The Pain of a Middle Child

V

I woke up to Liam hugging me from the back. I twisted over to look at his sleeping face.

He looked to childish and pure and innocent when he was asleep, it was hard to believe that he had issues troubling him. (But what issues, it isn't mine to tell)

I traced his cheekbones and placed my hand on his cheek, feeling his smooth skin.

Liam opened his eyes and smiled groggily "Morning, baby," his voice cracked from the lack of moisture. "Ugh, my head,"

"I've got some pills for that," I offered, but he shook his head.

"I'll be fine, not much of a headache, I can handle it."

"Okay, but tell me if you want it." I pecked his cheek and headed to the bathroom.

____

It took me some time to find an unoccupied bathroom, since there were many guests that had drunk too much and had a terrible hangover this morning. For me, it was better, but not much, due to my two cans of beer.

When I finally found one, I quickly washed my face and did my makeup. (With the help of my pouch) I considered washing my hair too, but decided against it, since I was at May's and not my home.

After I finished up, I searched my way back to the room where Liam and I stayed to get my jacket. Liam was waiting on the bed, leaning against the headboard with his eyes closed. But his face wasn't relaxed, and I was beginning to worry if I had to force him the pill.

"Ready to go?" I asked cautiously. He opened his eyes slowly, then nodded. "You alright? You look a bit sick."

Liam's head shook vigorously. "No, no, I'm fine, just a hangover."

"Seems bad, though," I creased the side of his face.

"I've been through worse, don't worry." Liam stood up. "Let's go, Starbucks for coffee?"

"Yeah, let's." we headed out the room door and went to find May, who was probably in her own room.

When we found her, she was, to our surprise, cleaning the living room of empty cans while the robot cleaner was sweeping.

"Hey, May, we're going now, but we can help if you want us to," she looked up at us and smiled tiredly.

"It's okay," she threw the last of the cans into a black vinyl bag and ushered us to the door and opened it for us. "Bye,"

"Bye, then," I reluctantly stepped out and Liam followed. Waving to her, we walked off to the main road.

We were still walking when suddenly, a car popped out from a corner and screeched to a stop barely centimeters from me.

Well, not exactly me, because Liam shoved me behind his back at the last second, surprised as I was, but faster at reacting.

"What the heck?!" I exclaimed.

"Hey!" Liam yelled at the driver. "Watch it! Fucking idiot," He wrapped his arm around my trembling body and pat my arm soothingly.

The driver just waited until we crossed the road before driving off again. Liam swore under his breath at the person, calling him or her multiple names that wasn't the safest to use in public.

His mood was still grumpy when we reached Starbucks, so, to cheer him up, I ordered his favorite dessert, a Blueberry Cheesecake.

He offered to pay, since I wasn't a fan of cheesecakes, but I insisted he let me pay, so he gave up trying to convince me after about 5 minutes into our conversation.

He lightened up a bit after having cheesecake, and didn't speak a word about the incident that morning. We talked about everyday stuff like who did what and things like that. He sugested we go on a movie date next weekend since a new film we wanted to watch was being released on Thursday.

I happily agreed, already planning the days ahead so as to spend the whole day with him.