CHAPTER SIX

The next day I stay in my dorm room trying to sort through everything that happened in my head. Cindy was already home and asleep when I got back the night before, but I made sure to be quiet so I wouldn’t wake her. However, this morning when I woke up she was sitting up in her bed staring at me like she had been there a while just waiting on me to wake up so she could grill me for something.

I sat up and turned to face her, trying to prepare myself for whatever might be about to come out of her mouth. “Hey,” I said. My voice cracked and I cleared my throat while I waited for her to say something.

Cindy got up and moved over to my bed, then she reached for me and took both of my hands in her own. “Hailey, I am so sorry for what Jeff did to you last night. If had known that he was capable of anything like that I never would have had anything to do with him.”

I tried to smile to reassure her when I responded. Just because she had been dating Jeff didn’t mean she could have known that he was capable of something so horrible. “You don’t need to apologize for what Jeff did, Cindy. He made the decision to attempt to assault me all on his own and I don’t hold you accountable for his actions.”

“Thanks,” she said. She was still staring at me like there was more she wanted to say but was afraid to do so. After a minute of silence, she finally went on, “I heard about what Liam did to Jeff.”

Before she could say more I cut her off, “Jeff was attacking me and Liam stopped him.”

Cindy sighed, “I understand him wanting to defend you, but from what everyone is saying he completely lost control and left Jeff in a bloody heap on the floor. Everyone said that if the campus security guys hadn’t shown up Liam might have killed him. This isn’t the first time I have heard stories about his crazy temper. You need to be careful around him, or one day you could be the one he turns his anger on. I just don’t want you to get hurt.”

I was more confused than ever. This wasn’t the first time Liam had lost his temper on campus? I’d never heard about his anger issues before, but then again, I wasn’t exactly friends with many people to hear things like that. Liam was the person I spent the majority of my time with. We both sat in silence for a few minutes, but the silence was soon interrupted by a knock at our door. I was still too lost inside my own head to pay any attention to the door, so Cindy was the one who jumped up from my bed and opened the door.

As soon as I heard her great the person at the door, I knew who it was. “What the hell are you doing here? She doesn’t want to see you. If you give a shit about her then you’ll leave her alone; you aren’t good for her.”

“Me?” Liam’s voice was tight. “You are the one who needs to make better choices. If you hadn’t brought that scumbag into her life, then what happened last night never would have happened. I think you’re the one who needs to make better choices in men.”

I jumped off my bed and made my way to the door to stop them before they broke out into a full on screaming match. “Cindy, please,” I pleaded. I might be feeling a bit confused at the moment, but I wasn’t ready to give up Liam. He’d been a good friend and he deserved to chance to talk things out. “Would you just give us a little time alone?” I asked Cindy.

“You’re kidding, right?” Cindy sounded offended and pissed. “You need to get out of here and leave her alone,” she practically hissed at Liam.

Liam’s nostrils flared. “Maybe you should choose the people you hang out with better!” he accused. “If you hadn’t been hanging out with that scumbag, then Hailey never would have followed him and none of this would have happened.”

I stepped between them and held up my hands to keep them separated, and then I looked back to Cindy. “Cindy, please, just let me have some time to talk to him.” When she crossed her arms I whispered please one more time, and Cindy huffed in frustration before she grabbed her purse to leave. The way she was glaring at Liam on her way out made it obvious that she didn’t want to go, but when she realized I wasn’t going to change my mind she huffed out a loud breath and stomped down the hall, away from our room.

I walked back over to my bed and sat down on the edge, and Liam followed behind me only stopping to shut the door. Liam sits down beside me and I can feel his knee brush against mine as he settles on the bead. “Hailey, are you okay?” he asks. His voice is laced with emotion and I know without a doubt that he is truly worried about me.

“Yes, but Liam,” I pause for a minute to get myself together and think about how I want to say what I need to tell him, “when you lost control last night, I can’t deny that you scared me. I’ve never seen anyone in a fight up so close, and it was like you weren’t there; like the Liam I know had left and was taken over by this guy full of rage.”

“I know, and I’m so sorry,” Liam said. He turned so his body was facing mine and he took my hand and began rubbing his thumbs over my fingers. “I know I have issues with my temper. I’ve had them for a long time now.” I turn so that I am facing him as well. I want him to know that I am here and listening. “My mom got hooked up with this guy when I was a kid who didn’t like the idea of sharing her time with me, and when my mother married the asshole it only got worse. As a result, I spent a lot of time in the hospital thanks to his endless attempts to get rid of me.”

I fought hard to hold back the tears that were burning the backs of my eyes. I wanted to cry for Liam; for the boy that he was and the childhood he never got to actually have. “Where is you mom now?” I asked him hoping that there would be a better end to this story then his anger implied.

Liam looked down at our hands, staring at them as he continued to rub his thumb over my fingers. “She never got away from the jerk, not until he killed her. After that the social services sent me to live with my Aunt Mary.” He looked back up so that our eyes met. “Hailey, I’ve done things I’m not proud of. I used to take drugs to try to drown out the memories; drown out the pain that they caused. Honestly, that is why I was hanging out with Anna when we first met. She loved to party hard so I knew that there would always be drugs wherever she took me. But, then I met you and you made me feel like I was actually worth something. Like I deserved someone who wanted to spend time with me because they actually enjoyed my company.” Liam leaned closer to me and took both of my hands and held them to his chest. “You’re the first person who has ever made me feel like there might be some good left inside of me; you never saw me as a freak. I don’t know how I will deal if I have scared you off too. Please tell me that you’ll give me another chance.”

This time I can’t hold back my tears anymore. Liam looks so vulnerable and all I want to do is take away his hurt. No one should have to endure the things that he did when he was a boy, and they shouldn’t be shunned because of the scars that something that horrible left behind. Instead of saying anything, because I can’t think of any words that are even remotely enough right in that moment, I leaned forward and softly kissed Liam on his lips. He kissed me back and released my hands to wrap his arms around me and hold me close. We kiss softly for a few minutes, and then we just lay down on my bed and hold each other. We talk and share the occasional sweet kiss until we both fall asleep.