Liam
January 9th, 2017 | 3:00 pm
Liam raced home as soon as the final bell had rang. Lexi had ditched school and Liam had no clue where she was. She hadn't been in her classes all day. Thankfully, as soon as he ran into her room, he found her laying in the bed. She was wide awake, just staring up at the ceiling.
"Where have you been?" he asked as soon as he saw her.
Lexi stared at him and she kicked her blanket off. She sat up while Liam restlessly awaited an answer.
"Well?" he pressed.
"You were right, Liam," she said finally. "Maeve was being paid off by Austin to be my friend," she said with a tight voice.
Liam dropped his angry expression and came over to her. "I'm sorry," he said softly.
Lexi shook her head and sighed. "You know what's even worse? Macy told me that Austin came to the rehabilitation center for days trying to see me and Macy told him the best thing he could do for me was to leave me alone."
Liam took a deep breath and exhaled. "Wasn't she right though?" Liam asked carefully. "I mean look at you now."
"That's what Macy said, but Liam, it's not Austin's fault I was struggling last year," she said quietly. "If anything, I was breaking and he kept me all together."
Liam didn't know what to do. "Is there anything I can do to help?" he offered.
Lexi glanced over at him. "Go talk to Rachel," she said finally.
Liam wasn't expecting to hear that. "Why?" he asked.
"Because she needs you."
Liam didn't know how or why Lexi would know that, but he nodded and left her room. He walked into his and sat down at his desk. He wanted to call her, he had wanted to talk to her ever since the library. He hadn't seen her in class though, she was on a completely different schedule than him and the one class they had together today, she hadn't shown up for. He played with the phone for a while, debating if he should call or not, when suddenly the phone rang. It had surprised Liam and he dropped it on the floor. He quickly picked it up and answered.
"Rachel?" he asked.
"Rachel? Did you even look at who was calling? It's Maeve."
Liam wasn't sure how Maeve got his number, but now he was mad at himself for not calling Rachel sooner.
"Look, by now I'm sure Lexi told you that Austin was bribing me to hang out with her," Maeve said.
"Yeah, she should've listened to me sooner," Liam grumbled. "She's really upset."
There was a pause and then she spoke again. "I'm sorry, but I need you to come over to my place," she said.
"Why would I do that?" Liam asked incredulously.
"Because Austin wants to talk."
So, instead of seeing the girl he desperately wanted to talk to, Liam was going to meet his friend turned adoptive sister's ex-boyfriend at her fake ex-friend's house. He arrived at Maeve's house and found her waiting for him outside. Liam wanted to be angry with her and tell her off for messing with Lexi, but he knew deep down it was Austin who was at fault here. He brushed past her without a word into the house. All the blinds were closed and the lights were off.
"Why are you guys in the dark?" he asked as his eyes adjusted to the darkness.
"I can't have anyone realizing we're talking," Austin explained.
"What do you want?" Liam asked.
"You have got to get Lexi to move on," he said.
Liam was confused by that. He glanced over at Maeve who had gone silent. She was sitting on the couch watching the two boys.
"Why?" he asked. "Why does it matter so much to you?"
Austin clenched his jaw. "It's better this way."
"Did Macy, Lexi's therapist, tell you that?" Liam asked.
Austin raised an eyebrow. "How did you know about that?" he asked.
"She told Lexi today," Liam explained.
"Well it's true isn't it?" Austin said rather bitterly. "I'm terrible for her, so you have to get her to move on."
"How so?" Liam asked. "Lexi is under the impression that you still care for her and that you were never a problem."
Austin looked away for a moment before looking back at Liam. "Rick and I are in it deep with this drug dealer and I can't risk her getting hurt if something happens to me."
Liam was so confused by Austin. He cared so much about Lexi but claimed he had to stay away from her. Lexi loved him and he refused to love her back because he loved her so much? All Liam knew was that Lexi was suffering because of Austin, maybe moving on was the right thing for her.
"Okay," Liam said finally.
"But don't tell her anything," Austin warned. "She already thinks I still care, she won't be able to move on if she knew I was still looking out for her."
Liam nodded once more and turned around to leave. Maeve walked out with him.
"Is Lexi okay?" she asked once they were outside.
"She will be," Liam said quietly. "No thanks to you."
Maeve sighed. "I wasn't trying to hurt her, I just did what Austin said."
"You did hurt her though, you're lucky Lexi is sober and didn't feel like getting high, she's been clean for months now and you could have ruined that."
"I know, and I'm sorry," Maeve apologized quietly. "Believe me Austin already chewed me out for it, more than once."
Liam just shook his head. "Go to rehab and get help if you really are."
Liam left her standing at the front door and got in his car and drove away. He wanted to see Rachel. He knew he loved her and nothing was going to stop him from showing her that. He drove to her house and got there within minutes. He knocked on the door and her father answered.
"Hey, Liam," he said when he opened the door. "How have you been?"
"Good, and you?" Liam asked politely as he walked in behind Rachel's father.
"I've been better," he said, shaking his head. "The divorce is almost finalized, so that's one thing."
Divorce? What had happened? Liam tried not to let his reaction show. He just nodded sympathetically and then went upstairs to Rachel's room. He knocked gently on her door.
"Rachel?"
She opened the door and stared at him.
"What are you doing here?" she asked.
"We need to talk," he said, moving past her and into the room.
Rachel stood at the door for a moment before closing the door and taking a seat next to him on the bed.
"You didn't tell me your parents were getting divorced," Liam said finally.
Rachel stared at him. "Well, we weren't exactly talking when it happened."
"You could have talked to me about it," he said.
"You were busy," she said softly.
Liam looked away, she must have been talking about Lexi. "She's my sister now, we aren't, she's still into Austin," he explained awkwardly.
She shoved him. "God, I'm not an idiot, Liam," she said, rolling her eyes. "I meant with your life, basketball, college, family."
"Oh," Liam said quietly. "I would have dropped it all for you though."
Rachel glanced over at him. "You really want to listen to my problems?"
Liam nodded. "Of course."
"Why would you do that?" she asked quietly.
"Because you're worth listening to."