Quality Time Who:Liam and Audrey When: Morning Where: Their house then the lake
Liam had slept all right, but had woken up with the same confused, flippy feeling settled in his stomach as he’d had when he went to bed the night before. The rain was heavier than he expected when he woke up and he pulled himself out of bed, starting instantly for the kitchen. He only stopped to pick something off his table and then he was settled in a chair at the kitchen table, a tiny pink ninja poised on its surface with his index finger pressing gently down on his head.
Audrey was tired. She hadn't slept well in the slightest, her guts still churning over everything. She wished it would just go away and she could go about her business. But it was there, unfocused as ever. She made an attempt to sing to herself softly as she made her way to the kitchen, though the song itself seemed to reflect her mood as much as anything else. "What's left to lose? You've done enough, and if you fail, well you fail but not to us..." She trailed off when she saw Liam there, and she gave a tired smile, seeing the ninja she'd given him there. "How's Terry today?" she asked.
Looking up, Liam smiled a little at the sight of Audrey. She definitely wasn't making his confusion any easier but it was still nice to see her. And it was always nice to hear her songs, because hearing Audrey sing always made Liam feel a little safer. Turning his eyes back to the pink ninja on the table, he shrugged. "Ok," He answered, rocking Terry back and forth a little. "Thinking…"
Getting herself some juice, she smiled at that. "Deep, pondering thoughts from him this morning?" she asked, turning back to him when she had her glass. She leaned her back against the fridge, focus on him. "What's he thinking about?"
"Last night," Liam said, eyes very focused on Terry and his pink coloring. Parts of his paint had started to fade and it always made Liam sadder when he caught those little worn bits, but he tried not to think on it now. It wouldn't help him here. "Auction. Thank you, for bidding on me.”
Audrey was used to Liam not focusing on her when he talked to her. Sometimes he got like that, she didn't take it personally. When he mentioned the auction, her stomach did a little icky roll. If the guys could just not mention that ever again, that would be awesome. "You're welcome." she told him, sounding normal. That was a good thing. But god did she not want to be talking about this. She didn't want to be hit with the jealousy stick again. And it was with Liam that it had started. Seeing him being bid on by other girls, and just...yeah. Telling herself a billion times that it was stupid wasn't actually helping that much. "Is Terry excited about things?" she asked, because she wanted to change the subject and her brain completely failed to come up with a new subject.
"Last night," Liam said, eyes very focused on Terry and his pink coloring. Parts of his paint had started to fade and it always made Liam sadder when he caught those little worn bits, but he tried not to think on it now. It wouldn't help him here. "Auction. Thank you, for bidding on me.”
Audrey was used to Liam not focusing on her when he talked to her. Sometimes he got like that, she didn't take it personally. When he mentioned the auction, her stomach did a little icky roll. If the guys could just not mention that ever again, that would be awesome. "You're welcome." she told him, sounding normal. That was a good thing. But god did she not want to be talking about this. She didn't want to be hit with the jealousy stick again. And it was with Liam that it had started. Seeing him being bid on by other girls, and just...yeah. Telling herself a billion times that it was stupid wasn't actually helping that much. "Is Terry excited about things?" she asked, because she wanted to change the subject and her brain completely failed to come up with a new subject.
He glanced her way then back down at the ninja again, tilting his head a little as he moved to let it rest on his arm. "Confused," He answered honestly, looking only at Terry. It was easier for him this way. He'd always felt a little jolt of something when it came to Audrey. She was sweet and kind and pretty and had taken care of him in ways that he didn't think anyone would, but now that jolt was warring with a twinge of something else and he didn't know what to do about it.
Of course. Because I have been a huge freak bitchy weirdo. Audrey thought. Dammit. She really didn't want to put any of the guys in this position. "What is he confused about?" she asked. Though before he could answer she tacked another question on in the hopes he would get distracted by that one. "What does he think of the pretty girl who won you?" God it killed her to call that girl pretty and sound pleasant about it.
This wasn't really helpful for him either. It was strange, hearing Audrey say she thought Darcy was pretty. Because Darcy was pretty, and Audrey was pretty, but together in the same sentence it was strange for Liam. He was stuck feeling odd, like he couldn't find the words to answer either of her questions. "Confused," He answered again, teetering Terry back and forth. "She's really nice...and pretty...and she kissed me," He said, poking his cheek where the kiss from Darcy had landed. "Confused and scared." There was a lot about this that Liam wasn't ready for. He'd never really expected anything to come of any of the feelings swirling around inside of him. He didn't expected anything to come of them when they were directed at Audrey and he still didn't expect anything to come of them now that they were warring with more strange, confusing feelings toward Darcy too. Mostly it just left him feeling odd and concerned and really unsure of what to do.
Hearing the girl kissed him sparked up that jealousy again. She very much hated it. Like, even thinking about it because of course now she was picturing it. It twisted her stomach, and she didn't know what to say. She was sort of damn lucky he added the word 'scared' in there, because that immediately shifted her concern into gear, which outshone the jealousy. At least for the moment. "Scared?" she asked, moving to sit at the table with him.
He nodded after a moment, only able to glance up at Audrey the look back down at the ninja. "New," He said instantly. He didn't know how to phrase that he hadn't hated it and at the same time, that he'd always sort of hoped it would come from Audrey and never really expected there to be anyone else that made him feel these strange, mixed up feelings. Or that he wasn't even really sure what he was feeling, that he was mostly just feeling things.
"He's scared about things being new?" Audrey asked, wishing he'd give her a little more. She wasn't impatient with him, though. It was just how he was. "How did things go after you two were off the stage?" she asked. Did she say why she bid on you? Is this a crush from afar thing, or just some other crap? Is she going to wind up hurting you? Because that's not okay and I can't promise I wouldn't do something very, very petty if it did.
"Nice," He said, finally looking up at Audrey. After the auction had been nice. Still confusing, but nice. "Said I was different... From her family, and different." it sounded better when she said it because it was harder for Liam to explain things verbally but he would try. "Just... A lot. Of things. Thoughts."
Why had this conversation been easier when he wasn't looking at her? She didn't look away, however, when he did finally look over. "You are different." she told him. "You're not like anyone else I've ever met, or anyone I'll ever meet again." She meant every word of that, too. It was her turn to tick her gaze away. "Good thoughts? You like her?"
That made Liam's face heat up in a blush. This kind of stuff, he was never very good at. He didn't do conversations well in general but especially not with this subject matter. After a long moment, he averted his eyes too. "Maybe," She came a quiet answer. Because he still couldn't figure out for sure what was happening. He didn't dislike Audrey or Darcy but did that mean he liked both of them?
"How does she make you feel?" Audrey asked. Just like with Finn, she was going to do her level best to help, even if it made her want to tear her hair out. Or her heart, or something. "Do you smile when you think about her? Do you want to get closer? Do you want to talk to her?" she asked. Since, for Liam, wanting to talk to someone might be a huge clue.
Liam out his head down on his arms again and stared dutifully at Terry. Audrey questions made him nervous again because he didn't know the answer. He shrugged after a moment. "Maybe..." He started. "She bid on me because she likes me... I think." Not for any other reason, but because Darcy seemed to really like him. And there or was, that weird nagging feeling in him again as Darcy's image came up in his mind beside Audrey's.
That had Audrey frowning, and she sat up a little straighter. "What do you mean, you 'think'?" she asked, possibly slightly more adamant about that question than she should have been. "What exactly did she say?" No one had better bid on Liam if they didn't like him, because that was not okay at all. Liam was sweet, and awesome, and didn't need anyone screwing with his head--which clearly, considering their conversation, everything was already taking him for a spin.
Liam glanced up at Audrey and shook his head. That wasn't what he had meant it to sound like. His thoughts got carried away and his words couldn't keep up with his thoughts.He'd meant it to sound like hedidn't know the nuances , not Darcy not liking him. "And... I don't know about girls." She He wanted Darcy to like him, some part of him craved the realization bit did he let himself think that? And then what about Audrey?
Audrey bit her lower lip to keep herself from speaking for a second. She really needed to get herself in check. Because she was not going to ruin this for him. He deserved to be happy, and sure, maybe she was internally imploding, but that didn't fucking matter. Liam did. His happiness did. "There isn't much you need to know, Liam." she told him. "Tell her you think she's pretty. Be nice. Open doors for her, and listen to everything she says. A lot of girls just want someone to listen to them."
Liam didn't like the way Audrey looked right now. It tore at the part of him that wanted to tell her she was pretty, that he wanted to listen to her. He nodded a little bit didn't move away, instead shifting his chair to be closer to her. "listen to you..." He he said, because seeing Audrey this way was really hurting him.
She gave him a smile, and reached out to take his hand and give it a squeeze. "You listen to me." she agreed, possibly misunderstanding there. "Actually, you're the best listener in the history of everyone ever." she added because she believed that. It wasn't even just the part where he didn't like to talk much. He just focused on people. He paid attention. It was a great quality to have, and one, she was now thinking, would be one hell of an asset for him now that he was going to do the dating thing.
Liam liked this. He liked his hands in Audrey's. It was safe and nice and sparked those strange, bubbly feelings again and it showed in the color in his cheeks. Sighing, he watched her for a moment and then squeezed her hand back. "walk?" He asked me thinking that they might both appreciate a change of pace and maybe conversation too.
She gave him a little smile, and nodded. "Yes, please." she said, thinking that he had the right idea there. It probably would work well to just get out of the house, go for a walk. They could even go away from the center of town, walk toward the woods or something. Really get away. "We could walk to one of the lakes?" she suggested.
"Wherever you want," He said, smiling a little more. "Just walk with you," He said. It'd be so nice just to have quiet, safe time with Audrey. He wanted to do this more often, because this he liked. This made sense. "Thank you, Audrey."
Audrey stood, and stretched. "Then let's get out of here." she suggested. She knew where she wanted to go, it wasn't that far--though really nothing was that far in the dome. Still. She headed for the door, slipping her sandals on. They could go, be alone, and she could...she didn't know what. Avoid being depressed? Avoid topics that were going to make her twitch like a twitching mess of a jealous idiot? She did want to do this, though. She was hoping that she could feel better about things, hanging out with just Liam. Maybe she could feel like she was connected to him again, even if she shouldn't feel disconnected to start with.
They got to the lake, and Audrey felt a little better. She walked up to the water, losing her sandals in the grass. It was private here. No one was around, no one was going to show up, it was a lake, or pond or something, in the woods. Drawing in a deep breath, she let it out slowly as she dipped her toes into the water, walking in up to her calfs. Then she looked back at Liam and smiled. "This is better." she told him. "Guess I feel like I can breathe."
It was nice seeing Audrey this way. He ditched his shoes, rolled his pants up, and went into the lake after her. Taking in a big, but animated breath, he grinned. "Me too," He said. Like it here. Come here more often."
"We should come here more often." Audrey said, laughing. "Maybe we should make a regular thing of it." she suggested, at the last second not saying 'make a date of it'. "I guess I usually feel like there's a lot to do, but maybe I'm just stressing myself out." she said, thinking that was probably it. And, if this was the start of her boys drifting off, doing their own thing, then she was probably going to need to find something to do on her own. As far as she knew there wasn't a single other prospect around.
"Dinner?" He suggested, thinking a picnic could be fun for all of them. Liam drifted up to her side, splashing the water some on purpose as he did. "can I help?" He asked. The last thing he wanted for Audrey was stress and of he could do something about it, he'd happily step up.
"Sounds awesome." she said, splashing a little water back at him while she was at it, a playful smile on her lips. "And of course you can." she added. "You and me. Cooking. Sounds awesome." she said. It would be a good activity for them to do together, then there'd be a lot more time spending going on. Which in general had her feeling better. She just hoped he didn't want to take a new girlfriend along.
"Cooking, " He said with a smile." I like cooking. With you, "Liam grinned more as he spoke." What can we make tonight?" He really liked the idea of having that time with Audrey. "can you sing when we cook? I like that."
Audrey nodded. "Of course I can. Got any requests? Any time you want me to sing, I will, you know. I don't mind." she said. She did know that she used to a lot more, because it was an escape for her. That, and it wasn't like there was anything else going on besides dodging zombie hordes. She walked a little further into the water, tugging her skirt up slightly so she could get deeper.
Liam watched Audrey for a moment, smiling at her. This was awesome. This was great. "James Taylor?" He asked, slowly following after her. After a moment, he added. "New, but.. Dr. Micah said I could stitch the next person up who needed it."
"What song?" she asked. Though she got distracted by his next announcement. "Really?" she asked, excited. She came back over to give him a big hug. "I'm so proud of you!" she said brightly. "You're really getting there! Aw, Liam, that's awesome!"
He'd meant to tell Audrey about this earlier but they're hadn't been time. Grinning, he hugged her back and smiled more. "I can do it. Help people..." when he pulled back to look at her, he was still smiling. "how are the kids?"
Grinning, she was just happy to hear that he was moving up on things. It was awesome. Liam, she knew, would do so very well with the whole thing. It would make him feel like he was helping, and she knew that made him happiest. "You can! And will!" she said, still beaming had clearly excstatic for him. "And the kids are great! Lately we've been singing Elton John songs. We just got done with some Heather Nova."
"Will there be a concert?" He would like to see the kids have a concert because he thought it would make Audrey really happy and it might make the kids really happy too.
"Oh! You know, I never even thought of that. There isn't one scheduled, but I could probably organize one!" she said, loving that idea. School extracurriculars weren't really pushed these days. Work was so much higher a priority in the dome that a lot of other things tended to fall by the wayside. "Awesome idea! Will you come, watch my kids sing? You can pick out one of the songs..." she said, twirling a little in the water.
He loved seeing Audrey like this, happy and spinning around. "yes," He said, nodding. "I can help organize? I would like to." it would be a challenge for him but a good one, one that might better him. It would involve talking to people but he could try it. For Audrey, he would try it.
"Of course." she told him, more than happy to have that time to spend with him too. "You could come by after school when you aren't at the hospital?" she suggested. "What song would you want to hear? So I can add it in right away." she said, splashing at him a little again. She was feeling lighter, more positive. She hoped it would stick around, though she was somewhat aware that it wouldn't. Her reality was changing, and having this to concentrate on was great, but wouldn't change her home life.
" 'Course, "He said, laughing a little as he got splashed. The song, though, so had him pausing for a moment." Country Road. James Taylor. " He was on a kick with James Taylor lately but it might be a cute song for the kids to sing. Maybe." What Elton John song? Crocodile rock? "
"Ohh, good choice." she told him. "And we've actually done a couple? Usually I choose an artist, and we do a few songs each." she explained. "We were doing Tiny Dancer the other day, and the next choice is Rocketman or I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues." she said. "Which I think is really the name of that song...that's how it goes, anyhow." she said, smiling. And she sang a bar. "...and I guess that's why they call it the blues...time on my hands, could be time spent with you, laughing like children, living like lovers, rolling like thunder under the covers, and I guess that's why they call it the blues...." She spun around as she finished the line.
The song settled with Liam and he tried to think about the lyrics but instead just listen to her voice as she sang. He moved his head in time with the song, and smiled. "I like crocodile rock, for the kids." He said after a moment. "on my player..." it was one of the few Elton John songs he had on his mp3 player and a favorite of his."you should just sing that song, blues song. "
"Oh, Benny and the Jets is good too." Audrey said. "Maybe you can just come buy and we can all pick out songs together. Bring your player, so we can hear Crocodile Rock too." she encouraged. "It's been nice to get to do different artists, though. Just...keep things different, do different songs, different genres, all over the map. So much music is just going to be lost. And that kinda breaks my heart."
He definitely understood that. Music was a big thing for him and he wanted to help Audrey with encouraging the kids to know more of it. Nodding, and he smiled. "player, check." He promised. But instead of thinking about how music bring list would break Audrey's heart, which was hard enough to think about in general, he leaned down, scooped up some water, and splashed it right at her with a grin. Maybe he could get her to smile again.
Audrey let out a squeak, though it was a happy one. She retaliated, opting to kick more water at him. She didn't care if she got all wet. In fact, that would be a lot of fun, considering. Her grin was wide, as she poised, ready to move if he splashed her again.
Liam got hit harder with the splash than he thought, but it got a real laugh from him. It was louder than normal, louder than even his normal speaking voice, and he couldn’t stop the beaming smile on his face. He did retaliate and he didn’t gauge the amount of water he’d tried to splash, because he ended up splashing much more than he wanted to. His eyes widened only after he’d let the water loose.
Audrey was abruptly soaked. Her whole front was hit with water, and she stood there, jaw dropped for a second before she burst into giggles. "Oh, you're gonna get it!" she warned, right before she went to splash him bigtime too. She dropped her skirt from her hand, since it was pointless now. She was going to be all wet and that was that. And she was more than happy with that.
Liam managed to save some of his face from getting splashed immediately, but it didn't seem to really change anything. He found himself coated in water, laughing again and immediately wishing they had water balloons because he hadn't had a water balloon fight since Hayley was alive. He went to splash her again but it was smaller this time, even if his grin was wider than before. This was nice, carefree, and he was absolutely fine with just playing in the lake with Audrey until they wanted to go home and start dinner. Sounded like a pretty great day to Liam anyway.
Audrey drifted closer to him, splashing a little as she went. "Let's go swimming." she said, glancing out at the deeper water. "I haven't been since forever, and it seems like a good idea right now." she encouraged. "Besides. It'll give us something to do while our clothes dry!" she added, deciding that that would also be the better idea. She could hang her dress over a tree branch, let it dry out, and they could swim.
While our clothes dry… Yup, Liam was somehow right back at embarrassed and it took less than a true second to get that way. He was not ready to not be in clothes around any girl, even Audrey, even though he'd probably ended up shirtless sometime before around her. He couldn't pinpoint a specific time, not with his mind thinking about clothes-less Audrey, and he instantly looked down at the water to try and contain his mind. Nodding, he glanced her way again then back at the water, really not sure how to even start this or if he should just go swimming with his clothes on instead. That seemed safer.
"...we can not, if it makes you uncomfortable." Audrey said, taking his behavior there to mean that she'd crossed a line or something. Which had a twist forming in her stomach. She wanted to apologize profusely, but waited it out, biting her lower lip.
He needed to get ahold of himself. This was Audrey! He could totally swim with Audrey. It would be fine. Shaking his head quicker, Liam looked back up at her and smiled. "Swim," He promised. He wanted to swim, because Audrey wanted to swim. He pulled his shirt, half soaked and half damp, from him and held it awkwardly in front of him for a minute before looking around. "Where?" He asked, wanting to find the best place to lay their clothes out, mostly because action generally made him less awkward by default.
Audrey smiled, then headed back to shore. There were a few low hanging branches, and she reached out to take his shirt from him, hanging it over one of the branches. Then she tugged her dress off over her head, self conscious, of course. But she did it. She just had flaming cheeks while she did so. She hung her dress next to his shirt, sort of glad her underclothes matched. They weren't meant to be sexy or anything, just cotton with little flowers on them, but still.
He waded after her, holding out his shirt when need be and then doing his best to not just outright stare at her. At Audrey, in her matching underwear. The image was seared in his mind now, definitely not going anywhere, and it took much, much longer than Liam wanted to to be able to get out of his shorts and hand them to her. Red cheeks flaring, Liam awkwardly started back into the lake in his boxers, thinking he needed to feel the coolness of the water as soon as possible.
Audrey hung those up too, then watched him walking back into the water. She didn't start in after him right away, just...taking a silent, private moment to watch him. She knew she shouldn't, but she indulged in that anyhow. Then, before she could get caught and make things all the more awkward for herself, she dashed into the water and dove under, swimming out a ways.
Liam was wading in the water, kicking his feet as he bobbed up and down as the water settled in at about shoulder level. He turned back in time to see Audrey dive under the water and waited anxiously for her to come up again, not really sure why it concerned him that he couldn’t see her. When it came to Audrey or Finn or Eli, he always tended to get nervous when they were out of sight, because out of sight usually meant away from whatever stronghold they’d crafted for the time being. He forced a breath in and reminded himself that they were safe now, but still waited impatiently for her to pop up again.
Popping back up, she was thinking about how awesome it was they could do this here. Before, swimming in ponds or lakes was a non starter, considering zombies could be wandering the bottom of the body of water. But here that wasn't a problem, and she was really relishing that. She looked back at Liam, and smiled, waving. "I love this!" she said, clearly enthusiastic.
Liam was already hastily making his way over to where Audrey was, needing to be closer because he was too nervous being in this body of water so far from her. He liked seeing her so happy, though, and that helped with some of his nerves. "Me too," He answered honestly, because just being around her, spending this time together, and getting to swim again were things that he did love. "Fun."
Audrey just smiled at him. Her expression reflected what she was feeling then. Liam was just awesome. There were no two ways about it. He was just great. He was sweet, and adorable, and incredibly cute, and his eyes were amazing...he was important to her. On so many levels. He made her feel better about humanity, sometimes. It wasn't quite faith, but she felt better knowing that he existed. That there was someone out there like him. "We should do this more often." she said, flicking a little water at him.
Liam nodded, smiling a little more even as she flicked ate at him. It was nice to be here with Audrey, to be somewhere safe with one of the most important people in the world to him. "We should. All the time," He said, thinking that it would be nice to have time just to do this with Audrey again, even if part of him thought he should invite Finn and Eli. Maybe this could be just time for him and Audrey, though. "More often," He promised, thinking swimming and cooking would definitely give them more time to do normal things together.