16 You came?

Liam wore a brown jacket on his navy blue trousers and headed out of his room, about to leave for the concert.

He got to the living room, and of course, Charlotte was not there. She was hardly ever home by this early evening as she was either catching up with people of like-minded calibres or some other thing Liam would rather not think about.

"Okay. Let's do this, Liam." Liam said to himself as he placed his hand on the door knob to open it.

**********. *********

"Thank you, sir." Liam said as he hopped out of the Uber he'd ordered to this mid- classed pub which was exquisitely designed.

A number of people stood in line by the entrance with giggles, distant laughs and hormones flying around the space.

Liam, not in a hurry to get ahead of the many couples who seemed loved-up to his side and front, took his time to get in the line without disturbing anyone's romance.

"Your ticket?" The heavily built man who stood by the door asked in a deep voice that could shake his belly violently.

"Here." Liam said as she handed over the ticket to the man who gave him a luminesce wristband that served as a pass in return.

"Thank you." Liam said silently to the entrance bouncer as he brushed past a couple that held hands and walked together without caution.

This ambiance rocked, and butterflies began to dance punk in Liam's belly as he could feel the contagious excitement that was flaming in the air.

Liam looked around hoping to find a familiar face, but he didn't, so he headed to the bar where he hoped to get a drink and watch the whole event from.

Liam was at the bar and there weren't many people around here and he could finally let his guard down with a deep release of breath from his nostrils.

"You came?" Liam said with a mid-pitch and a slender virgin smile as he tried to hide his excitement.

"Yeah..I couldn't pass on the opportunity to get myself drunk tonight." Ava replied in a not so thrilled voice as she dragged the dwarf glass that the bartender had recently filled up towards herself.

Liam noticed the sombre voice and wondered what was wrong, but he couldn't bring himself to ask her what that was.

"Are you okay, Ava?" Liam asked with compassion as he looked at her face which she'd lifted up towards the ceiling as she wanted to put the drink in her hand down her throat.

"Ggulllmm…" Ava's throat vibrated loud enough for Liam to hear.

"Why do people fall out of love?" Ava asked with her head down after taking a deep breath.

"Uhmmm.. I don't know for certain, and I think it's different for each person. Love is a fickle feeling, and for some people, it's just not flamed enough to last them a lifetime." Liam replied in a sentimental voice that was soothing to Ava's ears.

"Shouldn't a lifetime be the purpose of love anyway?" Ava asked again with rising fury filling her voice.

Liam, unsure as to whether or not that was rhetorical, took a deep breath, left the silence that existed in that moment before replying her.

"If you ask most people if they knew their love wasn't going to last a lifetime if they'd still have loved, most of them would still say yes. The thing with love is that sometimes it's an experience that lasts forever and sometimes it's just a worthwhile trip that's bound to end. Whichever ours might be, the greatest gift of love is the memory of being loved in return." Liam said with simplicity that enchanted Ava's attention as she basked in his words.

"You're really good at this, Liam. Have you ever been a shrink or something?" She said before releasing a slight chuckle that complimented her wide smile.

"A shrink? No. I couldn't possibly be that for anyone." Liam said as he smiled half as wide in return.

"Thank you. You're the best!" Ava said as she stared with utmost passion at his eyes which were fixed on her comely face.

"It's okay. I'm glad you talked to me about it, you know." Liam said with a leaner smile.

"Hey. The lady over there asked that I bring these drinks over to you both." The bartender's assistant said with a tray in his hand as he handed two glasses of gin and tonic to the widely-smiling Liam and Ava.

"Whoa.. look at you. You sure do have charm." Ava said with a flirty smile as she looked towards the lady who'd got them the drinks.

"Oh,no.. I'm sure she was just being nice. And who knows, maybe she was doing that to get your attention." Liam said with a modest accent devoid of thrill.

"Oh, come on. What decade is this? She's obviously into you, and from where I'm seated, she sure knows a good guy from mere sight." Ava said with a provocative accent intent on making Liam blush or utter something a little haughty.

"Drink on 3?" Liam asked as he lifted the glass towards his face to drown this awkwardness in it.

"Yeah. 2,1." Ava said before she poured the drink down her throat alongside Liam.