Love Under An Illusion

Chapter 9 - At Arm's Length

It had been a couple of days since Liam had last spoken to Alex, and he was surprised to feel so relieved when he would end the day and realize he hadn't seen or interacted with Alex at all.

Liam had no idea if anything had happened to Alex that caused him to be differently weird. It would certainly explain the absence of his looming presence that ruled through the school, but Liam wasn't interested as long as it stayed this way.

Days went by as Liam felt more and more comfortable being in school. The troublesome antics that people would normally do on Alex's behalf had died down at the same time Alex mentioned he would keep his distance. Liam deduced that without their ringleader, Alex's worshippers wouldn't touch him, and it ended up being mostly true.

One day when he wasn't looking, somebody called Julio had put fish oil in his BLT sandwich. It was only until Alex dragged the guy and forced him to confess did Liam learn about his food being tampered with. 

Julio apologized for his actions and indirectly blamed it on trying to impress Alex. Alex kept his lips and expressions sealed as he neither confirmed nor denied his role in the whole thing. Needless to say, that was the most interaction he had with Alex in a while.

Liam would occasionally see Owen in the classroom or passing by the hallway, and they would wave at each other which felt nice. Sometimes he would be with Alex, and so Liam would ignore Alex like the plague. But sometimes when they did accidentally cross paths, Alex wouldn't even try anything and would look away from Liam as if he was the plague.

Liam felt like his school life suddenly became quiet and bearable. But Liam thought that it was the calm before the storm since his paranoia wouldn't stop him from thinking otherwise.

The more Alex was silent and wouldn't touch him, the more Liam felt like he was walking on eggshells. He kept expecting Alex to come strutting around the corner with some master plan and undo the quiet life he was beginning to enjoy.

Rumors could be spreading about him and Liam wouldn't even be sure what people would have heard. Alex could have gossiped about anything, and that made Liam feel nervous about what he was telling people.

"What are you thinking so hard about?"

Liam was shaking himself out of his thoughts when he heard a voice next to him speak. "Sorry. Didn't hear you come out of the bathroom."

Mark was leaning against the doorframe to his bathroom standing in all his glory. He had a cheeky grin on his face as he admired Liam in his bed. "Did you know that you look even better right now than when I first met you?"

Liam laughed as he looked down at himself. He was covered in a light sheen of sweat as he was lying down naked underneath the duvet. "I'm already in your bed. You don't have to woo me to take my pants off."

Mark walked up to his bed and sat right beside Liam. He held Liam with one hand on his waist as his thumb caressed the exposed skin in front of him. "To be fair, it didn't take much today. One text message and I dropped practice with the guys to be here."

"Well, I am flattered." Liam leaned forward and stroked the side of Mark's face before kissing him. "But I texted you because I thought you wanted my help in studying."

"We are!" Mark laughed. "I was just learning the wrong science. Either way, you're a great tutor."

Liam pushed Mark away with a smile on his face before looking at the time on his phone. He didn't have much time left at Mark's place because he wanted to help Mark revise before going home for dinner.

"Should we get back to studying?" Liam asked. "I think I got to page 4 before you started jumping me."

Mark smiled as he was shaking his head. "I left all of my school materials in my locker."