A Unique Kind of Love (32 page)

  Her expression changed, from confused, to giddy, to excited, to mischievous. When Tori was mischievous, 
something
 was about to happen.

  “I don’t know,” she said, shrugging. I rolled my eyes at her subtlety. Nudging her a couple of times, I tried to get it out of her.

 “Tell me, please?” I whined, ignoring the fact that I sounded like a baby.

 “I-I don’t know, I swear,” she giggled, as the poking turned into tickling. I gave up, slumping back to the couch.

“I officially hate you,” I declared just as Adam called her over. Tori gave me a sly wink and walked, or technically ran into her lover’s direction.

 I sat alone for a couple of minutes, glad that everyone had forgotten about me. I kind of needed the peace and quiet. Actually, I really wanted to see Liam right now. You know that feeling when your heart’s all fidgety and sending butterflies everywhere? Yeah, I had that. 

Bad.

Belle, Adam and Tori were now walking towards me, but that wasn’t what scared me, it was the freaky smiles on their faces. It was the kind of smile that made them seem as if they had won the lottery or murdered someone and hid their body on an unknown island in the middle of the Antarctic Ocean.

They kept on getting closer and then each sat beside me. “What’s up?” I asked, slightly nervous.

 “Guyyyys,” I trailed off, not really knowing what to expect. Adam gave Tori a thumbs-up sign and she nodded in determination. She turned to me and grinned.

 And suddenly, I was blindfolded by my favorite scarf that smelled like strawberries. My vision went completely 
black. 
I automatically reached to un-tie it, but one of them held my hands together and clutched them tightly.

How fantastically wonderful.

 
“What’s going on?” I received no answer. I was helped up and my sister was pushing me to walk in an unknown direction. It seemed as if no one noticed the kidnapping going on.

“Stairs, be careful,” muttered Tori. I went down the stairs, which made me understand that I was going into the basement. The door behind me closed, signaling that I was left alone.

I took the blindfold away from my eyes and opened them to be met with complete darkness.

There was a slight shuffling. I felt a fear creep on my arms. I was not a fan of the darkness. “Um, hello?”

As if by magic, a dozen candles or so lit up and cleared my vision. They formed a gigantic rectangle. In the middle of it all sat Liam with a small smile on his face. He sat on a picnic blanket and stood up upon seeing me.

He bowed a little and took my hand. He placed a small kiss on it that made my heart skip a beat. “M’lady.”

I laughed, “Liam?”

“Please, do sit,” he offered a pillow that was on the ground. I sat on it and watched as he sat in front of me.

“Are you mentally unstable?” I asked before I could help myself. He chuckled. There seemed to be a fire dancing in his eyes because of the candles.

“No,” he said, taking a small basket from behind him. He gave me a plastic bowl and took out a big
Ben & Jerry’s
container. I let out a small gasp.

“Cheesecake brownie?” I asked, already knowing the answer. He nodded, took out an ice cream scoop. He put three large balls of the delicious looking ice cream into my bowl and did the same to his.

I took a bite of it with a plastic spoon and moaned in delight. “Oh, god.”

“I know,” said Liam, savoring the ice cream himself.

“So you invited me down here to eat ice cream, surrounded by candles—” I paused at him, pointing at the ceiling, “—under glow in the dark stars and a moon?”

He nodded. “Nothing but the best for you,” he winked in an exaggerated way. I let out an unladylike laugh.

“You rock,” I said.

We sat there for what seemed like forever, eating ice cream and talking. There was something different about the way he talked and the way he was. He was more carefree, yet I noticed the spark of fear in his eyes. He had developed strength.

I stared down at the empty bowl of ice cream and grimaced. He caught my look and offered the half empty box. I took a big scoop of ice cream and looked at it.

Liam seemed concerned. “You okay?”

“Other than a pain in my ribs and a slight brain freeze, I’m fine.” Liam’s eyebrow rose.

“Can I put ice cream on your face, please?” I asked.

“Uh, sure?”

And so I did exactly that. He let out a small shriek when the freezing cheesecake and brownie flavored ball collided with his face.

“Why?” he asked.

I shrugged. “I wanted to see that,” I stifled a laugh.

He scooped up a small amount of ice cream and put it on my face as well. “Liam!” I cried out, shivering. He slid a spoon on my face so that the ice cream was well distributed.

I started laughing hysterically. “Why?” I said, in the same tone he used earlier.

He grinned and his ice cream covered cheeks looked adorable. “I wanted to see that.”

We looked like idiots, faces covered with ice cream and grinning like Cheshire cats, but it was a moment I wanted to capture and keep forever.

“Would you be mine?” he said. His eyes got wide at the question he asked. It was obvious that he didn’t mean to say it.

I looked at him.

He sighed. “Would you be mine, Lena?”

I blinked.

“I can’t risk losing you, not again. Please, be mine.”

I leaned over and placed my lips on his. I pulled back and smiled.

“It would be my pleasure. And I’m not just saying that because you give me ice cream and you taste like it.”

He smiled.

29

Euphoria

"But it wasn't about their love story; it was the way he looked at her. She was his savior, the one who helped him get up after the world pushed him down. He thought she was the most beautiful human to set foot on Earth, and made her believe it. I, personally, hope to find a love as strong as theirs one day."

~The Author~

Lena Rose Winter

Staring out the clear window, I admired the view before me. The gravel-gray skies were bare today; there was no storm. A beautiful layer of snow lay on the ground from yesterday’s harsh storm.

"Mooooom! Please?" I pleaded, watching as my mother literally tucked me in the couch, as if I was a little kid about to go to sleep.

Except that it was 3 in the afternoon and I was far from being a kid now.

"NO! You're sick and you're not getting out of the house. I don't care if you have homework, you need to rest. It's all Liam's fault," she exclaimed, putting on her jacket and eyeing me disapprovingly. Although, faking anger was not her thing at all. A hint of amusement on her face betrayed her.

“Please, I was sick this week, I’m not sick anymore! And don’t blame Liam,” I protested. And it was true, I came down with a strong cold this week, but this morning, I felt just fine. The wonders medicine can do.

"Oh, don't smile like that!" she scolded, seeing the smile forming on my face. I shook my head at her, taking a sip of the hot chocolate in my hands. Sneaking a peek at her, I mentally praised her outfit. She wore a pale blue sweater that complimented her skin, black boots with small heels and a big, elegant white coat. Knowing her, she didn’t usually dress up like that for nothing. So, there must’ve been something special waiting for her.

"Now, I'll be back at around six, okay?" she said, planting a small kiss on my forehead and heading for the door.

“Mom?” I said, stopping her for a second.

“Yeah?”

“You’re going out with Roger aren’t you?” I asked, a small smile forming itself on my face. She nodded, affirming my thoughts. I stood up, the huge checkered blanket wrapped around me securely. I attacked her in a hug, feeling her body relax.

“Is he outside?” She blushed, and that was enough for me to know. I hadn’t seen Roger since the first date he had with my mom, the same day where I snapped at her. I never had the chance to apologize to him for my behavior. Besides, if my mom was going to start dating again, I was better off being on good terms with the luckiest man.

“I want to meet him, please,” I said, smiling at her. Her face brightened considerably and she took out her phone and called him. In the span of seconds, the doorbell rang and I opened the door.

This time, instead of being too busy being shocked, I actually looked at him. He was handsome, still taller than Mom even when she wore heels. His black hair had a few gray hairs in it, but that suited him. He was heavily dressed up; I could see that he was someone who didn’t like the cold.

“Hello, I’m Lena,” I greeted, holding out a hand for him to shake. He smiled; a welcoming expression on his face. He seemed relieved.

“Roger Johnson.”

“I’m incredibly sorry for being so rude and impolite the last time, I’m really sorry,” I apologized. Mom squeezed my shoulder, gratitude for my actions evident.

“It’s perfectly okay, I understand,” he said, looking at my mom with a twinkle in his eyes. I could feel that this wasn’t their second date and I was perfectly fine with that.

“I’m happy for you too, and please treat her well.”

“Always,” he said with a wink, “May I?” He offered his arm to my mom, who accepted happily. She blew me a kiss before heading out with him. I felt my heart warm at the sight of her staggering to walk in heels in the snow, she held on his arm tightly. She slipped, but he caught her just in time. The couple’s laughter filled the air, and I smiled, chuckling to myself as I closed the door.

Mom was in good hands.

I let out a sigh; boredom already reigning over me. Tori was out for the whole day; Adam took her to a Winter Amusement park, something like that. Belle was occupied as well, she had work today. Liam, well, he had said that he was busy today for some reason that he refused to tell me.

Liam.

He was mine, I was his. I really did like the concept of that. Some nights I still pinched myself to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. I knew I was still too young to be truly in love, but I was. This wasn’t some kind of a silly high school crush. It wasn’t about his looks or his shy attitude, it was about everything. I could’ve went on and on, but the fact that he was so sure of loving me back was one of the many reasons.

Oh, for God’s sake, he came to visit me when I was in a coma.

I swear, he is like a perfect character coming out of a book written by a teenager, 
I thought, my heart fluttering at the thought of him.

I took out the movie Aladdin and put in the DVD player. To be perfectly honest, Disney movies never grew old and would always be my favorite type of movies. They knew how to blend romance, humor, action and mystery in about two hours.

After about an hour into the movie, the doorbell resounded in the house. I stopped the movie, mad at Aladdin for lying to Jasmine again about “getting dressed up as a commoner to escape palace life” like her. He kissed her that pose paused because of me.

I reluctantly stood up, groaning. I had no idea who it was, but I was disturbed by the fact that they interrupted the movie and my little moment. Opening the door, I instinctively pulled the huge checkered blanket tighter around me, the frostbitten wind giving me goose bumps.