Between Us

chapter fifteen

15

  Beep. Beeep. BEEEEP.

  I slam my hand down on my phone, trying to push any button that may shut my alarm off. I groan quietly, then roll over. It's five in the morning, and I'm not sure I've ever been awake this early in my life. But last night it took me almost an hour to get here, so I need to leave by six.

  I push the covers off my legs and stand up, stretching. All my things are still in the living room, so I quietly tip toe to my bags. Liam's sprawled on the couch, laying on his stomach with one arm brushing the ground, a leg over the back of the couch, and half his other leg dangling off the arm rest. His shirt is on the coffee table, and he's snoring quietly.

  I smile and shake my head, and keep walking to my bags. And then, being my clumsy self, I hit my shin on the coffee table.

  "Son of a bitch!" I yelp, then slap my hand over my mouth with wide eyes. Liam's eyes fly open and he sits up so fast I'm surprised he doesn't have whiplash. When he sees it's just me, he breathes out slowly.

  "What the hell are you doing? It's five in the morning!"

  "I'm getting ready for school. It took me almost an hour to get here last night, so I need to leave by about six-"

  Liam rubs his eyes. "I said I'd take you to school today."

  I shake my head as he get up and turns the light on. "No you didn't."

  "I didn't? I thought-shit! You're bleeding!" His eyes widen as he point to my shin, where there's a nasty cut with blood running down my leg.

  I frown. "That's unfortunate. Wait, where did my shorts go?"

  "Not sure, but in the middle of the night you were talking in your sleep and saying something about being too hot. Here, I'll clean that up for you," Liam says. He puts a hand on my back and guides me to the bathroom. My back straightens at his touch, especially when he grabs my hips and lifts me onto the counter. He drops his hands the second I'm sitting, which kind of makes me wish he would've kept holding on, and kind of makes me a little relieved because then I wouldn't be tempted to kiss him. Stupid Taryn. What are you, nine? Quit crushing on him.

  I kick my legs up onto the counter as Liam rifles through the cabinet under the sink. He comes up with a bottle of hydrogen peroxide, cotton balls, a tube of Neosporin, and a box of SpongeBob bandaids that vary in sizes.

  "Well you've got just about everything, don't you?" I say, nodding to the supplies. "Even SpongeBob bandaids."

  He cracks a smile and grabs a cotton ball. "I'm clumsy, and sometimes I cut my finger or my hand at the restaurant. Gotta be prepared, right?" Liam says, holding the back of my calf with one hand, and dabbing the blood on my shin with the cotton ball. "And I like SpongeBob. Sue me."

  I wince a little. "Sorry," he murmurs. "This part's going to hurt."

  I grip the edge of the counter top as he pours some hydrogen peroxide on my cut. It stings a lot, so much my eyes water.

  "Sorry, Tare," Liam says.

  I shake my head. "I'm fine, really."