The Boyfriend Pt. 61

The Boyfriend Part LXI: Nowhere Near This Good

Liam

"Wow, that was amazing Liam."

"Seriously, I came over here with high expectations, but those noodles blew them out of the water. And this lemonade is fantastic."

Liam grinned at Tasha and Kiki as he took a sip of his own raspberry lemonade. It wasn't as tangy as he usually preferred it, but he'd been making it for other people and not just himself.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it, but I mostly just helped with the food. Mom did most of it. I do miss having a full kitchen though."

Liam glanced over at his brother in time to see Kekoa roll his eyes.

"Is that why you didn't come home for Thanksgiving and left me to help with all the cooking? Blakes fully stocked kitchen?"

Tasha cackled at that, "What's the 'we have that at home' version of Blake?"

Liam shot Tasha a flat look, "You? Even more teasing, but no follow through?"

Kekoa nearly choked on his drink, and Liam reached over to slap him on the back, while Kiki laughed at that, cheeks red, and Tasha glared at him.

Liam had worried things might be a bit weird between him and Tasha after their conversation the other night, but if anything, they were even more comfortable with one another now that what they'd said was out in the open.

The brunette opened her mouth, sparkling eyes narrowed, then cocked her head and pressed her lips together for a moment before relaxing back in her chair.

"Actually, I think I'm okay with that. It's fun making you squirm. I'll make sure I get Blake's official stamp of approval when I get back."

Liam rolled his eyes tilting his head back against the chair as Kiki and Kekoa laughed, "Dear God, you two are going to torture me, aren't you?"

"Three."

Liam straightened, glancing over at Kiki, "Three?"

Kiki met his gaze with a Tasha-like grin, "Seems fun. I might as well join in. Especially since I'll probably also be a victim if I don't."

Tasha cackled at that, kicking her feet as she leaned back in the chair, and Liam glared at Kekoa when he glanced at his brother to find him snickering.

"So, how have things been for you at school?"

Kekoa snorted, "Not a chance. I guarantee neither of them care about anything that's going on in my school life. Honestly, compared with yours, I don't either."

"Actually, I have been meaning to ask you something, Liam."

Liam met Tasha's sparkling gaze, frowning at the concern in her voice, "What's up?"

She bit her lip for a moment, glancing at Kiki, then Kekoa before meeting his gaze again, "Are you doing alright? I realized I never asked you how the holidays are. I know you've seemed fine, but..."

Liam settled back in his chair and took a sip of his lemonade before giving Tasha a half smile.

"I'm fine. It's still weird, but--" he gestured around to them, "hanging out with you all and the guys from high school helps."

Liam hesitated for a moment, chewing on his lower lip. He glanced at his friends, considering if he should go into anything with them. Kekoa already knew. He and Liam knew pretty much everything about one another.

Tasha and Kiki know almost as much by this point.

When the doorbell rang and the dog started barking, anything Liam had been about to say fell out of his head. Before he could get up to see who was at the door though, Kekoa was already out of his chair.

"I'll get it."

Liam looked after his brother for a moment, knowing that he had done that on purpose, then looked back to Kiki and Tasha. Concerns still shown in their eyes.

"I promise I'm fine," he said, looking at both girls in turn, "as fine as I can be, at least. Not dwelling on it does make things easier, though."

Tasha and Kiki both colored at that, busying themselves in finishing their, and it was Liam's turn to smirk at them, noticing their clothing as he did so.

Both had dressed-up a bit, despite him telling them they didn't have to.

Tasha had worn a calf-length, flowing dress with a neckline that went straight across her chest, leaving her shoulders bear under her knit cardigan while hiding any cleavage. It still looked amazing on her, and Liam wondered for a moment if he'd ever seen his friend in something unflattering, before looking at Kiki.

Next to Tasha, she looked a bit less dressed up, but Liam knew that for Kiki, her clothes weren't part of her normal wardrobe. Instead of wearing something that kept her abs visible, she'd worn a powder-blue romper and a thigh-length cardigan. Liam and Kekoa had each just worn a T-shirt and jeans.

When Liam heard Kekoa open and close the sliding door again, he looked over and blinked at the sight of his brother carrying a rectangular package.

Kekoa passed it to him as he sat down, "It's for you, bro."

Liam looked at the address, smiling when he saw Blake's name on it.

Then he frowned, thinking about what he and his friends had just talked about.

Damn...I haven't even told Blake about everything.

Even worse, he wasn't sure it was fair to. Not anytime soon, at least. She was already dealing with all the fallout from her mom's death and dealing with the estate. Liam didn't want to put his burden on her.

Would she be hurt that I didn't tell her, though?

Tasha's gasp pulled him out of his thoughts, and he forced a smile, tucking that decision away for later.

"Is that from Blake?"

Tasha was leaning forward, eyes flickering back and forth between the package and him, "Is it something dirty?"

Liam arched an eyebrow, "How would I know? And, I don't think so. I think it's my Christmas present from her."

"Open it!" Kiki said, grinning.

Liam rolled his eyes at his friends, but did as they asked, deciding it would be better to distract himself with something nice then ruin his mood by thinking about things that could wait until later.

When his nails weren't enough to Pierce the tape on the package, Tasha lent hers, carefully slicing through before handing get back to him.

Carefully removing the packaging and depositing it beside his chair, Liam found what he was pretty sure was a book, but a bit too wide, tall, and thin to be a normal one. Atop it, was a note, which Liam gazed at for a moment before opening and reading.

Liam,

I miss you so much. I wanted to get you something that you can use both here and back home, that I hope will mean something to you. I know that you've said you struggle with 20th century music, but that you'll know you'll be able to use it and have fun with it if you just find a way to learn about and apply it.

I found this in UCLA 's library, and contacted the professor who wrote it. He's also a composer. The book has his e-mail, and he said he would be happy to answer any questions you may have. The book has example scores in it, excerpts from composers talking about their own writing, and composition in general, his observations about how to apply these in composition, and the checklists and assignments that he has his class work through.

I hope I did a good job.

Blake.

Liam swallowed the lump in his throat as he finished reading the letter, smiling at the little blue heart Blake had put next to her name.

He read over the note again, smile growing a bit bigger, than carefully folded the note and tucked it into his pocket before tearing at the packaging of the book.

He couldn't help but smile when he opened it.

It had the professor's name, faculty e-mail, and the course number on it along with "Applied Principles of 20th Century Harmony" and the little stamp showing that it was purchased from the UCLA library.

Opening the book and flipping through the pages, Liam found himself grinning. The sight of the notation made him eager to go look up performances and read through them while listening, and when he got to the first page going over the observations and the assignments, he itched to go into his room and break out his pad of staff paper.

"Wow, you're never allowed to fuck this up."

Liam looked over at Kekoa to find his brother grinning at him.

"Did you ask for that, or did she just get it for you?"

Liam shook his head, "Neither of us told each other anything we wanted."

Kekoa let out a low whistle, "Yeah if you fuck up, I'm taking her side."

Liam snorted, flipping off his brother, but knew he had a point.

"What did she get you?" Tasha asked, "Let me see."

Liam handed her the book and had to hold in a laugh at the utter lack of comprehension in Tasha's sparkling eyes as she flipped through the pages before handing it to Kiki.

"I've told you how much of a dork you are, right?" she said, folding her arms under her impressive chest. Liam wondered whether that was out of habit, or intentional.

"I think it's been at least a day since the last time."

Tasha rolled her eyes, but smiled at him, "Well, it looks like both you and your girlfriend are. You're also annoyingly adorable."

"None of this makes any sense to me," Kiki said, smiling as she handed him the book, "but it seems like she knows you really well."

Liam grinned, looking down at the book again, "Yeah, she does."

Then he swore, "Fuck."

His friends frowned at him.

"My present is nowhere near this good," he explained.

They laughed at him, so he flipped all of them off.

They laughed at him, so he flipped all of them off, which only made them laugh harder. For the rest of the day, he tried to focus on that. Not the heavy feelings Tasha's question had brought up, and not the guilt over not having told Blake about them.

A/N: Do you think Liam is right? Or is he just doubting himself?

P.S. Sorry about the lack of a shower last week dudes. I've been travelling and going to weddings, and still working the day job, so I didn't have as much time as I thought to format and post.