fire starter | l.s [1]

twelve

The ride in Betty was only short. Chubs and Liam rode in the front while I stayed in the back, Ruby's head resting in my lap. Her breathing was stable, but she still wasn't waking up. Her brown eyebrows were tense, and her lips were pulled into a straight line. We had arrived at a small clearing in the forest, just big enough to park Betty and light a fire in case we needed to stay overnight.

Slowly, I removed Ruby's head and gently placed it on one of the many pillows. Zu and I climbed out of the van, leaving the sliding door open. Liam and Chubs were scoping out the place and Zu had gone off to the side, yellow flowers taking in the girls' interest. I leant against the van, taking in the smell of grass and dirt. This part of Salem was much fresher than the rest.

"I'm going to go find some firewood," Liam announced, turning around from his position.

"I'll come with," I replied, pushing myself up from Betty and following Liam deeper into the woods.

There wasn't much to find, the ground was littered with different plants and flowers but no logs decent enough to create a fire. I let out a huff of air and pushed my hair behind my ears. It was nice to be away from all the action for once, to just be in the forest surrounded by nothing but trees and tall strands of green grass.

"You holding up okay, Lia?" Liam asked as I bent down to dig around the ground.

"There you go with that question again," I say, not bothering to turn away from my scavenging.

"I just- I just care about you," his voice was soft and sincere, my eyes widen as I stand up from my position on the ground.

"I care about you too," I reply, my voice now soft and sincere.

"So, then you'll tell me if you're okay?" His deep blue eyes were searching my face.

I sighed not quite knowing the answer myself. If being okay meant that I was fine with the fact my mother had thrown a glass beer bottle at me and called me a disgusting excuse of a daughter, then I was not okay at all. It had been eating me up for the past four years, it caused me to be afraid of myself and afraid of what I might do to others. Every waking hour of the day, Serena had haunted me. Her screams and my screams mashing together to create one big slap in the face. Now that my mother had confirmed her hatred for me, it made every so much worse.

"Sure. I'm fine with the fact that I'm a monster," I say, shrugging and turning away from him.

I don't get very far as he grabs my wrist and turned me around. We're close. Too close. Liam holds my wrist between our chests and our faces are just inches apart. His full lips were pressed into a small frown and his eyes are searching my face.

"Amelia Estrada, you are not a monster and I will not leave this spot until I convince you that you're not."

A silence fell upon us, his hand still gripping my wrist. I watched as his bright blue eyes travel down to my lips then back up to my own eyes. It was as though everything was starting to slip away at that moment. Nothing else mattered anymore, except Liam. Liam was now closing his eyes and leaning down. Was this moving too fast? We'd known each other for so long but at the same time, not long at all. Kissing him meant moving too fast but not kissing would set us back a million steps. I had to make the decision on what step I was going to take.

With not much time to really think, I capture Liam's lips with my own. His lips were warm and a lot softer than I had expected them to be. My body melted into the kiss, not wanting him to pull away. The kiss, however, only lasted a few seconds. It was just long enough to make my stomach do backflips and turn my cheeks a bright shade of pink. As he pulled away, I wanted to pull him back into me and kiss him until I forgot my name. I wanted to curl my hands around his neck and hold them there for as long as possible.