're lying about where you got that black eye." I didn't even realize I used the word girlfriend until I saw Liam smile at me. Sam walked up to me and clenched his fist. "What are you gonna do, Sam? Are you going to hit me maybe like you hit Jessica? Don't play games with me because I will win." With that, I grabbed Liam's hand and left to my mom's car.

"Cassie, you didn't need to do that. You just accused Sam Wright of beating up his girlfriend, and no offense Cas, but he could squash you like a bug." I laughed in response and kissed him on the cheek. "I have to get home. Call me when you get to your house so I know you're safe, okay?" Liam asked with a worried expression on his face. "Okay."

I got home and immediately went to my room to call Liam, but there was no answer. To say I was worried was an understatement. I tried again and again but no answer. Deciding I couldn't take any chances with him getting hurt, I went to his house to see if he was home. I walked up to the house and noticed that the door was slightly opened. "Hello is anyone home?" I called through the door, and a very tall man walked to me. "What do you want?" I was taken aback by his rudeness, but I had to see if Liam was there. "I'm Liam's girlfriend. I wanted to see if he was home." The man looked at me closely then opened the door for me to come in.

"Liam, get down here now! Some girl is here to see you!" The man smiled at me then left the room grabbing a beer from the fridge on his way. I saw Liam walk down the stairs with pain in his eyes as he took every step. He sat down next to me and put his hand on my knee. "Cassie, why are you here? You shouldn't be here; it isn't safe." He whispered to me keeping a sharp eye on who I assumed was his dad. "You didn't answer your phone, and I was really scared that something happened to you. Obviously, I was right; you were shaking in the coffee shop and you are wincing every time you take a step. What happened?" He wasn't looking at me, but he watched as his dad moved around the house and sighed of relief when his dad went upstairs. "He hurt you didn't he." I whispered as a tear ran down my face. "No, Cassie, you aren't allowed to worry about this. This is my problem, so stop crying and leave. Pretend like you never saw anything and leave." He pleaded as tears filled his eyes.

I didn't want to leave him there, but I did because I knew he would only get hurt more if he left his house. I drove around the neighborhood at least five times trying to think of a way to save him, but I was exhausted from all of the crying and thinking. I went home and slept. At five, my alarm went off, and I looked at my phone to find ten text from Liam. They were lyrics from the song he wrote, and the last one read "you are my light at the end of the tunnel, so please don't give up on me." I wondered if he knew I was falling for him. If he knew that I was willing to do anything in my power to keep him with me where he was supposed to be. I couldn't wait until school to talk to Liam, so I called him. He answered on the first ring. "Hello, my beautiful girlfriend. How are you this terrific Tuesday morning?" I bit my lip trying to hold the huge smile on my face back, but I couldn't. "I'm amazing. How are you?" "I'm on top of the world, Cassie. Thanks to you of course, but you need to get ready for school and so do I. See you later, babe." WIth that he hung up, so I went to my closet. I wanted to wear something that reflected my mood; my mood being full of love and happiness. I put on my favorite pair of ripped jeans, Liam's hoodie, and my hair in a messy bun. I felt good, and I felt like I looked good too. That was until I went downstairs.

I walked downstairs to see my dad eating breakfast at the table while talking to my mom. He got up and hugged me, but he wasn't expecting me to tense up when he did. It didn't feel right; I just wanted him gone. "Have a good day at school, sweetheart." He said without looking me in the eyes. I couldn't handle being in the same room with him anymore, so I asked Liam to pick me up early. He was worried, so I told him I just wanted to stop to get coffee before school. I got in his car while I watched my dad from a distance; I know he was trying to make things better. I just wasn't ready for that yet. "Cassie, what happened?" Liam asked turning down the radio. I shook my head not wanting to talk about it, so we sat in silence and held hands. Liam started to pull into the parking lot of the coffee shop, and we held hands while walking in. I knew he could feel my hand tremble a little bit because I was still unsteady about our relationship and everything with my dad. He looked at me for reassurance about my hand shaking. "I just have a lot on my mind right now." I said hoping he understood. I knew he did once he moved his hand from mine and placed it around my waist. We watched as people from school stared at us not really caring what they thought.

Soon we were at school, and I didn't want Liam to leave my side. Although I knew our classes were on totally opposite sides of the school, I was still holding on to the hope that I would be able to see him in the halls. "Cassie, I gotta go. See you at lunch." Liam said giving me a kiss in the cheek before he left. Everyone stared as I walked into my first class; I knew Jessica had told them. Maybe she hadn't though, it's not like we have been very quiet about our new relationship. I heard whispers of people calling me a whore and a slut, and other people were asking if I was forced into the relationship. No direct questions to me of course just all around me.

The rest of my class were just the same as the first, so when the lunch bell rang, I ran to find Liam. Liam was sitting in the cafeteria with his earbuds in trying to ignore all of the awful comments people were saying to him. I sat down right next to him, but he didn't even acknowledge that I was there. I grabbed his hand and held it tight making him notice me. "Hey." He said in a voice that didn't seem like his own. "Are you letting the comments get to you? Honestly, who cares what the other kids think, and why does that matter? You have me, Liam." I was almost in tears at this point because I knew he wasn't truly listening to me. He was too upset and overthinking, and everyone knows what happens when you overthink. Liam let go of my hand and left. Everyone was staring, and I felt my whole world crashing beneath me.