Chapter 20

EXTREME FEAR

Diane’s P.O.V.

After a few minutes, Liam got out of the bathroom wearing a plain white T-shirt and boxer shorts. He was holding his tuxedo. As much as I would like to see him with his wet hair, I ended up ignoring him.

With the towel on my shoulder, I rushed inside and locked the bathroom door. I could not even remember if I closed the fridge properly. All I wanted was to avoid him. I felt like my face was still red from the heat, and I immediately confirmed it in front of the mirror above the sink, installed right next to the door.

Soon, I was done showering too. I was not able to bring my bra, so I was sure that my rich breasts could be barely seen through my lacy top. Hiding them from Liam, I just crossed my arms in front of my chest while walking in the direction of the cabinet. I even saw him watching a Netfilms’ movie, but I had decided to look away.

“Forget about it, Diane.” I heard him say. I was not able to see his facial reaction because my back was facing him.

“Forget about what?” I asked without even looking at him while wearing my bra. I was flexible enough to hook it at my back. I knew what he was talking about—it was just awkward to keep bringing it back.

“The thing you saw earlier,” he almost whispered.

“Huh? I did not see anything,” I murmured benevolently. That was the time I turned around to face him while drying my shoulder-length hair with a towel.

He frowned. “Are you sure you did not see anything? Then, why did you shout?”

“I—I was just a bit surprised. I thought there was an intruder here. All I knew was that you were already in the bed and just sleeping soundly. That was it,” I lied.

Oh, how many times did I lie in just a few hours?

“Okay, if you say so. I’ll leave you with it. I don’t want us to be awkward to each other just because of what happened earlier,” Liam made clear before he turned off the television and went to bed again.

I did not say a word.

Just because of what happened earlier? Just because? So, was it that easy for him to forget what happened moments ago? He was too quick to move on, huh? It was all because of him that my sight was not a virgin anymore! My mind screamed while trying to forget what happened in the bathroom.

Unbelievably shaking my head, I guessed I had to accept how he used to deal with things. I must admit that a big deal for me could only be a simple thing for other people. Like my friends—Karen and Lorenz could talk about obscene and lascivious stuff like it was nothing at all. But when they were talking about something like that, I could not join their conversation.

Adjusting myself, I went back to lying down on the bed with my back facing him. For a few minutes, I pretended that I was already asleep.

Even with my wet hair, I knew I already dozed off, but when I opened my eyes, I did not know why complete darkness fretted me out even though no one from us turned off the lights. It was a kind of bleak night that I would not want to see.

Suddenly, it made me imagine some distorted views as if an unknown terror would come out from the corner of this room. This darkness resembled a mysterious black fog that would not let me focus on what was the truth.

“Liam?” I closed my eyes as I could do nothing but mention his name while unintentionally touching his left biceps. “W-What happened? Did you turn off the lampshade?” I knew he did not, but I was getting hysterical at the moment.

“Hey! I’m just right here, Diane, and nope, I didn’t turn it off. But it looks like we are experiencing a brownout here,” he responded. I felt the mattress moved, and that signaled me that Liam got up to leave the bed. “Stay here. I’ll just look outside to see what happened, okay?”

Impulsively dragging myself up, I made a great effort to trace Liam out of the dark. When I finally touched his arm, I did not know why I suddenly hugged him. On bended knees on the soft cushion, I was hugging the now standing Liam at the edge of the bed. I felt his body slightly stiffened from what I did, but I merely ignored it.

For a short period after I met him, I knew I was already comfortable with him. For the short moment I was with him, I knew he would not do anything bad to me. For the few hours we stayed together, he made me feel secure, and because of it, my trust in him grew even more.

“Wait, Liam… d-don’t leave me! I am afraid of the dark, please. Just stay here,” I begged for him.

My embrace to his torso tightened even more that I did not want to let him go. Then, I started to cry. I used to have this extreme fear of the dark, that I did not know where and when it all started. It was not inborn, and I was also mystified about how I got it. I was too scared of the dark that sometimes, I could no longer breathe properly.

Even though my eyes were still closed, I knew that Liam did not pursue his initial plan of leaving me here and just returned the same hug with me. We stayed clasping each other for a few minutes. When my breathing became steady, we went back into lying down, and he just stayed by my side, although there were still some pillows between the two of us.

“Hey! Don’t cry, okay? I’m just here, so you can now go back to sleep. I’ll stay here,” he told me softly while covering my body with a comforter.

He caressed my hair and gently stroked it. His touch suddenly made me feel protected and at ease. I must admit that no one had ever made me feel like this—only him.

Wiping my tears away from my cheeks, I opened my eyes and tried to catch a glimpse of his handsome face. “Promise me that you will not leave,” I demanded. It was a bit overreacting, considering I did not have the right to command him, but I was indeed terrified of the darkness. To calm down, I badly needed an assurance that he would not leave me here.

“Alright, I promise that I won’t ever leave you alone. I’ll make sure as well that I won’t sleep while you are still awake. I’ll be watching over you even if it means gazing at you until dawn, Diane. So, you don’t have to worry, okay? As long as I’m here, you’ll be safe…” he promised me.

Vague to see his exact facial expression because of the dark, I knew that he was all-out smiling when he sincerely said those words. I could even vouch that his fabulous dimple came out again.

Not knowing how I should feel at these times, I was only sure of one thing. I knew that he would not do anything lewd to me. Although it was a brownout and a bit hot, I was able to close my eyes and fell asleep with a blissful smile on my lips.

In the middle of my sleep, I wasn’t sure if he did this, but I felt his gentle kiss on my forehead while whispering the words…

“I will protect you no matter what happens.”