Falling in the Dark | ✓

39 | Darkness

I love you.

My heart hammers against my chest wildly as Liam's words ring in my ears. The sensation reverberates through me, all the way down to my toes. It leaves me reeling, and I struggle to form a coherent thought, tightening my grip on his shoulders.

He's not mine, I remind myself dolefully. He's not mine to love.

And yet, no matter how hard I try, I can't bring myself to deny that I feel the same way.

My thoughts continue to spiral, and I feel like everything is suspended mid-air, as though time is frozen. But Liam seems unperturbed as he declares - without waiting for me to respond - that it's time for me to open his presents. He twists around, careful not to jostle me, and reaches behind his pillow to grab two presents. He hands me the one that is flatter and slightly bigger than the other.

I accept the present dazedly before shifting back so I'm sitting on the bed now, facing Liam with my legs still wrapped around him.

"Carmen?" he calls, his voice tinged with concern as he peers at me closely. He hooks one finger under my chin, compelling me to look at him. My erratic heartbeat quickens when his gaze fixates on my lips for one second before drifting up to my eyes.

"Open it," he says encouragingly.

Nodding slowly, I force my fingers to slide under the small pieces of tape, undoing the wrapping before uncovering a folded black piece of fabric. My curiosity piques despite the commotion inside my head.

An amused chuckle escapes my throat when I hold the fabric up, my eyes roaming over the pictures at the center of the short-sleeved t-shirt. Printed on the soft cloth is an endearingly messy collage of the posters of every horror movie that Liam and I - and Vera, I add as a grudging afterthought - have watched together so far. A wave of memories of laptop screens, turned-out lights, and laughter cascades over me, momentarily numbing my thoughts.

"This is so cool!" I grin at Liam as he regards me patiently, like he has a bigger trick up his sleeve. "I'm going to try it on."

"Wait," he says, gently prising the t-shirt from my hands. "I have one more thing for you."

Liam hands me the other present, his eyes tracing my features expectantly. Square shaped and somewhat heavy, the box lets out a muffled rattle when I start to open it. I push the wrapping paper aside before flipping the cardboard box open.

"Oh, my god. How did you . . ."

The words leave my mouth in a shaky whisper as my eyes land on a dome-shaped object. I lift it out of the box gingerly, my fingers shaking as the snowglobe comes into view. Its curved top catches the afternoon sunlight filtering into the room, bright rays bouncing off the smooth surface. It takes a few moments for the white flakes to settle down at the bottom, revealing a smiling snowman that bears striking resemblance to the snowglobe Vera had given me.

I'm tilting the snowglobe this way and that when I finally notice the inscription on the base. Surprised all over again, I stare at the words painted in gold, the letters slightly wobbly and crooked.

"I had to write it myself," Liam says, looking at me with his head lowered, face full of doubt. "I know this girl in my class who's really good at this stuff, and I called her right after I got the snowglobe, but she was already back home for the holidays and . . ."

Liam trails off when he catches me staring at him with a bemused smile. He shrugs sheepishly and says, "Anyway. You should read it."

I look back down at the snowglobe nestled carefully between my fingers. I raise it to my face so the sunlight hits the inscription directly, expecting to see the familiar phrase, 'Love is found where there is light.' But my throat tightens as I register the words painted in gold.