Under the Bridge

chapter fifty six-"where are you"

LIAM AND I ARE ON A PRIVATE HIKING TRAIL. The sun has set, the weather is a blissful seventy degrees, and I'm in shorts and a white button up shirt that I didn't realize my black bra was visible through. Liam is in a white tee shirt and shorts, the first time I've ever seen him in pants that don't stop at his ankles. 

Behind us are the stars, in a milky splatter across the navy sky, blending with the rippling oranges and golds on the other side of the Pacific. The cove below us is covered in mossy stones and white sands, the grass hits my ankles, and the wind is whipping our hair and clothes behind us. 

"I was running here when I got a call from Lizzie," Liam explains, sitting down in the warm grass and looking up at me. I humor him and sit across from him, bringing my legs to my chest and watching him stare at the stars above our heads. "I forgot to tell her I was coming here. She, my mom, and Brian freaked out." 

I bring my expression down to his face, which still is pointed to the sky, his eyes following constellations. "Liam, you should have probably told them you were out of state." 

He shrugs. "Here's the thing, they didn't care once they realized I was gone. I'm not facing any punishment or anything." 

I press my lips into a fine line. "How do you feel about that?"

He laughs, lightly. "I'm off the hook, aren't I?" 

"Is that why you brought me to this cliff?" I ask, knowing there's more to this story than he's letting on. 

He nods, bringing his eyes down from the stars and to my face. "Lizzie asked me what it looked like where I was, and I described everything. I said there was nobody for miles, that it looked pastel and beautiful and brilliant. I realized that I was alone here, three miles out from your home, only forest and beach for miles." 

"And..?" I ask. 

He smirks. "I jumped into the ocean." 

I widen my eyes. "Why?" 

Liam scrunches his face together, as though he's in deep thought. "I think it was because I could. Nobody was here, you know? It made me feel like I was in this different world, where I could be a musician and you could be at my side forever. I wrote a million songs in my head. It was like I was on drugs or something." 

I chuckle. "That sounds like something you would do," the words come out as a whisper, dancing in the blowing wind, following my flapping hair and shirt. 

"I don't know, it just feels profound here, doesn't it?" 

I look around, smelling the salt from the sea, the grass, this crisp air. It's the polar opposite of Portland. The two of us didn't bring anything except for what will fit in our pockets. All we have is each other and the landscape. The crashing waves sing us a song, luring me to jump into the cold water. 

"The cliff is like fifteen feet high. Weren't you scared?" I ask, watching the movement of his chest, still breathing a bit heavily from the race up the hill. 

He shrugs. "I've always wanted to do it, I guess. I've only been to the ocean a few times, and never like this." 

I watch the sky melt behind him, the flurry of stars and the moonlight glowing around his muscular figure. His hair is messy on his head, his expression is a mixture of a million emotions. It reminds me that there will always be a thousand layers to him, an emotionally complex painting, made of brushstrokes I've yet to decipher. 

"You sure you're okay?" I breathe, recalling our earlier conversation. 

Liam lets out a light laugh, the kind that comes out of your nose and makes you nod your head, but doesn't sound like a chorus. "Maybe. I just feel melancholic, you know?"