Picture to the right is Aiden! :)
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Chapter 5
Jonah
"What are you watching?" I asked Liam as I wandered out of our bedroom. He'd been up and out before I woke up and was sitting cross legged on the couch with a big bowl of cereal in his lap. "Wait is that My Little Po..."
"Shut up!" He yelled as he quickly used the remote to turn off Netflix.
"Liam, don't say shut up, it's rude," Brett called from the kitchen. He wandered out in boxers with his own bowl of cereal in hand. Cereal was the typical breakfast when I slept in, no one else seemed to take any initiative in cooking a good breakfast.
Liam put his bowl on the coffee table and crossed his arms over his chest defensively, he looked like he was about to cry so I walked over. "I'm sorry," he snuffled.
"It's okay, baby," I said softly. I sat down next to him and pulled him into my lap. "Rarity was always my favourite, with that awesome purple mane," I whispered, "and big blue eyes just like yours."
"I wasn't really watching it, I was just clicking around and I saw it and I wanted to see if I still liked it."
"Do you?"
He shrugged his shoulders and leaned his head back on my shoulder.
"What are we doing today? It's Saturday, you dont have to work right? Can we go up to the ranch and see Harry?"
"No Liam, remember, I told you. I have to go help Jerry move. You're hanging with Brett and Aiden today."
"Nah," Brett called over from the kitchen table. "I got called into work, the garage's behind so they have a bunch of us working this morning. Just until like 3:00 though."
"I have a date!" Aiden called from the open door of his bedroom. "But not until lunch so we can do something for the morning Leelee."
"Who do you have a date with?" I scoffed.
"I'm not saying, I don't want to jinx anything, we're just meeting for lunch."
"Tell us!" Brett yelled. "Bro's before hoe's, dude!"
"Still sleeping," Aiden called back with a tired voice that sounded pretty fake.
"He deserves an attack," Liam whispered to me.
"Tickle attack?" I asked in a hushed tone.
"Yup!" We got up and grabbed Brett on the way. "Tickle attack," Liam said softly and Brett's eyes lit up.
"One, two, three"
"ARRRGHHHHH!" We all started screaming like banshees and went storming into Aiden's room, jumping on him and assaulting and assailing him with everything we had.
"Who is it? Tell us!" We each yelled over and over until he was bright red and thrashing around on his bed.
"Fuck off guys, leave me alone," he whined, but we didn't give up.
"Okay, okay, stop! I have a date with Tonya. She came into town for a few days to visit her mother and we made plans to have lunch, it's no big deal, just relax."
"Tonya! Is she bringing Harry?" Liam squealed.
"No, silly. She's not bringing a baby pig with her to the city," Aiden replied. "But I'm sure she'll bring lots of pictures on her phone. Maybe I can convince her to come hang out with us while she's here, but the lunch date is just the two of us, I don't need you guys honing in and ruining my classic art of seduction."
"Seduction, pffft," Brett scoffed. "More like they feel sorry for you so they go out with you."
"Hey, hey," I warned Brett, "Tonya's a really nice girl. I'm sure she really likes Ai, she'd be good for him too. Let's try to encourage him instead of discourage him."
"Yeah bonehead," Aiden added. "Just because you can't get a date, don't rain on my parade."
"I can get a date, I just haven't met someone I want to date."
Brett got up and left the room in a huff.
"Go easy on him Ai, I think that's a sore subject right now," I said quietly. "I think he's a little confused," I whispered even more quietly.
"About what?" Liam asked innocently. I looked over at him, his eyes bright and shiny with confusion.
"We can talk about it later, Li, I need to go shower." I got up, heading to the bathroom trying to figure out how to explain it to Liam.
"Stay Leelee, cuddle me," I heard Aiden whine and I chuckled to myself. Liam certainly had no lack of affection in this household.
When I was dressed and sitting on the bed tying my work boots, Liam came into the room.
"Come here, give me a hug before I go."
"What does Jerry look like?" Liam asked, leaning on the bureau, ignoring my request.
"Umm. I dont know. About my height, brown hair, just like a normal guy. Why?"
Liam shrugged his shoulders, picked up his DS and started fiddling with it. "When will you be back?"
Still no hug I noticed.
"I don't know buddy, not too late. He said he'd order some pizza when we're done, maybe have a couple of beers."
"Can I come?"
This was the second time he'd asked to come with me. Now that I found out Brett was working and Aiden would be leaving at lunchtime, I reconsidered. I still wasn't sure why Liam was so interested, I guess he's not used to me going anywhere, except work, without him.
"Sure, I guess there's no reason why you can't come, seeing as Brett and Liam won't be here."
"Really?!" His voice was an octave higher in excitement.
"Sure, just change your clothes into something clean and we'll go."
"Thank you!!!" He yelled running over and jumping into my arms.
"Finally! What's a guy got to do to get a hug around here!" I teased.
While Liam changed I went and knocked on the bathroom door, "Dude, Brett, Liam's coming with me, we'll be back around 7 or 8."
"Pussy!" He laughed.
"Fuck you, you guys bailed on him, I'm not going to leave him alone all day," I grumbled.
"I'm ready Jonah," Liam said softly as he walked out of the room. He was in a pair of black skinny jeans and a Memphis Mayfire T-shirt that I had gotten him for Christmas last year.
"Where are you guys going?" Aiden asked.
Does nobody pay attention here?
"I'm just going to help that guy from work move and Liam's just tagging along for free pizza," I joked. I ruffled Liam's hair as he frowned at me, furrowing his eyebrows in displeasure. "I'm just teasing, baby,"
"I'm not a god damned baby!" he yelled.
"Whoa, Leelee, I didn't mean it that way, it's a term of endearment. Come here," I soothed, grabbing him into a bear hug and kissing the top of his head. "And don't use that language, okay?" He nodded his head glumly. "If you want, on the way there we can stop at the bodega and get some skittles."
"Okay."
"But you have to smile."
Skittles were Liam's favourite candy and usually we could use them as a bribe to get Liam to do most anything.
"Okay," he repeated giving me a super fake smile. I just laughed and pulled him along with me out the door.
"Do you need my car?" Brett called.
"Nah, it's not too far and Jerry's rented a U-Haul, don't you need it?"
"I could always get a ride from someone."
"Well, we don't need it either, but thanks."
Liam grabbed my hand once we got down the stairs and we walked down the block swinging our arms, he told me about his week and all the silly things Benji did at the program.
"Are we taking the subway?" Liam asked. I knew he didn't really like it, he got a little scared with some of the people he'd seen there.
"Nope, it's a nice day and It's only about 6 more blocks, you okay with that?"
"Yup."
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Aiden
"Showered, shaved, now I need some nice clothes," I said to myself as I went from the bathroom to my bedroom. Everyone had gone, so at least I had the place to myself and I was free from being plagued about my date with Tonya. I really liked her, and I wanted to make a good impression and I didn't need the guys making me nervous.
Tonya was the prettiest girl I'd met in a long time...hell, probably the prettiest girl I'd ever met with her long wavy red hair. She was smart and funny; she had a cute laugh and a great smile, but the absolute best thing about her was her sense of humour. She was just what I wanted in a girl, someone I could have fun with, I mean, why be all serious! We had lots of years ahead for that. Right now, finally moved out on my own, well with the guys of course, I wanted to do fun stuff.
I thought of different dates I could suggest if lunch went well; classic - dinner and a movie, Yup, and I could even invite her over sometime and cook her favourite meal, preferably on a night the guys were out. Ohh... maybe that wasn't a great idea. Does she like hamburger helper? Maybe Jonah could cook that chicken dish, it was really good, chicken stuffed with mozzarella wrapped in prosciutto, he could cook it for me and then they would all go to a movie and I could tell her I made it, or tacos, they're not too hard, I think pasta's easy too. I wondered if she likes bowling, heh, did I like bowling? I think I'd only been once.
Even though Tonya worked at the ranch, she was often in L.A. because her mother lived here, and maybe, if we started dating she would spend even more time here. I could always borrow Brett's car to go get her, or when I get my motorcycle I'll get an extra helmet and pick her up on that! I wonder if she likes motorcycles.
"Now I'm babbling in my head, great, now I'm talking out loud to myself too," I said in the mirror. "Shit, this is getting bad! I'd better just go before I'm late meeting Tonya."
I grabbed my wallet and keys and quickly headed out the door. We were meeting at a vegetarian restaurant that Tonya loved. Wait! OMG, I can't make her hamburger helper or Jonah's chicken dish. She's vegetarian! Maybe black bean tacos? Why did I suddenly feel panicky. Pasta! She likes pasta!
"Just get through the first date dork," I scolded myself.
Tonya and I arrived at the restaurant at the same time, which was perfect. She came over and gave me a big hug and seemed excited about seeing me. Step one, complete.
"When did you get into town?" I asked.
"Just last night, I got a ride with one of my co-workers."
We found a table and a waitress brought over some menus and took our drink orders. Tonya ordered a cinnamon tea which sounded interesting so I ordered one too. "Cinnamon is actually really good for you," she told me, "it's an antioxidant."
I didn't really know what that meant, you always hear it, but really? What the heck does it mean? I didn't want to sound dumb so I just smiled and told her that was cool as I took a sip of my tea. "You look really beautiful," I told her, "I love your hair, it's like cinnamon... you're a cinnamon girl."
Tonya blushed and looked down with a shy smile and I think my heart might have skipped a beat at how cute she was.
"Will you help me pick out something?" I asked. Tonya was very patient as she helped me make a choice. I went with her recommendation of Mock Eel. I know, I freaked at first too, but it was made out of shiitake mushrooms and it was amazing! Plus, she said it was one of her favourites so I figured I'd get a few points choosing it.
Tonya had a seitan dish and no, not satan, seitan. She let me have a bite and it was really good. Maybe Jonah could learn how to make some of these foods?!
Tonya was talking about some of the things she liked to make at home and before I could think, my mouth started going again. "Do you think you could teach me to cook some vegetarian foods? I'm thinking about going veg myself."
"Really? Sure! I have a few days off so I'm not going back to the ranch until Tuesday night if you want to start right away."
"Yeah! Yes! Do you want to come over tomorrow night or afternoon? If you come in the afternoon we can go shopping for what we need and then make dinner after."
"I'd love to! Will Liam and the guys be there? It would be fun to see them and I brought some pictures of Harry for Liam."
"I'm sure they will be, everyone's usually home on Sunday nights."
"Great! I can't wait!"
Oh my god. What have I gotten myself into? She's going to find out I can't even make toast, I can barely boil water and the guys are going to slay me if she mentions that I said I was going veg. Maybe I could pay them off to be nice, yeah! I'll offer to do the laundry for a month and all the dishes if they make me look good in front of her.
I mean, they're my best friends. Surely they want what's best for me. I'll work that angle! I've been there for them before. Yeah, it's going to be okay.
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Jonah
When we arrived at Jerry's old apartment and I introduced Liam, it was weird; Jerry looked a bit put off and Liam turned shy and quiet, not really wanting to talk to him. Jerry and I started loading boxes as Liam wandered around, while keeping me in sight. I smiled at him a few times to make sure he was okay and he smiled shyly back.
"He your little brother?" Jerry asked when we were outside loading a sofa onto the truck.
"No, he's Brett's brother. Me, Liam, Brett and Aiden share an apartment," I explained. I was pretty sure I had mentioned to Jerry that I lived with friends, and since he didn't ask for more of an explanation, I guess he remembered. "Brett had to work today and Aiden had a date, I don't really like to leave him home alone and I figured it would be okay to bring him, I hope it's not a problem."
"No, not at all," he replied. Shortly after a few more of his friends arrived and loading everything else on the truck went quickly. Liam didn't talk to anyone, but stayed out of the way either with his sketchbook or playing his DS. When we were finished, we all loaded in the truck and the other guys' cars and headed to the new apartment. It took only about an hour to unload and move things around.
Afterward, Jerry ordered pizza for everyone and one of the guys went and pick up beer and some soda for Liam. They were a nice bunch of guys and we shared a few laughs along with the pizza before they headed for home. I offered to help Jerry clean up before we left.
While I did that, Liam went outside to sit on the front stoop and sketch the old Church across the way which had some really cool gargoyle-type statues built into it. I kept peeking outside the curtain to keep an eye on him.
"Hey Jonah, it was really great of you to come help today, I really appreciate it."
"No problem, man." I turned back to Jerry who was putting all the paper plates from our pizza feast in a garbage bag. "Anytime."
"Liam's a cute little kid, it's nice that you look after him when his brother can't."
"Yeah, well we're all one big happy family. Li and I are very close, I love him."
"That's really cool. Listen, next Friday a bunch of us from work are going out to the bar on Clark that has live music, they're doing a battle of the bands and they have some great local ones competing that night. You should come, I mean, just you though, they won't let Liam in."
"I know," I laughed, "he wouldn't want to go anyway, he doesn't like loud music. Yeah, I'll come, do I have to be 21?"
"No, they'll let you in. They might even let you get your own drinks, you look old enough, if not, we'll buy yours for you."
"Great. Listen, I'd better get going." I'd looked out the window and saw a kid a little older than Liam had stopped to talk to him. "Thanks for the pizza."
"No problem, I owe you big time," he laughed, "I guess I'll see you at work on Monday then.
"Yeah, I'll see you at work." Jerry came over and gave me a quick bro hug and I headed out the door.
When I opened the outside door to the building Liam was now standing on the sidewalk looking upset, his body tense. The other boy stood a few feet in front of him and though I couldn't hear what he was saying to Li, I could tell it wasn't pleasant.
Neither of them had noticed me so I strode up behind Liam and wrapped an arm around his waist. His whole body jerked from being startled and he looked up, immediately relaxing back against me when he saw it was me. "I've got you," I whispered and both of Liam's hands grasped mine that was resting on his belly.
"Who the hell are you," the guy snarled.
"Who the hell are you," I growled back, "and what did you say to Liam?"
"I'm his boyfriend and you better let him go, he's coming with me," he sputtered.
Can you say deranged, I thought. Was this the kid from the Boy's Club that day? "That's kind of funny, I didn't know Liam had a boyfriend," I said coolly.
"He's not my boyfriend," Liam objected, looking up at me pleadingly.
"I know Li," I replied calmly, "it's okay, buddy."
"Listen kid," I started, giving him my most menacing look.
"Xander! My name's Xander!"
"Okay, Xander. I know you already bothered Liam at the Boy's Club, I'm here to tell you that you're not to come near him ever again, you don't approach him, don't talk to him, hell, don't even look at him. You do and I'll kick your ass up and down every street in this part of Los Angeles, and if I'm not around, he's got a big brother and another close friend as big as I am who will do the same. Do you get my drift?"
The kid looked nervously at me as I glared at him, he was big for 16, but I was a lot bigger; both in height and muscle. "Forget you ever met him Xander, Liam wants nothing to do with you!"
When he didn't make to move, I put Liam behind me and took a step forward aggressively. I didn't want to beat the kid up, I hoped my posture and words would be enough, but I would do whatever it took to protect Liam.
Finally the kid let out few expletives and turned around and ran down the street and around a corner. I turned around to look at a shaken Liam.
"Are you okay kiddo? Did he hurt you before I got outside?"
"No, he just scared me," he said in a small voice.
"It's okay, he won't bother you again, he won't even have the chance. Let's go home and forget about him, okay?"
Liam nodded and took my outstretched hand, letting me lead the way back toward our apartment. "Maybe Aiden's home and we can hear how his date went!" he said excitedly.
"You liked Tonya?" I asked.
"For a girl, she's okay, I mean, she's really nice and pretty..."
"For a girl?" I laughed.
"Yeah, well I don't really like girls that way Jonah."
"Ahh, okay Li."
"How about you?" he asked. Ahhh, the big question.
"I don't really like girls that way either Li."
"Okay," he said simply, turning away as I could see a hint of a smile.