I led Liam to my car, and patted the hood of it twice before I opened up the driver seat door, sliding inside. I put the keys into the ignition and turned it on, but when I glanced to my right, I saw that Liam was still standing in front of his door, peering at it with a raised eyebrow.
I rolled the passenger side window down and he peered into the car, a smirk on his face. "You call this a car?" he chuckled, looking around on the inside. I glared at him with a grin.
"Yeah, sorry it's not your usual chauffeur service, Your Majesty." I teased and his face fell, his eyes narrowing. He ducked his head out of the window and pulled the door open, sitting with a grumble in the seat.
"I don't have a chauffeur service." He said flatly, and I shook my head with a scoff.
"I've seen you get into the back of a black shiny car, and I've seen the driver. If you don't want to call it a chauffeur service we can call it something else." I chuckled, pulling out of my parking spot and straightening my car out.
"He's not a chauffeur... he's my butler. And before you go off saying anything snooty about that," he said pointedly, frowning. "He's more a family friend than a butler. He picks me up from school because he wants to, not because he has to." He explained, and I glanced at him, a little surprised.
That would explain the struggle between Liam, the butler, and the groceries that one night.
A small smile crept onto my lips. "Well, that's still no reason to rag on my car. Some people have to pay for their own things around here." I sighed resignedly, driving out of the parking lot and starting down the main street.
He shook his head. "I didn't mean anything against your car; it just sounds like it doesn't work well. When you turned it on, it was like someone launched a rocket shuttle. That can't be the sound of a healthy engine..." he mumbled, leaning his head against the window.
I glanced at him with an appraising look. "Do you know a lot about cars?" I asked and he shrugged.
"A bit. But I'm more into motorcycles. I'd drive myself to and from school on my own bike, but Cliff would freak." He said lowly, and I tilted my head curiously.
"Who's Cliff?"
"Butler." He answered simply, and I chuckled.
"Gosh, that must be nice..." I sighed as I turned into Cotton Wood.
Liam observed me curiously, his elbow propped up against the camisole between us. "What's nice?" he asked and I shook my head.
"You know, having a butler... someone who does things for you without a fuss." I said, the car winding through streets full of rich suburban homes.
He made a sound of skepticism. "Nah, we don't really order Cliff around. I mean, yeah his official title is our butler, but that's not how we view him. He's more... a helper. He does everything a butler should do, but it's not like we ring a bell when we need something, or tell him to go clean the whole house. I dunno... he's family, not just a butler..."
I turned my head and spared him a glance, catching his icy blue eyes. There was a small trace of tenderness peeking through his face that I had never seen before, and I felt my heart leap as I noticed it.
"What?" he asked as I looked away, focusing back on the road ahead of me.
I grinned. "I figured out your weakness." I said with a shrug of my shoulders.
"What?" he asked again and I chuckled lightly.
"You are always so serious and grumpy, Liam. Getting you to laugh is like pulling teeth. I have to earn every smile. It's like you are impervious to human emotions but just then when you were talking about your butler being part of your family... I could see it." I said, my house now in sight further down the street.
"So you're saying my weakness is my family?" he asked as I pulled into my driveway, putting the car in park.
"You are a big softy when it comes to them." I said with certainty, shutting the car off and turning my head to look at him.
He rolled his eyes. "Well it's my family, is it a surprise that I care about them? Should I hate them?" he pressed.
"Well yeah, naturally you love your family but I mean some people aren't that crazy about theirs."
At this he cocked an eyebrow. "What? You don't like yours?" he asked, and at this I felt my cheeks turn pink.
My train of thought faltered, and suddenly I looked away, placing my hands back onto the steering wheel, even though the car was immobile. "I like my family..." I started with a small frown, but when I peeked over at Liam, he looked unconvinced.
"But?" he urged me forward, however I just shook my head.
"It's nothing. We should go inside. That project isn't going to finish itself." I rushed to change the subject, grabbing my things out of the backseat and pushing my door open.
Liam got out too and followed me to the front door which was open like it always was. I pulled the glass door open and warm air rushed over my body, the sound of Frank Sinatra filling my ears.
I felt Liam come in behind me, and I glanced over my shoulder to see him standing awkwardly halfway in the doorway. I chuckled and kicked my shoes off, setting my school things down momentarily. Leaning over a bit I massaged the backs of my knees which were aching like they usually did, then straightened up.
"Here, come meet my mom. Frank means she's productive and happy right now." I said to him, trying to explain the Frank Sinatra music leaking from the kitchen area. I gestured him forward and he followed me into the kitchen and towards the sunroom.
"That's the living room to your left, the kitchen on your right, and in here is the sun room where my mom usually is." I giggled, leading Liam into the cool bricked area that was added onto the kitchen.
Like my mother usually was, she had an apron tied around her waist, dried clay covering it and some even crusted in her hair. She was sitting in front of her potter's wheel, pouring over what looked like a vase-in-progress, spinning around and around as she molded it with her nimble fingers.
She must have heard us enter because she straightened up and took her foot off the pedal which slowed the wheel to a stop. She looked over at me, and her eyed suddenly widened as she noticed that I wasn't alone, and with a boy nonetheless. She put a hand to her heart and stumbled to her feet, a wiry smile lifting her features.
"Oh Aubrey, you didn't say you were bringing company home. Oh my gosh, and I'm all covered in clay!" She panicked with a breathless chuckle, reaching one of her cleaner hands towards Liam. "Hi, I'm Aubrey's mother, Cindy Locke." she swiped her other hand through her hair, brushing a few stray strands out of her face.
Liam smiled kindly, and took her hand even though it was wet and covered in clay. "Liam." He introduced himself, giving her hand a small shake. They let go and she crossed her arms over her apron.
"Liam is my partner for a project we're doing in government, so we're going be upstairs working." I told her, beaming at her still surprised face.
She nodded her head. "Alright, just holler if you need anything. Great meeting you Liam." She bided to him and he shrugged his shoulders sheepishly.
"You too Mrs. Locke." He said and I pulled him back into the kitchen, the both of us striding passed the living room and towards the stairs, where I picked back up my school supplies and led Liam up the staircase. As we touched down onto the second landing I gestured to each door as we passed them.
"My sister's old room, the bathroom, my dads room, my mom's room, and my room." I said as we made it to my door with the 'do not disturb' sign hanging from the handle. As I opened up the door I noticed Liam pause and peer at the closed door that led to my father's room.
"But didn't you say that..." he struggled, pointing to my mom's room and then my dad's room. I swallowed and shrugged my shoulders.
"They sleep in separate rooms." I said dryly, and at that his face became vacant.
"Oh, sorry." he mumbled, stepped passed me and into my room.
"Well you know what they say; you can't pick your family." I sighed, walking in behind Liam. He was standing the middle of my room, his head turning around and around as he took everything in. "Alright, ready to get to work?" I said, dropping everything onto the floor.
His eyes met mine and grimaced as he sank down to the floor with me, naturally unenthusiastic about the project, just like myself.