It was my fifteenth birthday and I was amazed I had lasted this long in the world we lived in today. With limited access to resources in the exile region some unrest was starting to develop and reports of people with powers going into the cities for supplies were starting to come in. The only problem with that was if you were caught then you were put to death. The majority of people which did not have powers were still very afraid of people like me because they felt unsafe. There were some people without powers that tried to advocate for us, but their lives were so different from ours that it was hard for them to make any changes that truly helped us. They’d send supplies into the exile area, but the fact that we weren’t allowed passed the wall was the biggest issue.

Liam was gone again on one of his contract jobs. I didn’t like to think about it and usually just told myself that it was a search mission and not an assassination to comfort myself. It had to be hard on Liam to do those types of jobs. I learned that only certain powers were accepted in the Contractors. They needed offensive powers so they could attack so my powers were useless, but they did try to recruit Seth. Liam was very against Seth joining and talked Seth out of it, saying that he should focus on protecting me and with some of the jobs taking days to complete it would leave me defenseless. I didn’t like being such a burden, but if it meant that Seth wouldn’t join the Contractors I was okay with that.

Seth wanted to know what I wanted to do for my birthday and I honestly didn’t really feel like celebrating without Liam around. He was such a big part of my life now that I couldn’t imagine life without him and I missed him when he was gone. I told Seth I wanted to wait until Liam got back to celebrate and that I could go celebrate with my school friends tonight. I had gotten close to a couple of my classmates at my school and they wanted to throw me a little party in the nearby park. I had a feeling that Seth would be hesitant to let me go out after dark on my own with people he didn’t know well, but he made this exception because it was my birthday.

I got ready with the minimal makeup I had collected over the years and wore that blue sundress I found a while back since it was the fanciest thing I had and it was a special occasion. It fit a little better than it did when I first found it even though it was still too loose on me. I left our home, which was probably the best one we’ve had to date since it was a functioning home with sewer, electricity, water, and no giant holes in the roof or walls. I walked to the park I was meeting my two friends at and saw a big bonfire and several people hanging out. I spotted my friends in the crowd and was a little confused as to why there were so many people here.

My friends, Kayla and Sloane, came running up to me and immediately handed me a beer. I looked at it confused as I had never had beer before, but they seemed really excited about it.

“Happy Birthday Ash! Word got around at the school so a lot of students showed up to party. Someone even got beer!” Kayla exclaimed. These two weren’t the brightest when it came to survival, but they had good intentions.

“I also heard that Brian is super into you and wants to hang out with you alone tonight,” Sloane stated.

Brian was a classmate of mine that I met a couple years ago who didn’t hide his attraction to girls in the least. He made lots of crude comments to me over the past couple of years that I’d known him. Liam had even told me that Brian should be taught a lesson, but I never felt that Brian was all that dangerous. I bet he was mostly talk when it came to his claims.

I cracked open the beer and took a swig. “I’m not exactly sure how I should respond to Brian since he seems to be into all girls in our grade,” I replied.

“But he’s super hot so maybe you two can make out or something. You know, just have a little fun and let loose for once,” Kayla smiled and wiggled her eyebrows suggestively. I felt my face get hot at that. I had never kissed a boy and the only guy I had ever imagined kissing was Liam so I definitely wasn’t going to let my first kiss go to Brian. I would have to try to avoid that at all costs.

“I don’t know about that, but I’m excited to hang out and try beer,” I said trying to change the topic. Sloane got the hint that I was uncomfortable and suggested we join the group at the bonfire. I recognized some of the people from my school since I saw them around, but I didn’t really talk to anyone beside Kayla, Sloane, or Brian at my school. I was a little overwhelmed with all the interaction since everyone would come up and wish me a happy birthday. It seemed like every time I finished off my beer another one was offered to me because it was my birthday. I was having a lot of fun and by the third beer I was feeling really lightheaded. I was assuming this was the beginning stages of being drunk.

During the first couple years after the meteor landed, alcohol was one of the hottest commodities. Many people took to drinking to deal with the chaos and loss that ensued. I remember raiding gang territories and watching the people getting drunk. They were always loud and sloppy. Their reaction times were a lot slower so it made it easier to steal from them, but on the other side I had seen people get overly aggressive when drunk as well. I didn’t want to get too far gone like that so I figured I would slow down on my drinking now so I wouldn’t end up doing something I regretted.

Liam and Seth had found alcohol once last year. It was a bottle of whiskey. They both drank it but wouldn’t let me try it saying I was too young to try it. I remembered that night fondly because they were hilarious as drunks. Liam was super affectionate and kept expressing how much he loved both me and Seth and was glad he met us. Seth just thought everything was funny and laughed for most of the night. And then they both got sick at a certain point and were vomiting for the rest of the night. I definitely wanted to avoid that and the hangover the next day.

I excused myself to go find the public restroom at the park. Away from the bonfire it was more peaceful and a lot darker. The park had lights here and there, but since it was nighttime it wasn’t enough to see very far. The restrooms weren’t far and I took care of my business. On my walk back Brian ran up to me to stop me from joining the larger group. He had a smirk on his face and I knew he was going to hit on me like he does at school.

“Hey Ash. How’s your birthday turning out?” Brian asked.

“I’m having a lot of fun. I learned that beer doesn’t taste all that great,” I laughed.

“I heard it’s your first time trying beer. This could be a night of many firsts for you.” Brian reached to put his arm around me and for some reason I didn’t shy away. I think it was the beer that put my usual warning bells in my mind to sleep because I didn’t feel nervous at all.

“I’ll probably just stick with the beer tonight,” I stated trying to let him down gently.

He brought his other hand up to touch my cheek and turned my face so my grey eyes met his. I had to admit, Brian was pretty cute with his blonde hair and blue eyes. I could feel his intentions before he even started to lean forward. He was feeling nervous and then a rush of courage and lust hit me when he leaned forward to kiss me. That’s when I ducked my head quickly so his lips met my forehead and I pushed on his chest lightly. Even with the lust I felt from him, I wasn’t about to give him my first kiss. Disappointment filled him and I felt a little bad for rejecting him.

Before I could say anything to him, he was suddenly yanked away from me and then Liam came into view. I was shocked and so happy to see him, but most of all I was confused.

“Hey! Let go of me!” Brian shouted and Liam shoved him towards the larger group.

Liam had a deadly look in his eye and I wished I could feel his intent, but he was always void to me. I rushed to Liam and grabbed his arm to get his attention. “What are you doing here?” I asked.

“I came home tonight to see you for your birthday and Seth told me you were here partying with friends. Have you been drinking Ash?” Liam inquired. Even without being able to sense his emotions his facial expression told me he was pissed.

“What the hell Ash? Do you know this guy?” Brian had recovered and was angry about Liam shoving him. I had to diffuse this fast without Brian getting hurt. Brian’s power was controlling metals, but even with that great of a power he stood no chance against Liam since Liam could negate anything thrown at him.

“Sorry Brian. This is my friend Liam. We’re gonna go now. Have a good night and tell everyone I said bye and I had a lot of fun,” I told Brian before dragging Liam away by the arm. Liam was not his usual happy-go-lucky self so I needed to separate him from Brian since that seemed to be the source of Liam’s annoyance.

“So that’s the Brian you mentioned that likes to tell you he’d bang you. Guess he was being truthful and you were going to let him,” Liam snapped.

“What are you talking about? I pushed him away and before I could say anything you showed up. I know how to handle him. He’s not the type to force a girl after being rejected,” I replied.

“You are under the influence which makes you more vulnerable. It also decreases your judgement so you could’ve done something you regretted,” Liam said.

“I may be a little drunk right now, but I was going to stop drinking and I would never give up my first kiss because of that.” I stopped walking, getting so mad that Liam thought I couldn’t protect myself. Both him and Seth never even give me a chance to defend myself and then scolded me for being vulnerable. They were so worried about me that they barely let me take risks or live or make mistakes and I was getting tired of it.

“Look, I’m not a young girl anymore. I’m 15 and I know that’s still young, but normal 15 year olds do stuff like this sometimes. I actually had fun with friends and didn’t worry about anything for a couple of hours for once in the past 7 years and you come in and act like I need rescuing when I don’t.”

I instantly regretted saying those things by the look on Liam’s face. I realized now how it came off as me saying he ruined my night by showing up when that was the furthest from the truth. I thought about him all night and was actually really happy to see him when I first saw him. I just didn’t like that he babied me all the time. “Wait, Liam, I didn’t mean…”

“No, I get it. I just can’t help it sometimes. The truth is that I saw Brian touch you and lean in when I was walking up and I didn’t care what you wanted. I felt so jealous I saw red and reacted. I’m sorry,” Liam sighed.

Jealous? My mind had to process that for a moment. Why would he be jealous?

“Are you jealous because I was having fun drinking without you?” I asked for clarification. That was the only reason I could think of.

“You are so dense. I am jealous because he was trying to kiss you Ash. I realized that I wanted to be the one to kiss you and I was worried I lost my chance.” Liam’s face was red and I was shocked to see him embarrassed for once in his life. He always just laughed things off without a problem.

“You want to kiss me?” I asked as I tried to process what he just said to me. I had always treated Liam like I had treated Seth since we met as children. There were a couple of times I would have erotic dreams that involved Liam so I had imagined kissing him before, but I never thought he would return those feelings. He always treated me like a younger sister.

“Don’t make me say it again,” Liam groaned in shame. “I can’t believe I even said anything.”

“Will you kiss me now?” I inquired getting embarrassed myself.

Liam’s uncovered eye met mine with a shocked look on his face. He was probably processing what I just asked of him. “You mean you want me to kiss you right here and now?”

“Don’t make me say it again,” I mimicked him with a smile on me face. His signature goofy smirk appeared on his face before he reached out to me and pulled me into him by my waist. He ran his hand up my side and to the back of my neck before his lips met mine. I felt a rush of electricity run through me and I bought my hands up into his hair. This felt like it had in my dreams, but I knew we couldn’t go as far as we did in that scenario.

I pulled his headband off with one hand because it was getting in the way of the kissing. Then the void I always felt from Liam flooded with emotions. Love, lust, and happiness filled me and I almost began to cry because this was the first time I had ever felt his emotions which meant he wasn’t using his negating power. He was truly open at this moment I decided to return the favor by sending him what I was feeling as well.

His kiss got rougher after I activated my power. He started to nibble and ask for entrance. I let him in and our tongues collided. This was so much more intense than I ever imagined this to be. After what felt like forever and not long enough he pulled away to catch his breath. He stared at me with his red and gold eyes.

“I have loved you for a long time Ash,” he whispered to me.

“I think I have loved you for just as long,” I smiled back at him. He kissed me again, but this time was slower and more sensual, like we had all the time in the world and we weren’t in a public place.

We finally separated after a while and decided to go home. I was really flying high on the emotional rush I just had. Liam had his headband covering his eye again and was smiling his goofy grin like he just won the lottery. I held his hand as we walked home.

“What are we telling Seth?” I asked Liam.

“Oh man! Seth is going to kill me!” Liam exclaimed in panic. “What are we going to do? Although I will die a happy man if he does decide to kill me.”

“I won’t let him. Let’s just not tell him for right now. I can already hear the lecture in my mind,” I giggled. Seth was truly like a dad to the two of us sometimes.

“Deal. When you’re ready we will tell him,” Liam said. “Let’s have one last kiss before going inside then.”

I laughed and stopped walking so he could sweep me off my feet with another fantastic kiss. I now knew what role Liam was meant to play for me in my life and I knew I would never be complete without him. We had been through too much together to be apart now and I looked forward to spending the rest of my life with him.