𝐇𝐀𝐕𝐎𝐂 | liam stewart [2]

1. begin again

Her father's bloody face looked back at her. His bloodshot eye was swollen and bruised, scratches from her worn boots printed on his cheeks. "Please, Dora," He begged, coughing up blood onto the floor. Dora watched him mercilessly, her eyes hard. "You messed with the wrong little girl," She told him, beginning to kick his broken ribs again. A voice inside her screamed to stop. She didn't want to become her father, even if he deserved hell. But she couldn't halt her foot as she kicked, punched, and scratched at his face. "Stop," She told herself, but it seemed distant, disconnected. She could only watch as her father was beaten by her own hands. Hell was waiting. A special place in hell would be reserved just for her. But it wouldn't end like that, no. Hell was empty and all the devils roamed among them on Earth. 

"Dory," Liam's low, coaly voice etched through the still air. She took a deep breath in, her lungs filled with the cool rush of the outdoors. Her eyes shot open, her shaking hands grabbing him and pulling him close. "Hey, hey, you're here," He held her as she woke up from her dream. Pandora sighed, wiping the sweat from her forehead with a gasp. Her bony fingers knuckled her eye sockets, knowing the troughs under them would be purple in the morning. "Another one? About your Dad?" Liam asked, his voice so gentle it would be surprising he was talking about such a topic. She nodded into him swiftly, a tear falling down her cheek and absorbing into his shirt. "Well, he's not here. I am. And I'll fight your demons when they come," Liam assured, stroking her dark hair gently. 

It was dark, in the early hours of the morning. The pair were sheltering in a fir forest, setting up hammocks between trees. Their minivan had taken a tumble into a river when a tracer had nearly caught them, Liam and Pandora were only able to grab their emergency backpacks before leaving it to sink to the bottom. They'd trekked for a few days, not sure where they were heading. Away from the League, away from everyone but each other. It somehow felt empty without Chubs and Zu, no matter how much Liam reassured her they were in good hands. Her heart ached as she remembered their faces. 

The canopy seemed to open up, showing the cloudless sky and stars which peppered through space. "Sorry," Dora whispered, Liam, shaking his head. "You have nothing to be sorry for, except maybe when you kicked me yesterday," He shrugged, a small grin working its way onto her face. "I plead the fifth. It was deserved, self-defence," She shrugged, slipping out of his grasp and the hammock to the small fire Liam had made. He followed her, shaking his head, and started making the fire larger. "I took a bite of your sandwich," Liam threw his hands up, Pandora's favourite smile carving into her features. "I'm not hearing much of a defence," She waved her hands by her ears before taking a seat on a flat stone, "And it was a damn good sandwich that I didn't want to share." He sat with her, bundling her in his jacket. 

She had a neutral expression, staring into the embers when she put her head on his shoulder. "Do you think this is right? Our life? Are we even living?" She whispered into the air. Liam looked down at her with sympathy. "Don't you give me that look," She told him. "You-" He stopped his argument. She would know some way or another if he looked at her with pity. "I-" Liam took a slow breath, "I'd like to think that I'm living; with you," He told her. Pandora stared up at him with her different-coloured eyes, taking in his honest expression. "I feel like we should be doing more," She told him sadly, cuddling in and moving closer. He wrapped an arm around her, pulling her even closer so she could take his warmth. 

Liam spent a few minutes in silence, toasting a piece of bread on the fire and sharing it with his Dory. "Okay, why is Peter Pan always flying?" Pandora asked, grinning with as Liam groaned. "I don't want t hear your jokes," He tried to sound annoyed but was given away by his big smile. "Because he can Neverland," She tried to stifle her laugh before bursting out into heaps of giggles. Liam just stared at her with a smile, wishing he could bathe in the sound. He then started to laugh when she couldn't stop, patting her back as she started to choke. "It's not that funny," He assured, although his cheeks were red from laughter. 

"I am actually so funny it is unreal," She told him sarcastically. "So, when we find a new car, you want to give it for a test run?" Liam asked, Pandora, nodding eagerly. Liam had been teaching her how to properly drive, and the girl slowly getting the hang of it. "I think I'll, once more, add it to my list of talents," She leaned into him with a smile. "That doesn't count, it's already on there," He pushed down a finger as she tried to count her talents, currently listing 'trout fishing'. "That was driving without knowledge, this is proper driving," She put her finger back up, Liam rolling his eyes and blessing the woods with his laughter. 

"You are peculiar," He told her, biting into his toasted bread with a grin. "You're peculiar," She told him, pecking his lips and stuffing her face with her bread. He nodded, lifting his hand slowly and dragging a soft fingertip over her 3 scars. "They are beautiful," He said with an honesty that could make tears well up. Dora said nothing, letting him slide his fingers down her face, her eyes fluttering shut. 

The two spent half an hour stargazing, Liam teaching her two more constellations to her expanding knowledge before she started up and jumped onto their shared hammock. She pulled the thin blanket over her, Liam joining her soon after relenting the fire and pulling her closer to him as they fell asleep.