New Tomorrow/Part 2

This is Part 2 of New Tomorrow, entitled Old Days.

Click here for the previous part.

Part 2 - Old Days
Liam had to think of something quick. He thought of anything, any possible thing to shift her attention away from all of this.

But her anguished look, the wetness of her cheeks, distracted him. These were the only times she would show this much emotion. Other days, she was quiet. The pattern was hard to read, and it kept him off balance. He had to improvise something because he was so sick of seeing it.

“H-hey… hey…” he said, wiping her tears away with his thumbs. “Do you uh—” More tears kept falling. Her changing look made Liam’s heart thump. “Do you remember when—when interrupted your date with uhm…” He looks away for a second, his eyes transferring onto the table lamp beside the sofa, trying to remember the guy’s name… this was at least eight years ago.

But it did the job, somehow.

“With who?” Elaine replies, and she follows it with a few sniffles. Liam quickly turns to face her, a bit astonished at her response.

“With…” He observes the sudden change in her expression. “… with uh…” He snaps his fingers a few times as he transfers to her right side. “He was this… short dude. As short as you. And his hair was all in this… douche-y style…” He could see the change in Elaine’s expression to blank interest. “Do you… remember?” he asks.

Elaine looks away, wipes off the remaining tears to wrap up her sadness. “Joe… I think.” She looks up to Liam with the same look of blankness, only this time, the tears were gone.

“Yeah… I think that’s… that’s him.” He wasn’t familiar with the name, but for Elaine’s sake, he nods.

“You…” Elaine turns away again, looking at the coffee table to recall a thought. “… you brought white flowers that day. Lilacs… I think.” She pauses, and keeps her eyes to the coffee table.

“Y-yeah… I think so.” They were last-minute, from that flower shop. It was a wet, unwrapped mess on his hand, because he grabbed it as he was running. No time to pay.

Liam looks at Elaine, waiting for any change in expression. He was afraid of anything changing in her thoughts, yet at the same time, he felt like she was done... but he just had to wait.

Elaine suddenly looks around the room for a few seconds, and then turns to Liam. “Kind of cramped in here. Let’s… go outside, if that’s okay.”

Again, Liam looks at her with surprise. “Uh… y-yeah, sure. Sure. I’ll just…” He taps the back of his waist and finds the leather sheathe and handle still in there. “… let’s go.” //////////////// The road was like how he left it; quiet, serene, and no biters in sight. They strolled side by side, with Elaine wrapping her arms tightly, her eyes down on the cement.

“So…” she starts. Liam faces her.

“Do you remember when you were 18?” She looks at him with her lips somewhat closed.

Liam takes a bit of time to respond, mostly surprised at this sudden hike of interest in her part. He wanted to talk about… something else. Her problems. But if it’s at least keeping her thoughts out of it…

“I was…” He looks away, and strokes his chin. “A senior. I was so close to quitting smoking…” He stopped about five years later. “… you were recently single that time, I think…” //////////////// Twelve years ago…

A young Liam paced back and forth, almost close to banging his head against the wall, but was able to keep his cool…

To his left side, a younger Elaine sat on the mattress, talking for what seemed like hours, and hours…

He shouldn’t have asked her. He shouldn’t have acted as the shoulder she could lean on.

Elaine had just broken up with Nolan, the first and seemingly last boyfriend she will ever have, at least in Liam’s view. But the way she was talking told him that they had such a meaningful time together. If only he had threatened Nolan sooner…

“… he even went as far as giving me rides to school! No need for waiting for mom… and he was smart, too. We helped each other on homework—why? Why did I…”

He wanted to tell her then and there. “Because you deserve me more. And I deserve you.” But she already told him to stop drinking, stop hanging out with those guys…

Liam grew more and more frustrated as he thought about it. She was just right there, so vulnerable… and he’s right there, acting like her best friend in need. He just needs to make a move, just… one move.

He stops, watches Elaine ramble on. If he can just be spontaneous for once… just go for it. He suddenly sits beside her, and it stops Elaine from talking. They both look eye-to-eye. He was so close.

There was the moment. The moment to seal it off. Elaine was clearly surprised, and yet she didn’t sway. She just looked at Liam’s lips…

And yet he found himself hesitating, for the longest time.

He smoked, that day. He knew she sensed it.

“Liam…” Elaine suddenly stands up. “… I told you stop smoking. I… I kept telling you. You just…”

He could already feel it. Her, pulling away farther and farther from him.

“You just don’t listen…” She stomps to the door, but stops halfway through. She turns to look at Liam, disappointed, and she exits.

Liam stares at the door, astonished. Elaine left, just like that. The moment he could’ve seized, and yet he was so far…

He tightens his hands, inhales out of frustration, and exhales. He could really use a pack right now. //////////////// Liam and Elaine have found themselves walking on the sidewalk of a park. A park with a green pasture, and a few trees here and there. It wasn’t too big, but it was enough empty space for them to stroll through and relax.

They were both looking down, on the ground they walked on.

“If you hadn’t smoked…” Elaine says.

“If I’d have just…” Liam replies.

They both look at each other at the same time. Liam wanted to say sorry, but that’s been way overdue, and… things have changed. Elaine was feeling the same way.

“Well…” She turns, to look at the distance in front of her. “… what I did afterwards I… wasn’t proud of.”

“You were trying to ignore me, right?” Liam asks. Elaine gives him a brief glance.

“Yeah. Kind of.” She gives him one more look this time, but he was looking away. “I was trying to hurt you. Make you regret what you’ve done.”

Liam returns her look. He felt… indifferent. He could tell ever since she started doing it. She triumphed, to an extent, but he never gave in. Even if he had to see other people. Even if she was so close to getting married. //////////////// Five months ago…

He thought it was the end. The guy she’s been seeing, Wilson, has finally proposed. She became his fiancé today.

Liam had just ended it with Claudia about two days ago. It wasn’t quite what he was looking for. Of course, after he explained that it’ll never be like what he had with Elaine, she stormed out. Like all the other women in his life. He was going to let Elaine know.

Liam watched as Elaine’s childhood friends surrounded her and expressed their excitement for her wedding. In fact, the whole orphanage was happy. He felt like he was the only angry one there.

He sees her look at him, her joy changing to a smile. Liam holds the glass of whiskey up in his hand, and returns it with an incomplete smirk. He just couldn’t be happier.

He did his best to distance himself from her as much as he could. Changing rooms, hiding behind walls…

He thought he could brave it. Wait it out until Elaine finally understands. That he wasn’t the same guy anymore. He was clean now. He’s stopped drinking, smoking… with her in mind. And now, she hasn’t even given him a chance.

Liam might have gone back to drinking that day, but he promised himself that it was just for one day. He carried a bottle with him, as he moved from room to room.

He tried her method. Seeing other people. But he just couldn’t figure out how she did it. How she was able to forget what they had back then…

And he she only had two other boyfriends before this prick named Wilson. Liam saw six other girls. Some were clearly temporary, others… a bit long term. But he always found himself back at square one. Back to where he should have been with Elaine.

The night didn’t end sooner for Liam, and he eventually found himself sitting on the sidewalk outside, all alone, with nothing but drink in hand…

“Cheers, Elaine,” he says, in a buzzed manner, and he pours more whiskey on his glass. He downs it fairly quickly, and was about to throw it at the street, when he remembers that he’s better than this. That he wasn’t going to act out today, much like Elaine. That he was going to move on, or at least try again, in the next morning…

He sets the glass aside and takes a swig of the whiskey. Wasn’t bad, coming from the bottle itself.

“Hey,” he hears someone familiar call from behind him. Liam turns to look. It was the bride-to-be.

She looked dazzling, even though it wasn’t even her wedding day yet… nor her bachelorette party, nor bridal shower. This was just a party, and she looked beautiful. The dress, the lack of make-up, the hairstyle…

“Did you just get back on that? Just now?” She walks over and sits beside him. Liam looks at the bottle, and nods at her a bit nonchalantly.

Elaine smirks, and shakes her head. “Liam… put that down, will you?”

Liam, realizing that she’s serious, sets the bottle aside, next to the glass. Good thing he was just buzzed. He can still understand her.

They both pause, wordless, staring into the street and the row of cars on the other side.

“Congrats,” Liam says to her. Elaine takes a bit of time to respond.

“Thanks.”

“So what is this… what’s… what’s going on with this?” He points in between her, and the distance behind her. “Is he something special?”

Elaine looks down for a second, then looks up to Liam. “Yeah. He… he is. Optometrist. Has a house. Hopes to help the orphanage out…”

“And… what about us?” Liam says it a bit more harshly, and it keeps Elaine frozen.

“What about all those years? What about… what happened between us?” He scoffs upon ending it.

“I… I met you when I was ten years old. We… we were inseparable back then. We grew… up together… we—”

“This doesn’t change, anything, Liam—”

“—We were best friends—w-we did things together! We… we snuck in ice cream during curfew—it was a two-man job. A-and what about what happened during August the 18th? We only… we only drifted apart when I started recovering—recovering for you, Elaine—”

“You were too late, Liam—I just—I met other peop—”

“I did what I could to salvage this but you always get away from me… like… y-you’re afraid of being hurt. Giving this a chance…”

Elaine suddenly stands up from the sidewalk and stomps toward the exit.

“Wait! Elaine…” Liam looks at her walk away, and it forces him to stand up and grab her arm.

“Elaine… please, just—listen—”

“I’m getting married, Liam. To…” She points toward the door behind her. “… to Wilson. You can’t change that any m—”

“I love you, Elaine. I… always will.”

Elaine lets the tears drop from her eyes, as she stared at Liam, speechless.

“Give this a ch—”

“I’m getting married, Liam.” She kept her voice as normal as she could, but she couldn’t prevent the momentary shake.

“I can’t… turn back now. It’d… ruin everything. Th… the plans. You’re… you’re too late, okay? Just…”

She does her best to wipe all the tears away from her eyes. She turns around, and walks toward the door.

“So that’s it?” Liam says, his loud enough for her to stop. “That’s all? After this, it’s over?” Elaine didn’t bother to look.

“What the hell’s Wilson done for you? Was he there when you broke up with Nolan, huh?” She turns halfway to facing him.

“Was he… there when you talked about how much you regretted it? And then, you’d take it back when you mentioned how he took your virginity—”

Elaine stomps toward Liam and slaps him across his face.

She goes back to the door, without turning back.

Liam didn’t bother to move his head. He waited, until Elaine was out of sight. Waited, until he heard the door close.

She must have been done. Done with him, forever. //////////////// And just like that, they were back. Back to the present. Back to when the world has changed.

Elaine was a few feet away from Liam, looking away from him. She remembered everything so clearly. She never thought she’d see him again months later, saving her life…

Liam never realized the seriousness of that night. Elaine was still on his mind… he still had hope, no matter how slim that was. The world would change, and it would push him right back to her doorstep.

He learned, a month before the apocalypse, that Wilson had called off the marriage. That he was going away to “save his family.” That he would never stay by Elaine’s side, as much as he would.

Elaine finally chose to sit on the nearby bench. She looked at Liam, and he walks over to her and sits beside her.

She hesitates at first, looking down at him. But then she eventually pulls his left arm and wraps it around her shoulder.

They take a good moment of silence, letting the quietness around them roam.

“Do you… still have feelings for Wilson?” Liam asks, and he pulls his arm away. Elaine looks up to him, her eyes hazy.

“No.” The way she adamantly said it with no emotion confirmed it for Liam.

“He broke his promise. He never loved me. He was selfish.” Elaine’s eyes transferred left and right between Liam’s.

Liam quiets down, processes it for a moment. It all happened so soon. He never had much time to dwell on it. He just ended up rescuing her, and a group of other people from the orphanage…

He was hoping that was the least he could do. To apologize for that night.

But he was compensated for so much more. Elaine’s kiss.

“I’m sorry,” she mutters, looking down on the grass. “I ignored you for… the longest time. I was afraid of you breaking your own promise, hurting me again. I never saw how much you were willing to change for me.”

Liam taps her shoulder, to get her attention. She looks at her.

“It’s okay.”

Elaine smiles, and scoots over closer to him. She kisses his cheek, and rests her head on his shoulder. //////////////// August 18th

“Here, here… gotcha your tea.”

Liam nurses a hot mug of tea as he walked over to Elaine; she was on her bed, as pale as stone, her nose red. She had a fever, and she missed school that day.

They were both freshman in high school, and Liam had to pick up her homework. For now, though, he had to nurse her back to health.

“Tea?” he offers, but Elaine shakes her head. Liam shrugs, and puts it on top of her dresser.

He looks at her, and sits beside her. He puts her hand on her forehead and feels it to be cold.

“You’ll get better tomorrow. I promise.”

Elaine sniffles. “But… I don’t wanna go to school.”

Liam scoffs. “You need to. I have nobody to talk to during lunch. Nobody to walk with when I go home.” He smirks, while Elaine returns it, before furrowing her eyebrows together.

“What are you still doing here? You’re gonna…” Elaine sniffles again, this time a bit heavier. “… you’re gonna catch my cold.”

Liam shrugs. “It’s a win-win. Either you recover, or we both get sick together.” He grows a smile, while Elaine chuckles. They both look at each other for a good moment.

Elaine sits up from her bed, unravels the blanket, and puts it over Liam. She then kisses his cheek, and rests her head on his shoulder.

“Thank you,” she says, weakly, yet clearly in his ears.