𝕋𝕙𝕖 ℍ𝕠𝕦𝕤𝕖

ℂ𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕋𝕨𝕠 | ​ᴜɴʀᴇQᴜɪᴛᴇᴅ

Liam watched Morgan slow dancing with Aiden from the plastic patio chair on the side of the pool. One of the legs on the chair was warped, causing it to lean, and Liam was using it to rock back and forth to ease his jealousy... It didn't fucking help.

Who the hell put a slow song on this playlist?!

Aiden was Morgan's latest boyfriend.

He'd been around at least three weeks now, so he'd lasted a while. Liam guessed that could only mean Morgan really did have a thing going for Aiden.

Aiden had chestnut brown hair and green eyes. Aside from that, he was just generally blessed with winning the generic lottery... The jealousy continued to brew in Liam's gut. He ran a frustrated hand through his hair while he tried looking at something, anything, else.

They were all having fun dancing together a second ago, the usual group of them, but then a stupid slow song came on. Liam was such a third wheel. Liam was always the third wheel...

He hated these moments. It was honestly the only downside to hanging with his friends. Ethan and Julian were always together, and when Morgan had a boyfriend too, it threw the whole group dynamic off

Liam could feel tears welling up in his eyes as he downed the last of whatever drink was in his red cup.

He suddenly realized he was probably being super creepy. If they noticed he was watching them like that with a weird look on his face...

Liam stood up and went back inside, trying to slow down his breathing. He wasn't jealous of Aiden... Not necessarily. There was nearly always some guy Morgan was all over... It wasn't a big deal. But Liam was drunk again, and he always got jealous when Morgan had these tender moments with someone -- it was because that someone seemed to be anybody on the face of the planet, anybody, except him. It would never be him. He was always just the joke.

Liam had to leave the pool area, and that was how he found himself alone in the living room during the party.

He grabbed his guitar, which was leaning over on the couch's armrest from the last time he'd sat here zoning out on playing the same four chords in a row...

Liam wasn't a fucking guitar player or anything, he really wasn't, and he couldn't even sing while playing. It didn't matter. Playing that guitar always made him feel the most alive he'd ever felt in his entire life... It was like he could zone out on it every time, and it recentered him. There was nothing else like it in the whole world.

Liam sat down on the couch, leaning over the guitar in a slump as he lazily strummed something he could play without thinking. It was a song he'd written, he'd written a handful of his own melodies at this point... He had a lot of free time these days.

He had given up on finding someone.

He had decided after he accidentally hit on Chase at Brooke's party a few weeks ago... That whole awkward situation really bothered him, especially how it made Chase act like Liam was a total creep. It made him feel like a complete fucking idiot.

So he was done... This was fine, and if something was actually going to happen for him it was clear it wouldn't be because of anything he tried to do.

This was the longest he had ever gone without trying to go on dates or meet new people... He had deleted his stupid dating app weeks ago. It was freeing, but he was lonely.

Ethan and Julian eventually walked through the sliding glass door back into the living room to join him, and started slow dancing together while he played.

God, they were adorable...

He loved them so much.

Ethan gave him a sarcastic grin and a thumbs up behind Julian's back, like he was trying to purposefully be over the top and cheesy... It made him laugh for probably the first time that night. Ethan was awesome, he loved that dude. Liam was so glad he'd accidentally met him on orientation day.