Instinct

37. This Far, No Further

Stephanie was still half-asleep curled up on the couch with a cup of coffee firmly grasped in her hands when there was a knock at the door. She put the mug on the coffee table and shuffled to answer it, aware of the fact that her hair was a tangled mess and that she was still in her pyjamas though not able to actively mind at the moment. On the other side of the door was Lea, fully dressed and bright-eyed, as always.

"Morning," she greeted with a smile. "How are you?"

Stephanie stifled a yawn and dredged up some energy to at least look alert. "Tired," she replied honestly. "You?"

"I'm fine, thanks. Liam's still claiming that he's sick, though I think he's just being a baby about it."

Stephanie had to smile at that one. For the son of two doctors, he had a laughably low tolerance of illness. He was probably just feeling sorry for himself.

"Aren't you two supposed to be doing some event at a mall today?" Stephanie asked.

"Yeah," Lea replied with a roll of her eyes. "That's the problem. I can't convince him that he will live if he gets out of bed and goes, so we'll have to cancel it. I just wanted to ask you if you would come with me for it instead of him? I'd hate to have it cancelled."

The thing was that Stephanie detested those things more than anything else, so even though Lea was asking so sincerely she didn't feel the slightest of inclinations to go. However, she knew that she'd feel awful forever if she said no to Lea (as unassuming as the girl was), and Stephanie would really rather put her emotional energy into something less exhausting, so she had to do something. That something was just not going to be accompanying Lea to the mall to placate the general public.

Stephanie sighed. "I'll talk to him," she said.

"Okay," Lea replied uncertainly. "I'm not sure he'll change his mind though. You know how stubborn he can be."

"Oh, don't I know it," Stephanie said as she slid out the doorway and shut it behind her. "But you don't know how persuasive I can be."

In their apartment, Liam was still in bed with the sheets twisted around his waist and legs. He'd always been a restless sleeper, Stephanie remembered fondly. His golden hair was ruffled in the least attractive way and he didn't seem at all surprised to see Stephanie suddenly show up with Lea in her wake. Hands on hips, Stephanie pursed her lips.

"What is this about you being too sick to go to the mall and be fawned over by hundreds of fan girls?" Stephanie demanded.

Liam groaned and rolled over, burying his face in his pillow.

"You don't want to disappoint your loving fans, do you Liam? And what about Lea? She doesn't want to cancel it. Man up," she tried again.

He apparently liked the idea of just pretending that Stephanie wasn't there, because he didn't answer, leaving Stephanie staring at his back. There was no way she was going out there. Speeches and signings were so not on her to-do list. So, she pulled the only card she had.

"William Jensen Hall," she growled.

True to form, he rose up onto his elbows and glared at her from under his messy hair.

"Are you being serious right now?" he asked.

"Wait," Lea said. "That's your full name?"

"I'm dead serious," Stephanie replied. "And that's only the tamest of things I know about you, so you better get out of bed and accompany your girlfriend to this thing, or so help me - "

"God just stop already," he grouched good-naturedly. "You sound like my mom."

"Are you going to get out of bed?" she asked.