Dedicated to my lovely beta!
Ring
She'd noticed the ring from the moment she laid eyes on him again on the street. It was hard not to, as he'd replaced his thick rings for one simple engraved silver band. It intrigued her, but she never got a closer look to it.
And she was afraid to ask. After the leather bracelets, she was afraid that there was a hidden meaning on the ring that she wouldn't like to know. Afraid that the only reason why there was a meaning to the ring was because she'd walked out on him three years ago.
So she never asked. She looked at it, she saw him fidgeting with it several times, even caught a glimpse of it when his hand accidently brushed hers. Or when he absentmindedly ran it through his hair. But she never asked.
Until one day, he finally sighed and said, "You can ask, love."
She looked at him curiously, but he raised one eyebrow pointedly at her. "Open book, Swan." He smirked at her.
She smiled nervously, her hand running through her hair, "I was wondering if – if there was a meaning to the ring." She blurted out finally, biting his bottom lip.
He looked at her, tilting his head, contemplating his answer. Of course she'd wondered that, he thought. And he could read the hesitation in her voice, read it in her eyes.
He smiled at her reassuringly. "There is… it's a token. To remember someone by…" He trailed off.
Her heart stopped as she looked into his eyes filled with sadness. "Who?" She whispered.
He walked towards her, kneeling next to her, placing his hand softly in hers. "Look for yourself." He offered.
Her left hand closed on his, holding it tightly, as the fingers of her right hand traced the pattern of the engraving: little nautical knots circled the thick ring. She slowly pull it from his finger, carefully, her fingertips caressing the space left as he sighed softly, his eyes never leaving her face.
She held the ring on between her thumb and her index fingers as she approached it to her eyes and read the inscription hiding on its inner circle. Her eyes filled with tears when she read the name.
Liam.
She looked at him, finding his eyes dwelling with tears as well. She slowly put the ring back on his finger, her left hand still holding his tightly as her right hand went to caress his cheek before carefully leaning and pressing a soft kiss to the corner of his mouth.