fire starter | l.s [1]

twenty-four

A dull ache cocooned my body as I dragged myself back to the main campus, Clancy following in suit close behind. The sun was beginning to set behind the trees and created a swirl of orange and purple in the sky, as well as casting a dark shadow along the grounds. The was a low thumping of music from the campus accompanied by loud laughter. As we drew closer, the music became louder and we were greeted by a few dancing, smiling bodies. A smell of some type of stew attacked my nostrils, making my stomach grumble with hunger.

Clancy excused himself when Caroline had come over and demanded an urgent meeting. Sighing, I took my time to get to the showers, my legs almost giving out under me multiple times. The training was successful and I was slowly starting to control my abilities but with that came a whole lot of pain. However, on the bright side, I haven't passed out yet.

When I had finally arrived at the showers, I jumped in rather quickly and scrubbed away at my skin. The warm water soothed the ache and cleared away the dirt. The ache wasn't as painful as my usual ones, and it certainly was a good change. For once, something in my life was going right and I wasn't going to take that for granted. 

After quite a long time, I finally turned off the running water and changed into a clean pair of clothes. I brushed through my mattered locks and tied it up and out of my face, and I was finally ready to meet up with my friends. 

Picking up a bowl of the stew on the way, I made my way over to Ruby and Chubs who were looking rather tired. I greeted them with a smile and sat next to Ruby and across from Chubs. 

"Hey, friends," I smiled, raking my spoon through the bowl.

"Hey," Chubs said softly, taking his glasses off and rubbing his eyes.

"What's up?" I asked, switching my gaze between my two distraught looking friends.

"What do you think of this place?" Ruby questions, eyeing Chubs wearily. 

"It's okay I guess, Clancy is really starting to help me understand who I am," I started, not looking up from my bowl, "Zu and Liam seem to be happy here." 

"Yeah, they do," Chubs sighed and brought his glasses back up to his face, "But don't you see what this place is like?" I shook my head, now looking up at him curiously. "It's just like the camps. We're told when to eat when to sleep, we're given chores. We aren't free here."

A silence fell over us as I dropped my spoon onto the table. Part of me wanted to side with him, believe and agree with him. But the other part almost despised what he had said. Chubs could be so closed-minded sometimes.

"Well, I don't know if you've noticed but we're treated like real human beings here," I snapped, feeling an unwanted anger bubble inside me, "All that time at the camp, they treated me way worse than you could ever imagine. They beat me unconscious! And now, I finally know why. And finally, I feel like a person. Not some object. A real person. So, no, this is not 'like the camps'." 

Another silence fell upon us, but this one was more awkward and intense. I sat there for a few more moments, confused as to why I had snapped at my two friends. Chubs made good points but they didn't add up to me somehow. But they still made sense. 

With a frustrated growl, I stood up from the wooden tables and stormed off to the white tent. Zu was sleeping peacefully on the top bunk, so I made sure I was careful when I climbed into my bunk below hers. Grabbing my sketchbook from under the bed, I pulled out my darkest pencil and started to scribble massive amounts of dark circles, trying to calm myself down.

Why was I acting this way? Was it because of the red in me trying to take over my brain? Although, that wouldn't make sense since I've been perfectly fine until I found out I was part red. Maybe, Chubs had a decent point. I sighed softly and let my face fall into my palm. I don't think my brain can handle this much emotion all at once.

I'd been so deep into my thoughts, that I hadn't noticed the person watching me from a few meters away. When I'd glanced up to spot Liam standing with his arms folded which resulted in me jumping and hitting my head on the bunk. 

Liam pressed his lips together, diverting his gaze from me and attempted to suppress a laugh. A curse escaped my lips as I drew my hand up to my skull and held the throbbing area. Looking back over at Liam, who was still laughing, I shook my head in annoyance. However, I couldn't hide the obvious smile that was displayed on my lips. 

"You are one big tragedy," Liam chuckled softly.

"Yeah, well, maybe you shouldn't go around scaring your girlfriend," I retorted, jabbing a finger in his direction.

"That's not my fault, darlin'," he shrugged, "Now, get up from that bed and come with me." 

I narrowed my eyes at him and cocked my head to the side, silently questioning him. Liam only responded by holding up his arm and tapping his wrist where a watch would be if either of us could afford one. Clicking my tongue, I pushed all my art supplies to the side and climbed out from the bunk bed, making sure Zu was still asleep.

"So, where are we going?" I asked as I took Liam's hand in my own.

"I'm still on patrol but I'd thought you could come with me," Liam explained, pulling me in the direction of the surrounding forest.

"Woah, if Clancy finds out-"

"He won't find out," Liam reassured.

"Li, he's a literal mind reader," I reminded, letting out a soft laugh. 

"Lia, you worry too much," Liam sighed and leaned over to kiss my temple.

My stomach did a backflip as he pulled away, why'd he have to be the softest person on the planet, I did not know but I wasn't going to complain. We walked for about five minutes until we reached a rather tall tree. Liam slipped his hand from mine and reached up to one of the branches. 

I watched as he pulled himself up through the trees until he disappeared into the night. Sighing, I followed in suit and reached up to the branch he had initially started with. The process was a hard one, considering the fact that my body was extremely malnourished and I was extremely weak from today's training session. 

Just as I reached up to the final branch, the one that was keeping me up snapped and I slipped from the branch I was holding. Liam called out to me but I didn't quite hear what he said since my heart was beating loudly in my ears. Luckily, I caught myself on one of the lower branches and I still managed to make it up to the branch the boy was perched on.

"Well that was terrifying, let us not do that again," I exclaimed as snuggling up to Liam's body.

"You're okay?" Liam laughs, bringing his hand through my hair.

"Yeah, I am," I smiled contently and rested my head on his shoulder.

We were silent for a while, watching the stars shine from somewhere far away. This was the most content I had ever felt in a long time. 

I reached down and grabbed Liam's hand, bringing it to my lips and pressing them against his calloused skin. They lingered there for a short moment before I linked our fingers together and placed our hands back into his lap. 

"You're the most important thing to me, right now," Liam said softly in my ear.

"What?" I asked, picking my head up from his shoulder and looking at him.

"It's so cliche, but, I think I wouldn't be able to survive without you. You've changed my life, Lia," Liam explained, bringing his free hand to cup my cheek.

"God, you really are such a dork," I chuckled softly, "But if you're a dork, then I'm a dork because I feel the same way."

"Glad the feelings mutual or this would have been painfully awkward," Liam laughed, and I joined in. 

The blonde leaned down and kissed my lips softly. Our lips moved in perfect sync as his grip on my face moved down to the back of my neck, pulling me closer towards him. I let go of his hand and brought both of mine up to cup his jawline, kissing him more passionately now. 

And then we pulled away, and suddenly, all was right with the world. 

A/N: HELLO I AM SO SORRY FOR MAKING YOU GUYS WAIT SO LONG. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR BEING PATIENT AND I HOPE YOU ENJOYED YOUR CHRISTMAS BECAUSE YOU DESERVE IT. HOPE YOU ENJOYED THIS CHAPTER AND I HOPE IT WASN'T TOO CORNY! IT'S KINDA TRASHY BUT I NEEDED TO GET SOMETHING UP FOR YOU GUYS YIKES.