Not Coded

4

They were all gathered in the living room. Corey and Hayden were in the kitchen, plating the food they'd just bought, while Mason, Nolan, Brett, and Liam sat on the sofas. Liam had chosen the single seat, while the other three were spread out on the long couch-Nolan in the middle, turned toward Brett in conversation, and Mason facing Liam, speaking quietly to him.

Theo had excused himself for a phone call, stepping outside.

"You're not uncomfortable here, are you?" Mason asked, his voice kept low so the others wouldn't overhear. Not that it mattered-Nolan and Brett were too engrossed in their own conversation to pay attention.

Liam rolled his eyes. "I told you after that night, didn't I? I don't have a problem with anything-not with Hayden, not with Theo. Besides, you were the one who told me to confess, just to get some closure. And I got it, thankfully."

"Well, that's good," Mason replied, nodding. "You know I'm just looking out for you. I was worried when I heard Theo had invited you over. You know the kind of reputation he has. Corey and I rushed over as fast as we could."

"Wait, what?" Liam interrupted, confused. "Theo called you, saying I was here?"

"Yeah," Mason confirmed. "He texted Hayden, inviting us over to his place and mentioned you'd be here too. At first I thought he was asking only Hayden but when she said she was with us, he asked all of us to come saying he was going to call us anyways.We were just hanging out at the skate park, so we came as soon as we could. Picked Brett up on the way because Nolan was with us too."

Liam's brow furrowed. Theo can be intimidating, sure, but not in a way that made Liam feel unsafe. He used to think that way too-before he got to know him. But why would Theo lie about when they turned up? Liam shook the thought from his head.

That's not the thing I need to focus on right now.

"Theo's not like that," Liam said finally. "I get where you're coming from, with all the things we've heard about him, and yeah, he's intimidating. But...," Liam paused, searching for the right words, "he's actually pretty nice."

Mason's eyes widened like he'd just heard the most shocking thing in the world. "Nice? Theo?" His voice rose in disbelief, and Liam quickly turned his head, scanning the room. Thankfully, Brett and Nolan had gone to the kitchen, so no one else heard him.

Liam elbowed Mason. "Keep your voice down!"

"Yeah, yeah," Mason muttered, still sceptical. "But bro, Theo's everything but nice. After you left the party, I was there the whole time. He barely spoke to anyone, just giving straight, blunt answers to everything we asked-even to his own girlfriend. He didn't even look interested when someone hit on her at the party."

Mason glanced around the room again before continuing in a hushed tone. "Honestly, we were all shocked when he invited us over. We barely know the guy, and then we come here to find you, safe and sound, which was a relief. But have you noticed? He's barely talked to anyone too.Just made small talk here and there, and even then, he wasn't exactly warm-not even to his girlfriend."

Liam considered telling Mason about the incident in the hallway but decided against it. "Mason, you guys just don't know him that well yet. Once you get to know him better, I'm sure you'll change your mind."

Mason raised an eyebrow, sceptical. "And how well do you know him, to be defending him like this, huh?"

Liam rolled his eyes again. "At least better than you do."

"Maybe he only acts nice around you," Mason teased sarcastically.

But before Liam could respond, a voice interrupted them.