Liam wakes up and the first thing he realizes is that he's in an unfamiliar place. He blinks and slowly sits up. Right, Ember's house is where he was last night and fell asleep.
He scans the living room. He's on one end of the couch, probably had slept curled in a ball, with a blanket over him. On the other end is Paige who's peacefully sleeping and has another blanket thrown over her.
Izzy and Ember are on the sofa wrapped up in each other and there's a blankets loosely spread over their legs. Chris is asleep in the chair. There's no blanket over him and he's spread out over the propped up armchair.
Liam looks over to the kitchen and sighs with relief when he sees someone standing there. It's Iris and she appears to be cooking. He gets up and walks over slowly. "Good morning."
The woman looks up in surprise before smiling brightly. "Well good morning to you too Liam." She looks over at the clock. "It's only eight, you must be an early riser. I'm afraid the rest of the kids will probably be asleep until at least nine."
Liam nods a little. He's not sure what to do now. He feels so awkward being in someone else's house, especially with everyone his age asleep.
"Wanna sit down and talk to me? I make decent company, or at least I like to believe so." She has a kind smile and so he smiles back a little and nods. She motions to the table and he goes over to sit down while she continues to cook.
"I must warn you, I may not be the best at making conversation." He starts.
"That's alright. I was real socially awkward until I started college." Iris waves him off. "So, how'd you and Ember become friends? You seem like polar opposites, but I guess her and Paige are too. She's just good at attracting those people I guess."
Liam slowly nods. "I guess. I talked to Paige first, we had classes together freshman year. I guess Ember knew we talked because she started talking to me too whenever she saw me around. Then I guess I just got roped into their group."
Iris hums a little. She's making pancakes, at this point Liam has figured that out. They smell really good too.
"You're from a well off family, aren't you?" She asks with interest. There's no judgement in her voice and that makes him nod a little.
"My family has a lot of money, yes."
"What's that like?" She raises her eyebrows.
Liam shrugs. He doesn't quite know how to answer that. It's what his life has always been. "It's got its pros and cons."
"I can imagine. Any life must have those, I guess."
"Yeah." Liam nods a little some more.
He thinks about what Paige and Ember have with their lives. To him, it seems like everything he could want. Close knit family, at least in some way. Paige is extremely close with her mother and Liam has seen enough of Ember's family's dynamic to know they all get along great. A comfortable home environment, they like coming home every day after school.
Of course, he knows it's not all that simple. There's some down sides. Paige has to work to help out with her mom, it's just the two of them so money is tight. Then Ember, he knows everything isn't the greatest with her either.
He also knows to them, he probably has a pretty great life too. He's got a credit card with tons of money on it. He's got a huge house he gets to live in. He never has to worry about working to make money. To them, that all probably sounds great.
He does hope that they see some of the signs he's given them. It's not as wonderful as it seems. It's not just some big fancy dream.
"What do you think of the little group of hooligans?" Iris asks again. She looks over at the living room and all the sleeping teenagers. "They're kinda crazy, aren't they?"
"I guess." Liam pauses. "I haven't had very many friends so I'm not sure. There's nothing for me to compare them to other than Paige and Ember."
Iris smiles softly. "I think they're a pretty good group to be your first major friend group. They're good kids."
"They are." A new voice walks in. It's Ember mom and she's smiling sweetly at Liam. "You're up early."
"I usually get up around this time on weekends. At my house breakfast is always served at eight thirty and if you sleep in, you miss breakfast."
The older women both furrow their brows slightly. Ember's mom sits down across from him and asks, "Your parents won't make you breakfast at a later time?"
Liam slowly shakes his head. "My parents don't cook and the chef has strict orders. After breakfast time and before lunch time we're not allowed any food from the kitchen. It's get up on time or wait until noon to eat."
"Well... I guess that's one way to get a sleep schedule drilled into your brain." The older woman smiles a little and shrugs but she seems concerned. Liam doesn't quite understand why and so he chooses to ignore it.
"What time does Paige have work?" Iris asks, looking over at her mother.
The woman's face goes blank suddenly. "Oh shit, I forgot."
"Nine." Liam says after a minute of quiet. "That's what she said at school a couple days ago."
Ember's mother checks the time on her phone and stands up. "Well I better wake her then."
"Would you like some coffee Liam?" Iris brings the attention back to her. She's pouring herself a cup of the dark liquid. "We have creamers and sugar if you want some."
"Um." Liam isn't sure what coffee can taste like. He's only ever had it black because that's all his father will drink. "I guess I'll take some."
"Want anything added?"
"Uh, I've only ever had it black. I'll drink anything you give me though." Liam says vaguely. Iris blinks at him for a few seconds before pulling down a second mug.
"Did you like it black?"
"Not really." Liam shakes him head. Iris hums at this.
"We can try some stuff out."
"Good morning Li." Paige enters the kitchen with a tired smile. Her attention moves to Iris who is pouring a second glass of coffee for Liam.
Without a word the girl moves over there and grabs a third mug. When Iris is finished she pours herself some. Then, they both stand there and add stuff to the drinks to make them taste better.
Paige takes hers and begins to leave. She shoots Liam a quick smile. "Sorry, I've gotta get ready for work."
"It's okay. See you later?"
"Yeah, see you." Paige walks away then. She grabs her bag and starts to go upstairs.
"She's nice. You two go well together." Iris smiles while Liam looks back over at her. His eyebrows furrow. She sits a cup of coffee in front of him and then takes a drink of her own.
"What?" Then as the realization hits his eyes widen. "Oh! No, no, no. You've got the wrong idea. We're not dating."
"You're not?" She raises her eyebrows then hums. "Even Ian had a suspicion last I talked to him about you."
Liam wants to ask her why she was talking to Ian about him. He wants to know what they were saying about him. He has this desperate need to know what these kids think of him.
He didn't ask that though. Instead he just simply says, "Um, well no, we're not together."
"Ah, I see. Just good friends then?" He nods. Her eyes then shift over towards the living room so Liam looks over too.
Ian comes down the stairs tiredly and rubs at his eyes. He yawns a little when he reaches the kitchen and slides down in the chair where Ember's mom had sat. He smiles at Liam. "Good morning."
"Good morning." Liam returns the gesture. He smiles a little and takes a drink of his coffee. It's good.
"You're up early." Iris leans over and pokes the side of his face. "What's up with that?"
"Paige came in there and woke me. She asked all politely if I could keep Liam company so she doesn't feel bad. I guess she couldn't wake up Ember." At the thought of his sister he looks over at her and Izzy. He grimaces. "Yeah, I'd feel awkward waking her up too."
Iris just hums in understand. Then she grins at him and asks in a voice that sounds a lot more like she's joking than it had before, "Want coffee?"
Ian's face twists up and he scowls at her. "Fuck no I don't want coffee."
She laughs at his reaction and walks over to the counter where she had been cooking. She comes back and sits down her plate of pancakes and cup of coffee.
"Oh, food's ready." Ian stands and starts to walk over there before pausing. He looks over at Liam. "Want me to get you some?"
"Um, sure." Liam nods.
When Ian goes over there and starts fixing up two plates Iris passes him on her way to the fridge. She bumps into his side playfully. "Look at you being such a kind and proper host."
He rolls his eyes. "Whatever."
Iris sits syrup and butter down on the table before sitting down herself. She starts to pour the syrup over her pancakes and then once she's happy starts to eat.
Liam can see Paige coming down the stairs in her work uniform with her bag on her back. Mrs. Morrison is waiting for her by the door to take her to work. She catches Liam's eye and waves a little before leaving.
Ian comes back a few moments after her with two plates that have pancakes stacked on top of them. One is sat in front of Liam and the other is sat across from him. Instead of sitting down Ian goes back to the fridge.
Iris offers the syrup to Liam so he takes it. He pours a decent amount over his pancakes before putting it back. As he sits it on the table Ian sits down across from him, this time he has a glass of orange juice.
They all three eat in quiet. The pancakes are really good so Liam compliments Iris on them. She smiles at him and they continue eating just like that.
It's peaceful. Liam likes it.
"Well, I got to head back to campus. I promised my roommate I'd come back today." Iris stands, picking up her plate and cup. She takes them over to the sink and washes them off before just setting them down.
"Bye." Ian mumbles before taking another bite of his food.
Iris ruffles his hair as she passes by. "Be good."
Ian hums in response and she heads upstairs. Ian keeps eating his pancakes so Liam does too. The two are quiet, even when Iris returns and is dressed with a bag on her back. She leaves the house and they're still quiet.
"Oh pancakes." Liam looks up and sees Lucas walking in. He smiles a little when he sees Liam. "Hey."
"Um, hey." Liam smiles a little. It's weird to think this is the same boy that barely said a word last time he was here.
"They're over there." Ian motions to the counter and Lucas walks over to get himself some. Ian stands and walks his plate to the sink like Iris had and washes it off. When he comes back he doesn't sit but instead looks at Liam. "Are you finished?"
"Uh, yeah." Liam nods and hands over his plate when Ian asks for it. He takes Liam's plate over to the sink and washes it off as well.
Lucas and him sit down again at the same time, right next to each other. Ian is still across from Liam but Lucas is to his left now. Lucas starts to eat and Ian flashes a friendly smile at Liam.
"What do you want to do while we wait for everyone to wake up?"
"Uh..." Liam shrugs. He's never stayed at someone's house before. He doesn't know what they would normally do. "I don't know. I'm not picky."
Ian just nods. He glances over at Lucas. The quieter boy is clearly paying attention to their conversation while eating but not joining in himself.
"We could head back to my room." Ian says. "I've got video games, cards, movies, all that stuff."
Liam looks over at Lucas. He meets his eyes, blue and gray watching each other for a quiet second. Lucas shrugs and then Liam looks back at Ian and shrugs too. "Sounds good to me."
"Okay." Ian grins. "We can play video games. Have you ever played Call of Duty before?"
Liam swallow. "Uh no. We didn't have video games in my house growing up."
Ian doesn't seem deterred by this. He slowly nods. "That's alright, we can teach you how to play."
"Okay." Liam nods to agree. They only sit there for a little bit longer and then Lucas finishes eating. He washes off his plate and Ian stands up.
"C'mon." Ian smiles and leads the way. Liam follows behind Lucas as the three of them go up the stairs and down the hallway.
When Ian opens the door to his room Liam takes a second to look around. The bed is in the middle of the room and Javi is passed out on it. There's two bean bag chairs on one side of the bed in front of the TV and on the other side is the dresser and closet. There's LED lights all around the top of the room and at that moment they were shining red.
Ian walks over to his bed which is spread with a black comforter but has all different colored pillows and other blankets over it. He picks up a red pillow and hits Javi with it. The sleeping boy doesn't wake up so Ian hits him a few more times until he finally groans and sits up.
"What dammit?! I'm trying to sleep."
"Too bad." Ian tosses the pillow down before walking over and plopping down on a beanbag chair. "I'm gonna teach Liam how to play cod. So you get to keep the puppy company."
Liam doesn't understand what he means by puppy but based on the way they both look towards Lucas they're talking about him.
Liam slowly walks a little further in the room after Lucas. The boy drops down onto the bed next to Javi and Liam just stands there awkwardly. Ian looks at him over his shoulder and then nods to the other bean bag chair. Liam makes his way over and sits down.
Ian turns on the Xbox and grabs two remotes. He hands one to Liam and then takes the other for himself. He loads up the game and everything while Liam just sits there.
"Okay, I've put it so we're on the same team and we'll be playing bots." Ian then holds up his own controller to show Liam what to do with his. "This is how you shoot, this is to aim, press down on this to sprint, and..."
He kept talking and Liam tries his best to listen. Eventually they start and it's obvious that Liam has never played before. After one round he drops his head in embarrassment.
Ian pats his shoulder. "It's okay man, we all suck in the beginning."
The door opening and closing makes them look over their shoulders. Chris enters the room sleepily and plops down on the bed between Javi and Lucas who at some point started playing cards.
Ian turns back to the TV, apparently ignoring him. Liam copies him and tries to focus. A few times Ian leans over to mess with the controller for Liam and help him out.
Eventually Liam gets tired of hearing Chris snicker every time he dies so he turns to the boy and offers his remote. "You want to play?"
"Sure." Chris gets off the bed and Liam hands him the controller.
When he gets off the beanbag chair he sees Ian pouting at him. He offers a weak smile and then sits down on the floor next to the boy. "I'll just watch. Learn from example and what not."
Ian chuckles but nods. Him and Chris play together. Christopher is a lot better at the game than Liam is.
At some point he leans over and rests his head on the side of Ian's leg. His head rests on Ian's bare knee just under where his shorts are. The boy doesn't seem to mind. Any time Ian's waiting to respond his hand rakes through Liam's hair once before returning to the game. It's very relaxing.
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Ian is an extremely cuddly person so don't get your hopes up from the affection, it's gonna be a bit longer before the good stuff.
Love you â¡
- Z