113 - The chapter where Liam loses his temper

Rose

Josh drove me back to campus, it was mid-afternoon, Liam had flooded me with messages and I knew it was time to face my friends. We attracted some attention as soon as Joshua stopped his bike in the driveway of the dorm, waiting for me to get off and give him back his helmet.

" It's delivered, your friend can stop worrying about you waking up in an ice bath with a missing kidney," he scoffed.

" Thanks for the weekend Josh... and the new tattoo." I leaned over, kissing his cheek as he wrapped me in a half hug without getting off the bike.

" Thank you, Cherry loved the pictures, they'll look great in the studio " he pulled away a little to look into my eyes " I hope everything works out for you, but until it does, you can call me anytime you want."

That statement made me laugh, and I pulled away from him, taking a few steps back as I thought about everything that happened over the weekend. I still felt hurt by Christian's attitude on Friday, but now I had another perspective on the matter, and I was more inclined to call him once and for all for an adult conversation instead of acting like an angry child.

Seeing Liam's last message, which warned that everyone was waiting for me in his room, I went straight there, psychologically preparing myself for the sermon that was to follow. Maybe I just had to call Chris for a private chat instead of participating in the intervention they were probably preparing.

My friend's room was the last one on the second floor hallway, and according to some campus gossip, he chose that room because it was next to a large window that was in the blind spot of the cameras in the hallway, making it easier for him to sneak in and out when he missed his housing curfew.

With a final sigh, I reached the door to his room, bracing myself before opening it. As expected, the room was full, but to my surprise, Christian wasn't there. Harry was!

" 'Finally you decided to show up,' Liam let out in a bad mood.

" What's going on? Why is he here? " I closed the door a little uncertainly.

" We're looking for Chris," Cam explained with red eyes, looking like she had been crying a little.

Looking for Chris… Those words echoed in my mind for a few seconds without making any particular sense.

" What do you mean, looking for Chris? " I stammered, feeling my body freeze.

Liam let out a small laugh, getting up and walking over to the window, his back to me. I couldn't remember ever seeing my friend so angry. At least, not with me!

That tense atmosphere started to take over me, making me desperate. What happened? Why doesn't anyone tell me anything?

" Rose, we haven't seen him since he left the bar," Sky explained.

" What? What do you mean? " I raised my voice a few octaves.

" He texted me on Friday night asking if he could come back to my room, but they've already put someone else in place, so I couldn't accept," Harry explained.

" We tried to follow him when he left the bar, but it didn't work. We tried calling him, we spent a good part of the night looking for him " Sky added " but when we came back, he had taken all the stuff from Liam's room and we don't know where he went.

" How do you not know? Are you telling me he's gone? " I stammered.

What if something happened? What if he had an accident or something? Where is he?

" He texted me today, said he's fine, but that he doesn't feel like staying with us anymore and that he was supposed to find someone else to replace him in the house thing " Theo warned " he said he just got tired of fighting."

He got tired of fighting? He got tired of fighting with me? But that's what we always do and we always work it out, how could he have got tired?

I blinked dazedly, not knowing how to react, as my mind caught on to another detail. Where did he go? Did he seek shelter in the sorority somehow?

Is he with her for good? That possibility made my stomach turn as I felt the blood drain from my face.

" No one knows where he's gone. Not even Alícia. She's been to my room several times looking for him, and she doesn't believe me when I say he's not there anymore," Harry warned, seeming to guess what was going through my mind."We thought maybe you knew where he went…"

Sky took me by the hand, leading me to the edge of Liam's bed, practically forcing me to sit there.

" What do you mean he's tired of fighting? Did someone call him? " I frowned, seemingly detached from reality at that moment.

" What an amazing idea, how come no one thought of that before? " Liam quipped before turning to me " You want to know how he got tired of fighting? Maybe because at some point someone had to get tired, Don't you think? And I was wondering which of the two would be the more normal one in history to get tired first!"

" Liam... " Sky tried to interfere, but he ignored his girlfriend, coming over to me.

" What's the matter with you two, Rose? Tell me? What's so funny about all this? How can you two just decide to hurt each other on purpose just because you're upset? " Liam continued.

" 'Oh yeah, because you're perfect! " I angrily retorted.

" "NO, I'M NOT! " he raised his voice " Do you really think that was right? Because I've made a lot of mistakes, but even in the worst of times I never thought of doing anything that could hurt Sky on purpose! NEVER! And the worst part is that I'm having to be the voice of reason in this story!"

I shut up in front of that outburst, knowing that deep down he was right. I had to admit that I was wrong to say things to hurt him, and in the end, it all snowballed out of control. That realization made my eyes water, mostly because I never expected to see Liam talk to me like that. It was as if at that moment I was no longer his girl.

" I don't care what happened, I want you to work it out, because you two are our friends and we don't want to be affected by this pathetic little fight. Tomorrow we have a house to visit and I swear that if I have to invite this guy to live with us, I'll make your life hell, Rose." He pointed at Thompson, "Since Davis seems to have jumped ship!"

" Liam, let's go for a walk," Theo decided to interfere, pulling the boy away towards the door as I wiped a stubborn tear that escaped my eye.

Everyone waited for the two of them to leave the room before speaking up again. Sky sat next to me on the bed, holding my hand.

" 'Rose, he's worried. He spent all this time trying to call you and you rejected every call and then he tried to call Chris and he turned off his cell phone and now this house thing…"

" Where did that idiot go? Why would he do that? " I tried to stop the despair from taking over me.

" 'You don't know anywhere he might have gone? " Cam asked.

I took a deep breath, thinking of the various places he had introduced me to around the town. Maybe he went to one of them.

" Maybe... I'll get Brigitte's key, and...."

"You're in no condition to drive around by yourself, Rose," Harry interrupted, "Let's go with me to my room, I'll get the key to the bike and the helmets and we can look for him together, okay?"

I took a deep breath and nodded, accepting his proposal.