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Thank goodness! I have finally finished writing chapter twelve. That took way longer then it should have. Hopefully the last few chapters of this story flow more smoothly. Anyway here we are with chapter seven and up above is Brody!

~*~*~

Chapter Seven

As the end of class bell sounded, Liam quickly grabbed his supplies and bolted for the door. Unfortunately, Chase must have done the same because he just as quickly caught up with him.

"Liam!" He called after him. "Hey Liam!"

Reluctantly, Liam slowed his steps so Chase could catch up to him. A large smile was flashed on his face and his blue eyes bright. "Thanks for waiting," he said. "So do you have any more classes for the day?"

Slowly shaking his head, Liam answered, "No I'm done. Only classes one through five."

"Oh." Chase's voice seemed disappointed. "I have one more class to go, but I was hoping we could hang out after school."

Liam stared at him with wide eyes. He hadn't expected that. Did Chase just ask him out? No. He said 'hang out.' Those are two very different meanings. Right? Before Liam could answer, Liz spoke up behind him, "Hey Li. Ready to go?"

Breathing a small sigh of relief, Liam said, "Sorry Chase I can't. Bye."

The exit was more than a little awkward, but honestly at that point Liam didn't care. He just needed to get away. Chase was different from the other guys and he made Liam lose his entire sense of reason when they spoke. It's only been a few hours and he's already beginning to lose it.

"You looked like you needed a rescue," Liz remarked as they walked out of the school and toward her car.

"You have no idea," Liam admitted.

"That's Chase right?" Liam nodded. "Yeah I thought so. Chase is in my ASL class. He seems nice and is pretty cute."

Liam chose not to comment.

Turning to Liam briefly as she drove Liz narrowed her eyes before returning them to the road. "Chase seems to like you," she pointed out.

Refusing to look at her, Liam shrugged away her comment. "I don't think so."

"You didn't see the way he was looking at you then. Trust me it definitely wasn't in a friend way." Liz hesitated before continuing, "Why don't you give him a chance?"

"Okay, first of all, we don't even know if Chase is gay," Liam argued finally turning toward her.

"He is," Liz interrupted him. "I have excellent gay-dar."

His eyes narrowed at her. "Liz you're not gay."

She brushed off his comment, "Doesn't mean it's not spot-on."

Ignoring her, he continued, "Anyway, whether he's gay or not it doesn't matter. I don't like him." Under his breath, he added, "I can't like him."

"Liam it's been three years since Brody. I know it's not exactly easy for you to warm up to new people and to trust others, but you can't keep putting your life on hold. You're only letting Brody win if you do. Maybe it's time to take a chance and get back to dating again." Liz's words were heaped with concern as she spoke.

"I can't Liz," he whispered fiercely. "I just can't."

"I know and I'm sorry, but I'm worried about you, Li. I don't want you to wake up someday and regret all the time you wasted being scared." Her words were harsh, but true. Honestly Liam feared the same thing, but unlike Liz or Leslie he wasn't able to push himself past that fear and enjoy life. Softly, she asked, "What are you scared of?"

Liam scoffed at her question. "It would be easier to tell you what I'm not scared of."

Raising an eyebrow, Liz urged him to continue.

Sighing, Liam did so. "I don't know. . . It's not so much the falling in love thing that scares me." He glanced at his friend briefly before turning back to the window. "I guess it's more about the ending. Every marriage I have ever witnessed has ended in failure. My grandparents, aunts, uncles, and even my own parent's marriage. It's all ended in divorce and I guess that terrifies me."

"I can see that," Liz understood. "It's making you wonder if there is such a thing as a stable, happy marriage. Look at my parents though. They've been married for almost thirty years, and trust me they aren't getting divorced anytime soon."

"I suppose." Liam thought about it. "But that still doesn't make me fearless. On the one hand I want to fall in love and possibly get married someday, but on the other hand, I'm terrified of what would happen. Although, I'm also worried that if I do live without love then I will someday come to regret it."

Looking back at this friend Liam noticed that Liz wasn't driving. Glancing out the window he saw that they were back at his house. When had that happened?

"So what are you gonna do?" Liz asked him.

Shaking his head, he admitted, "I have no idea."

Taking that as his leave Liam climbed out of her car and made his way to the front door of his house. The house was dark and quiet just as it usually was after school. His mom was working and probably wouldn't be back until five or six. Until then he had the house to himself.

Liam was tired. It wasn't just the first day back at school that made him exhausted. It was all of the emotions he was feeling too. His fears seemed to overwhelm him to the point of madness. He wasn't sure what to do or if there was even anything he could do. Was he strong enough to fight through his fears? He wasn't sure.

One thing was certain though. He was tired of running. Liam has been running from everything for so long. At this point he didn't know what to do. After years of running, is it possible to just stop? Is it possible to pick up where he left off and carry on as if nothing happened? Liam wasn't so sure.

Entering his bedroom, Liam dropped his backpack on the floor. Tired he allowed himself to drop onto his bed. Soon enough Liam began to drift off to sleep. Only just as he was about to pass out for good he was jolted awake by the ringing of the house phone.

Groaning slightly, Liam turned onto his side and picked up the phone that sat on the receiver on his nightstand. He was about to answer but froze when he immediately recognized the number. His suspicions were confirmed after looking at the clock. It was the same day and the same time. His father was calling him once again for his weekly attempt.

For a brief moment, Liam actually considered answering. His anxiety rose at the thought. Trying to keep his breath steady, he placed the phone down and ignored the ringing until it eventually stopped. Silence filled the house once again.

Perhaps someday he would stop running, but today is not that day. Liam closed his eyes and tried again to block out the thoughts that roamed through his head. Maybe a nap would do him some good.

~*~*~

The next day Liam was more quiet than usual. He didn't speak during the car ride with Liz. Lunch was a silent affair. In a few classes, he even got into trouble because his teachers would call on him and he still refused to speak. The teachers began to get annoyed easily.

But soon enough it was his final class of the day. Sitting at his desk, he quietly read as he waited for class to begin. Once Chase entered the classroom he immediately made his way to the desk beside Liam.

"Hey Liam," he greeted brightly. Chase definitely seemed to be the glass-is-half-full type of guy, and today of all days, Liam couldn't help but find that a little irritating. But at the same time Chase's smile made Liam want to brighten up and sing show tunes.

Turning back to his book, Liam refused to say anything.

Chase noticed this, but didn't seem to care. "You know the weather in this state is so confusing. In Miami it was always hot and sunny. But it's so different here. I swear, yesterday it was sunny one minute and then literally like a few minutes later it was pouring down rain, and then it was sunny again. This state is going to give me whiplash."

Liam couldn't hide the small smile on his face. Chase was so new. For his entire life Liam has lived in Oregon. In a way he was used to the dramatic weather changes, but for some it took away to get used to. Recently, he had actually seen a post on Facebook that was quiet spot on. It said ME: OREGON, YOU CANNOT FIT ALL SEASONS INTO ONE DAY. Then it said, OREGON: HOLD MY BEER.

Chase noticed the smile on Liam's face. "There we go. See I got you to smile."

Liam sent him a small glare despite the annoyed grin on his face. Before either of them could say anything though, Mr. Moore entered the classroom.

"Good morning class," he greeted. "Now today will be the first day of a two week project." The students all stared at him with wide eyes. Two weeks was a long time to work on one project. Mr. Moore paused for dramatic effect. "Today we will begin . . . the Baby Project."

Liam immediately groaned. He remembered when Liz did this project when she took her health class a few years ago. Her partner was an ass who refused to help with the baby. He claimed it was "women's work" and forced her to do everything. Liam really hoped his partner would be willing to pull their own weight.

"Now some of you may be familiar with this project," Mr. Moore acknowledged Liam's groan. "For those of you who aren't then listen up. For the next two weeks you will be caring of a baby simulator. They will cry when they need to be fed, changed, and even if they just need attention. If you hold the baby by the leg, arm, or head then the baby will register it as abuse and you will fail. Also you will each be paired up with a partner and assigned imaginary careers for the next two weeks."

The students groaned at having assigned partners, but Mr. Moore just stared at them with a smile on his face. Walking to his desk he picked a large box from the floor and placed it on his desk. The box was filled with the baby dolls. Mr. Moore began to call out the names of the students who would be partnered together and then he handed them the supplies they would need as well as their career assignments.

He eventually got to Liam. "Now there are an uneven number of students in this class," he announced. "So Liam you will be paired with Chase for the project."

Liam froze staring at him. Of course. It was just his luck.

Chase smiled at him and said, "It's fine Mr. Moore. We understand."

"Excellent." He smiled. "Now Chase you work as a dentist while Liam you will be a physical therapist." Mr. Moore handed them the baby. "Congratulations! It's a boy!"

Chase turned to Liam as Mr. Moore walked over to the next student pairing. "So let's not let this be awkward okay?"

Liam nodded for once in agreement. For the first time today, he said, "Yeah, you're right. Anyway, what are we naming our son?"

In a way Liam never thought he would be saying that before.

Chase looked at the doll for a moment and said, "Harley."

Liam sent him an odd look. "Harley?"

Laughing, Chase shrugged. "What? He looks like a Harley to me."

Join his laughter, Liam nodded his head. "Okay. Harley it is."

The two smiled as they began to create a plan for the assignment. Liam watched Chase quietly and sighed with relief. Maybe, just maybe, this project wouldn't be so bad after all.

~*~*~

I'll try and upload again soon! Happy mother's day everyone!

~Kaylee

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