Possessive (Completed)

Chances

Liam entered the dimly lit coffee shop, and put down his umbrella. Boston was definitely a rainy city, Liam thought as he sat down at a small two person table. The idea of seeing Mary again and diving into the feelings of the past terrified Liam, but he figured he ought to work towards something, if he didn't want to become stagnant. Mary entered the coffee shop not long after Liam, and nodded kindly in his direction. A few years older than when he had last seen her, Mary still looked as pretty as ever, even with her hair slightly wet. Mary wore a short black skirt with dark tights, a tucked pink sweater, and shiny leather pumps that tied at the front with a satin ribbon. Over it all she had on a formal grey peacoat that reached to the bottom of her skirt.

"Hi Mary." Liam smiled, in the little half smile, only Mary ever seemed to earn from him. "How've you been?"

"I manage." She said, as she smoothed her coat over the chair and sat down. The table was small and forced them to be relatively close together. Liam was a little bit slumped over in a comfortable position, but Mary sat straight as a board with her legs crossed at the ankles. "And you."

"I'm alright."

"No you're not." Mary said shortly, tucking a blonde curl behind her tiny ear. Her peal earrings made her eyes sparkle in the dim light. "You wouldn't have called me if times hadn't gotten rough."

"I never could lie to you, could I?" Liam mused with a fake smile.

"Lying is sinful." Mary shrugged her narrow shoulders. "So I don't know why you'd make the attempt. Is it your mother?"

"No she's still in rehab. Recovering well, but not what's been bothering me.."

"Bless her heart." Mary shook her head, eyes flicking to the tealight candle on the table. "What is it then?"

"It's Simon."

"Ah. You always were protective of him, how is he?" Mary tilted her head at the mention of Simon.

"I worry that he might be following into the wrong crowd of people." Liam sat a little straighter in his chair.

"Wrong." Mary repeated, "How so?"

"The one.. reminds me of myself.. He even got someone kicked off the football team. I just.. I just don't want Simon to be treated like some kind of trophy, or like property. Like how I would have treated someone like that when I was younger.."

"You were always a perfect gentleman to me." Mary placed her hands in her lap, turning a ring on her finger slightly. Everything she did was incredibly deliberate, as if she carefully considered the outcome of every action. "But then again I think you might find a better comparison between how you treat Simon and how this boy treats Simon as opposed to how you ever treated me."

"I suppose." Liam relented.

"Simon was little more than a child last time I saw him, but even then you cherished him as I can see you still do now. Could this new boy just wish to do the same?" Mary suggested.

"No.." Liam shook his head. "I treat Simon as I do because we went through so much together, if you had known me long before everything I was far less..."

"You went through an awful lot, so young. Could this young man not be going through an awful lot himself?"

"I suppose..." Liam pursed his lips.

"And you went to quite a dark place in high school, and afterwards. Maybe having someone like Simon could help the boy out. Simon was a good child, and in certain situations goodness can be contagious."

"But I had Simon and I still went to the dark places. Couldn't the darkness be contagious too?" Liam attempted.

"You and Simon have a complicated relationship." Mary stated. "You're too dependent on him. It isn't healthy, really. But you fit together like puzzle pieces to create a strange little family. Perhaps its time to admit Simon could fit better into the puzzle of another, and let him go so you can find a better fitting piece for yourself. Besides I'm of the belief that the good will cancel out at the end of the day."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that you and Simon went through something terrible together, and you're so desperate to hold onto him that you don't realize that you're stifling him, and stifling yourself. You'll always have a special relationship, but it's time for you both to go out and carve special relationships of your own. If you don't you're going to be trapped in the shadow of your parents forever." Mary fiddled with her gold necklace. "You can't go on like this, Liam, you're exhausted, and I'm sure Simon must be as well. Your parents are gone, and you can't bring them back, especially not in this rut you've gotten yourself into."

"Woah..." Liam shuttered. "That's deep.."

"You said "one of the boys" so there's two boys hanging 'round Simon?" Mary reminded him.

"Yes. The boy that got the boy kicked off the football team, and the boy he got kicked off the team."

"And this other boy..?" Mary's brows furrowed.

"He just. I think he isn't good for Simon. He came over to our house this weekend to yell at Simon. Apparently he blames Simon for the other boy getting him kicked off the team." Liam explained.

"I take it you know this boy less than the other?" Mary caught on to almost everything immediately.

"mhm." Liam hummed in agreement, "I barely know him."

"I wouldn't worry. Sometimes when people get upset, they blame the people they love the most. You're no stranger to that are you?" Mary's face was stone as she accused Liam of being guilty of the same things he hated in Simon's friends.

"But that's just it. I don't want him to be with somebody like me. I want him to be with people who are better than me."

"That's a hard find." Mary smiled. "We all have faults, it doesn't make anybody better than anyone else. In life fate decides the merit of people as we meet them, but it is up to us to better those around, and allow them to better us." Mary leaned forward in her chair. "All I'm saying is you should allow people to change based on their influences before you decide who the heroes and the villains are."

"I guess so." Liam relented. "That's all, then.."

"No it isn't." Mary crossed her arms. "You're stressed about something else. What are you keeping from me?"

"I... I dropped out of college..."

"Oh my." Mary's eyes widened. "Why on earth would you do that?"

"I want.. I want to send Simon to a better school, so I need to have a job and money... and college doesn't fit into that."

"And I suppose you haven't told Simon this yet?" Mary raised an eyebrow.

"No." Liam sat back sheepishly. "He still thinks I'm in school and playing football, but the truth is I haven't even touched a football in years."

"Tell him the truth." Mary insisted. "And let yourself out of your own way. The number one person who seems to be ruining things for you is you." Mary reached out to take Liam's hand into her own. "I know you blame yourself for everything that happened with your family, but you need to stop.. stop living in the past. Move forward. Move on. I promise you that it's the best thing for both you, and Simon."