Wednesday afternoon Liam throws the car into park in the driveway of Ember's house. Ember hops out of the passenger seat with a grin. She closes the door to the car and skips up to her house.
Liam follows after her. He let himself be convinced to come over after school since Paige is going to be at a tutoring session in the library.
The house was quiet and seemingly empty when they stepped inside. Liam had seen both Chris's and Ian's car in the driveway though so he knows somebody is here. They both kicked their shoes off by the door and went up the stairs.
They slipped into Ember's room and the door closed behind them. Ember sits her bag down on a chair and then walks over to her closet. She pulls out a T-shirt and then goes over to her dresser to grab joggers.
"I'm gonna change in the bathroom. If you want clothes you can go ask Ian for some, I'm sure he won't mind letting you borrow some." Ember claims with a knowing smirk. Liam doesn't have time to reply before she leaves the room.
He stands up, deciding that he would like to get something more comfortable. He leaves her room and walks up to the door across from hers. He stands there awkwardly and knocks on the closed door.
"Come in!" The voice that shouts is Lucas's. Liam opens the door, seeing the blond boy stretched out on the end of the bed. Chris's legs are resting on his stomach while the boy is on his phone and Ian is sitting in a beanbag chair. Lucas grins when he sees him. "Liam! Hey!"
"Hey." Liam smiles, kicking the door shut behind him while coming in the room. His eyes go over to Ian's who's smiling at him from the chair. "I was wondering if I could borrow some clothes?"
"Yeah, sure." Ian smiles. "Take whatever from the closet, my sweats and shorts are in the top four drawers of the dresser."
Liam nods, walking over to the closet. He digs through and pulls out a dark blue shirt with a gray silhouette of a tree on the front. He then moves over to the dresser when he pauses. Sitting on top of it is a red and orange hoodie, more specifically, the red and orange hoodie he left at the campsite last weekend.
Part of him wants to pick it up and take it. He doesn't do that though, rather he leaves it and goes to dig through the dresser drawers. He pulls out a black pair of sweatpants and decides those will do.
With one glance over to make sure everyone is paying attention to the TV, Liam starts to take his uniform off. It doesn't take him long to change and once he does he folds his uniform up.
There's a knocking at the door and a second later it's opening. Ember sticks her head in. "Hey."
"Go away." Ian comments immediately. She raises her eyebrows and then scowls at him. "Let Liam stay here."
"Whipped." Chris laughs from the bed. Ian flips him off, turning to look at Ember and Liam.
"Liam, you wanna stay in here right? I'm better than Ember anyway." Ian smirks when his sister narrows her eyes at him.
"Uh." Liam looks between Ember and Ian. He doesn't want to pick one over the other. He looks back at Ian and shrugs. "Ember's the one that invited me here, I'd feel bad ditching her."
Ian's mouth forms a small pout while Ember cheers in victory. She flips Ian off. "Yeah that's right! I'm better!"
She then hooks her arm with Liam and marches off back to her room. Liam chuckles the way over. Once they get there he sits down, stuffing his uniform in his backpack.
"You did actaully want to hang out with me right? I'll understand if you want to go back to Ian's room." Ember lays down on the bed, looking over at him.
Liam waves her off lightly. "I came here for you. If he wants me to hangout with him, he can invite me over himself."
"Yeah that's it, Li." She grins at him. "Don't be a pushover."
Liam rolls his eyes at her. He's smiling as he picks up a binder out of his backpack. "Now, time to study?"
Ember groans loudly, clearly not interested in doing so. Liam laughs in her expense. She glares and throws a pillow at him, which only makes him laugh more.
Thirty minutes later and Ember had officially talked him out of studying. Instead, they lie next to each other on her bed and watch a TV show she picked out. Liam found himself getting drawn in to the drama happening between a girl and her boyfriend on the screen.
The door opens suddenly and they both look over. Ian walks in, a little smile on his face. He sees when Ember pauses the show and looks over at the TV.
"What're you guys watching?" He reads the name but doesn't say anything. He turns back and continues walking to the bed. Liam sits up as he gets closer and when he reaches them, Ian sits a red hoodie in his lap. "You left this in my room."
Liam looks down at it. He recognizes it and looks back up at Ian again. His eyebrows furrow in confusion. "This is your hoodie."
"I know." Ian smiles. "It looks better on you."
Liam looks down again in embarrassment. His hands start playing with the fabric. Ian smiles at him.
"Tomorrow you should come over for me instead." When he speaks, Ian's breath fans over Liam's ear in a whisper. Liam shivers, he hadn't even noticed that the boy had leaned closer to him.
Liam just nods. He would like to come over to hangout with Ian instead, not that he doesn't enjoy Ember's company. Ian pulls back to smile at him.
"Is that a yes?"
"Yeah." Liam nods. "I'll be here."
"Good." Ian runs his hand soothingly up Liam's arm and then turns around to leave. "Anyway, I'm going back to my room."
After the door shuts Liam looks over at Ember. She wrinkles her nose at him. "That was gross to watch."
Liam laughs and then soon enough they're dragged back into their TV show.
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Liam can't help the excitement he feels. He's been buzzing since this morning. He's excited to hang out with Ian.
Putting the car in park, Liam takes a deep breath. He pulls the key out of the ignition and grabs his bag out of the back. Ember hops out of the passenger seat.
He decided to give them both a ride home since he was going to hangout with Ian anyway. Paige ended up having work though so he just dropped her off there. Ember now leads the way into her house.
They step inside and slip their shoes off. Ian smiles from his spot on the couch, turning whatever he was watching off. He stands up and meets Liam halfway to the stairs, connecting their hands and leading the way to his room.
The door is kicked shut behind them and Ian drops his hand. He turns to face Liam with a bright smile and speaks for the first time since Liam got here. "Hey."
Liam smiles back. "Hey."
Ian goes over and sits on the bed, patting the spot next to him while Liam slips his bag off his shoulders. Liam ignores him and pulls out his spare clothes from his bag. He also pulls out the clothes he's borrowed from Ian, not counting the hoodies, and throws them back.
"I washed them so they're clean." Liam says as he starts to unbutton his shirt. Ian's eyes follow his hands' movements before darting down to the clothes in his lap.
"You could've kept them." He says while standing up and walking over to the closet. He puts the shorts and sweats on the dresser before beginning to hang the shirts up. "I wouldn't have minded."
"I'd feel bad." Liam claims, throwing his light blue T-shirt on and then taking off his pants.
"But you don't feel bad about keeping my hoodies?" Ian's voice is teasing. Liam smiles a little, red spreading up his neck.
"That's different."
Ian doesn't reply, just hums. After he's done putting his clothes away he walks back over to the bed and flops down. He looks up, doing a once over of Liam's body, and their eyes meet.
"Are you gonna join me?" Ian asks, stretching his arm out towards Liam. Liam smiles and crawls onto the bed next to him. Ian's arm slips over his waist while the other reaches for the remote. "What do you want to watch?"
"Anything is fine." Liam mumbles, sinking down into a laying position.
Ian hums, his arm leaving Liam's waist to slither under his head. Liam scoots closer to his side, content with using his arm as a pillow. Their apocalyptic show starts playing in the background and Liam has to will himself to pay attention.
Ian rolls onto his side, his other arm coming around to wrap around Liam's waist. He grunts and rolls over, pulling Liam halfway on top of him. Liam chuckles light, crawling over and laying all the way on top of Ian. Ian hums in approval, wrapping his arms around Liam's waist and kissing the top of his head.
"Much better." Ian mumbles happily, turning to watch the TV again. Liam finds himself agreeing but doesn't say anything. He relaxes against the boy and watches the show as well.
An hour passes and they make their way through one episode and the beginning of another. Liam's content just staying in bed all day but he does get a little bored. The show is interesting but he finds himself wanting to do more.
With a mischievous glint in his eyes, Liam readjusts himself. He leans his head up, resting it in the crook of Ian's neck instead of having it tucked under his chin. Ian doesn't say anything, just brings his hand up to play with Liam's hair.
After a few moments of silence, Liam opens his mouth and presses it against Ian's neck. He gently sucks on the skin and listens as Ian's breath hitches. The boy's hand pauses in Liam's hair.
"Baby." Ian says quietly.
Liam doesn't respond, just moves to suck somewhere else. After another second he pulls away to speak against Ian's skin. "I just wanted to try it out. I only got to leave one good one last time."
Ian groans from underneath him. Liam just smiles shyly and goes back to what he was doing. When he's finally done there's three new bruises on Ian's skin. He can't help but to admire them.
It makes his stomach flip at the thought of him doing that. He left those there. It brings a smile to his face.
Liam returns his head to Ian's chest happily. Ian groans quietly in complaint but his arms wrap back around him. Liam laughs quietly.
He's comfortable here, with Ian. He likes it. He likes doing basically anything with Ian.
"Let's do something." Ian says suddenly, reaching over to pick up the remote and pause the show.
"Like what?" Liam brings his arms up onto Ian's chest and rests his head on them.
"I don't know." Ian shrugs. "What do you want to do?"
Ian's hands trail up from Liam's waist, moving along his back. The touch is soothing but makes it hard to concentrate. They stop by his shoulder blades and rub back down slowly.
"I don't know. I'm not the expert here." Liam answers. "Aren't you supposed to be the one showing me new things?"
Ian chuckles. "I guess so."
"Exactly, so it's your job to think of something." Liam says, nodding his head. Ian chuckles, leaning forwards to peck his nose.
"Let's go skating." Ian declares. Liam furrows his eyebrows at him.
"Skating?"
"Yeah, skating." Ian grins. "Ember and I used to go all the time in middle school. There's a roller skating rink right by the movie theater on the other side of town."
"Oh." Liam blinks down at him. "I've never been skating."
"That's the whole point. Something new, remember?"
Liam looks at him incredulously. "What if I fall?"
"I'll hold your hand." Ian says simply. "Now come on."
His hand taps at Liam's back, urging him to move. Liam sighs, slipping off him. "Fine."
They hold hands the entire way down the stairs. It becomes a little awkward because Liam looks over into the living room on the way to the door. He falters when he sees Ren and Ember sitting there.
"Where are you two going?" Ember asks. Ren looks down at their connected hands as they stop by the door. Ian drops Liam's hands so that he can tie his shoes.
"We're gonna go skating." Ian answers. Ember's eyebrows raise. "Liam's never gone before."
Ember just smiles, rolling her eyes. "You're gonna look like dorks among all the small children."
Ian shrugs. "So be it."
Liam gets his shoes on and the two of them walk outside. They walk past Liam's car and instead climb in Ian's. After starting the car, Ian's hand falls over to rest on Liam's knee.
Liam smiles and looks out the window, watching as the streets pass by. They drive in a comfortable silence, the radio humming in the background. Ian's thumb rubs Liam's skin soothingly every few minutes and it makes Liam's heart do front flips.
They pull into the parking lot of a warehouse looking place. There's a sign above the doors with colorful letters. It says 'Roller Skate City' in neon lights, except for the a which is dim.
Ian leads the way in, holding hands with Liam. The entrance is a little room with cement walls and two doors on either door. One says entrance in black stickers that is closest to the desk and the other says exit.
The woman behind the desk looks up and sends them both a slightly judgemental glance before speaking. "Regular skates or incline?"
"One regular and one incline." Ian says, digging out his wallet. Liam opens his mouth but is shushed by a wave of Ian's hand. He hands over a twenty before the woman even says anything. She hands him two tickets in return and then there's a clicking sound from the door.
They walk in and Ian leads him up to a counter. Ian hands his tickets over to the teenage boy behind the counter. He accepts them, putting them somewhere under the counter.
"Shoe size?"
"Eleven and..." Ian trails off, looking at Liam.
"Nine." Liam answers for him.
"I need your shoes for the roller blades." The boy says, picking up a pair of green skates and putting them on top of the counter. Ian slips off his shoes with ease and hands them over. As the boy goes to the back cubbies, Ian hands Liam the green skates.
"Just put them on like shoes." Ian says with a soft smile.
Liam goes and sits on a little bench, taking his shoes off to put the skates on. While he does that, Ian gets handed a pair of black roller blades. The wheels on his skates go down the center.
Ian sits down next to Liam and starts putting his skates on too. Liam waits for him, staying seated on the bench. He rolls the skates around on the floor under him without moving fron him seat, testing out the wheels.
"Alright." Ian stands up, turning to offer his hand to Liam. Liam accepts it and starts to stand. Immediately, he almost falls. Ian laughs and catches him, helping him right himself. "You'll get it, come on."
For the next hour and a half Ian leads the way around the circular floor while Liam tries his best to stay upright. He almost falls quite a bit and does once. Ian laughs at him excessively while apologizing through his laughter.
They drive back home, Ian holding his hand the whole way, and before Liam leaves they kiss goodbye. All in all, it was a fun day.
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- Z