The following week, Liam and Ian talk throughout the days. They text each other good morning and goodnight, and fill each other in on how their days are going. Ian even face times him once while Liam is doing homework.
Liam doesn't know what to say about his current situation with Ian. He'd like to tell Paige and Ember but has no idea how. He also isn't sure if Ian would want his sister to know. So, he keeps it a secret for now.
Saturday morning he finds himself laying on Ian's bed. They had agreed yesterday to spend the day together. It works out well considering Liam had found himself craving to be around the other boy lately.
Ian is currently laying on his back, watching TV. His leg is hooked over Liam's and their hands are intertwined between them. Liam had been watching the movie with him about twenty minutes ago but couldn't get into it and is now swiping through videos on his phone.
Even if at the moment they're not really acknowledging each other it's nice just to be in the same room as one another. Liam is happy just to be close to him. The feeling of Ian running his thumb along his palm is also nice, sending a tingling feeling up his arm.
A video plays on Liam's screen and he frowns. He watches it a few times even though it's nothing special, just a boy lip syncing to a song. What really caught his attention though was the purple marks that the guy was proudly showing off on his neck.
Liam hadn't ever really thought about hickeys. He never really had a reason to. Although, he was curious now on what it would be like to leave one. How is that even done?
Feeling bold, Liam turns his phone off and sits it aside. He looks over at Ian, an idea forming in his head. Ian is focused on the TV so he pokes his shoulder to get his attention.
He looks over. "Yeah?"
"Can I try something?" Liam asks, not caring that he's being vague.
"Uh, sure?" Ian's eyebrows furrow in confusion. "What is it?"
Liam doesn't say anything. He leans forward and softly places his lips on Ian's neck. He can hear when the boy's breath hitches. With little confidence in what he's doing, Liam begins to suck and lick at the skin.
He pulls back a little too early, looking at the reddish purple mark he left behind. It looks like it'll fade soon. He doesn't care about it lasting, he just wanted to see if he could leave one.
He looks up to meet Ian's gaze, suddenly feeling a blush form. Ian's eyes are darker than before. In a second, Ian's flipping them over. He fits his hips between Liam's legs and attaches their lips together.
Liam closes his eyes into the kiss. His hands roam around Ian's chest, slowly going down. They're shaking when he slips his hands under Ian's shirt, not feeling confident in his actions at all. Ian groans into the kiss at the contact. He just his hips upwards and Liam can't think once he feels the other boy's crotch against his own.
Slowly, experimentally, Liam rocks his hips. Ian moans and starts to move his hips against the other boy's. Liam moans too at the feeling.
Ian's lips leave his. He only feels disappointed for a second because soon enough, Ian is reattached them to his jaw and kissing down to his neck.
The idea of a mark on his own neck isn't as nice because he's not quite ready for that conversation with his parents. So, before Ian gets too carried away, Liam brings him back up for a kiss. He has to twist his head a little weirdly to reach Ian's neck but it's all worth it when he hears Ian moan while he sucks on the skin there.
"Liam, fuck." Ian groans lowly, rocking his hips some more.
Liam pulls back. "Are you gonna get in trouble if I leave a few hickeys?"
"No, I'll be fine." Ian says, his head falling down and hair hanging in his face.
Liam reattaches his lips to the boy's neck and starts sucking. He wants this mark to last. His actions are only encouraged by Ian's grunts and moans.
Ian pulls back. Liam's lip leave his neck and their hips pull away. He sits up in between Liam's legs to pull his shirt off and then dives right back in, kissing Liam as he does so.
It all comes to a crashing halt when there's knocks at the door. Ian's hips stop their movements and their kiss ends.
"Ian!" It's Lucas, yelling on the other side of the door. "What are you doing in there? Your mom told me to knock. What's going on? Hellooo?"
Ian groans, his head falling to rest in the crook of Liam's neck. "That fucking idiot."
Ian stands off the bed, walking over and throwing the door open with a scowl. Lucas's eyes widen at his expression before seeing Liam on the bed. His eyebrows then raise and he looks back at Ian, his shirtless torso, and his neck.
"Well shit." He says seriously, looking back up to make eye contact with Ian. "I am so sorry."
The seriousness drops as he walks in the room. Ian sighs, shutting the door behind the blond boy. Liam sits up, pulling a blanket up and over himself even though he's fully clothed. Lucas looks over and makes eye contact with Liam, smirking a little.
"What were you two up to?"
"Lu, shut the fuck up." Ian swears, walking over to the bed. He gives Liam a small smile. His voice drops. "Sorry."
Liam just shrugs it off, thinking about how it might be too soon to be acting like that anyway
They've only been... whatever they are, for a week. He looks over to Lucas, suddenly wondering if the boy already knew because of his casual reaction. "What are you doing here?"
Lucas drops onto the beanbag chair. He sighs, relaxing in his seat. He shoots a grin towards them both before speaking. "Well, I was cleaning out my garage and found a tent. So, here I am to ask how we feel about an impromptu camping trip?"
Ian doesn't answer, just shrugs and looks at Liam. Liam looks in between the two. His eyebrows furrow in confusion. "Do you guys normally just make plans out of nowhere the day of?"
Lucas shrugs, a small smile playing on his face. "Sometimes. I'd say about half the time our ideas are planned and the other half we just call each other up an hour before and spring it on them."
"Or show up to their house." Ian grumbles under his breath. Based on Lucas's laugh, he hears it.
"So? What do we think?" Lucas looks between them, his eyes resting mostly on Liam. "You ever gone camping before?"
"Uh- no." Liam shakes his head, then pictures the thought. A soft chuckles escapes him. "The idea of my family in nature is actually laughable."
"So? You want a new experience?" Lucas raises his eyebrows.
Liam looks at Ian. He just smiles softly back, shrugging his shoulder. Liam looks back at Lucas and then after a moment he shrugs as well. "Why not?"
Lucas cheers. "Awesome! We have the coolest camping spot too. It's a little quarry that's completely surrounded by trees and has rocks aligning almost completely around it. It flows into the lake and on one side, you have to hike a short little bit to get there, there's a huge flat area with less tree and it's perfect for setting up tents."
Liam smiles a little, remembering how quiet Lucas was when he first started hanging out with them. He must've gotten comfortable around Liam already. Ian leans over, sitting his head on Liam's shoulder and groaning.
"He's annoying, I know." Ian states, causing Lucas to glare at him.
"Ay! Shut up." Lucas rolls his eyes, spinning around to cross his arms like a child.
"Anyways, you sure you wanna go camping? We can tell him no, it won't hurt his feeling too much." Ian sits back up straight, making eye contact with Liam.
Liam just shrugs. "I think camping sounds fun."
"Okay then, sounds like a plan." Ian smiles and nods. He turns to look at Lucas. "Are you gonna invite everybody?"
"Sure, I'll text the group chat." Lucas speaks. "Oh, speaking of, you need to add Liam to that. We haven't used it in ages but it still might be helpful."
Ian agrees, grabbing his phone. Liam doesn't say anything, just peeks over Ian's shoulder to watch. Ian doesn't seem to mind.
A few moments later his phone starts vibrating. He's been added to a groupchat and is getting texts from a bunch of unknown numbers. He looks to see someone, who must be Lucas, asking about the camping trip. Everyone shortly starts agreeing.
At the constant buzzing, Ian looks over to peek on Liam's screen too. "Do you want me to save everyone's contact info so it isn't so confusing?"
"Yes please." Liam immediately hands his phone over. Ian looks up at him, his eyebrows raising. Liam furrows his own eyebrows at him. "What?"
"Nothing." Ian smiles widely, looking back down at the screen and starting to save people's numbers.
"Hey, who's cars are we taking? We need to fit like four tents at least. Oh, also, I only have two tents." Lucas turns around, looking at the two on the bed.
Ian just waves his hand at him. "Ask Izzy, her folks love camping."
"Izzy has to lie to stay the night with any of us boys in the vicinity, not counting you because you for some reason have a free pass, how is she supposed to sneak two or so tents out?" Lucas asks.
"Izzy has to lie to stay with you guys?" Liam furrows his brows, temporarily changing the topic. He can't help it, he's curious.
"Izzy's parents are protective. They don't trust any of us, except for Ian for some reason." Lucas answers with a shrug.
Ian rolls his eyes. "It's not that they trust me, her dad still glares at me any time he sees me. It's just that they've known me for years because her and Ember have been friends for ages. She used to never be allowed at our house but slowly they became more okay with it. That's the only reason, her dad still isn't the biggest fan though. Izzy's never even imagined pitching the idea of being around more guys at once. She says her mom would probably beat her ass and then her dad would beat our asses."
"Oh." Liam nods.
"Anyways." Ian looks over to Lucas. "Ask Javier, who knows if one of his older brothers went through a camping phase or something. If that doesn't work, ask Chris. His mom has tons of stuff from ex boyfriends and as gifts from her parents that they never use. We probably have a tent somewhere but I'm not sure, and it'll only be one."
Lucas sighs. "Impromptu camping trips are so hard to plan out."
"We can always just sleep in our cars like last year." Ian shrugs.
"That's a shitty way to first experience camping though. If Liam has never gone before then we're doing this right." Lucas says, clearly determined. Liam smiles.
After a few more seconds of Lucas typing away on his phone, Ian finishes adding contact info into Liam's. Liam smiles as he takes his phone back, checking the group chat before turning the device off. He sits it down next to him on the bed.
"Yes! Javi says they have three tents. That should be plenty." Lucas grins triumphantly. He then spins around, sitting backwards in the chair to look at Liam. "So, how soon do you want to leave? We have from now until like- I don't know five? I wanna get there while there's still an hour or two of sunlight."
"Oh, um. I'm good with anything I guess. Are your parents just cool with you randomly leaving for a camping trip?" Liam can't help his confusion.
Lucas shrugs at the question. "They just think I'm staying the night at Ian's. They don't have to know all the details."
Liam nods a little, that makes sense. He'll probably share the same story with his mother, although she probably won't like it very much. She'll live. At this point, Liam is growing to not care as much.
"You could've showed up an hour or two later with this idea." Ian says, glaring daggers at Lucas. "Why did you have to show up at eleven thirty in the damn morning."
A slow smirk spreads across Lucas's face. "Why are you so upset about me showing up? I wasn't interrupting anything was I?"
Ian flips him off and he laughs. The exchange reminds Liam of an earlier question. He looks between the two for a moment, hesitant. That is until Lucas catches his eye.
"What's up?" Lucas asks, making there no way to back out. "You all good?"
"Uh- yeah." Liam nods. "I was just wondering, when you came in you didn't seem very surprised at..." Liam trails off, glancing over at Ian's shirtless torso and the dark hickey on his neck accompanying the other one that's already fading. "This. How come?"
"Oh." Lucas looks over at Ian, a glint forming in his eyes. Immediately, Ian groans and buries his face in his hands. Lucas looks back, his smirk forming into a genuine smile. "That's because I kind of picked up on Ian having a crush on you awhile ago. I think most of the others did too. I don't know what's going on between you two but I know there's definitely something."
Ian rolls his eyes. "Something is all it is right now."
At his dismissive tone, Lucas nods. "Just update me if it ever becomes more than something. That cool?"
Liam realizes they're both looking at him. His eyes widen. They're asking him if that's okay?
"Uh- well I mean... I guess? I don't know." Liam shrugs. He wasn't even sure what the question was at this point.
Ian just gives him a soft smile then turns back to Lucas. "What did the others say?"
"Oh they're all down." He shrugs. "Even Paige, as long as she can be home by Sunday on noon. Chris already said he'll give her a ride and they'll drive separately. You could always just check your texts and find this stuff out yourself you know."
Ian shrugs him off. "This is easier. So, when do you want to leave?"
"Whenever Liam is ready. I've already got a bag full of clothes downstairs. I dropped it off during my conversation with Ren. That was right before she told me to make sure to knock." Lucas smirks as he says the last bit. "Ian did you tell mother dearest before me?"
"Oh my God. No. She picks up on these things herself, I don't understand how." Ian says, a small groan coming out of him. Liam takes this information in, now knowing that Lucas and Ember's mom both have some sort of idea on what's happening between them two. He's honestly surprised by how much that knowledge doesn't seem to bother him at all.
Liam lays down on the bed, mentally clocking out of the conversation. He kicks his sock clad feet up onto Ian's lap. The boy doesn't even seem fazed by this, hooking his arms around Liam's ankles like it's normal.
"Okay, the PDA is gonna get worse. I can already tell." Lucas says, his face scrunching up a bit. "Anyways, Li, when do you want to leave?"
"I don't care. We can get ready now if you're that excited about it. I don't have any spare clothes though."
"You can wear mine." Ian responds immediately. "I'll just pack extra. It's not like you don't already wear my hoodies around all the time."
As if to prove his point, Ian reaches over to tug at the red hoodie Liam is wearing. It's the hoodie Ian gave to him what feels like ages ago. Liam smiles a little. "Just because I'm wearing one today doesn't mean I wear them all the time."
"You were wearing the black one I gave to you last weekend when we were on face time." Ian says with a little smirk. Liam feels warmth spread up his neck. He had been wearing the hoodie while doing his homework. Ian hadn't said anything about it at the time but apparently he noticed.
"Anyways, does that work?" Lucas asks, breaking up their little moment. "Should I be telling everyone to get ready?"
"Sure." Liam says nonchalantly.
"Yay." Lucas grins. Liam smiles at the way the blond boy had said the word just like he would any other, not like it was some cheer. Lucas spins around in his chair and starts typing again.
"Alright, I'll start packing." Ian twists a hand around each of Liam's ankles and moves them off his lap. He stands and goes over to the closet, picking up a black duffel bag by the floor.
"Ian, Lucas!" The door comes flying open. Ember falters when she sees Liam laying on the bed. "Liam too apparently."
She frowns at him, apparently forgetting her real reason for barging in. The girl stomps over to Ian's bed and glares accusing down at Liam.
"Why do you keep hanging out with Ian and not telling me? I feel left out." She asks, then picks up a pillow and throws it at Ian's back. "I told you to stop stealing my friends, dickwad."
Ian laughs, picking up the pillow and throwing it back. "It's not my fault, I'm just better company than you."
Lucas snorts from his spot on the beanbag chair. "Oh if only you knew."
Before Ember can question him, his focus is met with his phone screen once again. She furrows her eyebrows, looking back to Liam. "I'm confused."
"Me too." Liam says back. "I'm shagging your brother."
The term isn't used commonly around here. Liam has read it in some novels and heard it on TV shows. He's surprised at how casual he says it, not worried about Ember's reaction.
Lucas snorts again, then starts laughing. Ian throws a smile at Liam before going back to piling shirts in the bag. Ember's eyes widen and her mouth drops.
"You're-" She falters. "You are doing what now?"
"It means he's tonguing him." Lucas pipes up, deciding to help her out. Ember's eyes seem to widen even more at that.
"Holy shit." She looks between the two. "Are you two dating?"
Liam shakes his head, sitting up. "I don't know Em. It's confusing."
"You're filling me in on everything later." Ember points a finger at him. Once he nods she spins around to face the other two boys. "Anyways, are we going to the quarry?"
"Yep." Lucas nods.
"Okay, I'll go get my bathing suits." Ember beams and leaves the room.
Lucas looks over at Liam and beams the biggest smile Liam has ever seen on him. "You're funny."
Liam suddenly feels like beaming too. His chest swells with something like pride. His stomach does a little kick.
Ian sends him a smile and that makes his widen even more. He's happy.
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Love you â¡
- Z