Author's Note: Sorry for not posting a chapter yesterday, I had something come up and I couldn't get round to writing this one.
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Alex woke up one morning with the alarm on his phone ringing obnoxiously loud for a Monday morning. He switched his alarm off so that he could further snuggle with his extra large duvet in his king-sized bed.
Alex barely had a minute to delay getting ready for school when a knock could be heard coming from his bedroom door. Instead of answering it, Alex flipped himself onto his stomach and covered his head with one of his pillows.
Victor Hubbard didn't expect anything less from Alex when he saw how the younger man was blocking out the world. The head butler acted as a second alarm as every day he would have to make sure Alex would get out of bed on time.
The older gentleman was dressed in his suit as he stood over Alex's bed. He began prodding Alex and jostling him to get up. "Wake up, Mr. Alex. You need to start your day."
"How do you get up so early every day?" Alex whined, in a whinged muffle underneath his pillow.
"Because I get paid a lot of money to do so," Victor laughed. "And I get that by taking care of you, Mr. Alex."
Alex always hated the formalities Victor used whenever he addressed him. He was a stubborn uncle figure that insisted on remaining professional by never just calling him 'Alex' despite knowing each other for so long.
"Alright..." Alex yawned. "I'm getting up..."
Victor moved the pillow away from Alex's head which resulted in him rolling onto his back. Victor then moved the blanket off Alex slightly as he then further encouraged Alex to start getting out of his bed.
"Okay, now I'm up."
Victor chuckled as he then started making Alex's bed for him. "Breakfast will be ready for you when you drag yourself downstairs."
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Alex descended the grand staircase with his letterman jacket all buttoned up, along with some fitting dark jeans and squeaky clean trainers. He was in a good mood because he felt a great energy coming from the universe.
A plate was already set down in front of him when Alex took his usual seat at the dining table. He already began grabbing his knife and fork as he grinned at the smiley face of whipped cream on his fluffy pancakes.
"Thanks, Victor." Alex took his first bite of the pancakes as he also looked around the room. He noticed that there was only his own place setting when he asked, "Are my parents not coming down for breakfast?"
"Mr. and Mrs. Holloway are currently on a plane to Hawaii for a business trip with the Oswalds."
Alex was slightly surprised as he didn't realize that his parents had left. "Already? But I just saw them last night?"
Victor focussed on the clock on the mantelpiece as he wanted to avoid looking at Alex's hurt face. "They left a message for you by the door."
Alex simply nodded his head because he understood that this was his normal. His parents were very busy people and they had very time-consuming jobs. They couldn't always be around each other and Alex knew that he had to force himself into remembering all of this.
"Is there anything on it that's urgent?" Alex calmly asked.
"They want you to behave well at school." Victor was teasing as he added, "But surely none of us need to remind you..."
Alex looked on the brighter side of things as there was at least one adult in the household that seemed invested in his life. He didn't let his mood get dampened by his parents as he continued eating his breakfast in peace.
"Of course!" Alex said with a mouthful of food. "You know me. I'm literally a saint."
When Alex was almost finished with his breakfast, Victor spoke up as he was offering to ready the car for him. "Do you want me to drive you to school today, and leave it for your afternoon?"
Alex was shaking his head after he finished his orange juice. "Actually, I need to go by myself since I'm picking up Owen. We're getting a quick coffee before our first class of the day starts."
Grabbing his bag that was by his foot, Alex stopped to say goodbye to Victor and accepted the hug Victor was offering. Alex held onto Victor for a second longer before eventually patting Victor on the arm and heading out the door.
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Carrying a couple of drinks and some muffins in a takeaway bag, Alex and Owen walked down the hallway together as they were heading towards Alex's locker.
"I'll see you in psychology," Owen said to Alex. His locker was on a different side of the school so he chose to leave now in case he would be late.
Alex put his entire bag in his locker as he intended to not bring anything to class. Instead, he wanted to spend the morning finishing his delicious hot chocolate and some muffins to cheer up his mood.
Liam was too busy rummaging through his bag that he didn't notice Alex eventually standing over him. "Holy shit! I mean, hey."
Alex chuckled at Liam's reaction before greeting him, "Good morning to you too."
The grace period of the 3 days since they crossed paths at Dani's Donuts worked wonders for their budding friendship. Liam had put more effort into being kinder to Alex because that was what Alex was giving him. Alex on the other hand continued to treat Liam more friendly because he felt a sense of happiness and fulfillment by getting along with him.
"How was work last night?" Alex asked.
"It was fine," Liam said truthfully. "It wasn't very busy so I got to go home early yesterday."
Alex waited for Liam to close his bag and stand up so that he could hand over the flat white coffee he bought for him. Alex remembered his order because he thought it would show how he was trying to be a good friend to him.
"Thanks," Liam smiled politely. "Did you spit in any of these drinks like you said you would?"
Alex knew that Liam was joking around because he was slowly getting used to the constant quips and dry humor. He liked it because it brought a different kind of energy to his daily life.
"This one is mine, so it technically has my saliva in it," Alex pointed out as he sipped his own drink.
Liam took the lid of his coffee cup and saw that it was one of his usual orders. It was a thoughtful gesture for something so early in the morning, and Liam always thought that small gestures went a long way.
But that didn't stop Liam from refusing to take it. Liam stretched his hand out and put it within Alex's reach. "Taste it first,"
Alex took Liam's drink and look at him funnily. "You do realize that nothing will happen if I drink my own spit..."
Liam shrugged his shoulders as he insisted on the matter. Alex rolled his eyes as he eventually took a sip in front of Liam to make him happy.
"Satisfied?" Alex chuckled.
Liam looked down at the drink Alex returned to him and sadly looked back up at him. "You've drunk out of it. I can't have it now."
Alex blinked multiple times before staring blankly at Liam. "You can't be serious..."
"Very."
Both of them were staring at each other with a suspicious and thinking look. They were both playing stubborn as they were waiting for the other person to break first.
Liam was the first one to give in as he burst out with his real reaction. He had a tiny smile on his face as he told Alex that he only turned down the coffee because he was cutting back on caffeine.
"Thanks anyway?" Liam voiced in a light and playful tone.
Alex shrugged his shoulders as he gave Liam's drink to a random guy that had just happened to pass by. They were confused as to why Alex Holloway had bought them a drink, but they accepted it as they thanked him before walking away from them.
"Oh well. Good thing I have these instead..." Alex didn't miss the shine in Liam's eyes when he showed him the bag of muffins. "You want blueberry or chocolate chip?"
Liam thought about this massive decision before going for the blueberry one. He took a peek at the muffin and saw how it looked and smelled delicious.
"Did you spit in this one?" Liam asked.
Alex nodded his head once as he deadpanned, "Totally. In fact, I spat in both of them."
"Hmm..." Liam didn't think any longer as he then took a big bite out of his muffin. He let out a sound that showed he was happy with it as he then took a second bite. "Only because I'm hungry."
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It was lunchtime when Alex caught up with Owen in the cafeteria queue. He squeezed past everyone so that he could pay for his food and join his friend.
"Owen, wait up!" Alex grabbed a complimentary bread roll before rushing forward to join Owen. "Hey."
"Hey, Alex. You feeling like you're in a social mood or a quiet one?" Owen had asked this because there was a possibility of them joining the team's table near the back.
Alex glanced at the table to see which members of the Beckerford Knights were eating together. He didn't like the sound of joining them as he knew that he would have to pretend to get along with some of them.
"Definitely not social. I don't think I can stand Benji pining over Kimmy, Omar talking about Coach benching him next game, and hearing Mark flirt with that girl over there."
Owen rocked his head to the side to see one of the familiar cheerleaders looking cozy with Mark. She was practically perched on his lap as he adjusted the hair that was covering her eyes.
"I thought he had a boyfriend?" Owen recalled.
"Guess not," Alex dismissed as he shrugged his shoulders. They then began to turn around together when Alex said, "If we don't look at them, then maybe we won't be peer pressured to sit with them."
Owen snorted as they began to stealthily walk away from them. "I really don't think you're one to be peer pressured, Alex."
Just as they were walking towards an empty table, Owen noticed Liam and Melissa sitting on a table nearby. "Should we sit with them? I know you think everyone's a jerk and everything, but I'm pretty sure they're the friendly kind of jerks," Owen joked.
"Maybe. It wasn't until over a week ago me and Liam were at each other's throats. It's quite a big step for us to be politely eating lunch together."
Owen snickered because he thought Alex was being melodramatic over nothing. "It's just a bit of lunch. Why are you being so worked up about it?"
Alex wasn't sure why he was putting so much pressure on himself to not screw up being friends with Liam. Alex tried to rationalize that it was for his own personal growth, to keep his own promise of being good to those who he had wronged first.
Alex took a moment of silence to think about it further. He then shook himself away from his thoughts as he then begged Owen as they moved closer, "Make sure you stop me if I say or do something stupid."
Owen took a seat across from Melissa and put his tray down before addressing Alex, "I can't follow you 24/7. You do so much stupid shit that I think I deserve being paid for just being friends with you."
Alex scoffed as he sat down beside Owen. "Oh yeah? Name one dumb thing I did over the weekend."
Owen chuckled as he brought out his phone to show one of Alex's dumb decisions. "You ordered this donut burger and complained about it for tasting weird. How on earth did you think that combination would ever work?"
Alex tried to defend his experimental taste buds by claiming he was tricked. "Sometimes looks are deceiving!"
Liam decided to interrupt their conversation because he had a very important question to ask. "You ordered donuts and didn't come to Dani's? I thought we were getting along, you traitors."
Alex turned to Liam and asked him directly, "Well, do you serve donut burgers?"
Liam thought donut burgers sounded like a terrible combination that shouldn't ever be mainstreamed. "Of course not. But you could have ordered the ingredients separately and just smashed them together."
"But then that means I would be doing all of the hard work," Alex claimed.
"How much work is this?" Liam held both his hands out and gave instructions on how he could make his own donut burgers. "Donut in one hand, burger in the other, and then combine them like this."
Liam then clapped his hands once and left them there as he began judging Alex with just his eyes. Melissa and Owen were laughing along as Liam looked at Alex as if he pitied him for not understanding something so simple and easy.
"That's already too much effort." Alex grabbed Liam's hand and repeated the action of clapping, before looking back at Liam as if he was the dumb one. "See?"
"Is this the dumb shit you were talking about, Owen?" Liam asked.
"Exactly. One time when we were little, Alex thought moving the hands on a clock changed the time." Owen began to point at Alex as he then started to wholeheartedly laugh at him. "He moved the hands back so that my parents would let us stay up late. He even brought the clock with him and confidently showed them that it was 1 pm despite it being dark outside."
Alex sighed as he added, "They thought I was incredibly bright and stupid at the same time."
Melissa was giggling at the story while Liam was full out laughing at him. Their laughter was contagious as Owen and Alex also joined in on the laughter.
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The last period of the day had just ended when the bell rang across the school. Floods of students began escaping the school as they were all in a hurry to leave.
Owen was up first and ready to leave. He had everything packed up when he began to sit on the edge of Alex's desk.
"You doing anything now? I'm actually kind of hungry right now, and all of the sudden I've been craving burgers since lunch..."
Alex was ready to go with Owen until he saw Callie Aliefeld leave the classroom. "Wait one second. I forgot that I was meant to call Callie back because we were meant to go out on a date this week."
Owen watched Alex leave all of his belongings behind as he raced out of the room like a cheetah. As he watched Alex leave, his eyes passed by Liam and Melissa talking amongst themselves.
Thinking about inviting them along, Owen walked up to them and ask if they wanted to join them. "Me and Alex are going to get some food after he sorts his date out with Callie. You guys want to come with us?"
Melissa looked at Liam and telepathically communicated with him by asking whether he wanted to go or not. Liam was happy to go along as he shrugged his shoulders, not fussed if they were going to get some food as a twosome or a foursome.
"We would love to. Where are we going?" Melissa asked.
Owen was in the middle of recommending a burger joint when Mark came passing by. He stopped once he was next to Liam and asked to speak to him privately.
Mark gestured towards the corner of the classroom and Liam had followed him. They had left Owen and Melissa talking to each other because Mark wanted to see Liam.
"You busy right now?" Mark asked. He secretly grazed his finger up Liam's thigh and whispered, "I thought we could go back to my place."
Liam was extremely tempted to go back with Mark until he remembered that he had already just made plans. "As fun as that sounds, I already said yes to getting some food with my friends."
"Oh, was that what that was about?" Mark gestured towards Owen and Melissa before asking, "But isn't Alex a bad smell that hangs around Owen a lot? I didn't know you guys were friends now all of a sudden."
"I think we're cool now," Liam expressed honestly. "I think we're in a better place where we don't exactly hate each other anymore."
"Yeah, I saw you guys getting along in the cafeteria quite well earlier..." Mark whispered under his breath.
Liam wasn't sure he heard correctly as he blinked confusedly. "What?"
"I'm just saying that he must have said something that got you in his pockets," Mark suggested.
Liam didn't have long to think about what Mark was implying as an impatient Melissa spoke loudly from across the classroom. "You guys finished talking over there? I think I hear Alex coming back."
"Yeah, I'm coming," Liam told Melissa. He then turned back to his private conversation with Mark and said goodbye to him. "I'll see you later."
"Wait!" Mark gently grabbed Liam's hand and pulled him back slightly without anybody noticing how intimate they looked. "What about tomorrow? I want to take you out somewhere."
Liam was hesitant to answer because he was unsure of where this was coming from. "Like a date?"
"Yeah. I've been thinking lately, and I think it will be nice to see you more than a booty call."
Liam thought that this came completely out of the blue because he never heard Mark mention anything similar to growing feelings before. Some kind of feelings would definitely be involved if they were going to go on a date, and this was made more prominent because they've known each other for a few months now.
Liam wasn't sure if he felt anything like this for Mark yet, as he tried to explain, "I don't-"
"Just think about it." Mark brushed his thumb against Liam's hand before adding, "I think it would be kind of nice to do something together - just me and you. No pressure or anything, just let me know."
With one last charming smile, Mark brushed past Liam and left him thinking about the date proposal. Mark then picked up his bag and was about to leave when he saw Alex standing in the middle of the doorway.
Mark briefly smirked at Alex before silently shoulder barging Alex out of the way. Alex was taken back by this as he let his anger towards Mark be known by cursing at him.
"Such a fuckface." Alex whispered underneath his breath.
Alex was ready to leave and get some food as he joined Owen and Melissa who were starting to stand up. He saw Liam standing in the corner alone when he asked, "Did I miss anything?"
Liam had finished privately collected his thoughts when he then joined his group of friends. "Not really. Let's go get some food."
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