Album One Shots

Liam looked at his watch and began jogging, worried that he would be late to meet her. He rounded a corner and the bench came into sight. He was glad to see that she hadn’t got their first. He had never been late to one of their meetings yet, and he didn’t want today to be a first.

He sat down on the bench, panting as he tried to catch his breath and making a mental note that he needed to start running again. He pulled his phone from his pocket and tapped out a quick text to his mother letting her know that he would be late for dinner this evening because he was hanging out with a friend. He hadn’t had a chance to tell her about Maya yet, knowing that she would make a huge deal over nothing.

“Hey you.” Maya’s soft voice came from behind him. He smiled as she waltzed around and took the seat next to him, “I hope you haven’t been waiting for me for too long!”

“I’ve been waiting all day to see you…” He said, unable to pull his eyes from her face. She looked as though she was glowing as the soft afternoon sunlight lit up her face. She blushed as she looked down at her hands with a small giggle and then quickly leaned over and pecked him softly on the cheek. He felt his own face redden at the gesture.

“So, what do you want to do today?” He asked her quickly changing the subject. She jumped up from the bench and her wild hair bounced with life as she did.

“Let’s just walk…” She said with a small smile, putting her hands in her pockets and backing away, indicating that he should follow. He smiled and instantly obeyed.

“Any chance you know where we’re going?” He asked, already knowing what she would reply. She looked up at him and raised an eyebrow.

“Yes. But you already knew that.” She said, rolling her eyes playfully, “How’s uni anyway?”

Liam felt uncomfortable at the query about his time at University. He had started at the University of Birmingham just over a month ago, and he loved it. He loved the lectures, the people, the campus… the entire experience had been amazing. He felt bad knowing that it had meant he had seen less of her though… he had cancelled a few of their meetings last minute, unable to get away from something. He wished that she had come with him. They she had gone to University with him like she was supposed to.

“Liam, it’s okay, I’m not bitter, you can talk about it!” Maya said, her smile dropping a little as she read his mind. She might not be bitter, but he was. He hated that the opportunity wasn’t afforded to someone so deserving.

“It’s been okay.” He said finally, “I like it, I just wish you were there too.” He added. She looked up at his sad face and smiled.

“I know, but it’s okay.” She said simply. They walked in silence for a moment, side by side, neither knowing what to say next. Maya suddenly skipped ahead a little way, moving so gracefully it was as though her feet didn’t even touch the floor. She ducked down a little further along the path and scooped up a few daffodils that were growing, she held them up for Liam to see, a wide grin spreading across her face, showing her dimples.

“They’re your favourites.” He said knowingly as he took them from her and smelt them. He went to hand them back to her, but she was busy skipping off ahead like a small excited child. He watched her affectionately for a moment until she stopped and turned back to him.

“Are you coming or not?” She called back, putting a hand on her hip and tapping her foot impatiently. He rolled his eyes and jogged to catch up with her. She laughed as he bent over panting again once he reached her. He forgot every time he saw her how much he loved her when she laughed. Her eyes would light up so bright that they put the stars to shame and there had never been a time when she had laughed that he hadn’t eventually followed suit. Today was no different as he began to chuckle with her after a few moments.

“Okay, that’s enough.” He said as he tried to calm himself, taking deep breaths, his cheeks aching from his wide smile. She took a few deep breaths of her own, but he could still see her dimples fighting against the giggles she was holding in as they carried on walking. They carried on walking until the path split off into three different directions. They could either go left, right or straight on. Liam stopped and looked at Maya.

“Forward.” She said with a small smile, but didn’t walk, just waited looking up at him. He felt his chest tighten a little as he looked down the path. He had never been that way, the sky looked grey down that end and the path was shrouded by large trees. He looked back at Maya.

“Are you sure? Maybe we should go left?” He suggested as she took a step toward the darker end of the path.

“It’s up to you. We can go left today if you want…” She said quietly, waiting for him to make a decision. He looked at her for a moment, deliberating.

“But one day we have to go forward…” She added softly with a small smile. He paused. He didn’t know. He didn’t want to go on, he wanted to turn left and go to the café like they had in the past. He wanted to turn right and go to the lake where they had fed the ducks some time ago. Forward was unknown. They had never been that way before. He took a deep breath and looked into her hopeful eyes.

“Okay.” He nodded and took a step forward, following her as she walked a little ahead of him. She turned to face him a wide smile still plastered onto her face. He tried his best to mirror it, but couldn’t hide how apprehensive he felt. He noticed that the light seemed different down here, colder almost. He watched as the girl before him, lost the warmness that she seemed to be radiating earlier… her mocha skin beginning to look dull under the trees. He wished to turn back, but he knew it was too late, she was adamant that they went this way today.

A few minutes of walking in uncomfortable silence, she turned down a small gravelly path off to the left. He waited at the end as she stopped in front of a large stone a little way down.

“Why are you so afraid?” She asked him, her dark eyes baring into his. He could feel tears beginning to form in the corner of his eyes as he acknowledged how tight his chest was… how he was struggling to breathe.

“Liam.” Her voice was encouraging as she reached out her hand, but he was glued to the spot.

“Maya.” He whispered, “I don’t want to do this.”

“It’s okay, Liam.” She smiled at him, her hand still stretched out toward him.

He took a deep breath and walked toward her, keeping his eyes glued to the beautiful smiling girl before him.

“It’s okay.” She repeated firmly, looking down at the stone. He just stared at her afraid to blink.

“I don’t want you to go.” He said quietly, reaching his hand toward her face but not close enough to touch. She looked back at him, a sadness in her eyes that hadn’t been there before.

“I’m already gone Liam…” She whispered with a gentle smile as a small tear fell from her own lashes, “You need to let go… it’s not healthy holding on to an illusion…” She added sadly.

“I love you.” He managed to choke out as a tear fell from his own eye.

“I know.”

She smiled.

He blinked.

She disappeared.

He looked around desperately willing her to come back. His eyes caught the stone that she had been looking at and he felt a sharp pain in his chest as he read:

Maya Foster
8thMarch 1999 – 27thAugust 2018

It Broke Our Hearts to Lose You
But You’ll Never Be Alone
A Part of Us Went With You
The Day God Took You Home

Forever Our Angel x

He closed his eyes as the tears fell freely now. He missed her so much it hurt. He opened his eyes and remembered the flowers that he had picked on his way for her. He knelt them and gently lay them on her grave and just sat for a moment in silence, wishing with all his heart that she could be more than an illusion again.

Notes

Okay, so this has nothing to do with the lyrics of the song, but is more based on the title as some of them will be! I hope you guys enjoyed it...

Thanks for reading!

Lola xo