Loving the Fighter

92

"I can't stand when people put in ear buds but the music is so loud you can still hear the music. I can't stand it. Like you put ear buds in for a reason and now it's not even working for its intended purpose. It pisses me off," Callum said, his eyes glued to the person who stood at home plate with her bat in hand.

I can't help but grimace at his sentence though.

"You would hate me then," I say with a chuckle. "If you can't hear my music through my ear buds, the music isn't loud enough." Callum only hums as ball flies across the air before getting caught by an outfielder, making him groan in annoyance.

"What kind of music did you listen to?"

"Indie mostly. I assume you would stick with pop. Maybe some light modern punk every now and then."

"I don't think you could be farther from that," he says as he laughs.

"Don't tell me you listen to boy bands," I said deathly serious but that only made Callum laugh harder.

"If it wasn't punk, emo, or rock I didn't listen to it," he said, a small blush flashing across his cheeks. I hold back a laugh as I picture happy go lucky Callum in his room blaring some song screaming about how much they hate everything. It just didn't fit together.

"Well you make one handsome emo," I blurt out before I have the chance to stop myself.

Callum's blush only deepens as he keeps his eyes trained on the field.

Liam's POV

I sat in Andrew's office, my mind everywhere but in this session. As Andrew talked my mind passed from Callum and Jax's date, to what Ryder was doing now, to what I was going to do after I left. My mind bounced, seemingly impossible to keep my mind trained on one topic for more than a few minutes.

"Have you listened to anything I've said today?" Andrew asked after he realized I wasn't paying him any attention.

"No."

"I expect this from Jax," he said with a teasing tone, "but I was hoping you would find our conversations more interesting by now."

"You've grown boring in your old age," I tease back while faking a yawn.

"Well if I'm so bad at conversations why don't you start one?"

"Maybe I will," I said as I thought for a second. "I know you can't tell me anything but is Jax okay? He was kind of shaken when he got back last night."

That was actually an understatement. He didn't let onto it like always but I could tell he was freaking out on the inside.

Andrew sighed as he thought, clearly trying to sort through what he could and couldn't say.

"He'll be okay but it's going to take while, especially if he acts the way I think he will. He's going to need a lot of help to accept it." I frown at that but let that topic drop for now, knowing he couldn't say much more about it.

"And what about his eating habits?" It was time for Andrew to frown now.

"I believe you when you say he has problems, but he's not showing signs around me. He's even gained weight these past few weeks. I brought it up to him last week but without anything else, I can't say anything without him getting mores suspicious."

I sigh as while thinking of what else to say but I come up empty handed.

"Now look who sucks at conversations," Andrew joked as he opened my folder again. "How's your anxiety been?" He asked gently.

"I still miss him," I admit, knowing what he secretly meant. "We're coming up on a year of him putting me here," I note with a sad smile.

Some time next month would mark the day Jem made his deal with Patrick. His words still plagued my mind as he all but dragged me out his house with his sulking expression.

"If I had another way, you know I would take it," he had said when I refused to leave the room. "Please don't do this Liam. This is hard enough as it is. You think I want to throw my best guy out to the cops?" His tone was brotherly, even after nearly a year, I still believed him.

"It's okay to miss him," Andrew said, cutting through Jem's voice. "I think I would be more concerned if you didn't miss him."

"I shouldn't miss him," I say after a while. "He brought me home, told me that I mattered, and then threw me out the first chance he got; all so he could save his own ass."

"You know that's not true Liam. He was trying to help you. That kind of environment isn't good for anyone, let alone a 16 year old. Jem is smart enough to know that."

"He still threw me away."

Andrew frowned. We've had this conversation enough times for him to know that I wasn't budging about this.

"But just think, if he hadn't, you wouldn't be here. You wouldn't have Ryder or Callum. You wouldn't be here helping Jax. You would there, risking your life every day for someone you say doesn't care for you."

"You think he cared for me?"

"I met him once when we brought you here. I can tell you meant a lot to him."

"Do you think he misses me?"

"I know he does."

I know it's kind of short but it was only a filler. At least we got some of Liam's backstory out of it. 

Last updated May 11, 2021