After Dark

Twenty-nine

Liam's eyes blink open. He rolls onto his back and then sits up slowly. Looking around, everything comes back to him. He's at Ian's house.

He looks over and on the other side of the bed is Ian. He's laying on his stomach, one leg hanging off the edge of the bed. Liam feels a smile tug at his face.

He looks around for his phone, locating it on the side table. He grabs it and turns it on. He squints at the brightness and immediately turns it down before anything else. It's nine in the morning and after discovering he doesn't have any notifications from his parents, he puts it back down.

He rolls over to lay on his stomach, smashing his face into the pillow. He knows the chances of falling back asleep are slim, yet he doesn't want to wake Ian up. He'd feel bad.

He heaves out a sigh and rolls back over to grab his phone. If there's nothing else to do, he might as well just watch YouTube videos. He can keep the volume low.

This plan doesn't work out though. With sleep still clouding his brain, he clicks on a video without checking the volume first. A Domino's video sounds out, a little too loud for his liking. In his rush to turn it down, he hits the wrong button and turns it all the way up. He quickly mutes it again and glances over, panicked, at Ian.

He's still fast asleep. He didn't even stir. Liam lets out a sigh of relief. He adjusts his volume so it's quiet and then plays the video.

He leans up against the headboard of the bed and watches YouTube videos for the next forty minutes. He's halfway through a video when the boy beside him finally starts to move. Ian rolls on his side and blinks up at Liam, slowly a little smile forms.

"Good morning." His voice is slightly raspy from sleep. "How long have you been up?"

"Not too long." Liam admits.

Ian rolls onto his back and sits up. He stretches his arms above his head, then lets out a yawn. He turns back to look at Liam, scooting back beside him and leaning against the headboard too.

"You could've waken me up, y'know?" Ian bumps their shoulders lightly.

Liam smiles, turning off his phone and sitting it down by his thigh. "That's okay. I'd feel too bad."

"Nah, I feel bad knowing that you're probably bored while waiting for me to wake up." Ian says dismissively.

"I was okay." Liam mumbles quietly.

Ian just hums in response. He stands out of the bed and stretches his arms above his head. A low grumble vibrates out of his throat.

"I should probably go home sometime this morning." Liam says. He knows he should.

He also knows he should really shower after getting sweaty and everything yesterday. He's actually grossed out with himself for not showering last night.

Ian looks over. "Do you have to?"

"Yeah, my parents won't believe I've locked myself away forever." Liam nods.

Ian groans. "Alright. Have breakfast first."

"Okay." Liam feels himself smile.

The two of them leave Ian's bedroom and start the walk downstairs. Liam walks closely behind Ian, tiredly rubbing at his eyes. They make it to the living room and see Ember and Clint sitting at the table.

"Liam?" Ember looks over with her eyebrows raised. "What are you doing here?"

"He came over yesterday. Your ass was too busy hiding in your room." Ian says with a teasing tone.