Bitter

Four

"So what "wonderful news" do you speak of?" James asked, leading Liam into his room and shutting his smooth white door.

Liam didn't respond just looked around James's spacious room. His walls were light navy blue, his bed sheets a dark powder blue. A white fuzzy carpet took up his whole floor and a lightwood dresser as well as a desk were positioned by a slant in the roof a few feet away from his bed.

"You're such a girl." Liam chuckled, dusting off James's bed mockingly and plopped down. James rolled his eyes at that phrase. So what if he cleaned his room like a normal human being? It kept him busy.

"Anyways; August is obviously ending soon and I just thought that you and a couple people would want to have a small party." James was interested before the mention of a party came in. His hopes were diminished. Parties meant drinking, sometimes drugs, and who knew what else.

James trained his mind to create an illusion that he was better. But was he, really? Of course parties were forever going to traumatize him but can he really control himself? Old habits means old friends. There was no way he could go.

"I don't know, man." James sighed, touching the back of his neck and rubbing it slightly. Liam leaned back on his hands and stared up at James, his eyes almost seemed to roll back in its sockets.

Sometimes James did get really frustrated with Liam. Did he just suddenly forget the hell he went through last year? He didn't understand.

"Come on, dude. Aubrey will be there, Sarah, a few of our friends like Kevin and stuff." Liam sighed, rolling his eyes this time. At the mention of the name Aubrey, James's heart skipped a beat. Aubrey was James's girlfriend of two years.

He hasn't seen her in a few weeks since she was on summer vacation in Hawaii but she was coming home soon. Whenever James thought about Aubrey, it's like nothing else matters. Just him and her.

"If you're a wuss, you can even invite you big brother Christian." Liam spoke in a babbling baby voice.

"Liam I just don't want a relapse." James didn't mean to say it. His hand retracted from the back of his neck and fell limply at his side. Liam looked as uncomfortable as James felt.

"It's not like that, dude. You know I would never put you in an environment like that." Liam almost sounded hurt. Did James accidentally give off the impression that Liam didn't care about his issues? A surge of guilt and nervousness swept through his chest.

"I didn't mean it like that." James muttered, his eyes trailing to a loose fuzzy on the white carpet.

"You sure?" Liam asked quietly, standing up and gripping James's shoulders. James returned his vision in front of him, meeting with Liam's sparkling brown eyes. Well they looked a little dull now.

"James I don't want you to ever think that of me. If this was a big, bad party, would you think Aubrey and Sarah would be going?" James sighed, nodding at Liam's words. James almost wanted to smack himself for being stupid and for making assumptions.

Why would his best friend ever put him in a situation like that? As much as Liam was wild, opinionated, and a complete weirdo, he cared dearly for his friends. And James is thankful for that.

"Think of it more like a camping trip." Liam smirked, the sparkle was beginning to sprinkle its color back into his eyes. He slapped the side of James shoulder and turned around quickly. He dropped to the floor and looked under James's bed. He knew exactly what he was looking for.

James turned his head towards his closed door. A yellow and black sweatshirt hung on the hook. Morphed yellow letters burst color onto the black surface of the material. Despite the words being unreadable, James knew exactly what they said. Hamilton High School Varsity Soccer.

When he turned his head again, a dirty mud covered ball was right in front of James. The smell of nature wafted off the leather of the ball.

The dirty black and white soccer ball made James smile. Heaven only knew how long he's had that ball for.

"Wanna play?" Liam smirked, twisting the ball on his finger. One of Liam's many talents.

James exhaled happily, a sudden excitement bursting within him.

"Of course." He smiled and led the way out of his room.

James couldn't afford to see a world without Liam.