Hollow | BxBxBxB

-14- Midnight Flirting

Connor tossed and turned that night unable to sleep due to the sudden heat that was casting down on the house despite it being the middle of the night.

Along with the blistering heat his conversation with Riccardo was also keeping him up. How damaged the boy must be to have experienced all that, yet he still managed to be kind and keep a smile on his face so often. Connor almost envied Riccardo for being that strong, the Italian had somehow found a way to cope with all his trauma, Connor couldn't even find a way to cope with a bowl of cereal or a slice of toast.

Sighing in irritation Connor sat up rubbing his eyes, he was absolutely shattered yet couldn't catch a wink of sleep, deciding to make an attempt at cooling down he stood up with a stretch, then made his way slowly out of his room. The long corridor was unusually silent, it was also dimly lit with only the light from one lamp making Connor able to see his own footsteps.

He quietly trotted down the stairs aware he probably wasn't supposed to be walking around the house at this time of night.

Cautiously he advanced into the kitchen glancing around nervously, luckily the room was completely deserted. Connor crouched down attempting to open one of the cupboards but to his surprise it was locked, he then moved onto another trying again but this one was also locked.

Scratching his head in confusion Connor walked over to the fridge attempting to pull that open, but it too wouldn't budge. Had he suddenly become incredibly weak? Or had Simon locked everything up for the night?

Sighing Connor looked around spotting a packet of paper cups lying discarded on the side. Carefully he took one out cringing at the crinkling the plastic packaging made. He then turned the tap on waiting a second for it to go cold before shoving his cup under the stream. Once it was filled Connor deftly turned the tap off taking a sip of his ice cold water as he did so.

Instant relief coursed through his body as the cold beverage went down. It was so nice to have something so cool in this blasting heat. If it was going to continue being this hot Connor wasn't sure he could cope. He hated the thought of sleeping in his underwear in case someone walked in on him so still had his pyjamas on at night which contributed to the intense heat.

After finishing his drink Connor tossed the white cup into the trash can, he sighed glancing out the window into the pitch black courtyard, all he could really see was his own tired reflection staring back at him. Sighing again Connor was about to make his way back up the stairs when he suddenly heard voices, two of them.

"Cmon, are you sure you left it down here?" It was Liam's voice. Footsteps then sounded on the stairs as another replied.

"I definitely did love, I remember putting it down on the table I'm sure" the second voice was Alex, and he'd just called Liam love?

Their footsteps echoed down the stairs as they got closer to the ground floor, thinking fast Connor dropped to the kitchen floor ducking behind the cabinets to shield himself from their view. He didn't want to be caught being down here this late. Even if it wasn't for any nefarious reasons.

"I don't see it" Liam stated stonily as the sound of shuffling became audible. Cushions were evidently being moved in an attempt to find whatever Alex had lost.

"It must be here somewhere" Alex replied in an annoyed tone. "I remember saving my game, then putting it down"

"Why do you even have a game boy babe? That's like so... ancient" Liam questioned, but the question wasn't what concerned Connor, it was the pet name, first Alex had called Liam love, then Liam had called Alex babe. There was no way they were dating, right?

Connors breathing was picking up, now that he'd heard this he wasn't worried about just being caught downstairs, he was now concerned if they found him they'd force him into silence. Trying to control his breathing Connor shuffled back slightly to sit up properly, however as he did his back hit the locked cupboard door sending a loud vibration through the air.

"What was that?" Alex asked in alarm.

"What was what?" Liam questioned sounding tired. "I wanna go back to bed Alex"

"I swear I heard something" Alex answered.

"It will have been the wind or something" Liam replied logically. "Don't go all pussy mode on me Alex"

"I know you hate pussy Liam, don't worry" Alex responded giggling slightly, Connor held his breath praying the two boys would find Alex's ancient game boy and be on their way.

"Can you not like, ring it or something?" Liam questioned impatiently. This was the most Connor had ever heard him say, he was usually more on the reserved side, watching from the shadows and only commenting if he needed to.

Alex burst out laughing at this remark. "Call a game boy? Are you stupid?" He said still laughing.

"Shut up whore" Liam snapped back though Connor could tell there was no malice laced into his words.

"You know it" Alex fired back cheekily, he then clapped his hands together loudly. "Found it!" He proclaimed happily.

"Thank fuck" Liam hissed at him as Alex quickly pocketed the device.

"Let's go back to bed now before you get your panties in a twist" Alex stated snickering slightly.

"You wish I wore panties dork" Liam replied tiredly.

"Do I fuck?" Alex answered laughing again as their voices faded up the stairs, the sound of a door slamming then followed. Connor waited with baited breath for a second door to slam but it never came, they'd gone into the same room then?

Scrambling to his feet Connor hurriedly ascended the steep stairs himself creeping hurriedly back into his room, he made sure to shut the door as softly as he could so as to not alert the two potential lovebirds he was awake and had heard their midnight flirting.

Could they really be dating? Or was Alex just teasing Liam trying to insult his masculinity. Connor collapsed onto his bed running a hand through his jet black hair thoughtfully, love, babe, hating pussy? Surely it could only mean that they were dating, either that or Alex had extremely poor taste in jokes.

Letting these thoughts plague his mind Connor shut his eyes tightly closed hoping sleep would envelop him sooner rather than later, but the unanswered questions surrounding Liam and Alex had him counting sheep for hours. Connor had never been the nosy type. He had always preferred sticking to his own business rather than other peoples, but this was just too interesting to turn a blind eye too.

Suddenly he shot up in bed. Alex had mentioned a boyfriend the other night, when he'd been having some kind of episode in Connor's room. He'd mentioned his boyfriend Ricky? Liam wasn't called Ricky, not even close? Connor sighed resting his head back down on the pillow again in complete confusion.

How could Alex have a boyfriend called Ricky, then also be dating Liam? Maybe it was some bizarre pet name he had for Liam, or maybe Liam's middle name? None of it made sense.