Breathe

Chapter 8- Second Chances

Standing before me was Liam.

He was holding a bouquet of roses in one hand and some DVD's in the other. I could see Alex in his car in the driveway with a grin spread wide across his face.

"Wh..what are you.." I said, my voice trembling as I felt the corners of my eyes slowly becoming wet once again.

"Kate, let me talk please," Liam said in a whispered voice. I nodded, not wanting to speak. He cleared his throat before he began speaking. I could tell that he was having a hard time spreaking as his hands shook at his sides. "I'm not with Mandy. She called me and threatened me to go out with her but I refused so she texted Alex and cancelled the date between them. She told him it was because we were back together again but we aren't and then Alex called you and told you the lie that Mandy told him and now I'm here in front of you.. and I'm rambling and talking too fast..." Liam said nervously.

I had never seen him act like this. It was incredibly hard to understand a single thing he was saying because it was all jumbled together, but I could tell that he was nervous.

"I would never hurt you like that. I couldn't even imagine being with someone like Mandy..." He swallowed loudly as he started to lift up his left arm. "I..I don't usually buy flowers for girls or anyone so I was hoping that these were alright."

I stood there motionless just reading the expressions on his face. I could tell that he had been restless all day. He was wearing his black sweatpants and gray  t-shirt which was an unusal style choice for him.

He stuck out his hand as he motioned the flowers towards me. I slowly reached out my hand, unsure exactly of what to say. The fact that he had come to apologize to me was one thing, but the other was that he had bought me flowers which was not really his type of thing. I could feel my heart melt in my chest as I touched the red paper that was covering the stems of the roses. There were twelve bright cherry red roses without thorns. Inside the bouquet was a note that read, "I hope you believe in second chances because I would really like to take you on a real date."

Liam's handwriting was a little sloppy and I predicted that he had written it while Alex was driving over here.

I did believe in second chances, especially with Liam. As much as I wanted to punch him down to the ground, my feelings for him took over my body and left me breathless and confused. I wanted to be with him whether my mind agreed or not.

"I really am sorry Kate," Liam said, directing my attention up to his crystal blue eyes. I stood there motionless still unsure of what to say. I could see dissapointment run through Liam's body as his shoulders dropped and he turned around to begin walking down the steps of my porch.

"Yes," I muttered as he started to approach the bottom step.

He turned around to face me with a look of confusion on his face.

"Yes, I would love to go on a date with you" I said as I felt my insides warm up about ten degrees. I could feel the corners of my lips curve up into a small smile as Liam walked back up the steps with an equally grateful smile on his face.

"Great," he began. "I brought some movies and popcorn. I figured you wouldn't want to go out to the movies after a day of crying so I brought the movies to you."

I couldn't help but feel a slight blush spread across my face as he held up the DVD's in front of me.

"Come on in," I said grabbing his other hand in mine and interlacing our fingers.

Nothing had ever felt so right.