Learning To Love (bxb) ✔️

Chapter 17

Ethan^^

Liam's POV

"You getting anything?" Michael asks as we head over to the drinks table. (A picnic table for all the drinks)

"Just juice." I reply. Michael nods and we fall silent again.

We get the drinks and carry them back to the group who are talking.

"Thanks." Rowan murmurs when I hand him a cup of juice. Michael hands a cup to Theo and another to Ethan, who thank him.

"We were just talking, and you two don't have much in common, right?" Ethan asks, gesturing between Michael and me.

"Mike actually is pretty good at biology, and so is Liam." Rowan comments, taking a sip from his drink.

"They both have... blue eyes." Theo offers lamely. Ethan lets out a snort, and Theo glares at him.

"They're both pretty quiet if you leave them be." Rowan adds.

"If you guys could stop talking about us like we're not here, that would be great." Michael huffs, taking a seat next to Theo.

"Sorry." Theo apologizes sheepishly, leaning on Michael. Rowan rolls his eyes with a smirk and Ethan just shrugs.

"Come sit Li. You don't have to stand." Rowan pats the empty spot between him and Ethan. I feel myself start to blush. Wow, I must have looked like an idiot standing awkwardly like that.

"Hi guys!" Brianna and Sean suddenly show up with more alcohol in their hands.

"Hey Brie! Sean!" Ethan grin. The rest of us greet them as well. They sit and chat with us for a bit.

As we chatted some more, somehow the topic of past relationships came up.

"Theo, have you dated anyone before?" Rowan asks curiously.

"Oh, um. I fake dated a girl for a few years. That's about it." He responds quietly, glancing at Michael. I notice the older boy purse his lips for a moment before returning to a neutral expression.

"What about you Michael?" Ethan inquires.

"A few girlfriends. They didn't last terribly long." He shrugs.

"Who do we think has had the longest relationship?" Ethan questions, glancing around the group.

"Are we counting Theo's relationship with Stephanie?" Brie asks. We glance at Theo.

"Um, I'm going to say no. So that makes me zero." He replies.

"Okay. Um, Brie yours would be a bit over a year right? With Sean?" Ethan asks. Brie nods along with Sean.

"Sean?"

"Same as Brianna's."

"Mine's probably about 11 months." Ethan says thoughtfully.

"Michael?"

"About a year and a half."

"Oh nice. Rowan?"

"Two years or something?"

"Alright! Liam?"

I ponder about Rowan's relationship after he said that. Is two years a long time for a relationship? It seems so, considering his was the longest relationship so far. I wonder what kind of girl he was with. He must have liked her, surely.

"Liam?" A voice broke me out of my thoughts. I realize everyone's awaiting my response.

"Um..." I suddenly feel a wave of nerves overcome me. Is it embarrassing to say I've never dated anyone ever? I mean, even Theo fake dated Stephanie. Doesn't that count for something?

"I- I've never... never..." I stammer, my gaze darting to the floor, not meeting anyone else's.

"You've never had a relationship?" Rowan blinks. He seems shocked. Why is he surprised? Probably because almost everyone else has had a relationship before. I'm such a loser, aren't I?

"...no." I mumble out quietly.

"That's okay Li. Everyone does things at their own pace." Rowan reassures. That makes me feel a tiny bit better, but I can't help but feel that everyone else is silently judging me, even if they're not.

I glance up and startle a bit when I meet Rowan's gaze. His eyes (currently very green, although they alter between blue and green sometimes) lock onto mine. In that instant I realize that our faces are only a few inches away and I hesitantly shuffle back a bit. I tear my gaze away only to see Ethan give me an extremely exaggerated wink before glancing between Rowan and I.

It dawns on me that I ended up getting a lot closer to Rowan as the conversation had progressed without realizing it. We're now sitting so close I can feel his body heat. My heart starts to beat loudly in my chest and wow I hope no one else can hear this.

"Guys, want to go meet some people?" Brie asks, gesturing to the many others milling around the area. They were eating, drinking, and chatting.

The group hesitantly got up and started to spread out, dispersing to different groups. A wave of panic flows through me. Where do I go? Who am I supposed to stay with?

My hands start to clam up as my gaze darts around, debating on who I'm supposed to go with. Theo and Michael have gone off somewhere. Ethan is on his own mingling with his friends. Brianna and Sean are a few paces away, laughing with another group of people. And Rowan-

"Hey, Liam? You alright?" His voice breaks me out of my thoughts.

"What?"

"You're... I don't know. You seem a bit nervous? You feeling okay?"

"Um, sure."

"You don't sound very sure."

"I'm not... great with people. Especially lots of people." I admit quietly, leaning against the giant willow tree behind me.

"That's okay. Want me to stay here with you? There's no need to meet everyone here if you really don't feel comfortable." He offers.

"Um, okay. Yeah, if you don't mind. You can always go and talk to people if you want to." I smile, my fingers playing with the hem of my shirt.

He shrugs, "It's fine. I like hanging out with you."

I can feel my heart hammering wildly at the one sentence. He likes hanging out with me! Even though I already pretty much knew, the excitement that rushes through me when he confirms it is unreal. Stupid social anxiety.

Silence falls between us for a few seconds.

"Pardon me if this is a sensitive topic, but you said you've never been in a relationship?" Rowan questions.

"Um... Yeah." I mutter quietly. For some reason I just feel... ashamed? For not having been in any type of relationship while everyone else apparently already had.

"Oh." Silence again.

"Um... You said you had yours for two years?" I suddenly say, stiffening when I realize I blurted that out loud. That's personal! What if he doesn't want to talk about it? Why did I say that?

"Yeah. He was a great guy but in the end we just didn't work out. Our schedules were too busy for each other. It was also secret since I wasn't out to my parents, and I guess it was too much for him."

I nod before pausing. 

Wait.

Did Rowan just say "he"?