Living with Animals

Chapter 4: Toni's crush

"Am I stuck in a parallel universe? Ryan's actually eating breakfast..." Liam points out laughingly. His shirt is soaked with sweat and clinging to his upper body.

Ryan rolls his eyes. "Really funny, Mister 'I can't eat anything before going for a run'."

Liam grabs a waffle and drops down on the couch next to me. I flinch at his sudden closeness. "Eww, your shirt's all sweaty."

"Sorry, princess..." He fake-apologizes before taking his shirt off and tossing it onto the ground. It takes all my strength not to look at him.

Gladly, Sammy speaks up. "Liam, we talked about this. You can't just leave your clothes everywhere. It's disgusting."

Liam moans in annoyance as he picks up his shirt. "Fine, but hey..." He turns to Ryan and me. "Don't miss Mr. Stark's death scene. It's the best part of the whole movie."

I cover my mouth to hold back my laughter but Ryan doesn't seem to be too amused about Liam's comment. "You didn't just..." His nostrils flare widely.

Liam takes a step back, smiling mischievously. "I thought you knew." He takes another step when Ryan jumps up from the couch and runs after him. My eyes widen as I watch him chase Liam up the stairs.

"Don't worry about it. That's just how they treat each other." Sammy says reassuringly.

There are some loud strikes followed by Liam screaming, "Let go of my head, you bastard." I turn to Connor and Sammy.

"Still normal..." they whisper in unison while cleaning the table. Still unsure about the whole situation, I take a few plates as well and carry them into the kitchen.

Connor is standing in front of the sink. He rolls his sleeves up and reaches for a sponge. "What are you doing?" I question setting the plates down on the counter.

He tilts his head to the side. "What does it look like? I'm doing the dishes..."

"We don't have a dishwasher?" I pout half-seriously.

Connor cleans the first plate and gives it to Sammy. "Nope, that's the one thing Liam doesn't want to spend his money on."

"Well, does he ever have to do the dishes?" I question although I already know the answer.

"Theoretically yes," Sammy mumbles, "but we never actually got him to do it."

"You're kidding, right? All these years..." I give Connor another glass when his hand accidentally brushes against mine. Out of reflex I let go of the glass but Connor catches it, right before it hits the ground.

"Are you okay?" He whispers, his blue eyes staring into mine.

I need a second to collect my thoughts. "Yeah, sorry about that. I'm just really clumsy."

Sammy clears his throat. "Anyway, if you could convince Liam to do the dishes just once, like you did with Ryan, maybe he'll buy a dishwasher out of laziness."

"I could try." I whisper keeping my attention on the plates.

After finishing up in the kitchen, I rush into my room without saying another word. I cover my face with both hands when I hear my door opening and closing again. "You owe me an explanation." Sammy's voice sounds.

"I don't know what you're talking about." I lie.

Sammy pulls my hands away from my eyes. "Oh, come on. The touching, the staring, the dropping..." He chuckles. "What's going on between the two of you?"

"Nothing, it was an accident."

Sammy rolls his eyes. "You wouldn't even believe yourself. And what about the late night conversation? I'm seeing right through you, Toni."

"Please, stop it. Nothing is ever going to happen between Connor and I. We're roommates, so it wouldn't end well."

"If you say so..." Sammy shrugs his shoulders before finally leaving my room.

Honestly, I need some friends outside of this house to talk about stuff like that. Telling Sammy how I really feel about Connor would only make things worse.

-

It's the last night before college starts and I can't decide if I'm rather excited or scared. My mom has used all of her savings to let me go to college, so I can't screw this up.

My thoughts keep on spinning when I hear some mumbling and laughter from downstairs. Time for a distraction...

I reach the bottom of the stairs to see Connor and Sammy sitting on the couch. Connor notices me first and smiles brightly. "Wanna join our movie night?"

That's when Liam appears from the kitchen with a bowl full of popcorn in his hand. "It's a tradition. Every year before college starts we stay up all night and watch movies."

I cross my arms in front of my chest. "That doesn't sound very clever."

"So?" Liam plops down on the couch.

"Save me a seat." They all move over, so I can sit between Connor and Liam - not my first choice. "Where is Ryan by the way?"

"No clue." Sammy gets up to collect some DVDs. "So, Toni, Liam, which movies haven't you watched yet? We don't want any more incidents."

I search through the collection until I find... "Marley and me! I've always wanted to watch that movie. Just look at how cute the cover is." I show it to everybody, earning some amused glances.

"Girly..." Liam coughs audibly. Reaching over me Connor hits the back of Liam's head.

"Thanks, Connor." I reply and give the DVD back to Sammy to put it into the player.

A few minutes into the movie, I feel Connor's arm moving closer to mine. I'm having goosebumps only from the thought of his touch. Why does he have to do that to me?

Carefully, I shift away from him, only to bump into Liam. Liam tilts his head to the side, his eyebrows raised. Scared of what he might blurt out, I mouth. "Shut up, please." He chuckles silently before directing his attention back to the tv.

I can barely concentrate on the movie with Connor right next to me. But I try my best not to let it show. After a while Connor leans over to me, his breath touching my skin. Immediately, I can feel my heart beating faster. "Don't make it too obvious but I think Liam is actually crying." He whispers into my ear.

In the corner of my eye I can actually see Liam shedding a tear. Still, I don't dare saying anything. Instead I lean back over to Connor and whisper. "He really has a heart. Who would have thought...?"

Connor flashes me a smile. I can't help but smile as well as we lock eyes. After a while I notice Sammy watching us closely. He smirks, knowing fully well what I'm feeling right now.

Not knowing what else to do, I blurt out "I'll be right back." and disappear into the bathroom. I take a deep breath and look at myself in the mirror. Unsurprisingly, my cheeks are slightly flushed. "Get yourself together." I whisper to myself.