William's Love - 3. Chapter 3

Day 1

“Will… Will…, wake up!” Liam says quietly while gently rocking my shoulder.

I yawn and stretch in my seat, crossing my arms against my chest; smacking my lips together like I’ve eaten too much peanut butter, looking at my surroundings groggily. I can see Denny’s straight ahead out of the windscreen. At this moment my stomach rumbles loudly.

“Just in time Dude, I think my stomach is about to start eating itself,” I say through a yawn, exiting the car. Once I’m standing I lift my arms above my head and stretch my entire body. “So where are we exactly? What time is it?” I ask Liam.

He looks at his watch and heads toward the door of the diner. “Um… It’s nearly eight thirty and we’re in Tucson. The museum doesn’t open for another half hour and your stomach has been hinting for food for about an hour, so I thought we’d grab a quick bite to eat before we go there. I guarantee it will cost a fortune if they have any there.”

“Works for me, sorry I fell asleep on you.” I put forward my apology.

“Don’t sweat it Dude, I will probably do it you somewhere along the line.” He knocks my shoulder with his.

I smile and open the door for us to enter. A pretty young girl – who is way to chirpy for this early on a Sunday, I have the urge to reach forward and slap her – seats us at a booth by the window. I stretch my legs under the table crossing my legs at the ankle, Liam follows suit but accidently kicks my feet.

“Sorry Dude,” He says sheepishly.

“All good,” I reply while shrugging my shoulders.

So he put his feet on top of mine, his legs crossing at the ankles and smiles at me. I chuckle; we sit this way all through breakfast. Neither one of us will admit defeat. It’s kind of comfortable anyway. The server comes to take our order, we order without even thinking; Grand Slam Slugger with eggs over easy, Belgian Grand Slam eggs scrambled, 2 stack and French toast, the server slowly dawdles off to put our order in. We didn’t care because we aren’t in a hurry and he looks like he’s having a bad day.

According to some people; eating at Denny’s with us is embarrassing, apparently it’s not the volume of food but the floor show we provide once it arrives. We do it in a certain order and have our own jobs to complete in preparation to eat. We’ve been doing this since we were about ten, it changes depending what we order but it’s basically the same every time.

I give Liam a sausage, I get half his bacon. I give him half of the hash browns, while he gives me half the waffles. He gets one egg, while he puts half the scrambled eggs on my plate. We take a piece of French toast each and he pulls the other stack of pancakes to him in which he gives me the butter and I hand him my maple syrup. Then we both take a sip of our orange juice, and smack our lips and vocalize “ahhh!!!.” Now we are ready to eat.

Mmm!! Delicious. We dig in like we’re going to the chair.

We hear giggling and there are three servers standing at an empty table watching us.

“What!” we exclaim in unison.

They giggle and quickly run off. We look at each other, high five and dig back into our food.

I’m looking forward to the museum; I can’t wait to see the bone yard. As it so happens, we didn’t make it that far. You need more than one day to see everything. We managed to see the hangars with the planes displayed. It took us nearly three hours to get through the first hangar. We were both mesmerized by The Blackbird SR-71 Spy plane. It had a remarkable history for a plane that wasn’t in commission very long. I think Liam and I spent over an hour alone checking out this plane.

It look like a rocket ship, it’s a big plane for it to be so stealthy. The pilots had to be retrained just to be able to fly it. Over 4000 missiles were sent to destroy it, not being touched by one. Its escape strategy was to out run the missile, clearly it worked. It could go Mach 3, over 2500 mph. Crazy right. Built in the 60’s of titanium, in which the CIA had to build fake companies around the world just to obtain enough titanium from Russia. They were an enemy of the United States at the time. A million other little stats went into this plane. We took photos on our phones us with this plane and text them to our folks.

All the planes had their place in history but The Blackbird had our attention. We dropped by the gift shop and got a few post cards and a book on the boneyard. We sent one to Dad and Mom in Kentucky and kept a couple for ourselves. By the time we left the museum we were tuckered out and still had a 4 hour drive ahead of us. We had taken longer than we planned and now had to book it to El Paso to make the eight pm curfew Mom had set.

“Are you going to be alright to drive? I’m exhausted,” Liam says to me.

“Yeah I should be fine, you sleep while I drive the next two hours. We won’t have time to stop anywhere else today. If I get too tired to drive, I’ll text Mom and let her know and will pull off and have a nap and then keep going. I think they’d be okay with that, rather than us drive while we are tired,” I suggest.

“You’re prolly right. Don’t keep going if you get too tired, promise. I’d rather us have a nap and lose an hour than be dead.”

“I hear ya!”

I made it as far as Lordsburg, NM, and try to wake Liam but he was out. I pull into a rest area, so we could park safely. I sent Mom a text to let her know.

To: Mom

Message: Spent too much time at the Air Space Museum, have to pull over for a nap to keep driving. We are in Lordsburg, NM at a rest stop on the I-10. Sorry Mom, we probably won’t make it to El-Paso by 8. Going to rest for an hour and get back on the road. We didn’t want to drive tired.

While I was waiting for Mom to get back to me, I got as comfortable as I could. I put the seat back a little to be even with Liam’s and closed my eyes.

PING!!

From: Mom

Message: Okay, smart thinking. Please let us know when you are back on the road. Still call at 8 and let us know where you are and then when you reach El-Paso.

I set my alarm for an hour’s time and close my eyes again. A while later I am woken by fingers running through my hair. Weird. I open my eyes, to find I have slumped sideways and lying in Liam’s lap. He has his eyes closed and is running his fingers gently through my hair and his other hand resting still on my hip as well as a smile of contentment on his face. I don’t want to say anything or move because it feels nice. I close my eyes again hoping for a bit more sleep but I’m distracted by his act of comfort. I feel him smooth my hair back and kiss my forehead and whisper, “Thank you Will.” What the hell, I can feel myself plumping a little.

Not two minutes later the alarm goes off, I reach for my phone and open my eyes. Liam is looking down at me with a goofy look on his face and blushing. I look around the car like I have no idea what just happened.

“Sorry Dude.” I say sleepily

“All good, we should probably get out to stretch our legs, use the restroom and get back on the road. We better let Mom know too.”

“I already text her, she’s fine.” I say as I head to the restroom.

Liam follows to the restroom, there’s no urinal so we both go into a stall each.

“Hey, check this out. It must be one of them glory holes.” He says sticking his finger through.

“Yeah, well whatever comes through there will be detached from the rest of ya,” I say laughing and he laughs back. While we are washing our hands I continue, “You might wanna scrub your hands, you don’t know how many cocks have been shoved through that thing.”

“Ewww!! I didn’t even think about that,” he gets extra soap and is scrubbing the skin from his hand.

I’m in hysterics by the panic in his actions. I leave him there and head back to the car texting Mom we are going back on the road. One came back that simply says. “Talk in an hour. Drive Safe.” I hop in the passenger seat and wait for Liam.

As we head back out onto the freeway I tell him about Mom’s text and he just nods.

“Are you okay?” I ask concerned.

“No, my hand is going to go green and fall off. Or maybe I’ll end up with some sort of hand STI and will never be able to use it again to, well, you know.” Fuck I love my best friend. He has me in hysterics while he protests that it’s not funny. “How am I supposed to explain to the doctor, I got syphilis in my hand by sticking it in a glory hole on I-10 you asshole… Oh my God. I’m never going to be able to eat with my fingers again. I can never have another piece of Fried Chicken, Mom cooks it all the time it’s my favourite.” I have just lost all control now, he’s whining like it will really happen. I can’t wait to tell Dad.

And that’s exactly what I did when we rang the folks at eight o’clock. He tried not to sound amused, but when he handed the phone to Liam’s Mom I heard him laughing his ass off in the background. I’m pretty sure he is going to use that information to his advantage when we get home. They flew back to Kentucky for the next few days so Mom could have a rest. Mom told Liam they had overnighted our stuff to the hotel in San Antonio. Yes!

We finally reach our hotel in El Paso, it’s nothing fancy but a crap load better than a Motel 6. Hunger has become a thing of the past, we had showers, brushed our teeth and went to bed. It’s a twin room so we both get a bed. I let Liam go first as he looks really tired from driving. When I come out of the bathroom, he is already asleep snoring his head off. I rang our folks and let them know we have arrived safely and said goodnight.

Today was fun, Liam enjoyed himself and had a smile all day. Not counting his brief interlude with syphilis.

Tally so far; cries – 3, laughs – 4, smiles – 1 day + 3, STIs – 1

Day 2

Coming out of the bathroom, I see Liam lying on the bed in his boxers. He looks almost angelic with his blond hair lit up from the light coming through the window, his nicely developed muscles in his arms from pitching and weights are resting by his side. I suppose they come in handy when you pitch baseball. It’s still early so I might leave him there to sleep a little longer and order us some room service. We have a long trip today and it’s all driving, no particular activities on our schedule we’ll just stop if we see something. We’re off to San Antonio. Six Flags baby! I bet we can get into some trouble there.

While I’m waiting for our food to arrive I pack my bag and pull out some clothes for Liam and pack his bag, all he will have to do is put his toiletries back. I finish with packing and turn on the television and room service arrives. The commotion of our breakfast wakes him up. He gets up and walks over, a bee line for the coffee. He lifts the lids on the plates and ooh’s or ahh’s with each one. He squeezes my arm and thanks me. We sit and eat in a comfortable silence.

Once breakfast is over I shooed him to get ready so we could get going. We were on the road within the next hour. We text Mom and off we went with me behind the wheel. The good thing about a road trip when you’re both awake is it’s a great time to test the tolerance level of idiocy you can dish out to your travelling companion.

“Punch Bug!” I scream and I punch him in the arm.

“Ow!” Liam laughs rubbing his arm, “You’ll pay for that my little friend.” Laugh number five

I laugh back, “I’m sure I will. This should be fun for the next what seven hours or so.”

“Seriously,” he sighs, “I’m not going to make it with you in your playful mood.”

“Asshole!” I laugh, PUNCH! “Punch Bug!” I scream.

“That’s it.” Liam leant over and grabbed my nipple and twisted it hard. I swerved the car into the next lane while squealing like a girl and the car in the next to us got on the horn. When I correct the mustang the other car speeds up and yells obscenities out the window. I put my hand up and say sorry and wave them on.

“Oh… ho… oh… you just wait until you’re driving jackass. The game is in play now dude and you’re going down.” I declare waving a finger at him.

“Can’t wait dude, we’ll see who goes down.” He says.

I smirk at him with a cocked eyebrow. It takes him a second to realise what he’s said. And there it is, he rolls his eyes and looks out the window.

“It’s probably not a good idea anyway.” I state.

“And why’s that, I’m not good enough for your precious sensibilities?” he says in mock offense.

“Well before yesterday I would have said you were too good for me… but now that I know you frequent glory holes on the interstate, I’m not sure it’s worth the risk of an STI.” I tried to make it through with a straight face but it didn’t work.

PUNCH!!

“Punch Jerk!” Liam yells.

“What the hell is Punch Jerk?” I ask in fake horror.

He shrugs his shoulders, “I saw a Jerk so I punched him. Isn’t that the game?” he says sarcastically.

“Speaking of your workplace, we better stop at the next one and stretch our legs and switch. You don’t have any appointments when we get there do you?”

“You’re so lucky you’re my best friend, or I tell ya – Pow right in the kisser?” Liam says holding up his fist.

“Now you want to kiss me? Geez Liam, I think we’re moving pretty fast here.” I grin at him. He chuckles shaking his head and looks out the passenger side window. Laugh No 6. The thought of kissing Liam now enters my mind. I thought it would have been gross, but I gotta say doesn’t scare me as much as I thought it would. Come to think of it, it doesn’t scare me at all. I wonder what it would be like. I look over to him and he’s watching the road. I take in his features. His lips look soft and lush, I think he’s probably a great kisser. I wonder if he’d let me.

I can feel my pants getting a little tight. Crap! What am I thinking? He looks at me and grins, I quickly put my eyes back on the road. Busted!! I’m glad he can’t hear my thoughts. Although, he usually knows what I’m thinking, that’s a bit scary. I have never had these thoughts about him before, why now?

I ponder this new development until we hit the next rest stop. We have a stretch and take a piss and switch driving. While Liam drove the next two hours, we switch the radio to a country station and played who sings this. And don’t forget Punch Bug. That game is getting old quick. I think we will both have bruised arms for the next couple of days. People are going to think we’re getting abused.

We switched again at Sheffield and decided to keep on going; I drove for the next two hours while Liam slept. I couldn’t stop peeking to have a look at him, probably because I knew he wouldn’t know that I was looking at him. All I can think about now it what it would be like to hold him in my arms and kiss him. It’s really bothering me, not because it doesn’t feel right but because I don’t think anything else would. He is going to kick my ass, if he finds out. I’ll have to find a way to stop. Maybe if every time I think about him, I’ll try and think about Katherine.

Shit Katherine. I haven’t even given her a thought since Liam’s Dad past away. I guess we weren’t meant to be. I wonder if I should call her, probably not. It’s not like she has contact me either. I’ll deal with it when I get back to school. Maybe Liam’s heard from little Miss My Shit Don’t Stink Jennifer. I hope not, I hate that chick. Ooh Subway, I’m hungry. I pull off of the interstate at Junction, TX. Liam is still asleep when I pull into the parking lot. I’ll leave him there. I go into subway and get two foot long Ham, with extra garden salad, no dressing and two bottles of water.

I rewrapped my sub so it would be easy to eat and drive, then we hit the interstate heading for San Antonio. The sub is just what the doctor ordered and put the wind back in my sails. It’s hard to believe how much travelling can take it out of you. About an hour down the interstate Liam woke up, stretches and asks, “Where are we?”

“Umm… a place called Comfort. I stopped at Subway at Junction and got you a sub.” I point to the subway bag.

“Oh! Thanks dude, how long have you been driving?”

“A little over three hours, do you need the restroom because I can pull over if you want.” I say looking at him.

He smiles at me, “I’m fine but you’ve been driving too long we should switch.”

“Don’t worry about that, I’m fine. Eat your sub and then we’ll stop to stretch and switch if you want.”

“Okay thanks, did I miss anything?”

“Yeah, Jen has called you a few times.” I say mischievously smirking at him.

“Ugh! Who gives a shit?” he is silent for a few minutes before he asks, “Did she really call?”

I laugh, “No, but if she does I’m gonna tell her you joined the marines.”

He has a mouth full of food nodding at me with his eyes wide, “Due do hat”

“Sure thing. I can do that.” I say with an evil laugh.

“Have you heard from Katherine at all?”

“Nope and I don’t care either.” I say shrugging my shoulders. It won’t matter if I do apparently I have other things on my mind. Liam nods taking another mouthful and grins at me. He’s so cute. Oh damn it, what the fuck is with me. Okay Katherine, she’s pretty, she’s kind, she looks hot in a skirt. I can’t imagine Liam in a skirt. A nice pair of short shorts might be cool. Or Jeans and a tight t-shirt, he always looks good in his baseball uniform. Fuck!!! Again, what the hell is wrong with me?

I pull into the next rest stop and we switch. This new little brain fart I seem to be having is bothering me more than I thought. My head is leaning on my hand propped by my elbow on the sill of the window. I’m watching the interstate disappear one mile at a time thinking how to handle my little problem I may be attracted or in love with my best friend. If I tell him; what if he doesn’t speak to me again? or maybe he does but tells me he doesn’t feel the same way. I’m really not sure which will be worse. Maybe, just maybe, I’m putting the cart before the horse. Who knows, what if he does feel the same way what will we do then. We can’t tell anyone, I don’t know that Dad would be too pleased about it. And what about school, we’re jocks. If they all found out it would be over for us.

My brain is working overtime for the remainder of the ride until we reach the hotel at San Antonio. A bell boy come over to the car immediately and waits for the trunk to open. A valet opens my door and then meets Liam to exchange keys in front of the car. The bell boy took our luggage and we didn’t see it go. We were ushered into the reception desk. I couldn’t help but look around. The hotel looks old but well maintained. The ceiling is set with casts of cherubs, grapes and a multitude of other scenarios. There are many plants around the area, with a fountain in the middle of the foyer. Looking in the fountain people have chucked their coins in and made a wish I suppose. All monies collected for the fountain are donated to local kids charities, announces a sign posted by the fountain. I pull a quarter from my pocket, turn my back to the fountain and flick the coin in wishing for everything to go back to the way it was.

Liam is watching me from the reception desk and indicating for me to come over. As I approach he says, “They have us booked in with just a queen bed and they’re full and can’t change it. The lady has offered to find us somewhere else to stay or we can take the room and they can bring up a cot.”

I screw up my face, shrug my shoulders, “Does it really matter, I just wanna eat then sleep.”

“Um… Amanda is it, look we’ll take the room. Don’t worry about the cot we’ve been sleeping in the same bed since we were four. A couple more nights won’t make any difference.”

“Okay, great just a minute and I’ll get your key for you. If you would like to order from room service tonight it will be on the hotel.” She smiles at Liam and hands him the key in a sleeve with the room number on it and tells us how to get to it. Then she apologised again, for the inconvenience of the room availability.

We open the door and the room is a suite, with a balcony and a Jacuzzi in the bathroom. Wow, I jumped onto the bed. How comfy is this I don’t think I’m going to want to get out of bed while we’re staying here. Liam tips the bellboy boy then runs at the bed and jumps next to me. I nearly flew off the bed.

“Hey fatso! We should order room service and ring the folks while we are waiting.” I suggest.

Liam flung his arm at me and hit me in the shoulder, “Great idea, I’ll have steak, eggs and chips. You ring the order through and I’ll get Mom on the phone, K?”

“Done.” I say as I pick up the phone.

I call Amanda at the front desk and ask if it is okay for us to have steak, egg and chips as our dinner. She assures me it is fine and took our preparation for the steak and eggs and which style of chips. She would follow the order through and comp it to our bill as promised. She’s a nice lady. I also ask if there is a concierge as we would like to take in some sights while we are here. Amanda says she will send some leaflets with our dinner. I thank her and hang up and there is a knock at the door. Wow room service is mega quick. I open the door and it is a bellman delivering the package Dad had sent for us. Cool I forgot about that, Liam was talking to his Mom and gives me the thumbs up smiling. Smiles 1 day + 4.

Liam hands me the phone and states “Mom wants you.”

“Hey Mom, we just got our stuff you sent. Thank you for doing that.” I express my gratitude.

“You’re welcome honey, you would have had a hell of a trip, Liam, without his camera.” She chuckles.

“Don’t I know it.” I say chuckling.

“Your Dad wants to talk to you.” I can hear muffled conversation and then Dad come to the phone.

“Hi son, how are you?”

“Yeah, okay I guess.” I say.

“Do you have a pen and paper?” Liam is hooting and hollering over his camera and pulling everything out of the bag. I grab a pen and paper and make my way out to the balcony.

“Okay, you need to be at Talladega Raceway, 7am Sunday. Go to the ticket window and pick up the tickets under your name. There will also be a guy by the name of David to meet you and Liam. I’m not sure what they have planned, but they said it would definitely be birthday worthy. He said to make sure you wear closed in shoes,” He says.

“Wow, what can I say Dad. You are the miracle worker. I can’t believe this he’ll be stoked.” I say with more enthusiasm than I feel. I look through the door and Liam is cleaning his lenses, with a happy look on his face this makes me smile.

“Okay you, out with it. What’s wrong?” Dad says with concern.

“It’s nothing Dad, I’ve got something bugging me and I think I have to work it out on my own.” I say sullenly. I hear him sigh. There’s a few minutes silence. I feel a tear run down my cheek so I lean over and shut the balcony door.

“Is it Liam? Are you two fighting?”

“God no, we’re fine. Better than fine he’s been okay so far.” I look out at the city just as the street lights come on.

“Look Will, I can tell it’s something so just tell me so I can help.”

I sigh, “I’m not sure you can and I’m pretty positive you won’t want to hear what I have to say Dad, and I can’t be certain it’s something that will stick.” I can feel the tears sting my eyes and fall. I sniff. “It’s stupid and it’s not like anything will change anyway.”

“Your feelings for Liam have changed, I shouldn’t say changed. What I should say is evolved into more than friendship.”

“How did you know?” I sob silently.

“Your relationship with Liam as friends has always been evolving into something stronger every year you have known each other. It’s not your typical best friend scenario. Most friendships develop and then kind of get stagnant; they adapt to situations and life changes and manage to stay friends. But you and Liam, your relationship gets stronger and you boys get closer the more time goes on.

“I want you to put all your thinking aside next time you two are doing something together, even if it’s watching television. You are both always touching in some way. You both put your head on the others shoulder, or lie on the lounge with your head in the others lap. When you go out places, someone always has their hand on the others shoulder while you’re walking. When you sit at a table you are usually touching from hip to knee.

“You are only just noticing these things now, but they have always been there. It was little things at first but now it’s becoming noticeable and that is probably due to your body changing and your hormones are making you feel differently. You’re scared and you should be, you have a lot at stake.”

“Dad, why aren’t angry? I was scared to say anything. I thought you would hate me,” I say softly.

“If there’s one thing I hope I have taught you is that love isn’t something to take for granted, whether it be Father to Son or in a relationship. Our extra-curricular activities aside with the pranks, you have my unconditional love, no matter what you do. You boys are always respectful toward me and vice-versa. I don’t’ care who you love as long as your happy. You two have loved each other for as long as I can remember. Why do you think I was so adamant about not splitting you two up in the first place? Does Liam know how you feel?”

“I can’t tell him Dad, if he didn’t want to be in my life anymore I’m not sure I could take that.” I say.

“I honestly don’t know what to tell you Will, except I love you and all I want is for you to be happy. It seems you have some choices to make but remember some things aren’t a choice, going against what feels natural and right is a choice. If you and Liam end up in a relationship and it feels natural and right, that is what is normal. I don’t want you to be scared, but it comes with the territory, being gay isn’t a choice it’s part of who you are. You maybe bi-sexual but all I can say is do what makes you happy and forget about the labels. How about you just let it run its course. He may just surprise you. But if you push and he’s feeling like you and unsure of everything you may push him away. I don’t have the answers kiddo, I wish I did.” He says caringly, “Are you going to be okay son?”

“Yeah Dad, thank you for being you, telling you was one bear on my back at least I can let go of that. I’m scared though Dad, if what I feel is real my whole life is going to change.”

“How? With exception of the gender your attracted to what in your life will change? You are still the same person, you are still a great baseball player, you will still be an A student or else and your personality won’t change, you will still be the caring, considerate and loving son I raised. You will have a male partner instead of a female, it’s no different to being straight. I wish I had been more like you when I was your age. I took the easy road to make other people happy instead of myself. I don’t want that to happen to you. One more thing, be sure. Don’t mistake love for being in love.” My Dad says kind of short.

“Who?”

“Who what?”

“Who were you in love with and wasn’t acceptable?”

“William Sunderland.” My dad answers quietly.

“Dad, I’m sorry. You should look in the mirror and say everything you just said to me and find him. You never know he may be wondering about you?” I chuckle lightly.

“You’re a good boy son, I love you. You better go and have some dinner, call me if you need to talk don’t ever be afraid to talk to me. Don’t worry about how Kit will react either, we have both been expecting this for some time and we are on the same page. I love you, don’t forget that. Now off you go.”

“I love you Dad, and thank you. Goodnight.”

I lean on the balcony watching the sky go to sleep and the city lights take over. I’m still a bit sniffily and spilling a few tears. I feel better after talking to Dad but it doesn’t change my current dilemma. I just don’t have to worry about some sort of fallout from the consequences at home. Suddenly the balcony door flew open and I turned around, FLASH!!! I forced my way past Liam and went to the bathroom. I slide down the wall without any control of the tears coming from my eyes. I can’t believe he not only saw me but he has a photo.

There’s a knock on the door, “Will, can you let me in please?” Liam asks softly.

“It’s open.” Burying my head into my hands, which are resting on my knees.

Liam come in and sat in front of me and put his hands on my knees. In a quiet soothing voice he asks, “What’s wrong Will? Please tell me?”

“Nothing, I’m fine. I just didn’t want you to see me like that.” I choke out with my head down.

“Why not, I’ve seen you every which way possible. We’re best friends, let me in.” He sounds hurt.

I look up at him, and he tilts his head and looks directly through my eyes to my soul.

“I can’t right now, I wouldn’t know what to say. I just need some time. I’ll be alright, I promise.”

“Okay, if you say so. Our dinner is here come on we should hit that before we have rubbery eggs.” Liam says as he stands and holds his hand out to me. I look at his hand and then his eyes. He flicks his head toward the food. I take his hand and he pulls me to my feet and into a hug. He releases me from the hug and wipes my tears away for me.

“Please be okay, I need you around. I’m kind of used to you and I don’t wanna train a new best friend, it took me nearly twelve years to get you how I like you.” He grins at me, then puts his arm around my shoulders and rests his head against mine while we head to eat our dinner. After dinner I went and had a shower, as I step out of the shower I grab a towel and rub the excess water off of my head. Then I notice Liam is brushing his teeth looking at me grinning. I wrap my towel around my waist and smirk at him then leave to get dressed.

I climb into bed and close my eyes, it’s been hell of a long day and I’m physically and emotionally drained. I’m almost asleep when Liam comes to bed, he slides over next to me and runs his finger down my forehead down to the tip of my nose. When I open my eyes he smiles at me and I smile back. He takes my hands in his and pulls them to his chest.

“Can you tell me what you were upset about before, have I upset you?” he whispers to me. I shake my head ‘No’. He smooths my hair back from eyes and stares right into them. “Let me help you, like you help me. Please.”

“You can’t help me, I have to work it out on my own.” I whisper back to him.

Then the impossible happens. He leans his head toward mine, I close my eyes and feel his lips gently apply themselves to mine. I open my eyes and they fill with tears as he pulls his head back.

“Why’d you do that?” I get out sadly.

“I don’t want you to hurt anymore,” he whispers then leans forward and kisses me again. When he breaks his gentle kiss he leans his forehead to mine. “I will do anything for you Will, I love you, you’re my best friend.”

“You have enough to deal with, without adding stuff from my crap list to yours.” I feel tears slipping from my eyes. I look into his and he has watery eyes too. God I’m a horrible friend. “I love you too.”

He leans in and kisses me again, without thinking I run my tongue along his bottom lip, I just want a taste. He opens his mouth and lets me in. Our tongues dance together, slow and sensual. I move my hand to the back of his neck and deepen the kiss with some heat behind it. Liam puts his free hand on my back and tightens our embrace. There are fireworks, sirens and electricity throughout the encounter. I try to break the kiss, in a panic but Liam will have none of it. He holds me tight and chases the kiss without breaking our connection. We now have our arms wrapped around each other and are actually making out like teenagers tend to do.

We pull away from each other to get some air.

“Wow!” I say to him.

“Wow, is right. Are you okay with what just happened?” Liam asks.

“Yup, you?”

“Yup, did you like it?” Liam asks warily.

“A lot more than I should, I’m guessing. What about you?”

“I know you can do better, but I’m not offended.” He says smirking.

“I hate you.” I chuckle.

Liam looks at me with his serious face, “Please tell me what you were upset about.”

I sigh and look down, he brings my gaze back to him, “This! I know I love you but I think I’m in love with you. It’s all I can think about and I didn’t know how to tell you. I’m not sure how you feel and I didn’t want to ruin our friendship. I don’t think I can live without you in my life. If this isn’t real you need to tell me now so I can find a way to get over you.”

He smiles at me, “Oh this is real, Mom will finally be relieved.” He chuckles.

“Why?”

“I’ve been whining about being in love with you for two years.” He says like he’s embarrassed.

I lean forward and kiss him gently, “Well now you can whine that you’ve got me and how I drive you crazy.” I laugh.

“Fine by me as long as I get to keep you.” He states proudly and kisses me gently.

We fell asleep foreheads together and wrapped in each other’s arms.

BEST DAY EVER!!!!!

Tally is, who cares right now I’m so happy.