Chapter 27: Twenty-five

"Hey, I know what we can do!" Ian grins, spinning on his heel to look at Liam. "We're almost there too."

Liam doesn't get time to question it. Ian's hand wraps itself gently around his wrist and tugs Liam behind him as he runs across the road. He doesn't let go until they're well past the road and back on the street.

"Where are we going?" Liam asks, his curiosity not allowing him to keep quiet.

"Somewhere." Ian smirks.

"Would it kill you to tell me?" Liam bumps their shoulders together. He's not sure why but he did. It feels natural, being with Ian feels natural.

"It might. I'm too scared to test it." Ian says, his smile wide. Liam likes his smile, it makes him smile too.

"But you're not too scared to climb up a tree and knock on my window in the middle of the night? Makes a lot of sense." Liam muses.

"I know it does, you're so right." Ian grins widely. "Anyways, come on we're nearly there."

"Okay, okay." Liam gives in, following Ian closely.

They reach a open park. There's a playground and then paths through it for people to run or bike on. Liam looks around, wondering if they're going to play on the playground again.

"Over here." Ian walks up to the open grass area and climbs on top of a picnic table. He sits on the table part, his feet resting on the seating area.

Liam walks up and sits next to him. Just as he does, Ian lays down on his back. Liam looks at him blankly for a few seconds, staring at the simple smile on his lips and the gentle look in his eyes.

Liam eventually snaps out of it and lays down too. They both stare up at the sky, laying side by side. Stars scatter the sky and Liam can see them clearly since they're away from the lights. The only light is dim from the nearby street lights but even it isn't all that close.

"Star gazing in a park can now be added to the list of new things you've done." Ian speaks. Liam glances over and sees a little smirk.

Liam smiles and looks back up at the sky. "Yeah. Thank you."

"No need to thank me. I've always wanted to do this but never had anyone to do it with. It's a win win situation."

Liam doesn't know how to reply to that so he doesn't. He smiles as he looks up at the sky. At the way the darkness combines with the little blips of light. Its beautiful.

"You like watching stars?" Ian's voice is quiet, barely above a whisper.

"Yeah." Liam doesn't take his eyes off the sky as he answers. "The sky at night is really pretty."

Ian hums in agreement. "I think everything looks really pretty at night."

Liam moves his head to look at him, only to find he's already looking back. They both smile softly at each other. Ian's eyes are the same as before, so dark that the pupils and irises mix. Within the darkness, the lights of the stars are reflected.

Liam looks back up at the sky before mumbling out a quiet agreement. "Yeah, everything looks pretty at night."

They're silent for a long time. The air between them is soft and comfortable. Liam likes being out here. He likes doing things with Ian.

The night air is fresh, it feels good to breath it in. His stomach isn't pooling with disgust. There's no permanent, unmoving lump in his throat. His shoulders are perfectly lax. He's comfortable.

Liam doesn't know how long they lay there. He doesn't care much either. At some point though, the peace must be disturbed.

Ian sits up and stretches his arms above his head. His back arches and a soft groan escapes him. He looks back at Liam with a steady smile. "I'm afraid if we lay here too long our backs might get sore. We should probably head back. No point laying out here all night to not get any sleep."

"Okay." Liam sits up too. He rolls his shoulders back, feeling his shoulder blades shift and a little sting at the stretch. "How long is it gonna take us to get back?"

Ian slides off the table and stands on the ground again. "I don't know. We're quite a ways away."

Liam slips off the table and comes to stand next to Ian. He doesn't say anything as they start moving. Ian leads the way, staying only one step ahead of Liam.

"So, how often do you go to your mom's? This is the second weekend you've showed up." Liam asks once he feels like it's been quiet maybe a little too long. Even if the silences are comfortable, he craves conversations with Ian. He finds himself wanting to talk to the boy any time he can when they're together.

"I don't know. I love her so I make time whenever I can but she also always encourages me to live my teenage years to the fullest. So, because of that the times I see her can be a little more lenient. I'm usually over there every two or three weekends."

"Oh." Liam nods. "Well, feel free to crash at mine whenever."

Ian smiles. His smiles are always big and nice. Liam smiles back, not as big but just as genuine.

The silence grows again. Liam finds himself wanting to talk. He wants to hold onto what conversation he can. The only problem is, he's not too sure on how to talk. What's he supposed to say?

"What's your favorite color?" Liam blurts out suddenly.

Ian chuckles a little. "Orange. There a reason you're asking?"

Liam feels his cheeks heat up. "Um, no, sorry. I was just, I wanted to make conversation. I'm not skilled in talking to people though so I asked the first thing that came to mind."

Ian smiles. "Alright then. What's your favorite color?"

Liam blinks, slowly processing the question. He smiles once he realizes this is just Ian helping him carry on the conversation. Then, he thinks over the question.

He's never thought about what his favorite color is. His mind ponders through different colors. He searches through images of things, trying to see if there's something that sticks out to him.

He thinks anout the green of the grass when the morning dew slides off it and the blue of the sky when the sun shines brightly in the midst of it. He thinks about shiny yellow cars, vivid red lights adorning a bedroom wall, and fluffly, purple carpets.

He thinks about a gray office chair sitting in front of a desk. He recalls a gray comforter sitting atop gray sheets on a bed with matching pillows. He thinks of the gray carpeting covering his floor.

"I don't think I have a favorite color." Liam finally says. "I like them all. All except gray. Anything but gray."

Ian's smile looks a little sadder when Liam glances at him. He repeats Liam softly, "Anything but gray, huh?"

"Yeah." Liam nods, speaking quietly. A chill understanding seems to flow between them.

"What hobbies do you have? Anything you like to do in your spare time?" Ian asks. He bumps their shoulders lightly. "You wanna keep the conversation going, right?"

"Oh, right." Liam nods. "Uh, I don't know. I like reading sometimes. It used to be one of the only things that helped pass time at home."

"What books did you read?" Ian looks over, tilting his head to the side a little.

"Mostly classics. My dad owns four copies of The Catcher in the Rye. It was probably my favorite when I was around twelve to fourteen. In middle school I'd spend hours in our library, my sister would recommend books for me a lot since she also was in there quite a bit."

"Your house has a library?" Ian's mouth falls open, he shuts it quickly though.

"Yeah. My dad is big on books." Liam answers with a shrug. "What do you do in your spare time?"

"I guess I like to game sometimes." Ian says simply. "I've done some reading but I'm not really the biggest on that. I mostly just do whatever I feel like doing at the time, or what my friends want to do since I hangout with them most days."

"Makes sense." Liam leans over to the left when he sees a part of the sidewalk that's crumbling down. He doesn't have any issues with stepping on cracks in the sidewalk but he steps away out of habit from his childhood. When he was a kid, avoiding the cracks and crumbly parts was a game.

His arm bumps Ian's and he turns to apologize. Ian's face is lit up in a kind smile, his hand loosely wrapping around Liam's wrist. That quiets Liam and he looks down at the sidewalk. After he passes the crumbly part, he doesn't pull away.

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"William!"

Liam groans and stuffs his head further in the pillow. He's not sure what time it is, but he definitely missed breakfast.

Ian and him didn't get back until two forty-five in the morning last night. He slept comfortably and when Ian's alarm went off, he barely woke up. He fell back asleep quickly after Ian climbed out his window.

"Get your ass up!"

Liam blinks his eyes open and looks over at where the voice that disturbed his rest is coming from. He sees his mother standing by his bed. Her arms are crossed over her chest and she looks pissed.

"It is eleven thirty. What are you doing still in bed? Get up."

Liam sits up. He rubs at his eyes, a sleepy yawn escaping him a second later. He looks back over at his mother, waiting to see if she plans on telling him why she awoke him.

"I'm going to a luncheon at Clara Hilson's and you are coming with me."

Liam blinks blankly at her some more. His brain is still fuzzy with sleep. Did he hear that correctly?

"Um... okay?"

"Get dressed. Hurry up." She turns around and walks off. As she leaves, she shuts his door halfway behind her.

Liam gets up, even if everything in him screams not to. He walks with heavy legs over to his closet. He steps in and takes his time to put on his clothes. His white button up shirt is still a bit tighter around the shoulders but it doesn't bother him. It isn't uncomfortable, it just fits a bit closer than before.

Once he's got his white shirt and black slacks he walks out. He doesn't bother grabbing a tie or jacket. Lately, he hasn't worried much about those when dressing up to go out.

He walks down the stairs at a leisurely pace. His mother stands there, face cross and waiting impatiently. Once she sees him, she waves for him to follow and then leaves the house.

Liam follows after her. He slides into the car and sits next to the tinted window. She's on the other side, staring at the other tinted window in the backseat.

The car ride is silent. It drowns them completely, making Liam feel light headed. He ignores the growing sick feeling, focusing instead on things flying by outside of his window.

The car pulls into a brick entrance. They drive up the yard and stop in the driveway. Liam steps out and waits as his mother walks around the back to walk inside first.

She rings the doorbell and in less than a second a young woman is opening it. The woman is blonde, a darker shade of blonde than Liam's mother, and her hair is pulled up in a tight bun. She smiles at them and then steps out of the way. "Welcome. May I take your coat?"

Liam's mother shakes off her black jacket, leaving her in a light pink dress shirt and black pencil skirt. She walks through the house like she already knows where to go, leaving the maid behind. They come to enter the living room, but it's empty.

Liam's mother ignores this, going to open a big, double glass door at the back. Outside, there's a big patio area leading into a garden. The gardens are beautiful, Liam looks at all the flowers while mindlessly following behind his mother.

"Oh, Sara, hello!" A chipper voice welcomes. "And William, what a pleasure."

Liam focuses back in. Three women are sitting at a large, white stained glass table. There's five chairs still empty at one end of the table. Liam's mother walks over and sits next to one of the ladies, her first name is Quinn, Liam is pretty sure. The woman at the end of the table is Clara Hilson, the hostess. The other woman, sitting across from Quinn, Liam is sure he's seen, maybe even talked to, a few times but he can't recall her name.

Liam takes the seat next to his mother. She smiles, strained and too fake. The other women don't seem to notice. For all Liam knows, their smiles are fake too.

"Hello ladies." Liam's mother smiles at everyone.

The maid comes out of the house with a tray in hand. She places two glasses of tea I'm front of Liam and his mother. The older woman beams and takes a drink, her smile seeming more real after she does so and start to dive into conversation with the other women.

They get only half way through of their bragging on their husbands when the door slides open again. Liam twists his neck to look back. A familiar woman walks through, her hair auburn and cascading down her back, so unlike the other girls who all have their hair up in one way or another.

"Laura, welcome!" Clara greets, just like she had before for them. Liam smiles a little more genuine as the woman walks in. She's wearing a floral blue top and a blue skirt. It's pretty and not as upkept as the rest.

Behind her walks in a boy. Upon seeing the new body, Liam's eyes shift. They widen when recognition instantly hits. The boy's dark eyes widen slightly as well when he sees Liam.

Ian isn't dressed up in comparison to what would normally be accepted around these people, but Liam can still see that he's dressed up for what he would accept. He's wearing a sold black T-shirt with dark jeans. He looks good.

"Hello ladies!" Laura beams, Ian following after her. "This is my son, Ian. I decided to bring him along."

"Well hello Ian." Quinn smiles. "Now we have two teemage boys. My, my, our parties are being taken over at this rate."

They all laugh, Liam's forced and uncomfortable. Ian doesn't laugh, just sits. His entire being radiates stiffness as he sits next to his mother and across from Liam.

Liam understands the uncomfortable feeling all too well. While he's mastered hiding it, he still can't sit in comfortable at these events. However he's trained himself to look relaxed on the outside, leaving the dread to pool only on the inside. Ian clearly doesn't have this same skill.

"Ian, do you attend Lavex Academy like William?" Clara leans forward slightly with interest.

Ian seems to stiffen more if possible. His eyes widen as the atrention turns on him. "Oh, no. I go to public shools."

"Oh?" Clara's smile drops a bit. Ian shifts in his seat.

"Yes. Ian lives with his father and Clint lives closer to the public school." Laura says, drawing the attention away from her son.

"His father?" Quinn blinks. Her smile appears sicker once realization dawns on her. "Oh thats right, silly me. You're divorced."

Laura doesn't seem bothered by the judgment in her voice. Her smile stays just as bright. "That's right! My ex husband and I split up when Ian was about two."

"Well, how nice you've found David now." Clara smiles. She seems a bit more friendly than the other three girls at the table.

The maid brings out tea for Ian and Laura. As the cup is delivered to him, Ian's eyes meet Liam's. They're wide with unfamiliarity. Liam gives him a soft smile, trying to silently comfort him.

"Oh, William, speaking of schooling, how's that been going?"

Liam turns his attention away, flashing his practiced polite smile to Quinn. "It's been well."

"His grades are very well kept. He likes to stays top in his classes." Sara cuts in, as she always does. Liam nods in a silent agreement that he doesn't mean.

"Of course they are." The woman, whose name Liam isn't sure of, smiles. "I hear you're in a business law class, what's that like?"

"It's very interesting, I must admit." Liam nods. The lie feels bland on his tongue. "It's a tough course though."

"Understandably." She nods. They move on topics, no longer discussing Liam. He breathes a small sigh of relief.

Blue eyes flick over and instantly meet dark brown ones. Ian's still stiff but when Liam's lips quark up, he relaxes a little.

"On the topic of hair, I do have a question. Ian, yours is quite long. Do you plan on cutting it soon?" Clara brings the conversation back to the teenagers, both of them looking over at her.

"Uh, no." Ian shakes his head. "I kinda like it longer."

"He's always been fond of keeping his hair fluffy." Laura adds, her hand goes up to rake through some of Ian's hair lovingly. Liam's guts twist with envy at the affection.

"Oh." Quinn raises her eyebrows. "Personally, my son always had his hair very well kept. I can't imagine letting it be so unruly. No offense."

Her laugh is hollow. As is the small laughs from the lady across from her and Sara. Liam doesn't laugh, he doesn't even try to force out a fake one. He likes Ian's hair, he thinks it looks good.

"I know what you mean, Quinn. I always make sure to keep William's hair trimmed." Sara has to add to the conversation. Liam picks up his cup and takes a drink of his tea.

"I think his hair looks nice." Liam mumbles, just because he doesn't think before he does.

Quinn apparently didn't hear him, as she looks over to Clara to say something. Sara definitely did though, based on how her ankle bumped his threateningly. Liam looks up and is met with Ian's soft smile directed at him. Laura is also smiling brightly at him, so they both must've heard.

Tea time at the table goes on for about another twenty minutes. The girls don't direct anymore questions at the two boys. Without any interruptions they can indulge in a staring contest in peace.

Liam feels something bump the front of his foot. His eyebrows raise because that was most definitely not his mother. When Ian smirks the culprit becomes obvious. That leads to playing footsy under the table the rest of the time they're at the table.

Finally, Clara decides to get up and show the others something in her garden. All the women follow after her while the two boys stay put. Liam smiles genuinely in their absence, so does Ian.

"Look at you, little rich boy." Ian grins. "You play the part well, I'll give you that."

Liam smiles too. Ian's foot is still kicking up next to his. "I've had years of practice. It doesn't seem like you can say the same though. You were as stiff as a robot most of the time."

"I'd say I take being judged by old ladies pretty well actually. I guess we must just disagree." Ian shrugs. His smile is still lighting up his face so Liam knows he must not actually be concerned about the judgemental women.

"I guess so. You're definitely lacking the experience a pro has at it though."

"Oh yeah? So are you the pro? It didn't seem like they were judging you too hard."

Liam rolls his eyes. "Believe me, they're going to take apart everything that was said here and shit talk about it to their husbands tonight."

"Oh really?" Ian's brows raise.

"Yep. That's how these rich women work." Liam shrugs simply. "At least, that's how my mom works. I base the rest off the fact that everyone, well except your mom, share the same expressions as her. They all have the same tense smile and judgemental eyes even if they try to hide it."

Ian nods. "Why even do things like this if they don't like each other though?"

"To boast." Liam answers simply. "And it's not that they don't like each other, some of them are the best of friends, they just all feel the need to be superior to each other."

"Oh." Ian glances over to where the woman headed off to. They had disappeared on the cobble path and behind some big rose bushes. "I'll never understand these people."

Liam hums. As silence grows between them he decides to start them on the next topic. "So, David is your step father then?"

"Yep." Ian nods. "Have you met him?"

"I have. He seems just like everyone else." Liam shrugs. "I guess that's probably why you don't like him. You guys come from two different worlds."

Ian's foot tilts up against the side of Liam's shoe and then back down again. "Maybe."

"Although, to put in a good word for him, he's gotta be at least a little better than these people if he likes your mom."

"True." Ian smiles again. "They didn't seem to be her biggest fans."

"Definitely not. She's divorced, has a son with another man, not from a well off family, and eloped with David. One of those reasons alone is enough to not like her, she's just the full package." Liam jokes.

"Yeah." Ian's face becomes a bit more serious, but a soft smile stays. "What do you think?"

"I think everyone's too judgemental over trivial matters that shouldn't even matter. I like her, have since I met her." Liam smiles softly and Ian returns it.

Their mothers return with the other ladies before anymore conversation can be had. They say goodbye to each other and leave. Liam feels like this time, the luncheon wasn't as bad as it could've been. Even as he listens to his mother complain on the way home, his mood still doesn't dampen drastically.

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This chapter is quite a bit longer than normal but oh well. I got carried away lol.

Love you ♡

- Z