Ethan and Julian were weird once all the guests left.... They were actually mad at each other that night and were now avoiding each other in the living room. It was so weird to watch.
Morgan hadn't left his bedroom.
Liam was smoking weed in the living room by himself. It was probably going to put him to sleep at this point, but he had basically been partying by himself the last hour or so and was trying to keep himself entertained with all this bullshit going on around him.
"Hey, it's still not that late. Do you guys want to play something?" he offered, hoping to break the ice.
"I think I'm going to go to bed," Ethan slurred. He had been drinking way more than he usually did, Liam noticed. Probably because he was upset.
"Aw, you're no fun," Liam complained.
"I'll play," Julian offered. Ethan glared at Julian from their bedroom door.
"Fine, you guys play then," Ethan replied with a heavy tone of hatred in his voice.
Now Liam felt bad. Like he was doing to opposite of helping Ethan -- he was going to turn it around for him.
Julian sat down on the floor across from Liam at the coffee table as Ethan slammed the bedroom door shut behind him. The door shut so hard, Liam was pretty sure the walls of the entire house shook.
Julian was a pretty beefy guy, so it was funny seeing him struggle to cross his legs on the floor.
"Okay... So... Cards?" Liam started shuffling on the coffee table even though Julian hadn't said anything. This was awkward. He started dealing out for one of the games they always played, Crazy Eights. It wasn't that much fun with only two people, but Liam had been a little drunk and now he was feeling pretty high. He was on autopilot.
"Hey, Liam," Julian started. This was so weird. They were never together just the two of them. "I'm sorry if this is weird for you."
"What? It's fine, couples fight. You guys are making way too big a deal about this," Liam giggled, "...Drama queens..."
"...Ethan didn't tell you why we're fighting?" He sounded really surprised...
Liam looked up over the cards in his hands at Julian, who was struggling to flare out the cards in his hand without dropping one. He finally got them evenly spaced out and ran his fingers through his hair. He looked frustrated.
His dark hair was always really cool -- the sides were shaved down but the rest of his hair was getting kind of long. He wondered how it would look as a mohawk. Liam wanted to dunk his hand in hair gel and slop it onto Julian's hair. Did people still do that? The mohawk look? Was that dead? That would be so much fun to do.
"...I'm so sorry. I'm really high right now -- did you say something else?"
Julian looked over at him, "...No."
Just when Liam was starting to feel even more awkward because of how much time was passing without either of them saying anything, Morgan's bedroom door swung open.
The gut-wrenching feeling he had in his stomach when Morgan had his hands all over him came rushing through him, the minute he saw that stupid Norwegian swim god walk through his door -- without his shirt on. Why wasn't his shirt on? He felt his face heat up. It felt kind of tingly, like it was on fire.
"What're you guys doing?" he tripped, hitting his toe on the side of the accent chair because of how fast he walked into the living room, and bent over to slump into the chair cradling his foot.
Dammit... He probably did drink that whole thing right out of the bottle. Liam was saving that whiskey, he had been the one who managed to buy it in the first place.
Julian laughed and Liam couldn't help but fall into a fit of laughter himself.
"Jesus, fuck..." Morgan cursed, still holding his foot to his chest, "...What's going on? Who's slamming doors at one in the morning?"
"Ethan." Julian traced his mouth with his fingers and carefully reorganized his cards.
Liam was trying not to look at Morgan after he'd stopped laughing at him. He was deep in thought about having had a boner in front of him earlier. It didn't seem like that was real. He was tripping out, pretending to study his cards.
"...Is this about Julian's latest fixation?" Morgan laughed.
Julian glared at him. "Don't fucking start, Morgan. Shut the fuck up. Can you for once in your life just shut up?"
"I only tripped 'cause of you." He was looking Julian dead in the eyes and Julian stood up really fast when Morgan started to smile.
What? What were they talking about? ...What was happening? Liam accidentally dropped a card and hurried to pick it up before Julian saw.
"Liam..." Morgan laughed as he stood up next to Julian. They were funny side by side. They were probably about the same height, but Julian looked so much bigger right then.
"...What?" He asked.
Julian pushed Morgan then, hard, before he could get words out of his mouth. It came out as a grunt when he flew back into the accent chair and nearly knocked it over.
Liam just froze, still sitting on the floor with his cards in his hand. He was pretty sure he couldn't blink even if he tried.
Morgan did exactly what Liam was afraid he was going to do and launched back at Julian, throwing him to the ground by the torso and pinning him down. Julian started throwing his arms up at Morgan, who was trying his best not to let Julian actually hit him.
"What are you doing?!" Liam yelled then, unfreezing himself and standing up. He walked over and grabbed the side of the chair nearby to look down at them. His cards fell everywhere but he didn't care.
They weren't fucking around. Julian looked really pissed off.
Morgan missed one of his swinging arms and he got him right in the side. The thumping sound made Liam sick to his stomach.
"STOP! ...What are you doing?!" He ran over to them and reached under Morgan's arms to pull him off, but Julian just took advantage and hit him on the other side. Morgan doubled over and Liam lost him out of his grip. He fell backwards and heard the two of them shuffling around as he pulled himself up to his elbows.
"Fuck you Morgan, you fucking asshole," Julian muffled. "You think you're funny?"
They were still on the ground trying to hit each other. Liam didn't know what to do.
"You're being such a dick --" Morgan was breathing so hard, he could barely talk.
"You think all of this is so funny? You think this is all a joke, Morgan?" Julian got him right in the side of the face then. Liam launched himself on top of them both, crushing everyone down into one weird pile of bodies.
"WHAT are you guys doing?!" Ethan's voice rang through the living room. Everyone froze to look at him. How long had he been there?
"...Ethan, I have no idea what's happening right now!" Liam started crying into his elbow. He was mostly crying because he was way too high for this. He regretted smoking -- why did he do that?! He still felt like he was going to throw up.
Julian aggressively pushed both of them off, wincing when Liam accidentally kneed him in the stomach.
"NO!" Ethan yelled, pointing at Morgan who had escaped the pile of bodies. He was heading towards his bedroom with his hand over his jaw, which was bright red. Julian had hit him really hard.
Ethan's eyes were really red.
...Why was Liam the only one who seemed completely out of the loop here?
"This is ridiculous. You guys, we can't live together like this. This isn't working anymore."
Liam's shock got his crying under control. "What?" He sat up on the floor and crossed his legs.
"I'm moving out with Julian next month," Ethan said looking down at him. "I didn't want to tell you yet."
"Julian yelled your name out during sex." Morgan told Liam blankly. "I heard it, since I'm stuck right next door listening to these two fucking idiots have sex all the time --"
"MORGAN." Ethan was looking at him like it was the worst possible thing he could have said in that moment.
"You're a piece of shit, Morgan." Julian mumbled, still on the floor.
"What?! He deserves to know. You guys are treating him like he's a fucking kid!"
"Liam," Julian was looking up at him now with his hand in the air, "Liam, it was a complete fucking accident. We were just finishing hanging out with you and you left, I just stupidly blurted out the wrong name. There's nothing weird. I swear. I swear, I'm not attracted to you. I don't find you attractive at all."
Ethan rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.
Liam looked at all of them, with Julian's last words ringing through his faded mind. 'I don't find you attractive.' He wiped whatever tear stains were left on his cheeks and just laughed. He laughed so hard his stomach hurt.
"What's wrong with him?" Morgan asked Julian.
"Nothing, he was just smoking before all this happened..."
"Oh my god, you guys..." he had different tears coming out of his eyes now. He sighed deeply. He was exhausted.
"Liam, we have a deposit down an a one bedroom apartment." Ethan continued, bringing up their situation again to stress the seriousness of the situation to him.
"No, you're not leaving... This is so dumb. Ethan, you know this is all ridiculous right? You three are my best friends ever in the whole world. This is all dumb."
"Well, good, 'cause Morgan's staying here. You guys have to pay me rent though, my dad's not going to let you guys just keep living in this house for free." He pointed at Morgan as if they'd discussed this before. Morgan just shrugged and rolled his eyes.
"...Are you for real, Ethan?" Liam asked.
"...Yeah, man. I'm sorry. It was about time we moved out anyway... We both just got our degrees and Julian has that job lined up already. You knew this was going to happen eventually."
"You said you'd probably stay here a while longer, Ethan... You said you guys were going to save up money first."
"It seems like a good time...to just do it now, is all."
"You're still pissed about the name thing." Liam spat out. Ethan didn't say anything. "I know you are. That shit happens sometimes, Ethan, it's not a big deal."
Julian looked over at Ethan and motioned towards Liam, as if to agree with him.
Morgan laughed.
"Shut up Morgan. You know, I can hear you in your room, too...you little shit."
Morgan looked down at Julian with a strange look of fear and anger on his face. Liam was afraid the fighting was about to restart.
"We're all going to bed. Let's go." Ethan announced, opening his door wider for Julian.
Julian got up, limping a little, and went into the bedroom with Ethan.
"Morgan... Are you okay?"
Morgan looked over at him but he couldn't read his expression. Liam decided to stand up, but by the time he stood up all the way Morgan had already gone into his bedroom and shut the door.
· · · · ·
"I like football, mostly, and drinking...and those little crackers they put in soup sometimes... Oh, and watching TV." This guy was picking something out of his teeth and wiping it on the fucking dining room table. What the hell?
Liam and Morgan had been trying to find a new roommate.
They couldn't split the rent with just the two of them. They had tried for two months before they both admitted to each other that they couldn't do it -- Morgan had picked up a part-time job as a lifeguard that summer, but between their last semester year in college and his time on the swim team, he couldn't pick up enough work to keep up. Liam understood... He had barely seen the guy the last few weeks.
Liam was a spoiled brat, so his parents had been paying for his half. He had told them it was temporary and they were already breathing down his neck about it. This hadn't really been part of his plan -- he had always expected they'd go separate ways after they got real jobs and started making money. Ethan and Julian were a year older, but that hadn't even come into play in Liam's mind.
He didn't like this reality check Ethan had sprung up on him out of spite. He still talked to Ethan and they hung out once in a while, but Liam was sad because he'd felt so distant lately. It wasn't the same. He wasn't used to any of this... All of this time alone.
In addition to finding a roommate, Liam had decided to start trying to date again. Keyword: trying.
He was trying to convince Ethan that Julian wasn't attracted to him, before they left for good, when Ethan told him he needed to work on his confidence. He was right. Ethan gave the best advice and he missed him so much... How was this jerk on the other side of the table supposed to replace him?
"Anyway, call me if you're down," he pointed at the both of them and winked, getting up to head out of the house without either of them saying anything and shut the door behind him.
Morgan was sitting next to Liam. He looked down next to him once the door clicked.
"...Can we please stop finding people on Craigslist?"
"Where the hell am I supposed to go to find a roommate then?"
"I don't know..."
Liam sighed and looked up at the ceiling.
Morgan got up and walked into the kitchen to get some water. "You know what sucks? I don't think they'll invite us to the cabin again. Ethan and Julian."
"What? No way, that's tradition... That's our spot." Liam crossed his arms over his chest.
"No, man... That's their spot."
Liam thought back to all the beautiful memories he'd had during their stays there. Morgan couldn't be right, could he? He grabbed his guitar from the side of the table and put it into his lap. He wrote most of his songs when they stayed there... He strummed slowly just to break the silence.
He wondered why Morgan brought that up...the cabin. That was a little random. Liam did miss the cabin.
"Play me a cover."
Liam laughed, "Do I have to..."
He gave him a look and Liam smirked up at him, starting to play the only cover he ever did anymore these days. Morgan leaned back against the counter and watched him play until they both heard another knock at the door for their next roomie interview.
The next guy they talked to was really cool.
He played piano and had noticed Liam's guitar. They'd been talking about music for about fifteen minutes. He also had a year of school left before he was done, before he said he'd probably move out, and it seemed like a perfect fit.
"What's your name again, dude?" Morgan asked.
"Dave."
"Dave, I think you're hired."
"Cool," he said sitting happily in his chair. He had dark hair and and eyes and a brooding expression on his face even though he was supposedly happy right now. He had nice eyebrows. Liam laughed because they kind of looked like they could be cousins or something. Dave was just a tiny bit taller than him. And had more muscle, but whatever.
When he left, Liam and Morgan started doing their own thing in the living room until Liam stopped and turned to Morgan, who was doing the dishes now.
Ever since Ethan and Julian left, everything in their world changed. Julian always did the dishes because Ethan always cooked, and they had both been trying to take those on themselves. They had already argued over the dishes a dozen times. Seeing Morgan clean them right now made Liam really happy.
Liam walked over to him and tugged the waistband of his pants. "Hey..."
Morgan looked down at him and it gave Liam crazy feelings in his chest.
"Thanks..."
"For what?"
"...For doing the dishes," Liam moved his hand around to the front of the waistband and tugged it gently towards him. Morgan smiled looking down at him and put a hand over his.
Liam had been trying this again, too... Flirting with Morgan.
He figured maybe since Ethan left, this was okay? Well, apparently it wasn't. Morgan still never let him do anything. It had once again been rejection after rejection.
Liam undid Morgan's pant button with one hand, even impressing himself at how effortless he popped it open, and Morgan laughed. Immediately he was attempting to grab Liam's his hand off of him then. Liam tried to keep going, smirking up at him.
"Liam --" Morgan laughed and bolted backwards from the sink. He moved back so fast, Liam guessed he'd accidentally tickled him when trying to undo his pants. Hot water splashed all over the place when he jerked and Liam shielded himself with both hands.
"Liam, get your grabby hands off of me." Morgan laughed, pushing him away so forcefully that Liam had to take a few steps back.
"Fine." Liam gave in, walking backwards back into the living room.
Morgan was leaning over the sink smiling, with the water still running and watching Liam back away.
"Your loss then..." Liam joked.
"I know."
Liam didn't expect that response and blushed hard, so he turned around and practically ran back into the living room.
· · · · ·
Dave didn't just play piano. He had a freaking piano.
All three of them were trying to get it through the back of the house, with the patio doors open as far as they'd go. Liam was proud of all three of them when they finally positioned it in the living room.
It took them hours.
He put his hands on his hips and looked at their work. "Cool."
"...Guitar is better." Morgan teased, wiping the sweat off of his forehead.
"Not in a million years. Not ever," Dave replied, straight-faced.
"Hey..." Liam looked over at Dave to see if he was being serious but he could never tell with Dave.
Liam moved his guitar over to the piano. Dave had gotten him a guitar stand that he kept there. He'd never had one before. It was nice of him.
He placed his guitar into it and went into the kitchen to wash his hands.
He turned around a little to look back and saw Morgan and Dave talking in front of the piano. He turned back around and rinsed his hands.
He was not going to be jealous...
This arrangement was good. He wasn't going to let stupid drama break this up again...
...He was still jealous.
He knew that Morgan was thinking about it... About having sex with Dave. If he hadn't already -- which he probably did.
Morgan flirted with Dave about just as much as he flirted with him, but Dave just usually punched him or something.
He missed Ethan... This is exactly why Ethan was trying to help him by protecting him from Morgan.
He went out onto the patio and called him, needing to hear his old friend.
About an hour into the phone conversation, Liam hung up with tears in his eyes. Ethan didn't really cheer him up. Actually, he'd made it worse by claiming now that he and Julian weren't in the house, who knew what would happen because no one had any rules. Ethan gave Liam a hard time for not keeping his distance from Morgan like he'd suggested.
"Don't do it." He reminded again.
Liam threw his head into his hands and ran his fingers through his hair trying to stop his eyes from watering.