Flares in the Dark

1.14 | a boy of memories

WALKING UP THE STAIRS HE HAD HATED FOR so long felt daunting to him, because he was doing it willingly and because it was not midnight and he was not a thief who had come to steal the clothes of a boy from a world which seemed like a dream now.

He stopped at the second floor and turned towards his room, not daring to venture onto the third floor to the place which had once been his sanctuary and visit the graveyard of the memories he had loved for so long. Without knowing it, he was holding on tightly to the heartbroken necklace on his chest- the last memory he had left with himself which wouldn't cause him pain.

He was functioning on autopilot now, walking on instinct and muscle memory. He didn't even realise he had opened his door until Blaize broke his trance, "Are you okay? When your mom came in I was so scared, Liam."

He nodded, knowing that his mother had that effect on strangers with her stern eyes and no bullshit attitude. "Yeah, I'm fine."

His voice was bland, Blaize noticed. She'd expected him to be either really frightened and almost in tears or really ecstatic and like an overactive child on a sugar high. But this Liam was neither, he wasn't smiling and he wasn't teasing her at every chance he got. And she knew it had nothing to do with his mom because she had been eavesdropping by the kitchen door for the majority of their conversation.

She looked at him closely, recording every detail in her mind, trying to figure him out. "How did it go with your mom?"

It was only then that he realised he was in his room, standing in front of Blaize and he hurriedly pushed a smile onto his face. She had already done so much for him, it would be foolish of him to expect her to do more. "Awesome. We kinda talked for a while and then she made me this horrible veggie smoothie which I have to drink even though I don't want to and then we talked more about stuff and she told me that I'm not a mistake and that I'm her son and I smiled and she smiled and we—"

"Liam." She interrupted him but he kept going.

"— we smiled a lot and—"

"Liam!"

"— she's gonna make us waffles now and we're gonna help her and—"

"Liam just shut up you freaking idiot!"

He spluttered when he heard those words, not knowing why Blaize was acting so strange. "What? I thought you would be happy if I said this?"

"So you said that just to make me happy?" She asked him, her eyes narrowed and her mouth lifted in a mocking smile.

He blanched at her words and hurriedly tried to correct his mistake, "No! I didn't lie! That's all true and it happened and she's allowed us to make waffles now because she knows we love them. And why would you even think I'd lie to you? I just thought that you'd be happy for me if I told you that it went well with my mom and there were no casualties and everything went good and—"

"Liam, how many times do I have to tell you to shut up?"

"But you asked me the question—"

"Shut. Up." Blaize's nostrils flared when she looked at Liam, analytical and observant like always, making him wither down and falter under her intrusive eyes. "Now that you're not bumbling like an idiot, tell me what's wrong."

He stared at her, not knowing how to react. "Wrong? Nothing's wrong."

Her gaze hardened. "Said the idiot whose rambling is a dead give away that something is definitely wrong."

His mouth failed him, his useless lips not knowing how to lie to Blaize, and he kept staring at her with visible astonishment. "Uh—"

"Don't even try to deny it, Cross. It won't work unless you want me to punch you for even trying to lie." Her eyes were hard and demanding, crumbling his resolve, bit by bit, till he couldn't stand it anymore and gave up.