The Silhouette of a Girl

Chapter 24

      I finally got to the ranch and asked his boss if he were here. He was and I asked him if it was okay that I took him away from whatever he was doing for a while, which his boss said yes. I found him in the barn and caught him in the middle of brushing one of the horse's mane. "Liam... Baby...? How are you holding?" I asked him. He stopped in mid air and said, just above a whisper, "I-I'm .... Barely holding." I walk over to him and hug him from behind. I felt him sob a little, so I gently turned him to face me and held him closer.

     I comforted him as he broke down in my arms and I held him as long as he needed me to. It broke my heart to see those tears streaking his face, the pain and suffering in his eyes, the shake in his movements, and the uneven breaths that he had been taking. Liam slowly pulled back and wiped the tears off of his face. "I... I'm sorry. I'm sorry that you had to see me like that..." he whispered to me. I was astonished that, after what he just went through, that he felt that he had to be strong all the time. "Liam," I said his name with gentle adoration and love, "you don't have to be strong all the time. I'm supposed to be here for you whenever you need me. A relationship is two sided. It's my job to help you when you feel crummy. I love you and I need you to know that I will always love you, even at your most vulnerable points." He stared at the ground, probably thinking over my words. "I don't know what I would do without you..." he said to me.

     After a while, we sat down in the barn and spoke about everything.I told him when his family was planning the funeral, that I would be there, etc. Eventually, I went home with Liam, and he stayed the night. We stayed up for most of the night, trying to just let everything out that was bothering us, more specifically Liam. I then fell asleep next to him, my head on his shoulder, and me tucked under his arm.

     The next day, I woke up and Liam was still sound asleep. I carefully got up and made sure that he was comfortable before going to the kitchen. I grabbed a few ingredients before I started to make strawberry crepes for breakfast. I quickly grabbed my phone and headphones and played my music as I continued to work. I would dance here and there as I listened and worked, then "Promiscuous Girl" came on and I couldn't help but to at least hum to the song. I swayed with the music and was nearly done with the second to last crepe whenever someone poked my sides and startled me. "Oh my god! You scared me to death!" I told the intruder. I looked back and it turned out to be Liam. "Hey Liam." I gave him a quick smile before continuing with the food, but I took out one earbud before doing so. "Hey baby, what are you making?" he asked me in a decently happy tone. I told him and he said that it sounded amazing.

     After a while, I finished the food and called everyone to the table. I quickly had to clean up and get ready for the day. "So what are we doing today?" I asked no one in general. No one ended up having plans, so we made it a day for movie marathons. I kept a quick eye out on Liam, to see how he was holding up, but he seemed to relax at the distraction of everything. We watched just about every movie known to man, and we cringed, laughed, cried, and every reaction in between. Before we knew it, it was 5 o'clock, and Liam had to get back to his house. I saw the cloud of pain and depression hover over him, fixing to pour in a dark and heavy storm. "I'll drive you, besides, I did drag you over here." I told him, hoping the would accept and not get trapped in the upcoming weather just yet. He agreed and we went off.

     It took about 10 minutes to drive where he lived and we had very little complications, besides the startling crashed of thunder and the spark of lightning. I got him home and I walked him to his door. "Liam, you sure you're gonna be okay?" I asked him with raw emotion. He paused and said "I honestly don't know, but I have to go in there at some point." I nodded and held him for what felt like a lifetime. I noticed him shivering and realized just how cold it was outside, so I let him go inside while I went back to the car. I was off after waiting a couple of minutes, and sent a silent prayer for him to be okay after this ordeal. I finally made it back home and slept, keeping my ringer up so that I could hear if Liam were to call me.

     The next day or so was the funeral, so I dressed appropriately and drove over to Liam's house. I saw him and he looked as if he had already been crying, eyes red and his face all puffy... His family got ready and drove the the graveyard where the ceremony was being held, they all spoke a few words and tears were shed during the entire thing. Liam stayed quite, and when it came for time to leave, he pulled me to the side and hugged me tightly. He started crying again and I held him closer, I whispered comforting words to him trying to help relieve some pain off of him. I decided to stay with him for the day and try to help him through all of his grief. He told me stories of his Aunt and all the things that they would do together, starting from when he was 5 and she had played "race-cars" with him to just this year when she congratulated him for making it to his senior year and fixing to graduate, and for working so hard. My heart broke seeing him like this, so vulnerable and broken, it looked like you just told a child that their favorite pet fish just died. I saw pieces of Liam falling to the ground in complete hopelessness, the raw emotion detaining him from speaking too much.

     And all I could do was hold him and try to help him through it.