Chapter 30

Chapter 30 — Ridiculous Question

Liam finally knows what it will feel like to be hit by a moving truck — at least mentally.

Just exactly how long is it going to take you to finally admit that you like Aaron as well?

What the fuck does Jason even mean when he asked him that question?

Liam could have very well asked that very question to Jason himself but is that what he does?

No, absolutely not.

What he does instead is — he stares at Jason, his apparently so-called boyfriend for a good minute, too stunned to say anything at all or even move. And when he does somewhat recover from his initial shock, he still refuses to say anything. Wordlessly, he stands up, and even though Jason keeps calling after him, he leaves.

He hasn't talked to him ever since then, even though he's gotten more than enough calls and texts from him.

And that night he goes to a troubled sleep, polluted with a rather bizarre dream. In this dream, Liam is trapped in a ball pit — yes, trapped — and he can't get out of it. The worst part is the balls have faces on them; faces of either of Jason's or Aaron's and it is like he is surrounded by them, and as the minutes pass it seems like the balls are increasing in number and he is drowning in them and he can't get out of the pit and he cannot breathe and he is drowning and–

Finally, he is able to wake himself up, his heart racing for miles. It takes him a while to calm down and to recognise that it was just a stupid nightmare. He realises that it is definitely going to be a great day (do note the sarcasm).

He wishes he won't have to go in for work today as well, wishes that Aaron is still sick (he doesn't care how bad it sounds for him). However, he knows even as he sees accepts the call from Chloe that that's not going to happen and... yes, he has to go in for work today.

Just exactly how long is it going to take you to finally admit that you like Aaron as well?

The words echo in his head, and as much as he tries to shake it off, he cannot.

Him? Liking Aaron?

He scoffs to himself — yeah, right.

But still, he cannot help the irritation he feels, because how dare Jason even suggest something like that. And this weird nagging feeling deep down in his heart won't leave him alone either.

Yes, this is definitely going to be a great day.

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Liam practically drags himself to the office and as if that already doesn't tire him, he has to sneak in since Jason is right there at the front, obviously waiting for him, but Liam just can't see him right then. The only thing he has planned for today is work, work and work. He cannot afford to add in anything else.

He somehow successfully manages to sneak in without Jason noticing and he thinks he can finally relax and but he cannot be any more wrong. Because there right in front of his table stands his boss.

Unlike Jason, he cannot avoid Aaron, especially not at work since he is their boss.

So, taking in a deep breath, he comes to term with the fact that he doesn't really have a choice here and have to face his boss, and marches straight ahead. He keeps his gaze focused on everywhere except his boss. He's definitely not going to acknowledge him unless he absolutely has to.

"Good morning," surprisingly this is the day Aaron chooses to be civil.

"Morning," and Liam can't even look him in the eyes, not without thinking what Jason told him, "Um, so how are you feeling?" he asks, trying to keep himself busy organising the papers on his desk, although there's nothing there to be organised.

"Much better, thanks,"

He is not leaving. Why is he not leaving?

Liam takes a deep breath, and sneaks a look at him from under his lashes only to find him already looking at him. To not act suspicious, he sighs, and finally lifts his head, looking at him directly.

Just exactly how long is it going to take you to finally admit that you like Aaron as well? That stupid question still floats about in his head, but Liam does his best to ignore it.

"Is there anything that you need?" Liam asks instead.

"Yeah. Actually, no," he clears his throat, his hand reaching up to rub the back of his neck. He looks terribly nervous, and it piques Liam's curiosity — so now he's the one looking at him and Aaron's glances back and forth, anxious, "I just wanted to say... thank you?" it comes out sounding almost like a question and Liam has to keep his lips tightly sealed to keep himself from laughing, "Yeah, thanks for... taking care of me and everything. Thank you,"

Liam nods, smiling — it's actually taking him a lot of effort to not be laughing, "You're welcome very much,"

"Yeah. So, I'll be in my office," and with that he quickly spins around and leaves as if he can't get out of there fast enough.

Liam laughs, shaking his head. Who thought he'd get to see nervous Aaron one day?

He gets to work after that and since they haven't been in for two days, work have accumulated and Liam isn't even aware of the time passing or even his surroundings in general until there's a knock on his table and he looks up.

The pen drops from his hand rather dramatically when he sees who it is. He knew there was a definite 99.5% probability that he will have to run into him sometime today but that doesn't mean he was prepared for it. And maybe it was the lack of his preparedness that prompts him to do what he does next but he definitely does not think what he is doing until later.

Stupidly, he ducks under the desk, hiding. It's of no use really since Jason is standing right before him and he's seen him but still he hides, and in that he manages to knock his head against the desk. Good, maybe that'll knock some sense inside his head.

Another couple of knocks on his desk and Jason clears his throat.

Liam would have stayed under the desk for the rest of his life if he could, saving himself from having to face any kind of embarrassment but of course Aaron has to make an appearance just then. Apparently, he has also been witnessing Liam making an absolute fool out of himself.

"Everything good out here?" he asks and then, "Hi, Jason,"

"Hello, boss,"

Liam scoffs to himself, unable to understand how Jason can stand there so casually talking to their boss, after admitting what he did the previous night. Isn't he in the least bit embarrassed?

Aaron leans over and finds Liam easily down the desk, "What are you doing down here?"

Fortunately, the pen he dropped just now is only within his reach and he quickly picks it up and shows it to him, stretching his lips into what he hopes is a smile. Aaron gives him a sceptical look but nods anyway and Liam has no choice now but to stand back up now. He forces himself to look at Jason and keep the smile on his face, not wanting to give off anything to their boss.

"Lunch?" he asks, and Jason nods. So much for staying away from him, "Yeah, okay, let's go,"

֍֍֍

"Are you never going to talk to me again?" Jason finally breaks the prolonged silence between them.

Liam spares him a small glance, and simply shrugs, picking up the glass in front of him, and drinks the water.

Jason sighs, and puts his hand forward, reaching for Liam but he only leans back, crossing his arms across his chest.

"You're acting as if I committed a murder,"

"I think I would have found that more acceptable," Liam finally relents and replies.

"Seriously?" he shakes his head and then lifts his shoulders, "I honestly don't get what's so wrong with liking Aaron,"

"I never said there was anything wrong with liking him,"

"Then what?"

"Just that I don't like him. How can you say something like that? It's fucking ridiculous,"

"Is it really though?" he raises an eyebrow and Josh to exclaim rather loudly to assert it:

"Yes!"

"Okay, okay. Then why didn't you just say that to me? Why did you have to leave and why did you have to ignore me for so long?"

"Because–" his answer comes to an abrupt stop.

To be frank, there was absolutely no reason for him to react like he did. He did overreact, he knows this, but... he doesn't know why. He could have just scoffed at Jason and rolled his eyes and laughed at his ridiculous notion, but that is not what he did.

Why did what Jason told him bothered him so much?

Just exactly how long is it going to take you to finally admit that you like Aaron as well? And why can't he still get that stupid question of his head?

He doesn't have a good answer at the moment but he's not going to admit that to Jason — his gigantic ego won't let him, and so he says, rather pathetically too, "Because it's ridiculous,"

There's this amusement behind Jason's eyes; there's definitely no mistaking it, but he's not saying anything about it and just nods. "Okay,"

"What okay?" he scowls.

"Nothing. Just okay,"

"Okay?"

"Yes, okay,"

Liam nods, feeling a little bit assured but deep down he knows that it's far from okay. And that he is missing something vital in this whole conversation; something he feels like is apparent and that he should know and doesn't know nonetheless. It's okay, he'll find out what it is soon enough.

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a/n: hiiiiii. i know i missed an update last week. sorryyyyyyyy. and.... i kinda won't have access to good internet for the next two weeks or so, so i won't be able to update then too. double sorryyyyy 😬👉🏽👈🏽

— on a more consoling note, i do plan on finishing this book by the end of this year, soooo, more frequent updates soon ??? hopefullyyyyy

— take care, you guys. see you next chapter 🤗