"Sera," he whispered.
He sat up and laid his hands on her shoulders. She turned her head so he couldn't see her face. "I'm sorry," she whispered.
"For what?"
She shook her head, her long hair falling forward to obscure what little of her face he could see. A small tremor shook her, but she refused to look at him. He took hold of her chin with his thumb and index finger and turned her head, forcing her to look at him.
"There is nothing to be sorry for," he said firmly. "Okay?" She nodded, but self-loathing still filled her eyes. He was unsure of what to say, or do. "I won't do anything you don't want to do."
Her eyes flicked over his face as she thought over his words and tried to figure out if he was telling the truth or not. He seemed to be telling her the truth. He had to be. She was sitting with him, alone in a dark room, and he was making no move to do anything to harm her. Instead, he was only trying to reassure and comfort her.
"There's no rush," he assured her. "I'll wait until you're comfortable, until you're ready."
She had to fight back the wave of tears flooding her eyes. "Wait?" she managed to choke out through the lump in her throat.
He smiled. "Yes, wait. I like you, Sera. I want to be with you, with, or without sex. Understand?"
Her eyes widened as his words sank in. He could have almost any girl, at any time, why would he choose to wait for her? For someone who shrank away from him? For someone who was broken? She simply couldn't believe what she was hearing, but he seemed so honest, so sincere, and she wanted to believe him.
"Why?" she had to ask.
He stared at her as he tried to figure it out for himself. He liked her, he knew that, but he had liked girls before. Though none of them had ever made him feel the way she did or so protective before. And none of them had managed to arouse him as much as she did with just a look or a kiss. He was rigid right now, yet he was telling her he would wait for her.
It would be better for her if he left now, walked downstairs, and found the first girl he could take his lust out on. Instead, he found himself going limp at the thought. He was suddenly sure they wouldn't be able to satisfy him, and only she would be able to. Although they had just met, and he barely knew her, she helped to ease the loneliness of his bleak existence, and he was not going to let her go. He would have to someday, but not yet.
"Because I want to be with you. Okay?" he asked with a small smile.
She managed to smile back at him as her heart filled with happiness. He was surely too good to be true, but right now she didn't care. His thumb stilled on her chin as he leaned forward and kissed her. He pulled back and smiled as he held his arms out to her. She didn't hesitate as she fell into them. He hugged her against his chest, his chin resting on her head. To her amazement, she realized she’d never felt so safe before.
"Can I ask you something?" he inquired.
"Sure, what?"
"You may not like it, and you don't have to answer if you don't want to."
She nestled closer to his warmth. "Then ask."
"What happened to you before?"
Her breath froze in her lungs as her heart beat a staccato in her chest. "What do you mean?" she asked, trying to keep the tremor from her voice.
He stroked her hair. "I mean, what happened to make you so frightened?"
Agony tore through her as memories threatened to rush forth. Resolutely, she turned her attention away from the past and made herself focus on the here and now.
"You don't have to answer me," he reminded her.
She didn't know why. Maybe it was because he hadn't pressed her, or maybe it was because she felt so incredibly, irrationally safe with him, but she suddenly felt the need to tell him... or at least tell him some of it. "Remember when I said I came to this school because it was close to home, but far enough away?"
"Yes."
"Well, that wasn't entirely true. To me, it wasn't far enough away from home, not nearly far enough, but I couldn't afford anything else. My parents only live three hours away, in New Hampshire, but I don't go home for the holidays. I stay with my grandmother on the Cape. Sometimes my mom comes to visit me, but she never stays long, and my father never comes."
She took a deep breath to steady herself as she reopened wounds which had never completely healed. "My graduating class was only thirty-two kids, and we all knew where everyone else was going. No one was coming here, so I did. No one from the following classes has attended here either."
He remained silent while she took another deep breath. Now that she was speaking, she suddenly found herself unable to stop. "In the middle of my senior year, I started dating this guy named Jacob."
Her voice broke off as she shuddered involuntarily. She hadn't said his name in years, just saying it brought cold terror to her gut. Liam stroked her hair and back, easing some of the tension from her muscles, and giving her the strength to go on.
"He was the quarterback on the football team of the town next to ours. Our town was too small for a team, so the kids in our school played on that team too. My friends and I went to all their games; it was the only thing to
