We used to run around this ghost town
Always thinking out loud
Are we gonna get out
I remember
We dream of places that we could go
Castles with the strange glow
People that we don't know
I remember  

-Stranger Things by Kygo ft. OneRepublic

*****

DELILAH

I slammed my alarm clock, pressing the snooze button constantly.

"Ugh, it won't shut up," I groaned, taking the pillow and placing it over my face.

If there was one thing that I hated, it was that alarm. Worst. Sound. Ever. However, as my eyes adjusted to the natural sunlight coming in through the window and I looked at the time, I remember the day that it was.

My last day here.

A smile formed on my lips.

"What are you smiling about, pretty lady?"

Caleb pulled me close to him, placing a kiss on my cheek. For six months we'd been together, living life to the fullest. Now, came our next big step; going back to my hometown. A place to which I thought I'd never return but that lately, after five years, I found myself feeling the need to go back.

Thankfully, I had Caleb now, offering me what he could of his support. He'd been there for me when I told him I had a son and surprisingly, was encouraging enough to follow me so that I could get to know him.

Crazy, right?

I had a seven year old son that I didn't know. Granted, it was my own fault that I didn't know him. I didn't blame anyone else for my decisions. Up until a few months ago, I didn't feel the need to know him, as disturbing at that may seem. Suddenly, it was as if a new need sprung within me. I now craved to know the child I'd birthed, the child that I had so easily left when I was nineteen years old.

I am the queen of immaturity, so I can't say that I'd be a good mother or that I had made much progress from that age. But after all these years and a decent education later, I felt that I at least had the potential to be a good mother, or perhaps a friend to that child. It's not that I didn't care for him, it would be inhuman of me not to care for a living soul.

I hadn't been ready at the time.

"Are you sure you want to come along?" I asked Caleb, who'd begun changing.

"Sure, babe," he replied with a shrug. "You know that I like going new places. I want to know where you used to live and all that girlfriend shit."

I rolled my eyes. Caleb wasn't much of a boyfriend material if at all. But he was a decent guy. We had fun together and that was all I needed. Putting myself through college on my own was a bit difficult yet I had managed. I met Caleb there, though he dropped out just before finishing up. Frankly, I didn't care. I knew that he struggled anyways and college just wasn't suited for him.

I didn't go to college to get my Bachelor's or my Associate's degree even, I went because I wanted to be a cosmetologist. Thanks to a wonderful teacher who helped me get in, I obtained my license and was going to put it to good use.

After breakfast and some packing later, I was ready to go.

Whatever awaited me, I was ready to face it.

*****

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina was the place where I was born and raised. It was also the place that I had run away from years back. It felt strange to be back yet ironically, now it felt like I was home. We arrived at the hotel we would be staying in for a few days while we found a place to stay and got settled in. Caleb, as always, just made himself at home while I organized what I could.

"You sure you don't want me to go with you?" Caleb asked as he turned on the TV. I wasn't sure why he bothered asking when he was already lying in bed.

"Nope," I said, popping the p. "I need to do this on my own. You could start looking for a job while you wait here," I suggested. Maybe he'd have better luck in Myrtle Beach.

"Yeah, I guess," he mumbled.

Though I had showered before, I did again. I felt dirty. I told myself that the only reason I wanted to look nice was to make a good impression to Adrian. He was the reason I had returned after all. Another part of me, the part I tried to ignore, said that I wanted to look good for Liam. I wasn't sure what to expect when I saw him, but I knew that it would be different from the young man I knew years ago.

Not to mention that under the circumstances I left him, I doubted he'd be excited to see me. The cab ride was long, or maybe it just felt that way because of my nerves and how eager I was to see how different things were.

Some people would call me an evil person for abandoning my family, for leaving everything behind. I didn't see myself that way. Selfish? Yes, perhaps. But you have to be in a person's shoes to know what they feel, to see what they think.

Liam was always the more level headed one of us two, the mature one so to speak. For me, there was no doubt that he was destined to be a great man and father. I was the one not ready for the situation. A million thoughts had run through my mind when I saw the two lines on the pregnancy test.

I was only seventeen, for fucks sake. Just seeing the result was overwhelming and I was terrified. And in denial. I tried to live like a teenager for the first few months even though I knew that I would soon start to show. And when there was no more hiding it, well... reality came crashing in, and I couldn't stop it.

For two years I tried to live as a mom, to act like a mom. It wasn't working. I couldn't find it in me to feel much of anything- not because I didn't care for my son but because the motherly feeling didn't seem to be there. Sure, it was something I should have thought about before having sex yet the idea of a condom breaking never crossed my mind.

As cruel as it may have seemed, I did care enough for Adrian to know that no mother would be better than a negligent one. I knew I wouldn't care for him like he needed and that the love I needed to provide wasn't there. So I left.

My logic may have been flawed, but I wouldn't have been able to live with myself knowing that I wasn't being a good enough mother for him. As twisted and fucked up as it sounds, I did it for him. He deserved a mother that would love and care for him with all their heart and soul and that just wasn't me.

And Liam, I had no doubt that he had provided for Adrian all the love and care that he had. He wasn't much older than I was, only a year, but he was wise beyond his years and had a heart of gold. He had loved me, with all his heart.

Even when I couldn't love him back.

I cared for him, I did and I had liked him a lot. But the love, the genuine, flip my heart and melt at his touch type of love, I didn't know if I was capable of it. Hence, why I wouldn't have been able to be a good mother. Maybe I had loved him but was never in love with him.

Now that I found myself at his doorstep after so many years however, it was a different story. My hands were sweaty and trembling and I felt like my legs would give up on me at any minute.

I was fucking nervous.

Nervous because I was returning to a place where I didn't know how I would be received.

Nervous because I'd be meeting a seven year old son that only months before I didn't know I wanted to meet, much less get to know.

And fucking petrified that I would be facing the single person that stuck around by my side despite my craziness and then I left alone.

Confronting your mistakes is by far one of the scariest things about life and my time to that had arrived. There would be no more running. If I wanted to be a mother or at least be in Adrian's life, I would have to face Liam's rage.

The house was unchanged, as if the years that I was gone hadn't passed. As if I wasn't an entirely different person. Would he recognize me? Would he be angry? Would he push me away?

Would any part of him be happy to see me?

As cruel and insane as it seemed, I didn't regret leaving. The only part I regretted was leaving him to raise our son on his own.

Would he love me?

Would he know that I was his mother?

Would he accept me?

With a knock on the door, I awaited what could possibly either the best or worst day of my life. I thought I was prepared but as the seconds passed, my nerves only increased

And when the door opened, I stopped breathing.

Brown eyes, as dark and intense as the pain I had caused met mine. It was as if our lives were being played before our eyes. The years we spent together. The years we spent apart. The pain. The laughter. Everything in between.

I mustered a smile, watching how his eyes traveled to my lips, a sign he was remembering the passion in our kisses. The intensity our love.

Love.

Passion.

Lust.

Heartache.

We'd been all of the above, until I decided I could take it no more. So I left.

"What the hell are you doing here, Delilah?"

"I'm back."

And I was here to stay.

*****

A/N: Hey everyone!!

Thoughts and/or comments on Delilah? What do you think about her?

What about Caleb?

Thank you so much for reading! I hope you stick around for this one.

It'll be an interesting ride, considering I don't even know how to feel about Delilah.

Leave your thoughts!

-Luz<3