Summary: As the spare to the throne, Liam leaves Cordonia to University in the States. Hoping for some normalcy in a life outside the spotlight, he leaves his comfort zone embarking in new adventures and falling in love for the first time until fate strikes.
Chapter 2: Party In The USA
It’s been three days since Liam and Drake arrived in Palo Alto. While Liam has been busy buying books and getting ready for summer quarter, Drake has been out getting to know their new surroundings. Suddenly Liam hears a knock at his bedroom door:
„Come in!“, he looks at the door, closing his book.
„Hey Li, what are you up to?, Drake asks.
„Just catching up with my reading. Where have you been all day?“, he says smirking.
„Yeah, I wanted to go shortly to the coffeeshop but I met this cute girl, Meghan“, he walks into the room and sits down on a chair, looking at Liam, „She showed me around… and she invited us to this party tonight“, he puts his feet on Liam’s bed.
„Not a chance, Drake!“, Liam pushes his feet away from his bed, „I don’t know anyone yet and I’m not going to be your third wheel!“.
Drake chuckles, „She has a roommate… for what I head you two are perfect for each other, she is all about studying but she is cute, I saw her photo!“, Drake stands up, „And I’m not asking you to come, I’m telling you to because if you don’t… then her roommate is going to be the third wheel and you can’t let it happen!“, Drake smirks and Liam throws a pillow at him.
“Alright… but only because I can’t leave the poor girl alone with you two making out!”, he takes his book in his hands, lying down while Drake leaves his room.
—————
When Drake and Liam arrive at the party, they walk around looking for Meghan, finding her next to the drink table.
„Hey! There you are, I thought you guys had changed your minds!“, she says hugging Drake, „I take this is your roommate? Hi, I’m Meghan“, the petit brunette smiles friendly, shaking his hand.
„Meg, where is your roommate. Liam is already looking forward to get to know her!“, Drake chuckles and Liam throws him an annoyed glance.
„Cathy?! She should be here any minute. Last time I talked to her she was leaving the hospital to go home and change“, she says handing the guys a cup of beer.
„Is she okay?“, Liam asks.
„Oh, yeah. She is a med student doing rotation, so basically she is assisting residents…”, she sees a familiar face coming to their direction, “There she is!“, she says excited. Liam turns around to see the 5’8 blonde with big green eyes and the sweetest smile he has ever seen — she is wearing a red floral summer dress and flats. He stares at her for a moment feeling his heart skip a beat. Meghan hugs Cathy and says: „So good to see you! How was your day?“.
„Good but I’m exhausted!“, she looks at the two guys behind Meghan, „So, I see you have made new friends already…“, she giggles.
„Yeah, these are the exchange students I told you about, Drake Walker and Liam Thompson. Guys, this is Catherine Levine but everybody calls her Cathy“, she says making them acquainted.
„Hi Drake, nice to meet you“, she shakes his hands and turns to Liam, „Hi, nice to meet you“, she offers him her hand and Liam takes it, kissing her knuckles without taking his eyes of hers. Catherine blushes and looks at the others. Drake shoves him discreetly and Liam releases her hand.
„Hi Cathy, I’m Liam and it is nice to meet you too“, he can’t stop looking at her, Meghan throws a glance at Drake and he says:
„Yeah, you two get to know each other… we have to go somewhere to do something else…“, he takes Meghan’s hand and they leave chuckling.
„Can I offer you something to drink? Perhaps a beer?“, Liam asks.
„I’m not of drinking age… and I don’t really like alcohol, thanks anyways. But I’d love a glass of orange juice“, Cathy smiles and leans on the wall next to Liam. „So, you are British?!“, she looks to the side and catches him looking at her.
„Yeah, how did you know?!“, he smiles, handing her her drink.
„Your accent makes it obvious… and no American guy would be such a gentleman and kiss a girl’s hand“, she giggles and Liam blushes.
„I’m sorry for that… force of habit… I mean, not that I do it often… I just…”, he closes his eyes afraid he is making a fool of himself and breaths deeply for a second, “I never meant for you to feel uncomfortable“, he mumbles.
Cathy turns to him, „I didn’t… I thought it was really cute“, she smiles and takes a sip of her drink. She looks at some drunk guys trying to flirt with a girl, „I don’t really know why I agreed to this… I can’t stand these parties where people only come with the intent of getting drunk!“.
„So you hate college parties then?“, he chuckles, „Do you wanna go outside? It’s kinda loud in here“, Liam says nervously, „But don’t feel pressured to go with me… I mean, it is only an offer“.
„I know, Liam… relax, I don’t bite!“, she smiles, putting a hand on his shoulder, „Let’s go“. They walk through the crowd on their way outside and make their way along the sidewalk for a couple of minutes until they arrive in front of a car and Cathy sits on its hood, „Come on“, she taps on the space next to her.
„Won’t we get in trouble if the owner sees us?“, Liam says looking around.
„Nope… because I’m the owner, come on!“, she leans back against the windshield, looking at the sky, „So, what are you majoring in?“, she looks at him.
„Political Science and Economics“, he looks at her, „I was told you are a med student…“, he smiles.
„Yes, I always wanted to be a doctor but it does take a lot of my time and energy…“, she looks back to the sky. „Are you excited about living in another country?“
Liam chuckles, „You can’t imagine how happy I am! Back home, everything is so… different“, he looks down, his voice expresses sadness, „It was fine as long as my brother was around but when he was old enough to leave, things changed… thankfully Drake was always there for me“, he looks at her shortly, „I don’t wanna bother you with these things… let’s talk about something happier“.
Cathy turns to see him and hugs him shortly, whispering into his ear, „Whenever you need someone to talk to, just let me know“, she looks into his eyes and smiles. They sit back for a while watching the sky in silence from a moment and Liam couldn’t stop himself from look at her every now and then. Suddenly, Catherine’s phone rings and she answers:
„Hey! We are at the car… when you leave the house just take the path to the left, along the sidewalk. We are waiting!“, she hangs up. „They are coming and we will drive to our apartment. Do you wanna come?“, she smiles.
Liam smiles brightly, „Yeah… sure. But we didn’t have time to buy a car yet. Do you mind if we drive with you?“
„If you trust me with your life“, she winks at him and gets out of the hood of the car, giggling.
Meghan and Drake get closer, he has an arm around her waist. Liam looks at Cathy and smirks and Meghan says: „Okay, okay… nothing to see here! Let’s go, this party sucks“. They all get in the car and drive to Catherine’s and Meghan’s apartment. They order in some pizza and chat for a while before Meghan and Drake disappear in the apartment.
Cathy and Liam are in the living room laughing together talking about movies and whatnots, when she hears something, „Psst…“, she says holding a hand up, „What is that?“, she hears faint panting, moaning, grunts and start blushing when she looks at Liam.
He starts laughing and whispers, „What about we give them some privacy and step out for a minute?“. Cathy stands up and leads Liam to the balcony, where he sees a telescope. „Is it yours?“
„Yeah, stargazing is one of my hobbies“, she leans on the railing and looks at the sky.
„This is a fascinating hobby. What is your favorite constellation? And can you show me?“, he leans on the railing looking at her.
„Orion… but you probably already know how to find it“, she giggles.
„No, tell me more about it, please“, Liam smiles.
„Okay… According to greek mythology, Orion was a gigantic hunter with supernatural powers. He was very strong but extremely dumb and one day he said he would kill every animal on the planet, enraging the goddess Gaia, who sent a scorpion to kill him. The giant soon realized he couldn’t shoot an arrow through the scorpion’s armor and jumped into the sea to avoid the creature. Artemis hit him with an arrow after Apollon tell her, this giant was a terrible villain. When she saw the body, she realized it was her friend Orion and begged the gods to bring him back to life but they refused, so she put his picture in the sky“, she smiles excited and places herself in front of Liam. He is so close to her that he can smell the lavender scent of her hair, „Hold me tight with one hand and give me your other hand“, he does as she says, „There, you see?“, she takes his hand pointing her finger to the stars, „Head, shoulders, the belt…“. Liam chuckles and Cathy turns around, „Wait… you tricked me! You already know, don’t you!“, she looks up into his eyes, he is still holding her tight.
„Yeah but I enjoyed your lesson anyway…“, he realizes how close they are and feels a force pulling him to her. He tries to resist it and his hand leaves her waist. „It’s kinda late… you said you were tired, I should go“.
„I’d love you to stay but I actually have to wake up early“, she sighs, „ But I’ll drive you home and no discussion… it’s not like I will get any sleep now with those two putting on a show“, she giggles.
Liam stares into her eyes for a moment, „Okay… Thank you!“.
Cathy takes his hand and they walk to the car. It was a five minutes drive and they listened to some music, Liam kept glancing at her, admiring her beauty while she was focused on singing the songs out loud.
The car stops in front of Liam’s building, „So, here we are…“, she looks at him smiling.
„Give me your phone, please!“, he says with a chuckle.
„What? Why?“, she says giggling.
„Just give me your phone, you will see!“. She hands it to him and he types something in it, „Here… now you have my number. Let me know you are alright when you get home!“, he looks at her nervously for a few seconds, not really wanting to leave. Then, he leans in slowly to kiss her, noticing she is blushing. She looks down to her hands and he goes for her cheeks instead. „Sweet dreams, Cathy“, his voice is husky and tender.
„Sweet dreams, Liam“, she looks into his eyes one last time before he leaves and she drives away.
—————
After a shower, Liam lies in his bed thinking about this evening and he can’t stop thinking about her. He wanted so bad to kiss her but he was afraid of overstepping the boundaries with her. He doesn’t know her, yet he knows that there is something special about her, something that makes him nervous and his heart beat faster. Her smile, her eyes and those lips of hers, something sensual and angelical at once. Suddenly a text comes in, pulling him back out of his thoughts. He opens it and smiles:
„I’m home. It was nice meeting you, Liam. Have a good night, x Cathy“
Quickly, he answers, „I’m glad. It was nice meeting you too, Cathy. I hope I see you around soon!“ And leaves his phone on the nightstand, knowing it will be hard to sleep thinking of her.
To be continued…