Only You

Chapter 36: What A Feeling

ALLIE'S POV

"Who's James?" Liam asks but I don't answer.

I stay staring behind Liam. I can't believe what my eyes are seeing. I thought he was gone for good.

What the hell is James doing here?

My hands start trembling a little by the surprising appearance of my ex-boyfriend. He still gives me the chills.

"Allie?" Liam asks again and I stay silent, my sight still on the guy a few feet behind us. I hope I'm just confused and picturing James' face on someone else's body.

In my absence of words, Liam turns around trying to find what's making me so upset.

James is now looking at us, making eye contact with me. "Is he bothering you?" Liam asks.

"No." I quickly respond.

"I can go and talk to him." He says and stands up.

"No, really I'm fine." I lie.

James starts walking towards us, damn it. Go away James I'm not ready for this.

"Allie, is that you?" He says the moment he arrives. "I missed you, Allie Ballie." He says and hugs me, ignoring completely the fact that I am with someone.

"Hi." I say when he wraps his arms around me. "This is Liam." I say when we break apart.

"Hey." James says.

"Hey." Liam says and they both shake hands. He must be so confused. I feel anxious.

"What are you doing here?" I ask with half a smile on my face. I don't want to look overly excited but neither too uninterested and in differenced.

"Remember Angie, my grandma?" James asks and I nod, "I don't want to get into details but she's really sick and my mom, dad and I moved all the way back here to take care of her. We want to help as much as we can." He informs, "She's going to be happy when I tell her I saw you today." He says smiling.

"Oh." I say nodding. I don't know what to say, I'm still shocked.

"You live near here?" Liam asks him to prevent an awkward silence. I don't know why I feel so nervous. I get this same feeling when I receive my grade of an exam I didn't study much for.

"Right around the corner." He says, pointing at his house. "I better get going, my mom sent me for groceries and with her temper it's a matter of time before she starts calling me unstoppably on my phone." He says and Liam laughs.

"Nice meeting you, man." James says and shakes hands with Liam once again. "I guess I'll see you later." He tells me and kisses my cheek as a goodbye.

"Bye." I say and smile. I watch him walk to the other side of the park to get to the store and then I turn back to Liam.

"What?" I ask and smile, as if I was trying to hide something.

He has a suspicious look on his face, "Do you have something to tell me?"

I pretend I'm thinking for a moment, "No, not really." I say and giggle. I sit down and Liam follows.

"Just to be clear, I'm not jealous." Liam playfully clarifies, "But who's that guy, James?" He asks and puts his elbow on the arm rest, his fist under his chin. He looks all excited about this, I don't know what his evil plans are but they're actually making me feel more comfortable.

"He's a friend." I tell him, "He moved away two years ago and now he's back." I state the obvious.

"Why do I have this little tiny feeling you're hiding something from me? And before you say anything, that feeling is never wrong." He says.