Aleksei & Liam

22. Stu

(Liam's PoV)

He clung onto me like a leech as we made our way down the street, I had half a mind to grab the collar of his shirt and kiss him senseless.

To make things worse he staggered like a drunk man swaying me along with his every step. At times his face would get so close I could feel his warm breath fan my cheeks making them turn an intense pink.

We must have arrived at the intended destination because Aleksei withdrew his arm from around my shoulder and started pressing his hair down in an attempt to tame it, "she goes on and on about my hair." He rolled his eyes and dragged me to the front porch.

He politely knocked on the door and awaited for a response.

"I've told you the doors always unlocked! Always!" A women chided as she opened the front door for us, "oh."

"Mum, Liam. Liam, mum." He introduced us before walking over to her and planting a little kiss to her forehead.

"Liam's staying for dinner." He said as he pushed past her rudely and dragged me along.

"It's nice to meet you miss." I tried being the civil one out of the two.

"Lovely meeting you too dear!" She chirped sweetly with an equally sweet smile that deepened the crinkles by her eyes.

"Go set the table, your father will be here soon." She said as she disappeared into one of the rooms.

Aleksei nodded and ushered me to the living room, he plopped himself on the couch while I set his guitar by the massive potted plant, the likes of which were scattered all around the house.

"Isn't this a little weird." I said as I gracefully settled myself by his side on the couch, "crashing a family dinner?"

"Are you nervous?" He asked only fully understanding the gravity of the situation.

"It's just that we're not all that close and you let me have dinner with your family?"

"Ouch." He replied and there really was a glint of hurt in his eyes.

"I didn't mean it like tha-" there was something warm on my lap. Was this it. Was he making his move? Had he loved me all along?!

I slowly turned my gaze towards the source of this warmth and found a dark tabby cat making itself comfortable on my lap.

"Looks like you've met Stu."

"Aww." I cooed and began to pat his little head, he purred and leaned into my touch.

I already loved Stu.

Aleksei must have thought otherwise, "SHOOO GO BOTHER SOMEONE ELSE."

The cat hoped off my lap and hid itself behind the large upright piano that stood to one corner of the room.

I shot Aleksei a frown before making my way over to the piano in search of the threatened kitty.

However, Aleksei had different plans, he rushed to the piano in all his boyish glory and struck a melodic chord making the cat run from its place of hiding and out the room.

"Do you have something against Stu?" I asked as I crossed my arms against my chest.

He chuckled before striking  another chord, "I don't like animals. I'm not soft."

"I'm pretty sure Rufus is an animal."

"DO NOT DRAG RUFUS INTO THIS."

"But Stu's adorable!"

"Stu's old and grumpy. Rufus on the other hand is a ray of sunshine, golden sunshine." He emphasised to the golden locks of my retriever.

"And he's got a bubbly personality."

"He's a dog, Aleksei." I scoffed.

"A dog with a bubbly personality." He added as I shook my head.

Aleksei had got along with Rufus a little too well, sometimes he'd come over and just hang around him all day instead of being the friend he's supposed to me.

On one rather unpleasant occasion he spent the entire afternoon teaching Rufus to fetch while I sat in my room oblivious to their amiable activities that were happening in my very own back garden. It wasn't until I had gone downstairs to get myself a snack when I saw him ruffling Rufus' hair as the pup rolled on its back.

"Besides, he looks an awful lot like you." He mumbled.

My heart picked up it's pace as I dared to ask him what he meant, "And that's a good thing, I hope?"

"Very." Came his reply, his ears turned red and my heart thud in my chest.

Was he embarrassed? How adorable.

My heart fell into my stomach as I realised how terribly in love I was, all he did was compare me to a dog he liked very much and it made me swoon.

Pathetic.

I watched as he slowly raised his hands over the keys forming shapes before he nibbled on his lower lip, "um...I think you'll know this tune." He looked up cheekily and cleared his throat .

"I can dim the lights and sing you songs full of sad things
we can do  the tango, just for two."

I smiled idiotically at the cheesy lyrics and claimed them all for myself as my heart swooned.

"I can serenade and gently play on your heart strings
BE YOUR VALENTINO, JUST FOR YOU!"

A jolt of electricity ran down my spine as he unknowingly wooed me, I looked at his smiling face in awe as he sang his heart out.

The dark curls that fell in his eyes,
The numerous silver rings on his fingers that effortlessly glided over the piano keys, the dark eyeliner that made him look particularly ravishing, the pink of his cheeks and of his lips...the way they're curved to utter syllables or send me breathtaking smiles.

"ALEKSANDR!" His mum yelled from the kitchen as he shouted out the last part.

I giggled along with him as his mother told him to keep it down but my body was on fire. I wasn't familiar with the song and I'm sure it didn't come close to Aleksei's version.

He gently rested his head on the piano keys, looking up to me.
His chest rose and fell, the aftermath of his loud show as he smiled at me.

He looked so beautiful I had to cross my legs to hide my excitement.

"You're amazing." I said in a whisper, but my voice somehow managed to crack.

He pretended to style his hair so he didn't have to look at me but one could see how he clearly blushed at the compliment,
"...thanks."

I wanted to hold him by the chin and lift his head so I could gaze into his tempestuous eyes that swarmed with some unknown emotion.

Did he maybe feel something that I felt?

I almost raised my hand to do so when we heard the front door open and close.

He quickly stood up from his seat and looked at me with a small smile, "that must be my father."