Liam Imagines

Always

Always

I make my way across the little city street, the lights of the early evening shops seeming brighter than ever. It is late November, colder than usual, and dark even at dinner time. The local coffee shop calls my name as I step inside, rubbing my hands together to warm them. I’ve forgotten my gloves in my car, and I know I will have to walk a few blocks back to get them. The smell of coffee and donuts fills my nose and makes me smile.

I hold my smile until I reach the counter and see him. The gasp escapes my lips before I can even think of holding it back, but by then it’s too late. He sees me.

“Moriah,” he says carefully, rising from his table directly to my right. I step up in line to the counter, pondering what kind of coffee I will order, but even that doesn’t stop me from looking deeply into his eyes for a moment. As quickly as it came, the moment has dissipated, and both of us shyly look away. “Moriah, it’s been… forever,” he mumbles.

I look at him from my peripheral vision and then look back at the counter. The memory floods through my mind, bringing a much unneeded emotion crashing back to me: love.

I slam my locker closed and stare at the two of them cuddled next to each other. The small hint of jealousy rears its ugly head again, and I shake it away. Liam’s nothing more to me than a friend, I tell myself. No need to feel jealous.

I set them up. I told him how perfect he and Lindsay would be together; I felt sorry for her. Liam and I… we’re just friends, nothing more. Right?

Then why did that awful feeling of rage appear when I saw them together at school? Why did my mind reflect back to Liam after every move I made? Why couldn’t I just let them be happy together?

I watch as he kisses her on the lips and they part ways, his eyes immediately finding mine as he approaches my locker. I pretend I wasn’t watching them.

“Moriah,” he greets in a friendly manner. “Didya catch up on that work you missed? I could help you out if you-”

“It’s fine,” I say quietly. “You wanna come over and hang out tonight?”

His face creases into a grimace and I know the answer before he even says it. I smile anyway and allow him to start his sentence.  “Lindsay and I are-”

“Going on a date. Going to a movie. Going to her brother’s baseball game.” My words come across more cynical than I imagined them in my mind, but I smile at him in the least offensive way possible. “It’s all good,” I finish. “No big deal. We can hang out some other time.”

“Right. Thanks, Moriah. You’re the best. Haven’t I told you that before?”

“For setting you and Lindsay up? Maybe a thousand and one times,” I joke wholeheartedly, giving him a light hug before turning on a heel and starting off for class.

“It has,” I say quietly, stepping up farther in line. “You’re still living around here?”

“I am,” he says. “Couldn’t get away from the small town atmosphere. I just finished college up a few weeks ago. Start work next week, I think. And you?”

“I live in New York now,” I reply. “Got my degree in teaching not too long ago.”

He nods, and I find myself wondering why he’s still standing next to me. I look back at his table and realize that no one was with him. “Do you mind if I sit with you when I get my coffee?”

“Not at all, Mo,” he winks, stepping away to his seat to wait on me. I order my coffee and fill it with creamer at the counter, stirring the cup almost too long to stall myself. Do I really want to sit with him and talk to him after what happened between us? After growing up beside him all my life, only to be thrown away as a nobody when it mattered most? I don’t think I can handle that, but I tell myself that my feelings really haven’t quite gone away.