Till Dawn (HS)

vi*

Clara's apartment was empty when she got back to it. No one was waiting for her on her doorstep, no Liam sitting with his face in a pout, nothing but her guilt and an orange cat expecting her as she stepped inside. Maggie snaked around her feet and stared up at her with those glowing eyes, as if silently scolding her for being back late. Of course Liam wasn't waiting there still, he probably left half an hour ago, disappointed that his best friend had failed to keep her promise.

She flicked on the lights and shrugged off her coat before calling him. Clara sank down on the couch as the dial rang one, two, three times before her friend's voice finally spoke in her ear.

"Hello," he sounded like he was just getting home with all the shuffling around in the background.

Maggie crawled into Clara's lap and she ran her fingers through her thick fur. "Liam? Hey, it's me. Clara," her voice was light.

"Oh," Liam's breathing could be heard on the other side. The guilt twisted inside her stomach as she awaited him to continue speaking but he didn't, a few beats of silence floating by.

"I'm sorry," Clara whispered. "I'm a horrible friend, aren't I?"

He sighed. "No, you're not. It's fine Clara, really. I don't mind waiting for thirty minutes in the cold," he attempted to joke with her, forcing a quiet chuckle. Clara couldn't help but smile at his ability to make light of everything. She could sense that he was not angry with her like she feared- his voice held disappointment, maybe some hurt, but other than that Liam was his gentle, forgiving self. He was more than she deserved.

"I'll make it up to you, I promise," she swore to him.

"Sounds good. Can I ask you something?"

Clara nodded before realizing he couldn't see her. "Yeah, sure."

"What were you doing? I mean, why were you so late? I'm just curious."

She was grateful they were speaking over the phone, otherwise he would have witnessed a blush creeping up her neck and cheeks. Her teeth sank into her bottom lip as she hesitated for a moment, wondering whether or not to be honest with him. Clara wanted to tell him- Liam was her friend, she shared practically everything with him. But this was different. This was a difficult thing to explain without making herself sound like... like a whore.

"I was," Clara cleared her throat. "I was with someone. A friend," she clarified. "I lost track of time, I'm sorry."

Her vague answer was met with another moment of quietness, Liam's breathing shallow.

"A guy?" he asked her.

Clara couldn't lie. "Yes."

"Oh."

"It's nothing like that," she explained quickly, to smother all of the ideas that were probably forming in his head. "I swear, he is just my friend. Actually, I don't even know if you can consider us friends. He doesn't really care for me." She thought back to the way Harry had denied her multiple times, from wanting her to leave his house to nearly pushing her off his lap when she attempted to curl into him.

"Okay, I believe you. I'm really tired, Clara. I will see you later," with that, Liam ended the call.

The thing was, Liam didn't see her later. He didn't come to visit her on her breaks at the restaurant for the next few days, and he didn't text her like he often did. Clara convinced herself he was busy, probably with school or with his little sister who he looked after sometimes. She was busy, too. Janice gave her eight hour shifts the next three days, most likely as punishment for being late because of her car. Clara was exhausted and her job was quickly becoming her own personal hell, but luckily she had Thursday to look forward, a sort of beacon to guide her through the stacks upon stacks of dirty dishes that her sore arms were forced to clean.