A Unique Kind of Love (33 page)

“Hey there,” said a voice that I knew too well. Liam was standing in front of me, completely obscured and safe of the frosty weather, except for his face. His scarf was messily covered around his neck, his lips barely showing. Blue eyes shone with excitement and mischief.

Ah, I guess Aladdin was interrupted with a good reason.

“Are you just going to ogle me all day and not let me in?” he said, smirking. I felt my cheeks get warm and ushered for him to come in. Upon closing the door, he placed a chaste kiss on my cheek casually before taking his jacket, hat, scarf and gloves off.

“Ellie’s coming in a few minutes too; I didn’t want your mom to kill me for being here,” he declared. I simply nodded, babysitting Ellie seemed really fun; and the idea of spending time with Liam was even more pleasing.

“I have something for you before that though,” he smiled, taking a small box out of his pocket. My smile faded and I simply looked at him, shocked.

“Really?” I whispered, shocked. He simply grinned, although a spark of anxiety appeared.

“Merry late Christmas and happy late Valentine’s day,” he declared, putting the 
Tiffany’s
 box in my hands. He suddenly froze, as if realizing something.

“What?” I asked, curiosity taking the better of me. He looked up at me, guilt written all over his features.

“I need to tell you something first, actually,” he stated, taking my hand. His expression was cautious. He seemed afraid of my reaction, but ready to help right away.

“Is it good or bad? Or so bad I’ll drop dead?” I said jokingly, trying to cast the horrible cloud that had set itself on him away. He didn’t answer, silence being his answer.

“Come on, don’t scare me. What is it?” This time, my voice was much softer. He led me to the couch, forcing me to sit down beside him.  I was scared of his next words, Liam was unpredictable. He wasn’t going to announce that he was going to die, right?

“You know the day you woke up from the coma?”

I muttered a small “hm,” impatient for him to actually spill. How could I possibly have forgotten that day? It was the day I’d finally woken from my long, long slumber.

“Scarlett-“

“Ellie’s sister?” I cut him off, a beautiful blonde coming to my mind.

“She sort of, kind of kissed me.”

My heart sank. It felt as if someone had taken an exceptionally sharp needle and pointed it on the happy bubble that had formed itself around me and had taken pleasure while popping it. It seemed as if he was holding his breath; anticipating a breakdown or me yelling at him.

“But she was completely drunk and she was sad, and she just forced me to. I just- I’m so sorry! I didn’t even kiss her back,” he blabbered. I stopped him by putting my hand on his mouth, his lips now clasped shut.

"It's okay, I understand," I said slowly, taking deep breathes. He was trying to read my expression, but it was hard since I had put on an impenetrable mask. Instead, I forced a small smile and nodded comprehensively. I 
did
 understand, but the sharp pain in my gut would not leave.

He took my hand away and looked at me hesitantly.

“Are you okay?”

“It’s fine! Don’t look at me like I’m going to explode! And plus, you’re not her boyfriend right?” I said, more to myself than to him, feeling slightly better. Pecking his cheek, he instantly brightened, but uncertainty was still haunting his face.

It 
was 
okay though; he kissed her before we were officially together.

“Thank you for telling me though, it means a lot.”

And for the third time that day, the doorbell rang, making me clench my fists. The last thing I wanted at the moment was to be interrupted; again. Taking a deep breath to stabilize myself, I walked to the door and twisted the doorknob.

“Lena!” cried out a little blonde girl, throwing herself at my feet, hugging them. I couldn’t help but smile, she was so loveable.

“I’ll come pick her up at 6, if that’s okay?”

I looked up at the voice and my eyes met Scarlett’s blue ones. She stared at her sister with such love and kindness and I knew that I had no right to be jealous; even a little.

“Yeah, that would be just fine,” I answered, feeling Liam’s presence beside me. He had obviously stiffened, as did Scarlett when she saw him. Her smile disappeared, her lips pursed into a fine line.

“I told her,” said Liam to Scarlett. She nodded. Ellie looked at all of us, a confused look adorning her angelic face.

“Are you mad?” Scar shuffled her feet, her cheeks getting warm despite the freezing weather.

“No, I really am not. I understand, it’s okay,” I reassured her, but she didn’t seem to believe me.

“I’m really, really sorry, I was stupidly drunk and I just- what, El?” she was cut off by her little sister tugging on her sleeve urgently.

“Lena isn’t mad at you, so stop saying sorry,” moralized the girl, making me praise her incredible intelligence and ability to comprehend what was going on.

“Okay, bye hon. Thanks again guys, I’ll see you later,” she said, walking to her car. Liam closed the door and I watched Ellie take the winter bundle she had on professionally, without needing any help. That girl was independent and strong and I loved her for that.

“What do you want to do?” Liam picked her up and put her on the couch. I knew that she was too old for that, but he just liked having her in his arms. He loved kids in general.

“Can someone tell me a story?” questioned Ellie, widening her eyes in wonder.

She knows that Liam’s a sucker for puppy dog eyes,
 I thought, laughing. Liam turned to look at me skeptically, while Ellie joined me, her laughter ringing in my ears.

“What?!” asked Liam, feeling left out. We continued on laughing, even though I was pretty sure that we were laughing for different reasons. I waved him off, amused by his bewildered face.

“Lee-yum, can you tell me a story?” she repeated, her question, pouting her lips this time.

“Only if Lena tells it with me…” he trailed off, looking at me expectantly. I rolled my eyes at him and nodded fervently. I was almost certain that this wasn’t the typical “Cinderella” type of storytelling; this was the “make-up-at-the-moment” kind.

“Can you get us pillows, please? Three, if possible.” I furrowed my eyebrows at his question, but ran upstairs and got the pillows lying on my bed.

I had to admit that I was frustrated by the fact that he never told me what the second thing was and he never gave me the chance to open the box. But I was determined to talk to him later.

Descending the stairs, I beamed at the sight before me.

Liam had taken the liberty of laying the blanket across the couch. He was currently concentrated on tying Ellie’s hair into a ponytail, but her protests that he was tugging too hard made a grimace appear on his face.

“May I?” I said, throwing the pillows on the couch. Liam let her hair fall loose and handed me the elastic, sighing. I removed a part of the blanket, sat on the couch, and then covered my legs with the blanket. Liam put the pillows behind each of us and sat again.

“Lee-yum is horrible at making ponytails,” stated Ellie, positioning herself to be close to me. Liam’s face darkened and scooted himself further away. Ellie pulled her tongue at him. I took her golden hair in my hands, gathering all the strands to blend in, and gently wrapped the elastic twice around the tail I’d made.

“All done!” I exclaimed. Ellie touched various parts of her head, making sure that every strand was in the ponytail and kissed my cheek. She thanked me, and gave Liam a look.

“Lee-yum,” whined Ellie, “come back here, I want all of us to be close.”

Liam obliged, he came closer to Ellie.

“Let’s start! Lena, would you like to start?” he asked and I nodded. Ellie averted her attention to me with a twinkle in her eye; I could tell that she loved stories.

“Once upon a time, a princess named Elizabeth lived with her mom, the queen. When Liz was a baby, a mean fairy cursed her to be forever sad. The princess never smiled
, ever
.” I started, gaining a shocked gasp from Ellie.

“The only way she could ever be happy was if she found true love,” continued Liam, “The Queen made Liz meet every prince from all over the world. But every time, Liz would cry, because she knew that he was not the one for her.”

“The kingdom was devastated. The thought of their young princess being so sad made them sad. Like every day, Liz went to watch the sun go down by the river Ohana. She would cry there and be sad for herself. After all, being sad forever was horrible.” I stopped. The name Ohana had just come to me, I remembered that it meant 
family 
as soon as I had said it.

“Terrible,” agreed Ellie in a hushed voice, her eyes wide with interest. She turned to Liam, realizing that it was his turn to speak.

“Uh, well, one day, she saw a boy sitting by the river too, at the same time as her. She had a strange feeling in her heart, but she gathered up her courage in two hands and said: 
Hello. 
He didn’t answer, he was extremely shy, but she broke the ice. Liz talked to him about how beautiful the sunset was, and the boy knew in his heart that he was going to fall in love with her,” he said, saying the last sentence looking straight at me.

 Memories flashed in my brain and I remembered the day we had watched the sunset together at the park. The day I had talked to him and spent time with him for the first time. I couldn’t believe he didn’t forget about that day, it seemed to be an eternity ago; rather than few months ago.

“Liz, too. She knew that she found the one for her, because the second he told her his name, which was, uh, Ian, she smiled at him. For the first time in her whole life! She smiled at him and introduced herself too. And the curse was broken, because she found her true love,” I went on, feeling absorbed in the story as well.

“And then?” whispered Ellie, rubbing her eyes.

“Liz and Ian were never sad again. They lived happily, ever after,” finished Liam, a small, knowing smile on his features. Ellie closed her eyes and snuggled up against the pillow behind her.

Soft snores were being emitted from her and I let out a soft chuckle at her innocence. Liam took a pillow with one hand and picked her up with the other and pointed to the stairs. I nodded, not minding that he would put her on my bed to sleep.

When he came back down, he sat beside me and took my hand. I laid my head on the soft pillow underneath my head, feeling peaceful.

“Good story,” I murmured.

“I couldn’t have done it without you,” he answered.

“We should start our own storytelling, business; we’re not just good; we rock!” I exclaimed in a hushed voice. He let out a laugh and offered a high-five, which I accepted gladly.

Silence reigned over, but the comfortable kind. I decided that it was a good time to open the box that was on the coffee table.

He took the box and handed it to me.

“Open it.”

And I did.

There was the most beautiful necklace I’d ever seen. The pendant was a silver snowflake, the light in the room, hitting it causing it to glisten. For the second time that day, a memory flashed in my mind. It was the day I had met up with Liam at the park, when we witnessed the first snowfall, signaling the start of winter. I was at a loss for words.

“You-you got me this?!” I exclaimed, tears welling up in my eyes. They fell on my cheeks, displaying my joy.