CARE - chp 2

Hi lovelies! I hope you're all well today.

I finally had a burst of inspiration and decided to write a couple chapters. I revised this one as well, and I think I did a pretty good job. I wrote this while in bed and in the most comfortable onesie ever. xP

Hope you enjoy!

Q : what's your favourite animal ?

A : i love hyenas and wolves

Liam POV

"Dude, I am so not ready for Testing. It sounds so stressful." Connor whined. Liam had to admit that it scared him as well. He already knew his classification; a Caregiver. At least, that's what he hoped for. A part of himself deep down realized that he may have more of a mixed classification. He sometimes felt himself regress involuntarily, and that really frightened him.

It scared him, not because of the shame that some people felt due to their classification, but because he was afraid for his future love life.

How could you care for someone, when at a moment's notice, you could slip into a younger headspace and lose yourself in a headspace where you can't adequately care for someone.

He couldn't be a Little, could he?

He knew he was in good hands even if he was. His cousin, Killian, was one of the best Caregivers he knew. Killian had told him that Liam would be an amazing Caregiver, even if it wasn't his primary classification.

He had helped raise Liam after tough times with his mother, and had taught him to be a person that people could rely on, all the while knowing his limits and his weaknesses, and embracing them to grow.

He was afraid of a Little classification. He felt that people would reject him for a part of him he couldn't control.

His biggest fear was to be alone..

"Uhhh, hello? Earth to Liam." He looked up and sees a perplexed Connor. He cealred his throat and grinned, trying to lighten the mood.

"Sorry, I'm just really stressed about the Testing as well. What classification do you think you're gonna be?" He waved at a couple people as they passed by them, doing his best to put on a warm smile and happy demeanor. He was known as the popular kid in the school; the warm and gentle kind of popular, not the stupid erratic kind like Connor. He knew everyone, and everyone knew him. He helped around as much as he could; listening to people's problems, helping with school homework. He even ended up tutoring, but found that it was a bit too stressful for him, so he stopped.

It's one of the things that brought him joy; to help those around him.

He had gotten used to responsibility when his mom fell ill, before Killian was around, and when he had to take care of the house and his mother. He never once resented the fact, and he took it as a learning experience.

"Bro, how would I know? I'm totally not a Pet, Little." Liam gave him a 'yeah right' look and was met with a shocked expression from Connor. "Excuse you, mister?" Connor grumbled and smacked Liam's back, which sent them both laughing and snickering at each other.

Liam had met Connor back in their second grade. While Liam had been talking to a couple kids in the playground, Connor decided to play a prank on him; the new kid, always fun to pick on. He dumped a handful of sand on Liam's hair, then snickered, albeit he did it alone as the other kids were more shocked and worried than amused. Connor had expected Liam to get angry, or start crying, which would have given him the attention he craved for. Instead, Liam gently sat him down on the bench and explained how his behaviour was rude and unacceptable.

Connor apologized not long after, and they have been close - inseparable - since then.

"I'm just teasing you. Maybe a Neutral, then?" Liam was not sure what his friend would be classified as. Connor was a rather difficult and contradictory man, so he wouldn't be surprised if his Classifications were all over the place, or if he was simply a Neutral.

"Yeah, I mean, maybe. What about you? A cute lil pup eh, eh?" Connor elbowed him gently in the ribs with a smirk on his face, raising his eyebrows in a teasing manner.

Liam's face fell for a bit as he looked at him in horror, then went back to a goofy face. "Oh hush, Connor. I'm most likely a Caregiver. Killian says I would make a great Caregiver." He stated with pride, puffing up his chest and grinning his goofy grin. That was a compliment that had always stuck with him, and would stick with him throughout his life.

Any compliment from Killian is to be proud of.

"Well don't stress too much about it, Lili. Your family is cool with pretty much everything, ya' know?" Connor wasn't wrong. Liam scowled at the name and ruffled his hair while half jumping on him to express his annoyance.

His family had always been supportive of him; when he came out, his mother had bought a pride flag, as well as mini pride flags, and had hung them all over the house during pride month. When he was trying to find himself in his style, his mother had never hesitated to grind for money just so he could be happy. And as soon as Killian entered their lives, it was the missing piece for that little void that the family held after his father had left.

He felt very lucky to have a family like them.

"You look totally lost in your thoughts right now, Li. You okay?" Liam looked up at his friend and gave him a lopsided grin.

"There's just a lot on my mind right now, Coco." Connor patted him on the back, completely unbothered by the nickname, and then brought him in for a quick embrace, though it was more like a chokehold. They had reached Connor's class, and he high-fived a couple of his friends as they walked past him and into the classroom.

"Well look, just be yourself, and let nature take its course. You got this, handsome." Connor gave him a wink and then walked into his class, closing the door behind him as he was the last to come in.

Liam shook his head with a chuckle and sighed, then made his way to his classroom. He still had the whole day ahead of him, yet he knew it was going to be a long one.

As he continued down the hall, he saw a hunched over figure hugging a backpack. The figure was rocking back and forth, their breathing erratic by the movement their stomach made. As he made his way closer, he frowned as he was met with Charlie's puff-eyed and quivering face.

"Oh my gosh, Charlie." He hurried to his side and gently went in for a light hug, knowing the boy wasn't the most touchy person. Liam just wanted to give him some comfort, maybe help him to his class. His arms were on either side of him, not pressing him together, but putting some pressure in hopes to ground him.

Charlie did not seem to mind.

Instead of pushing Liam away, Charlie leaned into the touch, taking a breath out and whimpering a little.

"Now what's wrong, Charlie? Did someone hurt you?" He knew that Charlie was the quiet kid, even if he wasn't bullied, he was always babied and viewed as less than. He had always tried to include Charlie in activities when everyone seemed to forget about him. He couldn't help but skip a heartbeat every time he saw Charlie's face light up from the attention and care.

He always wanted to treat him with love and care if that meant seeing his smiling face.

"Loud. Too much." Charlie grasped his bag with more force, his knuckles turning slightly white from the amount of strength he was using,

"Do you want to go to the Nurse's office to calm down? I can bring you there." Charlie nodded and then shook off Liam's hands, standing up and looking down at Liam with that same twinkle in his eyes, and even a small smile etched into his rather somber expression. "Alright then." Liam stood up and handed Charlie his backpack, then held out his hand if he wanted to take it.

Charlie took a step back and shook his head, then looked at him a bit fearfully. Liam smiled and put his hand down, then started heading to the Nurse's office, making sure that he was following him. He nodded approvingly as he followed, and then once they reached the office, he ushered Charlie in and waved goodbye before heading back to class, leaving him with the nurse that Charlie saw very often due to these overloads. He wanted to be the one to comfort him, and maybe it would happen one day, he hoped.

He had a bright smile on his face as he walked to his classroom. Charlie was such a nice boy, he couldn't help but blush.

Kind of cute too..

He shook his head and then reached his class, heading in and apologizing for his tardiness, and explaining what had happened. He took his seat and was immediately bombarded by questions from Erica. She was feigning worry for Charlie, which she never usually had. She knew it was Charlie due to him being late for class, which he often never did, unless he was caring for those close to him, like Charlie and Connor.

She was one of the people that looked down on Charlie, in fact, and that had always rubbed Liam the wrong way. He assured her everything was fine, shutting her down everytime she tried to discuss hanging out because frankly, he wasn't interested.

He was also very gay.

Tonight was the night.

WC : 1629