Chapter 21: Nineteen

At ten thirty there's several taps on the window. Liam sits up and walks over to open it. He smiles at Ian who's grinning back at him. He's crouching on the roof in black shorts and a red and yellow hoodie.

"You tired?" Ian asks, not making a move to climb inside. Liam shrugs in reply. "Wanna go somewhere?"

Liam thinks about it. He looks down at himself in his black joggers and a gray shirt. It wasn't the most fitting thing to go out in but he figures Ian won't care. He slips his vans on and grabs his phone, wallet, and keys - just in case. He turns off the TV on his way to the window, leaving the lamp on his desk on so they'll have light on their way back in.

"Come on." Ian smiles and backs away so Liam can climb out the window. He's never done that before but he decides to try.

It doesn't work out too well. Once he gets his body out, his foot hooks on the windowsill and he trips. He stumbles on the short ledge and there's a split second where he feels genuine fear that he'll go tumbling down the side of the house.

Ian grabs his arm while laughing. Liam steadies and Ian keeps laughing. Slowly, Liam smiles and lets out a small laugh too.

Ian leads the way to the edge. He grabs ahold of a small branch above his head and then jumps onto a bigger one. His feet stay steady on the thick branch and he backs up to allow Liam room to get on.

"I won't let you fall." Ian says like it's a promise. He holds his right hand out while his left stays clamped on the branch above him.

"Or we both fall because you try to save me but I just end up taking you with me." Liam deadpans, looking at the long drop.

Ian laughs. "Yeah, or that happens. Guess we won't know until you jump, huh?"

Liam looks back down at the drop then back up at Ian on the branch. The boy is smiling at him and still holding his hand out. Liam takes a breath and reaches one arm up to grab the branch above and jump over. Ian grabs his other hand and pulls him up so he doesn't fall. He didn't really need the extra support but it's appreciated.

Ian leads the way down the tree, showing which branches to grab and where to step. They eventually slide down the tree and hit the ground. Ian grins at Liam and tugs at his arm before spinning and walking away.

They go down the driveway and to the road. Ian had pulled onto the grass in front of the gate. Liam looks over his car. It's an older beat up dark blue.

Liam smiles while climbing in the passenger seat. Ian starts it and the radio turns on immediately. He turns it down so it's just a quiet hum in the background. Then, he starts driving.

The heater is on, warming up the inside of the car. It's a big contrast to the chilly outside air. Liam appreciates it. He turns his head to stare out the window.

All the lights from the lamp posts in the streets or from the insides of a window shine brighter in the dark. It's beautiful really. Liam watches them all as they drive.

"How was the movie?" Ian breaks the comfortable silence and brings Liam's attention to him instead of the street.

"It was good. I think Ember enjoyed it more than anyone else there. I did like it though, that was my first time in a theater."

It doesn't occur to Liam until after that he's oversharing. Ian probably didn't want a detailed answer when he asked. Simply saying good more than likely would've sufficed.

Ian smiles though. "That was your first time watching a movie in theaters?"

"Uh, yeah." Liam nods. "It was."

"Was it fun?"

"Definitely." Liam smiles too now. He looks back out the window and a pang of curiosity hits him. "Hey, where are we going?"

"I don't know to be honest." Ian says and he sounds a bit bashful again. Like how he sounded the first time he crawled in Liam's window. "I just wanted to drive around, tire out."

"Oh." Liam nods. "That's cool."

They continue driving, taking random turns until they end up on Ian's side of town. Liam vaguely recognizes the roads and streets. He only comes over here with Ember and Paige. Well, and now Ian.

"Oh, I got an idea." Ian suddenly grins. He flips on his turn signal and pulls up to a cross in the road.

"What is it?" Liam can't help his curiosity.

His lips tug up the right side of his face more than the left as Ian answers. "You'll like it, trust me."

Liam doesn't say anything else. He isn't sure why he's trusting Ian. He doesn't know him that well if he's honest. He's Ember's brother though, and he's proved so far that he's a good guy.

They pull up to a parking lot in front of a building and Ian stops. While he's parking the car Liam looks at where they are. An elementary school. He shoots Ian a confused look but the boy just laughs.

"Come on." He opens his door and gets out. Liam follows after him.

Ian walks over to the fence at the side of the building. It's a tall chain link fence but is pointless because there's a gate that opens up by the school. Ian walks through it and Liam follows after him onto the playground. It's dark but the moon is full and there's street lights behind them by the road to kind of light it up.

"Is there a reason we're here?" Liam asks from behind the brunet boy. Ian just shrugs.

"Why not?" He runs over to one of the two jungle gyms and runs up the slide coming off the side. He spins around when he reaches the top and sits. "Come on!"

Liam shakes his head but a smile pulls at his face. This is crazy. He looks around before running over to the monkey bars. Why not?

The blue eyed boy is tall enough to stand on the ground while gripping the bars but he lifts his legs up. His upper body strength isn't that great but he makes it to the other side. He slips down and looks over at the jungle gym again.

Ian is still sitting at the top of the slide. He's resting his head against the plastic arch and is smiling at Liam. Liam smiles too and runs over, going up the steps.

"You're hogging the slide." He claims once he comes up behind Ian.

Ian chuckles and slides down. He doesn't even reach the bottom before Liam is following after him. They crash into each other at the bottom and laugh. Liam climbs over the side and goes over to the second jungle gym.

He hasn't been on a playground since he was like ten. He climbs up the rock wall for kids that goes to the second level of the jungle gym. Once up, he lays down on the hard surface. The stars are out and they all look so pretty against the dark sky.

Liam can feel the smile that has overtaken his face. It's wide and unfamiliar to him. His muscles aren't tense and his throat isn't closing in on itself. The sickening pit that has made its home in his stomach is gone.

He feels good.

The creaking of a chain makes him sit up to look around. Ian has sat on the swing and is starting to kick off the ground. Liam smiles and stands up.

He goes over to the side of the jungle gym and goes down the twisty slide. Once back on the mulch ground he runs over to the swings in order to join Ian. He plops down on the swing next to the boy and kicks off.

They both swing side by side. The swings always were Liam's favorite. He felt like he was flying, even if he used to always be too scared to go up all that high.

Liam wasn't scared tonight. It didn't take much to get the swing high in the air. He was smiling while the air hit his face. It was a little cold but Liam couldn't care less in the moment.

After a few minutes Ian flies off the swing next to Liam and lands in the mulch. He drops down to lay on his back on the playground floor.

Liam has never done that before either. As a kid he was scared he'd hurt himself. Although, he reminds himself that tonight he isn't scared.

His hands release the chain before he's fully thought it through and he flies through the air. He grins. His feet land in the mulch but he loses his balance upon impact and drops to his knees. He's only about three feet away from Ian who's laughing. He laughs too and spins around to lay on his back.

He feels good.

"I've never done that before." Liam says into the air once the laughter has faded.

"Jumped off a swing?" Surprise is evident in Ian's voice.

"Yeah."

"But- you've been on a swing before right?"

Liam laughs at that. "Yes. Back in elementary."

"You haven't been on a swing since elementary school?" Ian asks. The surprise is still there but his voice is softer then.

Liam stares up at the sky and frowns in thought. "No, I don't think so."

"Damn dude. You're really missing out, you know that?" It sounds like a joke but the truth behind it hurts a little.

Liam laughs, a little nervously. "Believe me, I know."

Ian was quiet then so Liam was too. He stared at the sky. It was so pretty at night. Everything felt pretty that night. The streets, the road, the inside of Ian's car. It all had felt pretty, and now this playground and the sky above it felt pretty too.

"You ever go out for milkshakes?" Ian asks suddenly. Liam rolls his head over to look at him, he's already looking back. They aren't far apart, probably only a couple feet, but when he and Ian make eye contact it feels like there's miles in between them.

"Uh- no." Liam answers once his mind has processed that Ian asked him a question.

"You wanna go out for milkshakes?" Ian asks. His face is serious and his eyes are a dark black color from the dim lighting. Liam thinks they look as pretty as everything else does in the dark.

"Where would we go?" Liam asks instead of saying yes. He's already made up his mind.

Ian seems to know this because he stand up and dusts himself off. He offers a hand out to Liam and smiles kindly. He speaks softly and it's very fitting to the environment. "Come on."

Liam grabs his hand and pulls himself up. He dusts off just as Ian had and then follows him to the car. Once Ian starts it his hand goes over to flick the heater on.

He doesn't express it but Liam is very grateful for that. His face feels frozen now that they're back in the vehicle. The excitement has faded and the chill is settling in.

"Are you cold?" Ian catches Liam's attention again. It's just then he notices he's rubbing his hands together. He presses them against his face in a lame attempt to warm it up.

"A little."

Ian doesn't speak but starts to pull off his hoodie. They're still sitting in the parking space. Liam's eyes widen a little.

He gets it off, now left in his white T-shirt. He tosses it over to Liam's lap without even asking if he wants it first and then pulls the notches up on the heater. Liam pulls the hoodie on as Ian starts backing out.

"Thanks." He says once it's on. He bundles his hands up in the sleeves and with the heater on he slowly starts to warm up. He looks back out the window at everything passing them. "Are you gonna tell me where we're going for milkshakes?"

"Tangerine Café." Ian says. "It's never very busy and is open twenty four seven. Their food isn't the best but they make alright burgers and their shakes are good."

"We're getting burgers?" Liam asks suddenly.

Ian blinks and is quiet for a few seconds before he groans. "Don't tell me you've never had a cheeseburger."

"Okay, I won't tell you." Liam mumbles and looks down at his hands.

"Oh for fuck sakes." Ian grumbles under his breath. He sighs before he continues. "Are they torturing you in that house or something?"

Liam doesn't answer. He's not sure if he's supposed to. He also doesn't even know what he would say if he did answer. 'No' didn't seem like it was entirely a true answer.

After some silence Ian speaks again. "Don't worry about it. It just means you got a little catching up to do."

Liam looks up and Ian's smiling at him. He smiles back before looking over and out the window. He's actually got a lot of catching up to do, but he's not going to say that.

The rest of the drive is short and quiet. They don't talk but it isn't uncomfortable. The silence is okay.

Everything about this night so far has been okay.

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Love you ♡

- Z