𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐎𝐂𝐈𝐄𝐓𝐘- a labyrinth sequel

𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐘

𝐈𝐓 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐄 𝐇𝐀𝐕𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐗𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐑 𝐁𝐄𝐒𝐈𝐃𝐄 𝐇𝐄𝐑. Usually when she was here, it was by herself. But when Xander had asked to come- asked to meet him, Lia couldn't say no. She stood outside of Liam's door, and turned to Xander, "Let me go in first and just prepare him, okay?" She was required to call before she came to visit, and when she spoke to him, she hadn't mentioned that she'd be bringing Xander. So, Aurelia didn't know how he would react to seeing Isabelle's grandson for the first time. "And remember that he doesn't know anything about Isabelle going to prison, so don't mention it."

As far as Liam knew, Isabelle's absence was explained by her moving to Europe with her husband. He hadn't known about her part in Alastor Clairmont's murder, and Aurelia felt as though it wasn't her place to disrupt his reality. He thought highly of the woman, and despite the fact that Aurelia and everyone in her family loathed the woman, she couldn't deny the fact that she had always been there for Liam. She'd taken care of him when Alastor practically disowned him. She wanted him to keep thinking of Isabelle like that. Aurelia didn't want to take that away from him, not after so much had already been ripped away from him. His sister, his life, his memories, his ability to walk. Aurelia didn't want to be responsible for hurting him further. 

"Oh, good," Liam sighed when she walked in. By his expression, he looked distraught, but at the time, Aurelia didn't dwell on it. "I need to talk to you about something-" He started, looking at her with an anxious expression on his face. 

"Before you do," Lia interjected, glancing to the door behind her. "I hope it's okay that I brought someone with me," she told him slowly, glancing to the door behind her, where she knew Xander stood behind it. Liam sat up straighter, and his expression morphed into surprise for a moment, and he completely forgot what he'd even needed to speak to her about. "You brought someone?" He asked slowly, and Lia nodded her head once. "Who?" He demanded. 

"Xander," Aurelia replied. "He's my cousin. Isabelle's grandson," she clarified, clearing her throat. "He wanted to meet you. I hope that's okay."

"It's more than okay," Liam breathed out. Aurelia heaved a sigh of relief and called Xander into the room. He cracked open the door and entered reluctantly, and examined Liam skeptically as he entered the room. "It's wonderful to meet you. Aurelia's only said great things about you."

"I would hope so," Xander mused, raising an eyebrow. He chuckled uncomfortably, and this whole situation was just strange and awkward as hell. Xander being here threw off the vibe completely, but Lia didn't mind it. Maybe one day she'd even work up the courage to bring her mother and her uncles here. They had a right to get to know him, to learn that he's nothing like his sister or Isabelle Clairmont. "Lia's been hiding you from us all this time. It's nice to finally come for a visit."

"I wouldn't say that it was Aurelia that's been hiding me," he chuckled. "Isa's been rather... protective of me all these years. Up until now, she never let me have any other visitors except for her. But I suppose with her in Europe now, she wanted me to have some company while she was away." Shit. Aurelia had forgotten to mention that part to Xander in the car ride over here. She told Xander that he didn't know about Isabelle being in prison, but she'd forgotten to mention that fact that her excuse for her absence was that she had moved to Europe. 

"Of course," Xander sighed, looking to Aurelia for some kind of guidance. He was silently pleading with her to change the subject. She cleared her throat, drawing Liam's attention away from Xander and toward her. "So, Liam, what was it that you wanted to speak to me about?" At the sound of Lia's voice, his shoulders seem to tense up for a moment before he relaxed. 

"Chess," he replied after a moment of silence. Aurelia suspected he was lying, but it was difficult to tell. Liam was hard to get a read on sometimes, almost as though he had become an expert at hiding his tells over the years. "I've been reading books on strategy. I think I'm getting better." Liam then turned toward Xander and gestured toward the chess board that was on the table. "Do you play?"