After Dark

Thirty-seven

He also grabs a T-shirt, looking down at the three marks he has on his chest before pulling it on. It's a striped gray and vintage red shirt. He likes it.

After getting a text telling him to come over from Ian, he slips on his shoes and leaves the room. He walks down the stairs, feeling the pain in his backside get a little worse while going down. He ignores it and it goes back to a very dull ache once he's walking normally again.

The drive over there doesn't take too long. He parks in the driveway of the house that's about as big as his and gets out. He feels a new set of nerves take over as he approaches the front door.

Maybe he didn't think this through. What if they told his mom? Is David going to be there? Maybe he shouldn't be letting David know. What would happen if they told his parents? How would his parents react? His mom freaked out when she figured out they were just friends, what would she think if they were boyfriends?

The door swings open and there stands Ian. He's smiling wide and suddenly Liam calms down. Ian's wearing a pair of gray sweatpants and a plain black shirt.

"Hey." Ian grins, stepping aside so Liam can step in. Liam gives him a small smile back.

"Hey."

"David's gone at a meeting, so now is probably a good time to catch my mom." Ian says. Liam feels his nerves calm a little even more.

"Oh, okay." Liam nods. As the door shuts behind them, Ian's arm wraps around his waist. He's lead through the foyer and into the living room.

The living room is big and decorated in dark colors. There's two black leather couches and a matching pair of chairs. The table in the center is painted black and there's a giant flat-screen TV on the wall.

Laying on one of the couches is none other than Laura, wrapped up in a light blue blanket and eyes focused on the TV. She looks over when she sees Ian enter and smiles happily at Liam. She briefly glances at Ian's arm placement but doesn't say anything about it.

"Hey boys." Laura greets, smiling sweetly. "It's nice to see you again Liam."

Liam smiles politely back at her. "You too."

"So, Mom, I just wanted to let you know, Liam is my boyfriend." Ian says. Laura's eyebrows raise.

"Well, it's nice to be informed of these things." Laura says, still smiling. "Are you two hanging out here?"

"Yeah." Ian nods. "We were just gonna head upstairs."

"Okay." Laura nods.

Ian starts to walk away but Liam doesn't. Since an arm is still around him Ian stops and glances at him. Liam nervously looks down.

"Oh, and Mom." Ian starts, pulling Liam closer to him. "Liam's parents don't know."

Laura raises her eyebrows again. "Are you telling me not to tell them?"

Ian nods while Liam just shyly sinks into his side.

"Okay honey." Laura smiles simply. "Don't do anything stupid up there, I'm not sure when Dave will be back."

"Okay." Ian nods. This time when they start walking, Liam follows along with him. As they walk, Ian leans down to whisper. "That is what was worrying you right? Is something else bothering you?"

Liam shakes his head. "No, that was it."

"Okay." Ian smiles. They start up the stairs and into a big room. The walls are painted white and the floor is hardwood.

The bed is in the center with a dark blue bed spread and matching pillows. In front of it a big TV is mounted on the wall. There's a couch against the wall opposite to the door and then two other doors on the wall by the TV, probably leading to a bathroom and closet.