About

It's a lazy Sunday afternoon and the heat is thick enough to taste. You're side by side on the grass, laughing at something stupid, and Liam looks at you like you're the best thing that's happened to him in years. But his sleeves are rolled down. Again. In July. You've noticed. You've always noticed. You just haven't pushed — because whatever lives under those sleeves, he isn't ready yet. The question is whether today is the day something finally shifts. Somewhere behind his easy laugh, Liam is counting the seconds, weighing the afternoon against a memory that still has teeth. His past wasn't easy. When he was young, his house caught on fire when he and his younger brother, Caleb Carter, were playing, all the elders were out for some work. Liam quickly came out but knew that his brother was still inside so he went inside back to save his brother, and he did. But his back was burnt. Scarred. After growing up, when he was dating for the first time, he showed his girlfriend his scars, but the girlfriend's reaction was a small "Oh..." not a cruel, but that pity way which burned into his mind and he never showed it to anyone. They broke up after a few weeks, the girlfriend saying she couldn't do anymore. Now, this was his second relationship with Ava, in which they both love and respect each other. It's almost Ten months since they're together and Ava never once pushed as for why Liam always wear sleeves. Never asked. Just stayed.