After Dark

Thirty-seven

Liam wakes up with an arm tightly around his waist. Ian's breath hits the nape of his neck since that's where his head is resting. Liam looks around, looking for his phone. He spots it in the back pocket of his jeans which are laying discarded on the floor.

With a sigh he looks over at his digital clock. It's six in the morning. He tries to get up, attempting to get out of Ian's grip, but Ian groans and only holds on tighter.

"Ian." Liam complains, once again trying to pry the boy's hands off him.

"No." Ian mumbles tiredly. "Sleep."

Liam sighs, rolling over in Ian's grip. "Fine."

He cuddles into the other boy, resting his head on Ian's chest. Ian hums in approval. They drift back off for another hour when Ian's alarm goes off.

Ian groans at the new distraction from his sleep. Liam rolls over to look for his phone since it isn't on the side table either. He finds it on top of Ian's jeans that are also on the floor.

"Ian." Liam shakes his shoulder. "Wake up."

Ian groans but complies, sitting up in bed. He looks around, spots his phone, and gets out of the bed to go pick it up. Liam watches his back as he moves.

They're both only in their boxers. Liam only managed that because Ian slipped them on him last night before they fell asleep.

Ian shuts off his alarm and stands up, pulling his jeans on when he does. He turns around to face Liam while zipping them up. He shoots the boy on the bed a grin and Liam has to return it with a small smile of his own.

"I better get going." Ian leans down to land a kiss on Liam's lips.

"Okay." Liam whispers before kissing him one more time. "Will you be here tonight?"

"Yeah." Ian nods, pulling back to look for his shirt. He finds it and throws it on. On his way to the window he falters and turns around. "Hey."

Liam looks up at him, humming. "Hm?"

"Do you want to come over sometime today?" Ian asks, bringing his hand up to rub at the back of his neck. "You could meet my mom. Well, I mean, meet her as my boyfriend. Officially and all."

Liam smiles a little. Boyfriend. The word sounds so casual, if only a little nervous, coming out of Ian's mouth. He likes it.

"Sure." Liam smiles. He's not worried about it, he's already met Laura and her husband David before and it went well. He doesn't see why this time would be any different, she seems like a nice woman. Ian's face breaks out into a wide smile.

"Okay, cool. I'll see you later then. Come around lunch time, like one or so."

"Okay." Liam nods. "I'll be there."

"Okay. Great. Cool." Ian smiles, leaving out the window again.

Liam rolls over onto his stomach, burying his face in the pillow with a smile. He has a boyfriend. He's Ian's boyfriend. The joy those thoughts brought him is unreal.

Sliding out of bed, Liam went to stand. There was a dull ache in his backside. It wasn't terrible, he knew he could ignore it and go about his day. However, he felt like being lazy so he used it as an excuse to lay in bed for the rest of the morning.

At twelve he finally decides he should get up. The first thing he does is check his phone. He has a text from Ian, sent about twenty minutes ago, that is the address.

Liam realizes he actually lives pretty close to the Martin's. He sends a text to Ian asking when he should head over and then walks to his closet. He picks out some basketball shorts and pulls them on.