sign of the times | h.s.

chapter three

MADILYN HOLLEY

As we approached Liam's house for the first time my jaw dropped and my entire body froze. After about fifteen seconds of pure shock I turned to see him sitting in the drivers seat chuckling.

"I take it you like the house?" He asked.

"Lee this is the most beautiful house I have ever seen. Are you kidding me? You really live here? Wait oh my gosh. I'm going to live here. I'M going to live HERE?" I blurted out, not taking the time to breathe in between sentences because the shock was just too much.

Liam laughed again at my state of shock and hopped out of the car, running around the back to grab my suitcase from the trunk. I continued sitting in my seat, gawking at the gorgeous house before me. It was incredible. I had never seen a house like this before and I couldn't believe that I was even going to enter it, let alone live in it. My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Liam's knuckles tapping my window, and I looked up to see an amused look on his face.

"You gonna come in or are you just going to sit there and stare all afternoon?" He asked.

I shot him a look and jumped out of the car as well, following Liam into the house. He gave me a tour of the house and I was in awe the entire time. After we finished touring the house we walked outside and he showed me the backyard. Once again I was in a state of shock, and Liam was left to laugh. There was a gorgeous pool, outdoor patio, basketball court, an entire bonfire area. Towards the back of the yard was a pool house with the cutest little porch swing out front. It honestly didn't even look like a pool house though, it was about the size of an average house.

"Do you want to go check it out?" Liam asked, looking over at me.

"Sure!" I replied, walking over immediately. I had my eye on that porch swing, it looked so relaxing and I already know I'll be heading over to the pool house to hang out there when I need a break. I jumped on the swing and tested it out, proving my own theory correct with how comfortable it was, knowing that I would definitely be spending a lot of time there.

I followed Liam inside to see the inside of the pool house and fell in love instantly. There was a small, but decent sized kitchen that connected to a fairly large sized living room, a really cute dining area, two doors leading somewhere else, and a set of stairs against the right wall that lead somewhere unknown. We viewed the two rooms downstairs, one being a bedroom and the other a bathroom. What shocked me about the pool house was the fact that it was fully furnished and beautifully decorated, even more so than the main house. I didn't expect it to be considering it probably hardly got used.

"What's upstairs?" I asked as we finished the downstairs tour.

"I was hoping you'd ask that." He says smiling.

With a confused look I followed him up the stairs to see a long hallway that lead to the most gorgeous loft ever. This was the most shocked I had been since the initial shock of the outside of the home. I was so lost for words as I glanced around the room. The room was decorated so beautifully, the entire room covered in plants, books, and all sorts of things. It was beautiful. It was really beautiful. I was taking it all in until I came to a realization, this loft was decorated pretty girly. Not to say guys wouldn't like this style of decor, but it definitely didn't match Liam, or the way that the main house was decorated. The pool house was decorated so differently.

"Why is the decoration style so different out here?" I asked. Right after the words came out of my mouth my eyes landed on nightstand next to the bed, a familiar photo catching my eye. I walked over and picked it up, seeing the picture was of Liam, Alex and I when we were kids. Liam and Alex couldn't have been more than 11, and I looked like I was about 8 or 9. The three of us were standing in our swimsuits in front of a pool, which I remember being the community pool near my home. All three of us had the biggest smiles on our faces as we group hugged for the camera. I remember so vividly my mom taking this photo right before we went into the pool for the first time that summer. I turned to see Liam next to me, also admiring the photo.