3WW-Taking Liberty Part 17

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Thanks for stopping in and checking on Elizabeth and Liberty.  I skipped last week, basically because I felt that I've painted myself into a corner.  This whole write by the seat of my pants thing was/is fun, but it makes writing some days really hard.

If you need to check in and see what you've missed or refresh your memory, stop by my Taking Liberty page.  Now, let's see if I can get myself out of this writing jam.

My body was still on high alert, and I could feel my hands trembling a little.  I stared at James and cursed Liberty for getting me into this.

As I stared at him, everything clicked in my mind.  His behavior to me, the strange little jumps Liberty gave when he was near.  I closed my eyes and sighed.  "Idiot."

James mumbled something in his sleep and threw an arm over me.  His skin was warm and smooth against mine. I watched his face as he settled back to sleep and realized that my hands had stopped shaking.  I felt a lazy smile creep onto my face as I yawned and settled into bed. 

I had to admit it felt like a nice place to be.

Something sharp was poking my leg as I shifted.  A dainty stab that was more annoyance than painful.  I reached down and grabbed at it.  It crackled in my hand, and I pulled it out from under the covers.  It was a Trojan wrapper. 

For a long moment I stared at it, refusing to fully process what was going on.  The knowledge haunting the back of my mind, but I forcibly held it there.  Even though my ability at denial and ignoring the obvious had grown exponentially since Liberty had come into my life, I couldn't deny this any longer.

I jumped out of bed and ran into my bathroom.  Skidding in on my knees, I felt my stomach lurch its way into the toilet.  As the nausea subsided I sat against the wall, taking deep breaths.  Knives of panic were shooting through me, and I knew it wouldn't take much to push me over the edge.

"Lizzy?" I heard a voice call from the other room.  I could tell James was trying to sound sexy, tantalizing. But all I could hear was the voice of a man I never wanted to face again.

Muffled creaks and sounds of movements let me know that I wouldn't have the luxury.  I stood up, washed my mouth out and grabbed an oversized T-shirt out of my hamper, pulling it on backwards in my rush to beat the door opening.

He tapped on it gently. "Lizzy, you ok?"

I breathed a sigh of relief that I had another second to fix the shirt and take a deep breath. "Yeah, I'm fine.  I was just. . ."

I opened the door a crack and peeked at him.  He had put his boxers back on, but was still shirtless.  I had to admit that for a second I felt my goofy grin start easing its way back. 

I looked down at my hands bracing the door, as if I might have to slam it shut at any moment.  Slowly, I forced myself to let go of my death-hold on it. 

"We should get dressed.  My mom might come home for lunch or something." I said.  Even though it wasn't true, she never came home, it was the quickest way I could think of to get us out of my bedroom. 

I saw James clench his jaw.  He spun around and started scooping up his clothes. 

"Don't worry.  I'll get out of your hair.  I've gotta get back for practice anyway." 

He was dressed by now and stomped his way across the room.  I could hear his footsteps pounding down the staircase and out the front door.  With a window rattling slam, I knew he was gone.

I slumped back down to the floor.  "What the hell do I do now?" I sighed into my hands.

Right now Elizabeth and I are on the same page.  I feel that things are coming to a head and the story will be wrapping up fairly soon, but that big climax is still too distant for me to know what will happen.