Artificial Love (Thiam)

Chapter 20

Liam wasn't supposed to stare at Theo all night. But god, he was weak, and he couldn't shut it off.

Now that everyone else was gone and it was just the four of them, they were all wearing some variant of pyjamas, wine glasses in hand, waiting for pizza to turn up to the castle, as though they were normal people, and not four of the most powerful people in the world.

Jenna had on a fluffy pink dressing gown and slippers, Caroline wore a silk pyjama pants and top combo, and Theo wore plaid pyjama pants and a very tight white t-shirt that should probably be illegal.

Could Liam be blamed for staring at him when he just happened to look like that? Clothes were not meant to look like that on real human beings who weren't dehydrated and emaciated to look buff, and yet there Theo was. He'd be jealous if he wasn't too busy imagining what it would be like to tear the thing from Theo's body.

There was an ABBA song blaring through the tv speakers, and Liam sat on the floor, watching the other three dance, watching the way Theo's muscles pulled and contracted under his shirt. He was glad no one seemed to be paying him much mind, because all this alcohol was not helping his upstairs brain to do the thinking.

At some point, he'd surely get pulled up to dance, but for now, he'd rather just watch.

There was something really nice about the four of them, all adults now, having this moment together. Like everything had come full circle, ended up where it was meant to be in the scheme of things. They were friends now, ish, as much as you could be friends with someone while constantly imagining bending them over a table or having them on their knees in front of you. He wondered if they had any idea what they'd started here, what difficult, shitty road they'd sent their sons down by putting them in front of each other since forever and expecting them not to eventually develop sexual or romantic feelings.

If anyone looked at him now, he was sure it'd be written all over his face. He was basically drooling over Theo and he couldn't even find it in himself to feel guilty about it. It was their fault. They forced them together. They had to deal with the consequences of that. It wasn't Liam's fault Theo had grown up to be a freaking greek god.

Theo had one of Jenna's hands and one of Caroline's and they were singing Dancing Queen together and Liam wasn't sure if it was possible but he felt like he was getting a little gayer just watching. He shouldn't be allowed to drink around Theo, he'd decided, because seeing him so carefree and so open with their Moms was only weakening him further. And he was already so weak to begin with.

It was Caroline who betrayed him first. She looked at him and he tried to look like he wasn't openly leering at her only child.

"Liam, c'mon, come and dance with us." She called, bright and excited and nearly spilling red wine as she swung around under Theo's arm.

"I'm happy watching," He told them, trying not to giggle as he sipped the bitter wine he drank. He didn't care much about the taste, he wasn't really drinking because he liked it.

But now that Caroline had brought it up, the others were on it too. Theo specifically.

He dropped their hands and turned to Liam, holding out his hands. "Come, Little Prince, dance with me."

His words were a little different than Caroline's had been, and he could feel it, what Theo was asking. But Liam couldn't stare at Theo if he was up dancing, and anyway, he was an awful dancer who could not be trusted. He shook his head dramatically.

"If you don't get up, I will get you up." His eyes glinted dangerously, and Liam knew he should just get up now, save himself whatever was about to happen and having to control himself in the wake of it. But part of him was curious, and he'd always been a little belligerent when it came to being told what to do.