Alive // bxb

Chapter 1

Liam's POV:

One week.

Seven days.

One hundred and sixty eight hours.

Ten thousand and eighty minutes.

Six hundred and four thousand, eight hundred seconds.

Approximately.

The numbers danced around in my head, seeming unfathomable from how small to how large they ranged. My slow thinking did nothing to deter them; even though I had only memorized them the night before, they seemed stuck in my mind.

You really shouldn't be thinking about this, I thought to myself, you'll just stress yourself out even more. My eyes drew to the blinking red alarm clock on the side of my nightstand. Four oh six. Why my body had decided I needed to get up at four in the morning, I wasn't sure, but I was awake and showing no signs of falling back asleep.

At least it's Friday, I thought drowsily, rubbing my eyes with one hand. Look on the bright side, Liam. It may be four in the morning, but at least you can sleep in tomorrow.

Except I couldn't, since there was a pack training session at eight and I was expected to be there, to show face and keep status. I didn't know how much it actually did for either of those things, but at least I would get a good workout and some community building time.

Let's go for a run, I thought to myself firmly, determined to do something semi productive with my morning. School didn't start for another four hours, so I didn't really need to worry about running out of time.

Out of the warm bed in one moment, shivering in the chilly early-morning air in the next, I took off the sweatpants I'd been sleeping in and grabbed a pair of shorts and a T-shirt instead. Simple clothes and nothing to be proud of, but at least I'd be clothed while walking through the town in case any toddler was peering out their window, trying to find the moon. Unlikely, but it soothed me nonetheless.

Downstairs, I flicked on a lightswitch before wincing at the brightness and turning it back off. A banana enticed me from the fruit bowl and I grabbed it along with a sticky note and a pencil to scrawl a note about where I'd be. As I was rushed, my handwriting gradually dissolved into meaningless scribbles, but I knew it would soothe my mother's worries, at least.

I could smell my father approaching from behind before he said anything. He was tired, that was for sure, and his scent was always stronger after he slept. It had something to do with the scent being trapped in one place for so long while one slept before it could disperse throughout the air during the day, I hadn't bothered to listen closely while he was explaining.

"Liam," Dad said, sounding exhausted. "What are you doing awake?"

"I couldn't sleep. Thought I might go for a run instead."

"Ah, I see."

I took a bite of the banana and offered the bowl of fruit to my father, who smiled and took an apple.

"Is Mom awake?"

"No. I just heard the footsteps and came to see if it was Paisley sneaking candy again."

"Are you going to tell me where you hid the candy stash yet?" I asked, feigning disappointment as he shook his head, a smile on his lips. In all honesty, I didn't care too much about a couple bars of manufactured chocolate. Just because Paisley enjoyed them didn't mean I did. There was just something about the triumph when finding a candy stash- like you were finally invincible with the power of chocolate and sugar on your side. Similar to how my father felt when finding a vampire coven's hideout, I supposed. Maybe he wanted to install that sense of joy in us young. "Ah, well. I'll find it soon anyway."