The House

Chapter Two

Liam watched Morgan slow dancing with Aiden from the plastic patio chair on the side of the pool. 

Who the hell put a slow song on the mix?

Aiden was Morgan's latest guy... He'd been around at least three weeks now -- he'd lasted a while. Liam guessed Morgan really liked him. Aiden was cute, Liam fully admitted it.

They were all having fun dancing together a second ago, the usual group of them, but a stupid slow song came on. He was such a third wheel. He hated these moments. 

Their holiday vacation had been full of them so far during these parties.

It was weird seeing Morgan slow dance with someone and...he was feeling really jealous. 

He could feel tears welling up in his eyes when he drank the last sip of his drink. He suddenly realized he was probably being super creepy, if they noticed he was watching them like that with a weird look on his face...

He stood up and went back inside. 

He wasn't jealous of Aiden... Not necessarily. There was always some guy Morgan was all over. It wasn't a big deal. But Liam was drunk again, and jealous when Morgan had these tender moments with someone that would never be him. Liam was always just a joke. 

So he had to leave the pool area. 

He grabbed his guitar when he got back inside to the living room and sat down on the couch. He was the only one in there, so he just started playing a little. He had written a lot of songs lately. He had a lot of free time these days.

He had given up, basically... On finding someone. He had decided after he accidentally hit on Chase at Brooke's party a few weeks ago.

He was so done. This was fine.

This was the longest he had ever gone without trying to go on dates or meet new people... He had deleted his stupid dating app weeks ago. It was freeing, but he was lonely.

Ethan and Julian eventually walked through the sliding glass door back into the living room to join him, and started slow dancing together while he played. God, they were adorable. He loved them so much. 

Ethan gave him a funny look and a thumbs up behind Julian's back, which made him laugh for probably the first time that night.

Liam snapped out of his deep thoughts and just watched them dance as he played. He wanted what they had.

 · · · · ·

Julian's family had a cabin outside of the city, right next to a lake. He was so lucky he had access to this place whenever he wanted. The lake was surrounded by tall grass, a green meadow that stretched for miles. There weren't any flowers though, since it was the end of December. Luckily it was still nice and warm out.

They were spending the New Year there together, all four of them. Well, five of them... 'Cause Aiden was supposed to come the day before New Year's eve. They had just gotten there a few days early to make the most of it.

Liam was living in that third wheel life.

The second morning, Liam walked out to the lake with a book he'd been reading and saw that Morgan was already laying out there in the grass. 

He must have not swam in the lake yet that day, because he was still fully dressed in his shorts and t-shirt. His straight blonde hair was dry.

Liam didn't say anything, but laid down next to him and looked up at the sky. Somehow, despite it still being morning, he fell asleep in the warm grass with his book on his chest after only a few minutes.