Through The Dark

by Jae

  “No, it’s okay. It was nothing.” I tell him as I shake my head again. “It was stupid.”

  “Daisy,” Liam sighs, wiping the tears from under my eyes away with his thumbs. “It’s not stupid. You can tell me anything.”

  “It was about you.” I blurt out without thinking. As I look at Liam, I see his eyes have widened a little bit, obviously not expecting me to say what I just did. “You were telling me that you didn’t want me anymore and I was crying because apparently I gave up going to Paris for you. Then some girl’s voice that I recognized but couldn’t place was taunting me and saying you wanted them instead of me. And then this door appeared and when I walked through it, you and a girl were kissing.”

  “Daisy,”

  “I told you it was stupid.” I quickly say before he can continue while getting off of my bed and walking into my bathroom, closing the door behind me.

  “Daisy,” Liam says, knocking on the door. “Open the door, please.”

  “No, just go away.” I sigh, leaning against the door.

  “It’s not stupid, Daisy. It’s not stupid at all, I promise. Just open the door. Please.”

  I wait a few moments before I slowly open the door, only to reveal Liam with a sad look in his eyes.

  “It’s not stupid.” He says again, taking my face between his hands. “And I’m sorry I made you cry. That’s the last thing I ever want to do.”

  I shrug my shoulders while pulling my face away from him and looking down at the ground, not knowing what to say.

  “Hey, stop.” Liam takes my face between his hands again and tilts my head back up. “Don’t pull away and try to hide from me.”

  “I don’t even know why I’m all worked up.” I sigh as my eyes fill with tears again. “God, I must look like a wreck.”

  “No, you don’t. Not for a second.” Liam declares as he pulls me into his arms, pressing our bodies together. “You’re so beautiful, Daisy; even when you cry.”

  I open my mouth to disagree, but choose against it and press my face into Liam’s chest instead. Liam stays quiet, rubbing his hand up and down my back until I finally calm down. Why am I being so emotional? I feel so dumb for acting this way.

  “Better now?” Liam questions, his voice soft as he brushes away my stray tears before placing a kiss to my forehead.

  “Yeah, I think so.” I respond, taking in a deep breath and slowly letting it out. “What time is it?”

  “8 o’clock.” Liam answers after looking at the time on his phone.

  “Oh, wow!” I exclaim before I start to brush my teeth for the third time today.

  “Yeah, we both passed out pretty hard.” Liam responds, shutting the lid on the toilet and sitting on it. “You more than me, though. I woke up when Ella called your phone about fifteen minutes ago.”

  “What did she want?” I ask after I rinse out my mouth.

  “To tell you that she is getting ready over at Zoie and Taylor’s and they would meet us at the party around 9:00 if we’re still going.”

  “Do you still want to go?” I ask him as I walk out of my bathroom and into my closet.

  “I don’t mind; only if you’re up for it.”

  “Yeah, I am.” I respond and start to flip through my clothes, trying to decide on something to wear. I look over to see Liam digging through his gym bag full of clothes and I can’t help but laugh a little.

  “What?” He asks, looking at me with a dimpled grin.

  “You can hang your clothes up and put whatever you want in that dresser; if you want to.” I respond, pointing to the dresser in front of him that I know has a few empty drawers and to the rack near his head with nothing but hangers on it.

  “Oh, okay.” He nods his head, dumping out his bag and hanging things up.

  “I don’t know what to wear.” I sigh after looking through my clothes for what feels like forever and sit down on the floor.

  I look up when I hear Liam chuckle and see he’s already dressed in a white t-shirt with a black and blue checkered button-up flannel that’s rolled up to his elbows over it, black jeans, and a pair of white Chuck Taylor All Star Converse shoes. I groan and lay on my back when Liam’s phone starts to ring from somewhere in my room and he exits without a word.

  I eventually decide on a t-shirt that has a picture of a leopard’s face on it, black jean shorts, and a pair of black lace up combat boots that has gold studs embellished on the back heel. My hair is in natural waves and my makeup consists of a light smoky eye.

  “See, that wasn’t so hard!” Liam teases when I walk out of my closet. I notice he’s messily pushed his hair back instead of having it sweep across his forehead like he normally does. “You look great!”

  “Thanks!” I give him a quick kiss before roaming around my room to find the necessities I need to put in my purse. “You don’t look so bad yourself.”

  Liam lets out a chuckle as he turns up the volume on my TV, Sports Center now playing clearly through the speakers.

  “Do you guys remember that girl who got injured during last season’s high school basketball state championship game?”

  My head instantly snaps up at the guy’s words.

  “What did he just say?” I think out loud, staring at the TV in disbelief.

  “Yeah, I remember her!” A second guy says. “What was her name again?”

  “Daisy Fields.” A third guy answers.

  “That’s right!” The second guy exclaims. “I don’t know how I could forget such a unique name like that.”

  “For those of our viewers who have no idea what we’re talking about, here’s a quick clip of what happened to Daisy Fields.” A fourth guy says.

  I watch as video footage of my accident on the basketball court comes up on the screen. Even though I’ve seen the video a hundred times before, I still wince when I see the girl take my legs out while I’m in mid-air. I take in a quick breath when I watch my head smack on the court and my entire body goes limp. They show the entire crowd fall quiet and then cut the video off when a medic runs onto the court.

  “That ladies and gentlemen, was footage of one of the greatest women’s high school basketball players I’ve ever seen having her dreams taken away from her.” The first guy informs, shaking his head.

  “What ended up being the final result of that?” The third guy questions.

  “She suffered from a concussion and a severely twisted knee.” The fourth guy answers. “The concussion went away with no problem. The twisted knee on the other hand never healed completely right for her to be able to play the same way again.”

  “Isn’t that just horrible?” The second guy asks. “At this time, Daisy was just 17 years old and in a moment of desperation from the opposing team, her entire basketball career got snatched away from her.”

  “That girl was really going places.” The third guy adds, now shaking his head.

  “Anyway, we brought this up because new footage of Daisy playing a pick-up game with four of USC’s men basketball players and what looks like to be a few of Daisy’s friends has been released.” The first guy informs, a smile gracing his face.

  “In the video you see Daisy and Liam Jones, USC’s current basketball star, guarding each other.” The fourth guy explains. “Here’s the clip.”

  I watch as a video of our four-on-four game comes up on the TV. Most of the video is of me and Liam going head to head against each other. Someone had obviously edited it since the game lasted a lot longer than a minute and a half, making it look almost like something that would resemble a highlight reel.

  “Now that was obviously just a snippet of the video.” The second guy explains, confirming my suspicions. “You can go to our website if you would like to see the whole thing.”

  “Did you see the way Daisy moved against Liam?” The first guy asks with something that sounded like amazement in his voice. “It’s incredible watching this video of a former, now injured, basketball star go all out against this fresh faced basketball star.”

&
nbsp; “Let’s not forget to mention that Daisy is at least half a foot shorter than Liam!” The third guy adds.

  “Just to get something clear,” The fourth guy quickly interjects. “We are in no way tearing down Liam Jones. He is an amazing basketball player in his own right. We just simply want to get across how phenomenal it is to watch these to work against each other. Maybe we’ll be seeing a comeback from Daisy Fields?”

  “I don’t think any of us could’ve said that any better.” The second guy agrees.

  “And rumor is,” The third guy adds. “These two are dating now. We don’t have any details on the relationship, other than it looks like things are heating up between these two.”

  “Oh, come on, man!” The first guy exclaims. “This is a sports show, not a dating service!”

  This causes all of the sportscasters to laugh. After a few more seconds of them telling people to go check out the full video on their website, they move on to talk about something else sports related. Liam clicks the TV off and turns to look at me.

  “Did that really just happen?” I ask him, still trying to wrap my head around what I just watched.

  “Yeah,” Liam chuckles. “It did.”

  I shake my head in disbelief while Liam gets up and then pulls me to him.

  “On the plus side,” He continues with another dimpled grin. “Things look like their heating up between us.”

  “Oh, you think so?” I smile as I poke his dimple with my finger.

  “Yeah, I do.” He says before dipping his head down and catching my lips in a passionate kiss.

  “Yeah, things are definitely heating up in here.” I joke, pretending to fan my face when we pull away from each other.

  “Way to kill the moment, Daisy.” Liam pouts.

  “Oh, stop!” I laugh while lightly swatting his arm and walking out of my room, Liam trailing closely behind me.

  The party is already in full swing when we pull up to the frat house Liam belongs to. When we walk inside, Liam instantly pulls me against his body so he won’t lose me in the crowds of people. We make our way to the kitchen after I voice that’s where Ella, Zoie, and Taylor always are.

  “Hey, girls!” I yell when I spot them and we pull each other into a group hug.

  “I love your outfit!” Zoie gushes and the other girls agree.

  “Thanks!” I say, taking in their appearances that consist of tight dresses and heels. “You guys look great too!”

  “Hey, I need to go check on a few things.” Liam whispers in my ear. “Stay right here with the girls. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

  I nod my head, watching Liam take a quick shot before kissing me on top of my head and then disappearing out of the kitchen.

  “So, Ella told us Liam has one hell of a body under that t-shirt of his.” Taylor laughs before taking another shot.

  “Oh my God, Ella!” I exclaim, swatting her arm.

  “What?” She laughs as she hands me a shot and I quickly swallow the dark liquid.

  “Hey, you guys remember our cousin Clair?” Zoie asks when a girl that looks vaguely familiar walks up to us.

  “Hey!” Clair says making my eyes grow wide and then narrow when I realize it’s her voice I heard in my dream. “It’s so nice to see you guys again! It’s been a while!”

  I roll my eyes and quickly take another shot. My head snaps up and my eyes grow wide when I feel someone’s hand smack my ass. Without even looking, I know for a fact it isn’t Liam. I turn around to see some guy I didn’t know standing in front of me, rubbing his hands together like he hasn’t eaten in weeks and just found the perfect meal. He is tall, maybe an inch or so shorter than Liam and not in the least bit attractive. By how he’s dressed, you would think he would have trouble walking from how low his pants are sagging and overly big his t-shirt is.

  “How you doin’?” He slurs, his breath reeking of alcohol.

  The longer I stare at him, the more I realize his eyes are completely bloodshot and conclude he’s most likely on drugs.

  “Sorry, but I’m not interested.” I politely inform him before turning back around.

  I jump when I feel my ass get smacked again, a little harder this time. I spin back around to see the same guy standing there.

  “I asked you a question.” He says grabbing a hold of my forearm.

  “And I told you I wasn’t interested.” I respond, trying to pull my forearm out of his grasp, but he’s squeezing too tightly. “Let go, you’re hurting me.”

  “Oh my God!” I hear the girls gasp when they realize what’s going on. “Let her go!”

  “Get off of me!” I exclaim, trying to shove him off but instead of getting what I want, he smacks me across the face.

  “You need to learn some manners, bitch.” He seethes, gripping my forearm tighter.

  “Clearly,” I spat, tasting blood in my mouth. “You need to, too. Last I checked – you don’t hit girls.”

  “Get Liam!” I hear someone shout. “Someone get Liam!”

  I quickly realize that my mouthing off doesn’t seem to please the guy very much when I see him beginning to raise his hand again. Before he can hit me again though, I see Liam round the corner into the kitchen, a deadly look in his eyes.

  “Get the fuck away from her!” His voice booms as he grabs the guy by his shoulder.

  I’m instantly released and Ella pulls me to her as Zoie and Taylor inspect my arm and face. I watch Liam punch the guy square in the face while Tony, Jack, and Connor come rushing into the room. They make a beeline for us girls, not even paying any attention to Liam.

  “Come on, let’s go.” Tony says as the guy swings at Liam, completely missing, and then Liam punches him in the face again. There is blood gushing from the guy’s nose as he falls to the ground from the force of Liam’s hit. I look around the kitchen, trying to figure out why no one is jumping in to stop the fight.

  “Liam, stop!” I yell and try to reach for him, but Jack pulls me back.

  My eyes grow wide when Liam kicks the guy in his side before bending down and repeatedly punch him.

  “Stop, Liam! Stop!” I yell before looking at Tony. “Make him stop! Please! Please, make him stop!”

  “Get them out of here!” Tony demands Connor and Jack.

  Before I can voice anything else, I’m being picked up my Connor and carried out of the house, the girls and Jack trailing behind us. I wiggle around and yell for him to put me down, but he doesn’t listen until we’re outside. Even though we’re surrounded by fresh air, I feel like I can’t breathe. Not knowing what else to do, I begin to walk down the street a little, trying to pull myself back together. I hear someone yell my name, but I ignore them and keep walking. Watching Liam beat that guy up like that pushed a huge feeling of fear into the pit of my stomach. He didn’t even look like himself. His eyes were nearly black and his face was beat red with anger. I could see all the veins in his neck and arms popping out as he threw every punch. I bend over and place my hands on my knees, taking in deep breaths while I try to push away the urge to throw up.

  “Don’t touch me.” I demand, standing up straight when I feel someone touch my back. “Don’t touch me.”

  “Daisy,” Liam says, his eyes growing wide. “It’s just me.”

  “Please.” I beg squeezing my eyes shut when he tries to reach out for me again. “Please, don’t touch me.”

  When I open my eyes again, Liam is looking at me like I’d just smacked him across his face.

  “Whatever.” He grumbles, throwing his hands up in the air and turning away from me. “We’re leaving. Now.”

  I slowly follow him, noticing that our friends have already left. Liam gets in the car and starts it before I even have a chance to open my door. Once I’m in and have my seat belt on, Liam speeds down the street. I watch him as he drives. He has his right hand on the steering wheel, his knuckles white from holding on so tight. I realize this is his way of trying to calm himself down while he drives. His eyes are still blazing while his set
jaw constantly twitches with anger.

  When we pull up to my house, I’m not too surprised that Liam doesn’t open the door for me. I get out and storm up to my front door to let us in. I jump when I hear the front door slam shut as I walk into the kitchen and drop my purse onto the counter. I grab a bottle of water out of the fridge and take a long drink from it before putting it back. I jump again when I close the door and see Liam standing on the other side of the counter, his large hands gripping the edges while he stares at me.

  “What?” I demand, narrowing my eyes at him.

  “What do you mean, ‘What’?” Liam scoffs, causing me to roll my eyes.

  “Is that guy going to be okay?”

  “That guy left a nice red handprint across your face and a black and blue one on your arm,” Liam explains, motioning to my injuries with his hand. “And you’re going to stand there and ask me if he is going to be okay?”

  “It seems that way, doesn’t it?” I respond as a sudden feeling of annoyance mixed with anger begins to build in my stomach.

  “Why does it matter?”

  “It matters because I want to know if he’s still breathing!” I yell, not being able to compose myself as well as him.

  “Lucky enough for him, he is.” My eyes grow wide at his words, my fear starting to take over.

  “Excuse me?” I barely get out.

  “You heard me, Daisy.” Liam growls, his already too dark eyes growing darker. “He deserved a lot worse for what he did to you.”

  I take a step back, feeling my hands beginning to shake as absolute fear takes over my body. Though I know Liam’s anger isn’t meant to be directed at me, I can’t help but want to run away from the deadly look in his eyes; which is exactly what I do. Hot tears sting my eyes as I storm out of the kitchen, making a mad dash for my room.

  “Don’t walk away from me!” Liam yells, following a few beats behind me.

  When I reach my room, I rush into my bathroom and quickly lock the door behind me. I jump and step away from the door when I hear Liam’s fists start to pound on the other side.