𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐎𝐒 | liam stewart [1]

7. socks

A knock sounded from the bathroom door, breaking Pandora from her state. She blinked a few times, getting rid of the purple glow her eyes radiated. "Dora? You okay?" Liam's voice resonated into the bathroom, a subconscious smile working its way onto her face. She wrapped herself better in the towel, sliding the door open. She looked up to see Liam leaning on the doorway, a small smile present on his face. "Would you like something dearest chuck?" She asked, batting her eyelashes dramatically. He stared at her face for a few moments, his eyes flitting down to the towel she was in before quickly returning to her eyes. "Nothing, I, erm, I just wanted to give you these," He handed her a pair of socks. She secretly thanked the Gods, her feet blistered from her trainers without socks. "It's a peace offering," He grinned childishly. Shame none of the people in the room could say they'd experienced a childhood. "Aren't they yours?" She asked skeptically. She'd learnt the hard way that if someone gave you something, 9 times out of 10 they expected something in return. "I have a couple extra pairs," He gestured back to the room, his smile widening as she smiled gently. "Chubs says your extremities are the first parts of you to get cold," He stuttered, intimdated by her prolonged eye contact. "Well it's spring," She told him, enjoying his stressed reaction. "Well you might need them, so you don't die," His eyes fluttered from her eyes to her lips and back to her eyes. "Do you usually stare at people so intensely," He asked, looking down and laughing. "Only when they intrigue me," Pandora answered, raising her eybrows briefly. "I intrigue you?" He asked, his voice low and whispered. His head was hanging low so their faces were close. 

"Oh my God, Pandora just take the damn socks and put him out of his misery," Chubs said from his desk. Liam turned to him, telling him to shut up. "You got a way with the ladies man, got to get you to teach me some time," Chubs added, winking dramatically at Liam. Liam shook his head, his eyes returning to Dora's face. He tried to store the memory of her laughing at Chubs away in his head, remembering the lines of her smile and crinkle of her eyes. It was something he wanted to remember. "I'll just, erm, leave them there," Liam placed the socks on the counter with the rest of her clothes. He started walking back towards Chubs but Dora called his name. "Liam?" She asked, him returning like a loyal puppy, "Yeah?" He asked. "Thank you," She said, his eyes lighting up. He shrugged it off nonchalantly before walking back into the room. "Gotta teach me some day, pal," Chubs repeated, Liam pushing his head forward before lying on the floor and relaxing. 

Pandora turned back to the mirror, closing the door as she did so. She changed quickly but rolled her sleeves up. She took a deep breath in, then one out and then focused on herself in the mirror. She let the warm fuzzy feeling return to her body, her eyes searing with heat as she watched them glow purple. She looked at herself before shutting her eyes and picturing her favourite school teacher. She imagined the woman's curly red hair, her freckles which dotted all over her face, her large nose and pointed chin. When Pandora opened her eyes again, she had to covered her mouth in order to keep quiet. She looked exactly like her teacher. She hummed quietly, her voice sounding lower than usual. She never knew she could full shapeshift until then - she'd never had the opportunity to. She then let her body relax, the woman quickly shifting back into Pandora's regular beaten up appearance. Pandora then let her eyes glow purple, her body shifting as she watched herself transform. She watched herself in the form of a tiger from the steamed-up mirror.

...

Zu was passed out on the deep armchair, Liam and Chubs were sleeping on the floor and Ruby was snoring on the double bed. Pandora slipped under the covers of the bed and rested her head on the pillow, letting her eyes flutter close as she pictured the memories of her favourite teacher talking to her about numbers. 

Pandora whined in her sleep, her body shivering as a nightmare took place in her head. Her arm fell off her body and onto Ruby's hand, transporting the Orange into her dream. Ruby gasped, turning a full 360 as she tried to work out where she was. "PLEASE I'M SORRY. I SHOULD'VE DIED, NOT MOM, PLEASE STOP HURTING ME I'M JUST A KID. I SHOULD'VE DIED. I SHOULD'VE DIED!" Screams started echoing from the other room making Ruby run forward. She froze, noticing a greatly overweight man kicking the body of a skinny little girl. "MURDERER," He screeched at the kid, whipping her with his belt and slapping her hard across the face. The girl screamed and sobbed and stared in fear. Tears poured in masses down her sore cheeks. "Leave her alone," Ruby said, but nobody could hear her. "I SAID LEAVE HER ALONE!" She ran forward, unable to touch anything in the memory. She then gasped, frozen again as she took a good look at the little girl. It was Pandora. No scars yet or disfigured nose, but the same eyes - one green one blue - the same upturned lips and the same sprinkle of freckles upon her nose. "PLEASE I'M SO SO SORRY!" She screamed back, the man giving her one final slap, which sent her flying to the floor, before grasping a bottle of beer and taking himself to another room. 

Pandora woke with a gasp, her body covered in sweat and shivers. Liam was by her side, not noticing Ruby who had woken up with glowing orange eyes. "Hey, you're okay," He told her, trying to stop her from shaking. "You just had a nightmare, that's all," He told her. She was high on adrenaline, taking herself out of the bed to go and have a drink. She wiped her face with a towel, her shaky hands making it hard to drink. "Here let me help," Liam walked into the bathroom, filling up the cup and bringing it to her lips. Dora drank slowly, her breath slow and deep. "Are you alright now?" Liam asked. He could still see over her even stood behind her, even though she was pretty tall for a girl. "Was it about.." "My dad. It was about my Dad," She cut him off, slamming the cup down harshly before leaving the bathroom without another word.