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Liam paced the kitchen, waiting for his mom to come down. They hadn’t talked much on the way home from Will’s the night before, and he was hoping he’d catch her before work.
“No, tell Captain Drake I’ll have to push the meeting to 10:40,” he heard her say as she rounded the corner. She looked at him, then at the breakfast bar. “Martin, I’ll call you back.”
“Morning Mom,” Liam grabbed the mug of coffee off the back counter and set it next her place setting. “Hope you’re hungry.”
She eyed the breakfast as she walked closer. “And exactly why is my teenage son up before seven on a Saturday, making crepes?”
“You like crepes.”
“Liam, what’s going on?”
“I wanted to talk about last night,” he leaned into the counter. “And I’m smart enough to not go into this conversation without a good bargaining chip. Powdered sugar?”
“No thank you,” she said eying him. “Okay we’re doing this now?”
“I would prefer it,” he replied.
“Alright,” she took the seat in front of him, folding her hands. “You lied to me.”
“Technically I never lied. You didn’t ask who Will’s parents were. Had you asked I would have told you the truth.”
“Okay you deliberately left out the information,” she countered. “And I think you did that because you know how I feel about that family.”
“You’re right, I do know how you feel about Oliver Queen,” he nodded. “But haven’t you always told me to never judge someone on things their family has done?”
“Be that as it may...”
“You don’t even know Will,” he added shaking his head. “And if you did, you wouldn’t be so quick to get pissed about this. He’s the nicest person I’ve ever met. I like him.”
“Liam, I know you like him and you two are friends but--”
“No Mom,” he cut her off taking a deep breath. “I
like
him.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah,” he dropped his gaze, picking at the berries on the edge of his plate.
“I mean you two haven’t known each other that long.”
“Well you also said when you know, you just know.”
She reached over, taking his hand in hers. “You haven’t told me that you like anyone since…”
“Since I came out?”
“Yeah.”
“Does it make it weirder now? That it’s not a concept or something?”
“Hey no, Liam,” she sighed. “Nothing about you has ever been a concept. You are a whole person. And I love that person so much.”
He smiled as he pulled back from the counter. “I know you do Mom. And I know that work’s been hard and stuff. I wouldn’t want to make it harder, but… I mean you always tell me to go after what I want. And not let things other people’s objections get in the way when it comes to these types of things. And I don’t want to lose out on the chance of something happening with Will, because you don’t like his father.”
“I’m starting to think those debate lessons were a bad choice on the mom front,” she laughed. “But in the interest of my son’s happiness, I will leave any and all work related issues I might have at the office. So you can let Will know he’s welcome here anytime. Provided I’m here to make sure you two don’t get up to anything.”
“What exactly do you think we’re gonna do?”
“I was 14 once, so I’m not answering that,” she said with a smile. “You like him huh?”
“Your crepes are getting cold.”
“No, no,” she pushed the plate away. “We had an agreement remember? No secrets when it comes to this stuff.”
“Fine,” he relented. “I like him. He’s funny. He’s smart. I’ve never seen anyone light up when taking a math quiz before.”
“And?”
“And I think he’s really cute,” Liam said ducking his head. “I can talk to him about anything. It’s nice.”
“Anything huh? Did you tell him your mother was the mayor?”
“I might have left that detail out,” he admitted with a groan. “Only because i know how this feud between you and Mr. Queen has gone. Like Will would have wanted to hang out with me if he knew my mother hated his dad.”
“I don’t
hate
Oliver Queen.”
“You just hate vigilantes and everything they stand for,” he replied. “I know I read your anti-vigilante bill last year.”
She rolled her eyes. “Sometimes I wonder where you got this opinionated streak.”
“You.”
“Funny,” she took a sip of her coffee before setting the mug down again. Liam could tell she wanted to say something else, but he hadn’t been ready to hear what. “What about your father?”
“What about him?” Liam moved back into the kitchen. He didn’t exactly what to have this conversation.
“Do you think you’ll tell him? Not that you have to,” she added with a warm smile. “It’s your choice who you tell and when you tell them.”
“I know that, I just…” he kicked the kitchen mat up a little, focusing on it’s woven edges. “He’s gonna hate me.”
“I don’t think that’s possible.”
“You know how he is,” he ducked his head, trying to shake off the nerves he felt from the conversation. “How he gets about things. And if I tell him I’m gay… He’s gonna make it about him or worse. And I don’t want to deal with that.”
“Again, I would never force you to tell him. But I think someday you’re gonna have to give him a chance to prove you wrong.”
“Why are you defending him? You hate him,” he shot her a look. “And he left us, remember?”
“He left me, Liam,” she stood from her seat and made her way towards him. “He didn’t leave you. And I know he’s spends a lot of time working when you go over there, but he does love you. It’s the only thing we’ve ever agreed on.”
He rolled his eyes, but smiled at her. “We should eat breakfast before you have to go to City Hall.”
“What exactly was your plan if the crepes didn’t work this morning?”
“
Beignets for dessert tonight,” he replied.
“I think you use my love for French cuisine to your advantage.”
“When else am I gonna use it?”
“No one will ever doubt you’re my son,” she teased.
---
Liam knocked on the door, letting himself bounce a little on his heels. He couldn't believe he left his history notes at Will’s. On the bright side his mom was still at work so she didn’t have to know he left his notebook there. The down side was he now owed Mac a favor. And he knew his sister well enough to know she would come collecting it sooner or later. Which is why he only asked her to drop him off. He’d find another way home. Even if he had to call an Uber to do it.
The door to the Queen home swung open, but the person on the other side wasn’t anyone he recognized.
“Hello?” The man asked giving him a side eye. “Ollie, you expecting any other illegitimate family members?”
Mr. Queen appeared behind him and pulled him out of the way. “Tommy, I think I said ‘don’t open my front door’.”
“Oh see I thought you said ‘get the door’. Miscommunication on my part,” Tommy shook his head and smiled at Liam. “You look around my nephew’s age. Friend?”
“Liam, ignore the insane man still wearing a beret,” Oliver said pushing Tommy slightly out of the way. “Do you want to come in?”
“Thanks,” he smiled as he followed him inside.
It wasn’t just them in the living room. Other than Felicity and Will, Liam didn’t recognize anyone. There was a petite brunette sitting on the chair with a guy around her age wearing a faded red hoodie.
On the couch two more women sat. One looked slightly uncomfortable, but happy to be there. And the other waited for the man named Tommy as he came and sat next to her.
“Hey,” Will got off his stool, rubbing the back of his head. “You’re here?”
“I forgot my notes,” Liam said pointing to his room. “And we have that history test Monday. I thought I’d just grab it real quick. I didn’t mean to bother you guys.”
“You are never a bother, Liam,” Mrs. Queen hopped down next as she grabbed a plate from the counter. “We have plenty of food, and you’re welcome to stay, eat, and study here. I’m sure Will has reached his limit on ‘embarrassing stories about Dad’.”
“But Thea and I didn’t even get to the plaid phase,” Tommy whined.
Thea laughed. “Oh my god. I remember that year. You looked like a weird, teenage lumberjack.”
Oliver glared at Tommy. “You aren’t allowed to say anything about my fashion choices at 15, while you wear that ridiculous thing on your head.”
“Hey I got this from a monk.”
The guy next to Thea gave him a strange look. “I hope you mean mime.”
“I really hope he doesn’t,” Felicity added with a shudder.
It felt surreal. Seeing that many people in one room, acting like a family. He couldn’t remember the last time he was in the same room with all the members of his. Liam thought about his mom, who he loved more than anything, but who worked the whole day usually. He had to get up at five in the morning just to talk with her. Then he thought about his dad, a man he only saw every other weekend, and only if he wasn’t away on a business trip. He had Mackenzie. But his sister exclusively lived with their Dad, and she barely spent more than a few hours a month in the same house as their mom. Not to mention the fact that she usually wasn’t even home when he stayed over.
But Will had a dad and a stepmom. He didn’t have siblings, but looking around the room Liam could tell he didn’t have any shortage of people in his life who loved him. It was hard not to feel a pang of jealousy. Not at Will himself. But of the family before him.
“William,” Oliver looked at his son and then around the room.
Will rolled his eyes but he picked up on whatever Mr. Queen had been trying to get at because he came to stand by Liam before he spoke. “Liam, these are my crazy relatives. My aunt Thea, her boyfriend Roy, that’s my aunt Emiko, my uncle Tommy, and his girlfriend Nat.”
“Crazy? I’m wounded,” Tommy said leaning back to look over at Felicity. “What kind of nonsense have you been feeding my nephew?”
“Felicity doesn’t need to feed William nonsense, he’s talked to you before,” Oliver challenged as he tossed Tommy a grin.
“We’ll be in my room,” Will grabbed Liam by the arm and pulled him off, presumably before anyone in his family could stop either of them.
Will shut the door behind them and he turned to smile and Liam. “Sorry about all that.”
“Why are you apologizing?” He couldn’t help but smile at Will.
“They can be a little ‘much’. Especially since Tommy just got back from Paris. He’s got a new girlfriend with him, and…” Will trailed off and Liam was acutely aware of the fact that they hadn’t been alone since he told Will he liked him. “I sort of told them right before you came over. It’s just my aunt Thea was asking me if Zoe and I were gonna start dating, and I sort of in a rush told her no because I liked someone else. And then you’re name had to come up. Is that cool?”
“Yeah, of course,” he laughed a little. “I told my mom too. She wants you to come over soon so she can get to know you.”
“You’re mom, huh?”
“I should have told you about that,” He moved and took a seat on Will’s bed. “We were just getting to know each other and I know you’ve heard how she feels about vigilantes, especially your dad. I didn’t want it to ruin anything. That’s not an excuse, but it’s the truth.”
“To be fair I didn’t tell you who my parents were either.”
“Yeah but I did already know,” he laughed as Will sat down next to him. “I still should have told you.”
“Well we could make an agreement to tell each other stuff from here on out.”
“Deal,” he dropped his gaze, letting his nerves fizz out. “I should grab my notes and head back.”
“You could stay if you want? Felicity wasn’t kidding when she said my dad made a lot of food. I think he thinks if he keeps feeding Thea and Tommy they won’t leave town again,” Will rolled his eyes. “It might be working on Tommy’s part. He’s never had much in the way of family.”
Liam avoided commenting, instead reaching for his notebook off Will’s bedside table. It’s not that he didn’t care, but instead he understood those words in a way that hurt too much for him to admit.
Instead Liam cleared his throat and looked at Will. “I’d love to stay.”
“Great,” he leaned back and Liam watched as he stretched to reach his backpack. “We still should study though. My parents will open that door in ten seconds if we don’t.”
As if on cue the door to Will’s room popped open as Felicity peeked her head in. “Boys, door stays open.”
“Felicity,” Will groaned.
“Would you rather your father come in here to deliver this rule?”
Liam barely contained his laugh, as he shook his head. “We can study at the table if you’d rather Mrs. Queen.”
“Don’t encourage this,” Will hissed as he sat up and looked at his stepmom. “Can you go now?”
“Studying for an hour,” she replied, pointing between them. “And then you come out and eat. I won’t offer food and then send someone home with an empty stomach. My Jewish mother would have my head.”
“Are you trying to say that Donna would cook for your friends?”
“Pray you and Liam never have to find out,” Felicity winked then left them alone.
Liam was smiling as he opened his notes.
“What’s with the look?” Will asked.
He just shrugged, not sure he could really explain it. Not sure Will would be able to understand. But he didn’t want to say nothing. “It’s just, you’re family’s great. And they really love you.”
“Great at being mortifying if that’s what you mean.”
But Liam couldn’t really say more. Will didn’t know his sister, he barely knew anything about his mother, and god he’d let the earth open wide before he let his father and the guy he liked interact. But for Will, he had a whole apartment and then some of people who loved him and would be there for him at the drop of a hat. Liam really couldn’t relate to that.
“Let’s get studying, that food smells amazing.”
Will rolled his eyes, and shoved his notes into Liam’s shoulder as he slid down to the floor. He’d let his mom meet Will, for sure, but after that? No one else really needed to get involved in his life. Things worked better that way.
---
“Where’s Dad?” Liam asked as he walked into the kitchen.
Mac was sitting on the counter near the sink, her latest boyfriend stood in front of the stove. Dave? Was that his name? Liam didn’t remember, and he actually didn’t really care. But if Mac felt comfortable enough to allow this week's boyfriend into the kitchen in the daylight hours, their dad must be…
“He had to fly to Ivytown late last night on business,” Mac replied sending him a glare. “Why?”
“Because he insisted I come over this weekend and he’s not even here,” he could dish the bite right back if he needed to, especially since he cancelled going to the movies with Will to spend time with his dad.
“Well it was a last minute thing so chill,” she said as she hopped off the counter. “He’ll be back before dinner tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow?!”
“Yeah, and until then could you make yourself scarce. Drew and I don’t exactly want to babysit you.”
Drew?
He’d preferred when the guy’s name was Dave and not dictating where he got to spend his time.
“I live here too, you can’t just tell me to leave.”
“Part time,” she added with a wink. “I’m here all the time with Dad. And I need a night of partying.”
“The last time you threw a party the cops showed up.” It was also the night he met Will so it’s not exactly like Liam was complaining. “Remember?”
“Yes, which is why you’re not coming or inviting your little freshman and younger crowd. Only grownups.”
“Where the hell am I supposed to go Mac?”
“Anywhere that isn’t here.”
He groaned as he stalked out of the kitchen, taking the stairs two at a time until he reached his room. If he could even call it his. His dad’s place only had three bedrooms, and since he only came over every other weekend, his room doubled as the guest room. So he kept nothing of real value in it.
He had his school bag and a duffle with some clothes in it. Mac made it clear their dad would be back the next night for dinner. Which meant she didn’t want to see Liam any sooner than 4pm tomorrow. If he texted his mom to pick him up she’d just call his dad and yell. And the last thing he wanted was to spark the custody battle up again.
His parents had an arrangement that worked for them. Mac came home for all the major school Holidays per their mom’s insistence, while living full time with their Dad because she went to school as Westmont. While Liam went to Starling Prep, and would trade off weekends and school vacations at his Dads. They four of them hadn’t been in the same place together in over a year and a half, when his mom launched an antique vase at his Dad’s head for missing his soccer game. So Liam liked to keep the peace between his folks.
He grabbed his phone and texted Will to see what he was up to. He figured if he stalled long enough maybe Mac would forget he was home at all, and let him stay if he kept out of sight.
I’m at the rec center with Zoe. She insists I need to learn self defense so I’m watching her class.
He laughed a little to himself. Knowing full well Will would rather be at home with a book, but probably filing each technique away for later use. He was good at remembering things.
“You have five minutes to scram Liam!” Mac called from the hallway. “I’m not kidding.”
“Give me a sec, I’m getting my crap together!” Apparently she wasn’t forgetting today.
Could I meet you guys there? My sister’s exiling me from our Dad’s house.
He figured there would be a few questions about his text. He expected to have to answer at least half of them before Will replied to his initial inquiry. But instead of 20 questions Will replied in the most Will way.
Yeah of course.
The rec center was only a 15 minute bike ride from his Dad’s place, and as he pulled to a stop in front of the old building he saw Will and the dark haired girl from the part, Zoe. That name he remembered, mostly because when she walked up Liam thought she was Will’s date. And since he had been majorly flirting he had been about ready to toss himself into a carter. But not a date. Just Will’s best friend.
“Hey,” Will said as he came down the steps. “Cool bike.”
Liam looked down at his Pokemon sticker covered bike and laughed. He locked the old thing to the rack before replying. “Sue me I got it when I was 10. Never had much of a reason for an upgrade.”
“I said cool didn’t I?”
“Even I thought that was sarcasm,” Zoe added as she hopped to the spot next to Will. “You’re ‘Oliver Queen’ is showing.”
“Shut up.”
“Whatever,” Zoe rolled her eyes and focused on Liam. “Look it’s Dimples.”
“Zo,” Will growled. “Not that.”
“He thinks I’m going to be rude.”
“I know you will.”
She held a hand up to silence him. “It’s nice to meet you, officially.”
“This is an official meeting?” Liam joked. “If I had known that I would have worn a better shirt.”
“Okay you get points for being clever, so good one.”
“Zoe be--”
“Yeah, yeah nice whatever.”
“You have your bag with you,” Will said as he nodded to Liam’s shoulder. “What’s up?”
He scratched at the base of his neck. He didn’t want to make his situation sound worse than it was, but it did look kind of bad from the outside he supposed.
“Mom’s at a thing in DC this weekend, and I’m supposed to be at my Dad’s but he had to fly to Ivytown for the day, so my sister is throwing a party.” He took a breath. “It’s not exactly my scene.”
“Didn’t Will meet you at a party?”
“Zoe,” Will shot her a look up Liam just grinned.
“I gotta get back in there, breaks almost up.” Zoe jumped back up onto the stairs. “But Liam you should stay. We’re having this huge cookout at the park after. I’m sure you can at the Queen’s after that too. I am.”
Zoe didn’t wait for him to respond as she retreated up the steps and left him and Will standing out front. He kicked at the ground, before he met Will’s eyes. The same eyes that watched him closer than ever before.
“So, let’s go watch Zoe kick some ass,” he moved to climb the steps but Will grabbed his arm, holding him in place. “What’s up?”
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah. Of course.” He smiled, and he tried to hide everything behind that smile. But part of him wondered how easy it would be to tell Will the truth. Tell him how his Dad’s never around or that his sister would rather he was invisible. How the only person in his family he could count on was so busy running the city she sometimes didn’t notice how bad his relationship with the rest of them had gotten. But Will had his own stuff, piles of it, and Liam couldn’t drop all this on him too. “Mac and I just don’t always see eye to eye.”
“I didn’t even know you had a sister.”
“Well I didn’t know you had aunts and uncles until a week ago either.”
“To be fair I didn’t know about one of those aunts until a month ago,” Will teased, but then his eyes turned serious. “You can tell me anything though. Just know that okay?”
“I got it,” Liam nodded, pulling on Will’s sleeve.And I appreciate it. But I’m fine. Really.”
“Okay, I believe you.”
“We going in?”
“I’ll catch up, I’m gonna call my Dad and tell him Zoe invited you to dinner and then to stay over.”
“I really don’t have to,” Liam placed his hands in his pockets. “Mac’s party plans probably burned out by now. I can go back, or I can just go to my mom’s and crash in my own room until my dad gets back tomorrow.”
“It’s fine Liam, my family loves having you over. Besides Dad made this stupid marinade for the steaks. You’re literally the only one who will care.”
“If your sure.”
“I’m sure,” Will added with a laugh. “Go, I’ll be in there in a minute.”
Liam made it into the rec center and followed the sounds until he came into a room with several punching bags and kids testing out moves. Zoe spotted him and walked over to the door.
“Where’s Will?”
“Calling his parents and to make sure I can come over,” Liam dropped his bag next to a set of folding chairs and gave her a look. “Thank you for inviting me.”
Zoe shrugged. “It seemed like the right thing to do.”
“Seemed like?”
“Will likes you,” she replied her tone lower than before. “Which I know you know because you like him.”
“Yeah, and?”
“And as his best friend it’s my job to make sure he’s happy,” she said with a nod. “And when he’s not happy it’s my job to vilify whatever or whomever makes him unhappy.”
“I’m a little lost.”
“I’ll make it easy for you Dimples,” she shifted so she faced him, even if she stood a few inches shy of meeting his eyes Liam still took a healthy step backwards. “If you hurt Will, I’ll break your ankle.”
“What?”
“I’ll let you choose the ankle, but break his heart and I’m breaking you. It’s how this deal works.”
“May I say something now?”
She eyed him critically then said. “You may.”
Liam took a breath and smiled at her. “You’re a really good friend Zoe. And Will’s lucky to have you in his life. Kind of wish I had a friend that good. Anyway, I can’t promise you that I won’t do something stupid sometime in the future. But I promise I’ll never intentionally hurt him. It’s the last thing I’d want to do.”
“You know when you say nice things like that it’s kind of hard to keep up my toughness,” she gave him a grin. “And maybe we could become friends too. As long as you know Will’s always my top priority.”
“Then we have that in common.”
“I guess we do, Dimples.”
He chuckled lightly. “Any chance on scratching the nickname?”
“I would but I’ve already grown attached.” She laughed. “Don’t worry you’ll get used to my charm.”
“I’m looking forward to it.”
Will soon found them and the two of them took a seat on the side of the room, watching as Zoe went back to her bag and listened to the instructor who, according to Will, was her dad.
It was nice to be out of his dad’s house and away from Mac. And sitting that close to Will was the best part of it all. Maybe his day was looking up.
---
Liam had to get over his nerves and just do it. It’s not that things weren’t good. They were amazing. At least three days a week the two of them spent hanging out at Will’s house. Sometimes his mom would get home early, and insist Liam invite Will over. They texted all the time. He even hung out with Will and Zoe nearly every weekend whether he was at his mom’s or his dad’s. Things were practically perfect. Except for one giant glaring thing. He still hadn’t asked Will out.
To be fair, Will hadn’t asked him out yet either and that wasn’t filling him with a lot of confidence. They liked each other. They admitted they liked each other. Shouldn’t that have been the harder part? Why did it have to be the asking? Why did Liam have to feel like he throat would close up every time he tried to get the words out? Or hear the doubt creep into his head anytime he thought about it? It felt like a waking nightmare that he couldn’t help but focus on.
Like tonight, Parent’s Night at school. He should be listening to what his teachers were telling his mom. But he’s eyes kept drifting across the room to where Will stood next to Mr. and Mrs. Queen as they talked to the headmaster.
“It’s about time,” he heard his mom mutter, and pulled his focus from Will and towards the door to the cafeteria, to his father.
“What’s he doing here?” Liam asked her. “I didn’t invite him.”
“I did. I assumed he’d be on time though.” she replied, then plastered a rather fake smile on her face when his dad walked over. “Richard, nice of you to show up.”
“I was stuck in an meeting,” his dad said with a heavy sigh. Then he placed a hand on Liam’s shoulder and squeezed. “Hey, kid. What did I miss?”
“Not a lot,” Liam said, keeping his gaze on the floor. “Just my first three teachers.”
“Also known as half his school schedule,” his mom added with a bite to her tone. “If you weren’t committed to coming tonight, you could have just told me that on the phone.”
“Easy Emily, we are in earshot of voters.” His dad leaned down and Liam could hear the smirk in his voice. “Wouldn’t want them to hear you go hysterical over a parent/teacher conference.”
Liam saw a retort building on his mom’s face, but her phone beeped and she let out a groan. “That’s the deputy mayor. I told him to call me when a file I needed came in.” she patted Liam’s cheek. “This will take two minutes I swear.”
When she ushered herself out of the crowd, his dad spun him around and smiled. “Come on kid, let’s blow the rest of this off.”
“Dad, I can’t,” he tried to keep a smile on his face as he spoke. “Mom’s gonna be back any minute.”
“How many times has she told you those calls will take a minute and then she’s gotta run to the office?”
“As many as you,” he let the words slip out before he could stop them. “Dad I didn’t mean--”
“Sometimes you take after your mom a little too much, kid,” Richard said with a shake of his head. He looked down at his own phone and then added. “I should go.”
“Dad come on, please stay. I’m sorry.”
His dad waved him off. “I’m not mad kid. I just have a date tonight that I’m already late for.”
“So you made plans even though you told mom you’d come to this?”
“Her name is Candy, son. How could I to say no?”
It wasn’t anything new. Liam had dealt with his dad skipping functions for other women since long before his parents divorced. But each time he stupidly hoped maybe things would be different, maybe his dad would be different.
“Yeah, I get it.” Even though he didn’t. What could he do instead? Tell his dad it pissed him off that he was never around? That his mom had cancelled a city council meeting just so she could be here tonight and Liam didn’t even think to ask his dad because he knew what the answer would be? He couldn’t say either of those things. So instead he put another smile on his face. “I’ll see you next weekend.”
“That’s my boy,” Richard, patted his shoulder, as he sent a quick text. “We’ll catch a game and you can tell me all about what girl you like.”
His nervous laugh rattle his chest, as he pulled back. “Sounds like fun.”
“Bye kid,” he said with a wink. “Tell your mom this was work related, kay?”
“Yeah, no problem.”
Liam watched as his dad left, then grabbed his bag and headed out towards the courtyard. He needed a minute alone before his mom came back in. Just a few seconds to collect himself.
As the cool spring air hit his face, he noticed the figure sitting on the picnic table, her tablet out in front of her. Liam hadn’t even noticed Mrs. Queen had slipped out of the meetings. But then again he had been preoccupied.
“Just tell me the next time you’re gonna piggy back off my system Cisco, and we won’t have to go through this,” she said with a sigh. “Okay the virus should be scrubbed now… I forgive you, just don’t do that again and my system won’t fry yours. Okay bye.”
She looked up and Liam found an apology already forming on his lips. Even if he didn’t know why. “I wasn’t trying to eavesdrop.”
“Hi Liam, come sit down with me,” she waved him over and he took the open spot next to her. “Was that your Dad we saw?”
He paused. Because he had come out there to stop thinking about his father, and apparently it would be a harder feat than normal. “Yeah, but he couldn’t stay.”
“That’s too bad,” she put a hand on his arm and smiled. “I’m sure you wish he could have.”
“Not really,” he muttered, then remembered where he was and who he was talking to. “I mean he’s got a lot going on. Work’s always busy, so I get that he can’t come to things like this.”
“You know when I was your age I used to tell my mom that I didn’t care when she had to work late and miss my science fairs,” Felicity continued with a sad look on her face. “My dad wasn’t around when I was kid. And I told her I was better off that way, that I liked doing things on my own. That it made me feel more independent.”
“Did it?”
She shook her head. “Not really. But she worked so hard to give me everything I had. And she did it all on her own. I didn’t want to make her feel she wasn’t doing her best.” She shrugged as she slipped her tablet back into her bag. “And then when I left for college I had fed myself the line of ‘I don’t need anyone’ for so long, I started to believe it. It took me a long time to shed that.”
“He should have stayed,” Liam whispered, then met her eyes. “I mean Mom’s the mayor and she’s here. This is what he always does so I don’t even know why it bothers me anymore. But it does.”
“Sounds like something you should talk to him about,” she said as she stood. “Those aren’t easy conversations to have at any age. But you’re right, your mom is here. And I saw you two tonight. She’s so proud of you. And she has every reason to be.”
“Thanks Mrs. Queen,” he replied. “It means a lot.”
“We have to break you of that. You can call me Felicity you know that right?”
“It would feel too weird.”
“Yeah, yeah. I should head back in before Oliver scares all of Will’s teachers,” she gave him a wink. “If I see your mom, I’ll tell her you’ll be back in a few.”
“Thank you.”
“You are very welcome, sweetheart.”
“Felicity,” Will peeked his head outside and gave her a desperate look. “Dad’s 30 seconds away from running the PTA, please get in here.”
“I have to go save my living room from posters and wine moms.”
“Wouldn’t you be the wine mom?” Will asked her with a grin.
“I can ground you,” she teased, as she walked past him. “Five minutes and then you come save your dad and me from these parents. Deal?”
“Deal,” he said, the slid his gaze over to Liam. “Hey.”
“Hey,” Liam nodded him over, and pushed his bag to the ground so Will could sit down. “Fun night?”
“Sure we’ll go with fun. I think my Dad is trying to overcompensate for too many years of missed parent/teacher conferences,” Will huffed. “I wish he’d back off a bit.”
“No you don’t,” he countered, reaching a hand over and placing it on Will’s. “Trust me, you’re lucky that your dad’s this invested in you. Not a lot of people get that.”
Will moved his hand until their fingers locked together, and Liam kept watching him as the heat rose in his own face. He liked Will a lot. The heart pounding, head spinning kind of lot. And he was starting to hear how every doubt and freak out that kept playing in his head sounded suspiciously like his own father.
“Will?” He shook off the nerves as best he could.
“Yeah?”
“Do you want to go to the movies with me this weekend?” He felt the words more than he heard them, felt them unlocking a part of himself that he hadn’t even realized was hidden away. “Just you and me I mean.”
“Like a date?”
“That was my intention, yeah.”
Will nodded slowly, his smile a brilliant light. “I was hoping you’d ask me that.”
“So is that a yes?”
“Yes. I’d love to.”