fire starter | l.s [1]

fourteen

After an aggressive tug of Liam's arm, courtesy of Zu, we had stopped for a lunch and water break. The lunch consisted of some early prepared peanut butter sandwiches and two apple slices each. For the most part, lunch was silent as we scoffed down the desired foods. Zu had her head leaning against my shoulder as I was leant up against a tree. Her eyes were drifting closed slowly while she was still holding onto a half-eaten sandwich. With a small nudge of my shoulder, her eyes open quickly letting out a silent yawn. As much as I needed a nap too, we needed to keep moving.

We packed up our items and returned to our journey to god-knows-where. This time, Zu had tugged Ruby and Chubs along with her, leaving Liam and I lagging behind. His blonde hair was sticking to his forehead due to the sweat forming there. We walked in silence for a good ten minutes before I felt his fingers brush my hand lightly. My heart stopped, and I could feel the colour rising in my cheeks. Was he trying to grab my hand or was it just an accident?

I side-glanced him to see if I could catch a glimpse of his features. Liam was looking straight forward, a slightly tired expression read across his face, giving me the impression that it was just an accident. Sighing softly, I looked back to the three friends trailing happily in front of us. But then it happened again, his whole hand brushing against mine now, causing me to look over at him again but he was still facing forward. A frustrated huff left my lips, now I was really confused. Much to my surprise, the next time Liam's hand came close to mine, he grabbed it and intertwined his fingers with mine. Now, when I turned to him, he shared the glance.

"Took you long enough," I smiled, giving his hand a light squeeze.

"I wasn't sure if you were okay with it," Liam admitted, rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand.

A small smile crept its way on my face, could this boy get any cuter? Just as the thought popped into my mind he started to hum softly with a smile on his own face, so to answer my question, yes. Ruby had turned around and was now giving us a thumbs up. I pressed my lips together to try and suppress a smile.

"What's your favourite colour?" Liam asks, pulling my hand so we're a little closer.

"My favourite colour?"

"Yes, you do know what a colour is, right?" Liam chuckled, and I did too.

"It's yellow," I replied, a warm feeling growing in the pit of my stomach, replacing the constant feeling of anxiousness.

"Surprised it's not red," Liam said, and I raised my free hand to slap him on the neck.

"When are you gonna stop with the redhead jokes," I sighed.

"I've only made two," Liam defended, shrugging his broad shoulders.

"Two, too many," I respond, shaking my head.

"There are never too many red-hair jokes," Liam said and I raise my hand, ready to slap him, "But I think your red hair is beautiful."

There he goes again, making my heart beat so loudly I'm sure anybody could hear it from a mile away. The boy knew what he was doing too, judging by the satisfied look on his face when I had pulled my hair from behind my ears to cover the crimson colour that covered my cheeks.

The forest that we'd had been walking through had slowly been slipping away into a big field of green grass, that was damp. To the right of the field, there was a long, vacant road the stretched on for miles. The urge to ask had bubble back up but I'd rather talk to Liam about other things.

"Can I ask you a question?" I inquire after a moments silence.

"Course you can, darlin'", Liam replies, giving my hand the slightest squeeze, reminding me that our hands were still interlocked.