Seven Minutes From Heaven [bxb]

Chapter 12 - Busted

A/N: I'll probably keep spewing out a heap of unedited chapters since I'm working upwards of 50hrs a week during the school holidays. Not to mention the daily mental abuse and exhaustion from the traumatised kids I care for. Love them to death but honestly... goddamn. 

I'm feeling pretty devoted to this book and its cause so as long as you can forgive the mistakes, we should (hopefully) be pretty smooth rolling with the updates from here. 

Huge shoutout to fortheloveofgayyy for the much needed encouragement. 

Sincerely hope you enjoy! 

***

Liam Petry just used a homosexual joke to mess with me. I guess when he put his arm around me back at his place, it really was for comedic vitriol. Just like Charlie stupid Rascal. They wanted to bully me, just like Josh. Why did I have to prove mum and Josh both right? That this was a sin in the eyes of God. I shoved Liam away from me and stood to leave.

"Huh?" he said, standing quickly as if ready to chase me to the door. "Wait, wait, wait."

He moved in front of me and stretched his arms out both sides so I couldn't pass. The look of humour had wiped off his face pretty darn quickly. He was too tall and athletic so I wouldn't have a hope in hell even if I tried anything against him.

"Move," I said, crossing my arms.

"Let's talk this out," he said, putting his arms carefully in front of him like he was dealing with a sickly stray animal about to bolt. "I didn't mean to insult you."

"Well, you did."

"Excuse me," somebody approached from behind Liam, trying to pass. He quickly lowered his arms to let them through and apologised before blocking me again.

"I hear you," he said, returning to the conversation at hand. "I acknowledge my mistake. I don't want a fight between us, so let's communicate which part offended you and work around that."

He sounded like an adult which only made me angrier. I tensed my folded arms and gritted my teeth. "I'm a runner, not a fighter."

My response seemed to catch him off guard, causing his lips to turn upward. He caught himself quickly and resumed a neutral expression, arms still held out in defence. "Okay, that's completely fair. But we're about to eat some delicious Japanese. Can't you be angry at me after we share this special experience I was very much looking forward to?"

My anger dwindled at how sweet and childlike he appeared. Was this the same guy who literally just tried to humiliate me by making me feel like I'd sinned against God? I felt like an idiot, but I was way too weak against Liam Petry. His conviction was even stronger than his cool composure, so I couldn't help but cave after all.

"Fine," I said, keeping my arms crossed while I turned and sat back down. Liam didn't hide his relief as he let out a big sigh and did the same. I knew I was chucking a hissy fit like a child, but my Christian values were too important to me. If he couldn't respect them then maybe... Maybe I'd just have to find a new hero to look up to.

"Thank you," he said, with his body turned from me and not meeting my eye. It suddenly became awkward between us, right up until a server handed us our Ramune. Liam unscrewed one of the bottle caps and popped something around the lid, but I didn't quite catch what he was doing. "This is the original flavour, lemon-lime."

He handed me the bottle and watched as I took a swift sip, swirling it around in my mouth a few times. Liam watched with interest as I processed the taste. It had a sort of slimy thick texture and tasted way too sweet. Honestly, I hated it, but the look on his face was so curious and excited that I couldn't bring myself to disappoint him. Fighting back the urge to grimace, I swallowed the mouthful and set the bottle back down.