The Roommate Pt. 62

LXII: Cherry

Liam

"So, Marie is going home early."

Liam had already been grinning as he walked down the street hand-in-hand with his girlfriend, done with the last final they had together. He'd had two today—Sight-Singing way early in the morning down at the other end of campus, and now CS 201 with Blake—but now they were both done with class until next semester. He also felt pretty good about how he'd done on both finals.

Now, hearing that he might have some more time alone with Blake, he grinned even wider, squeezing Blake's hand.

"How early?" He asked, glancing down at Blake.

She looked gorgeous, as always, skewing more to the "cute" side of that spectrum today, with a bright blue beanie hiding away her hair of the same color, and a slim, fitted pea coat open just enough to show her cozy sweater and scarf beneath. With her pale skin and the cold making her cheeks and nose rosy, her deep blue eyes looked even more blue than usual.

Blake grinned up at him, eyes sparkling, "Tomorrow morning I think she's spending the day at her girlfriend's."

Something about the way Blake said "girlfriend" seemed a bit too excited and giggly, even for Blake, but Liam didn't dwell on it. That meant almost two full days more than he'd expected with Blake.

"That's awesome. Did she move her flight up, or is she spending Sunday with the girlfriend, too?"

Blake raised an eyebrow at him, and Liam felt a bit of heat in his cheeks as he scrubbed a hand through his hair.

"What? I remember things, okay?"

Blake rolled her eyes, "You're allowed to forget your ex-girlfriend's flight plans."

"Not when remembering them tells me how much time I get to spend alone with you."

That got a smile out of her. Blake squeezed his hand and leaned her head against his shoulder for a bit before walking made that too difficult.

"I guess you have a good point," Blake said with an exaggerated sigh as they came to a stop at one of the crosswalks. Thankfully, there were no Red-sox games today, or they'd be waiting for a while for cars to turn down this street and use the giant parking lot on the bottom floors of one of the freshman dorms. As Liam waited, glancing around, he caught the gaze of an average-looking guy with short brown hair and a bit of curly chest hair peeking out the top of his sweater. The guy glanced away almost immediately, but before Liam did, he looked down, and saw that the guy was wearing shorts.

Turning back to Blake as everyone started moving, Liam shook his head. He usually adjusted to the cold pretty well by February, but he would never understand how someone could wear shorts and a sweater in this cold.

Then Liam frowned, glancing back. Something about the guy seemed familiar.

Maybe he was in one of my freshman classes?

"You still leaving on the twenty-second?" Liam asked, shaking his head again as he turned back to Blake. That was the latest day anyone had finals before winter break. Liam loved his family, but he usually liked having a bit of extra time to himself or to hang out with any of his friends and roommates that stayed a bit longer, considering winter break lasted almost an entire month.

She nodded, grinning, "Which gives us three whole days that you can be in my bed. Marie said she wouldn't be coming back to the apartment until next semester."

Liam smiled back, letting go of her hand to wrap an arm around Blake's tiny waist as the walked by some of the shops beneath Warren Towers.

"Any idea when she's coming back?"

Blake sighed, rolling her eyes, "The fifteenth. It seems you're not the only one who doesn't like the idea of spending an entire month away from their girlfriend."

Liam sighed, "Yeah, I figured. At least we get that Mon--"

"Hey!"

Liam and Blake stopped at the voice. There weren't any of the Red Cross or Green Initiative pamphlet people out, so he didn't have the auto-ignore part of his brain turned on.

When Liam turned toward the voice, he found the brown-haired guy from earlier walking toward them. He was thin and wiry, almost as tall as Liam, and his brown eyes were fixed on Blake, not Liam.

Liam frowned, tensing, his heart beating just a bit faster. He tightened his arm around Blake's waist.

"Hey, do I know you?" Liam asked, trying to keep a pleasant tone as he stepped forward just enough to angle himself between Blake and this random guy.

The guy blinked, apparently caught off guard. He looked at Liam, then Blake, then his eyes widened.

"Oh shit," he said, "I didn't realize you were with her. My bad, dude. That's pretty sick, though."

"What is?" Liam asked, trying to keep his jaw from clenching.

The guy raised an eyebrow, then looked down at Blake. A mocking tone entered his voice when he spoke this time, reflected in a glint in his eyes.

"He doesn't know?"

When Blake was silent, Liam started to turn them away from the guy, "I think you're thinking of someone else, man. We've got a final to--"

"No, you're definitely Cherry," the guy said, stepping closer, "Your shows are awesome. You're one of the hottest--"

Before Liam realized what he was doing, he was between Blake and the guy, close enough that the mocking cast was gone from the guy's wide eyes.

"Back. Off."

Liam almost blinked at how low and gravelly his own voice was.

"I'm not going to see you again. And neither is she. Got it?"

The guy swallowed, nodding, and Liam turned back to Blake, putting his arm around her waist and starting off at a brisk walk toward Matt's dorm. He didn't want to risk leading the guy to where Blake lived.

Both of them were silent as they walked, and the few times Liam glanced down at Blake, her expression was tight, unreadable. Liam felt a hot tightness at his forehead. His heart was hammering in his chest, and he was pretty sure that the only thing keeping his hands from shaking was that he had one gripping Blake's waist and the other clenched in a fist as his side.

Periodic glances over his shoulder and a few scans the one time they had to stop at the crosswalk at the BU Bridge told Liam that the guy wasn't following them, but that did little to relax him.

Am I angry, or is this adrenaline?

Probably both.

Glancing down at Blake again, Liam found her expression distant, and his chest tightened. He was angry, but he had no clue what she must be feeling. Scared, shamed, angry, sad?

Fuck. I hate this.

Was there anything he could have done?

Should I have done something when I first noticed him? Should I have just kept walking when he called out?

Liam took a deep breath, shaking his head. He couldn't change any of that.

When they reached Buick Street, Liam decided to turn in there instead of heading to Matt's dorm. There wasn't really anywhere to sit in 1099's lobby, but StuVi I had a Dunkin and a little market downstairs with some seating inside. There was usually at least one of the more private booths open.

When Liam reached the little alcove, relief washed over him at its mostly-empty state. Most people were either studying in the library, at finals, home, or out celebrating the end of their finals by now.

Picking the one farthest from the entrances, Liam pulled Blake into the booth with him and took her hands in his.

"Are you--" he began, then stopped, shaking his head, "Stupid question. Do you need anything?"

Blake was silent. For a moment, she was completely still, then she took her hands from Liam's. Liam blinked at that, but didn't say anything. He had to press his hands into the booth seat to keep them from shaking, however.

"You didn't need to do that," Blake said, voice small and thin.

Liam blinked, frowning.

"What?"

"You didn't need to do that," Blake said again, voice a bit stronger this time, "I told you before we started actually dating that I don't need or want you to protect me."

Liam's frown deepened, "He--"

"I ignore people like him," Blake said, blue eyes fiery as she met his gaze, "I just pretend they don't exist, that I can't hear them, and keep walking, maybe take an extra turn if I really think I need to. If they get in my face or try to touch me, I'm a small little girl that's being assaulted by some creep I don't know."

Liam's stomach dropped, throat tight.

"Blake, I didn't--"

"You didn't think," she said, cutting him off, "You didn't think about what you'd promised me, and you didn't think about the smart way to handle the situation. You just reacted. You--"

She bit off her next words, scrubbing a hand over her head as she looked down and took a deep breath. When she looked back at him, the fire was still there, but it's intensity had dropped just a bit.

"I appreciate that you were just trying to protect me, but I don't need protecting."

Liam frowned, "Blake, that's not fair. I look out for the people I care about. You didn't seem this upset when I did something like this the first day we met."

Blake shook her head, "That was completely different. You just distracted someone who you knew might have recognized me, but who had no idea who I was. Today, you made an ass of yourself threatening that guy. And now, that guy has a bit more confirmation that I am exactly who he thought I was."

"So you're saying that the next time I hear a voice I don't recognize while I'm walking with you, I should just ignore it?"

Blake nodded, "Exactly. Just keep walking."

"And what if he followed you? What if he kept walking and saw what class you have, or what part of campus you live in, or where your actual apartment is?"

"I'm not an idiot, Liam. I've been doing this for almost a year now. Do you think this is the first time someone's recognized me, or that someone's tried to follow me?"

She snorted, shaking her head, "Do you think that only started happening after I started camming? This isn't something that's new to me."

Liam's stomach twisted in knots at the thought that Blake had been followed or had encounters like that before.

"That may be something that's normal for you, but it's not something I'm okay with."

Blake's eyes widened, "You think I'm okay with that?"

Liam frowned, "That's not what I meant, and you know it."

Blake frowned, but nodded.

They sat in silence for a while after that, until Liam couldn't take it anymore. He wanted to take her hand, to reassure her, but he didn't think that was what she needed or wanted right now.

"So, what now?"

Blake bit her lip, looking at the table, then him.

"I think I need to go get ready for my show tonight."

The one that was hours away.

Liam held in a sigh.

"Okay. I'll talk to you later."

Blake nodded and got out of the booth. Liam's hands wanted to shake even more as he watched her go. He felt far more worried than he thought he should be.

A/N: It had to happen at some point. What do you think of their reactions?

Also, I'm glad you dudes seem to be enjoying the more emotional/character stuff with Blake. I get much more into that in the next Arc of the story!