Into the Flames → Liam Dunbar [2]

Chapter Three

"Addy! Wake up! It's your first day back!" Brayden Ryder was on wake-up duty that morning. Instead of opening the blinds and pulling off the covers like he usually did, he jumped up on the bed and landed right on Addy. She groaned at the sudden weight and tried to push her brother off.

"Fuck off," Addy mumbled. She didn't want to get up and go to school. She didn't want to do homework again, and she didn't want to get detention. The rate of her actually getting detention had slowed dramatically. Instead of having one practically every other day, she only received them no more than once a month.

"No. My baby sister has school to go to."

"Shut up. Why the hell haven't you left for college yet, anyway?" Addy joked. They both knew she didn't want him to leave. It was why he was holding off going for as long as he could. Everything he owned was packed already. He was leaving in less than a week.

"Because you love me and asked me to stay here as long as I could before classes started."

"Why would I do that?"

"I made waffles." Brayden grinned. For as long as he could remember, he always made waffles for the first day of school; it was their tradition. "And I'm giving you a ride to school. So get your lazy ass up."

Addy didn't even brush her hair as she strolled down the stairs, the smell of waffles filling her nose as she got closer. Their mom had left already, but she had texted Addy so that she would see it when she woke up.

'Good luck on the first day! Love you lots, have fun!'

Addy smiled down at her phone as she munched on her maple syrup soaked waffle. She received another text, this one from Liam.

'Morning ads. Meet me by the lacrosse field when you get to school? Xx'

She replied to both of the texts and placed her phone down. Brayden was looking between the device and his sister with a curious look. "What?" Addy asked with half chewed waffle in her mouth. She didn't like the look that he was giving her, it made her worried. 

"Nothing, nothing." He smirked. "Just, you're still going out with him after all the embarrassing stories?"

"I hope you know that I still hate you for that." Addy glared, flinging a piece of waffle at his face. It stuck right in the middle of his forehead and slowly slid down, leaving a syrupy trail. Addy burst out laughing. Tears formed in the corner of her eyes, and she had trouble breathing. It was just too funny to not laugh at.

"I kind of deserved that," Brayden muttered as he wiped the sticky substance off with a paper towel. Addy's laughter finally died down enough so that she could finish her breakfast.

"You definitely deserved that. I can't believe you would tell him stuff like that." Addison had done some pretty mortifying things when she was younger. Most she didn't even remember. It wasn't that they were bad per se, just extremely embarrassing. She never wanted to think about it every again in her entire existence.

"Oh, come on. It was pretty funny."

"Not for me," Addy pouted, "but he can't say anything because I've got dirt on him too."

"Oh? Like what?" Brayden suddenly got interested. He wanted to know everything about the kid was dating his little sister: every little detail.

He just wanted someone perfect for Addy. She really deserved it, even if she didn't think that. But Liam was perfect in Addy's eyes; even with his I.E.D. and his werewolf problem, and how he couldn't cook to save his life. It was sappy – extremely sappy – but Addy found it as the only way to describe how she felt. Liam made her happy, he made her feel special, and it was feelings she never felt before.