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Here we have it! This is the final chapter of part one! 

Up above we have a picture of Chase. 

~*~*~

Chapter Five

Heavy breathing. . .

Cold hands on his skin. . .

Panting. . .

Soreness. . .

Pleasure. . .

Liam's hazel colored eyes snapped open suddenly. His dream – actually memory – of what happened the other night was still sharp in his mind. He could feel his face begin to redden just from thinking about it. A sharp knock sounded from the front of the house. No wonder he woke up, Liam thought. The noise woke him.

Climbing out of his bed, Liam glanced at his alarm clock, but sighed at the results. It was only ten in the morning on a Sunday. He should still be sleeping. Every part of him wanted to crawl back into bed and block out the noise, but the rational part of his brain knew better.

Reluctantly, Liam made his way from to bedroom and toward the living room where the front door was. Without bothering to look through the peep-hole Liam opened the door and internally groaned at the sight before him. Liz stood there with her arms crossed and a hard expression on her face.

This can't be good. Liam couldn't help but feel dread for the conversation that was about to happen.

"Liz, hey." The words sounded awkward even to himself. "What's up?"

"Why did Hailey Devinsworth see you go into a room with Brody Hamilton at Evan Chadwick's party on Friday?" She asked without missing a beat.

Liam blinked in surprise. He didn't expect her to ask that and he certainly didn't expect her to have all of the information. "It's not what you think," he said finally speaking up.

"No?" Liz's voice held a silent challenge. "I think it looks like you went into a bedroom with Brody Hamilton and made the biggest mistake of your life with him."

His eyes narrowed at hers. "It wasn't a mistake."

Liz's eyes widened with surprise at his words. "I can't believe you! Are you being serious right now? You lost your virginity to Brody Hamilton! He is the biggest asshole in the entire school!" She yelled angrily.

"It's not like that, okay!" Liam yelled back. He usually wasn't one to get angry often, but he couldn't help it. Liz was making him angry. "Brody is my boyfriend!"

Liz froze at his words. "What?"

"You heard me," Liam said crossing his arms. "Brody and I have been dating for almost three months now."

In that moment he could see all of the anger leave Liz. She was no longer angry because another emotion filled her instead. Hurt. He hurt her and that guilt caused the anger to leave his body as well.

"I'm sorry," he said, "I wanted to tell you. I really did. Whenever I tried though, you seemed to have something else to complain about."

Liz's voice was sad and full of hurt. Quietly, she said, "You don't even know why I hate him, do you? If you did, you never would have dated him."

Confusion filled his system. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about the reason why I hate Brody Hamilton. You remember Anne," Liz said referring to her older sister.

Liz's sister, Anne, and his sister, Leslie, were best friends. Since they would always hang out they brought Liz and Liam together whenever either of them had to babysit. Growing up the two really didn't have a choice, but to be best friends themselves. Now they couldn't imagine themselves without the other. Anne stopped coming around the house last year though. Leslie still went to their house and saw her a lot, but she began to leave the house less and less. Liam never truly understood why.

"Of course," he said.

"Last year Anne met a boy. That boy had a reputation, but Anne made the mistake of thinking that she could 'change him.' Well as it later turned out she couldn't. Anne and that boy had sex. The next day he told all of his dumb friends about it. Soon enough the school knew what happened and Anne was labeled as a slut." Liz's voice was filled with multiple emotions: hurt, anger, sadness, pain. Everything seemed to seep through her words.

Liz continued her story. "Everything changed for Anne. She became an outcast and nobody would talk to her besides us and Leslie. Your sister was amazing. She didn't care what everybody thought or was saying. She stuck by my sister. She never left her side. That only did so much for Anne though. She soon fell into a depression. Not much was able to bring her out of it."

"What happened?" Liam dared to ask.

"Well a few weeks later Anne got some news. She found out that she was pregnant." Liam's jaw dropped slightly at her words, "And as expected the boy didn't want anything to do with her or the baby. So Anne had to make a choice. She decided to get a new start. She moved to Portland and lives with my aunt and uncle. Anne worked hard and received her GED before the baby was born. Now she has a full-time job and part-time classes at one of the local colleges. My aunt and uncle take care of the baby while she's working or at school."

A few tears fell from Liz's eyes at the thought of her sister and niece. She seemed to really love them and it must hurt that they live over an hour away. "Anne worked hard to clean up her life and to create a good one for Zoey. But no matter what Anne deserves better. Zoey deserves better."

The bitterness seemed to return to her voice. Liam wasn't an idiot. He knew the hidden piece of the story. He was just terrified to say it out loud. Could it be possible that everything he knew about him could be wrong?

"Brody. . . ." Liam's voice was hesitant as he spoke. "How does he fit into this?"

Liz's eyes hardened. She must not like saying it because she practically had to force the words from her lips. "Brody is Zoey's father."

Liam shook his head furiously at her words. No. He wouldn't. . . . He couldn't. . . . "No," Liam forced out. "Y-you're lying."

This time, Liz's eyes widened in shock. "What?"

"Look, I know you're hurt and that you hate Brody, but you shouldn't tell people lies about him!" Liam yelled in denial.

"I thought you were my friend," Liz whispered quietly.

"I am," he told her.

She shook her head. "No. A friend wouldn't make me talk about the worst thing I ever had to see my sister go through and then say that I'm lying. A friend wouldn't choose his jerk of a boyfriend over his best friend." She paused before continuing, "And a friend wouldn't hurt someone the way you're hurting me."

Without another word to him, Liz walked out of his house, and quite possibly, out of his life.

~*~*~

Liam currently sat in a cab making his way out into the countryside toward Brody's home. Today had certainly not gone the way he wanted so far. He had expected it to be a nice, relaxing Sunday to help prepare him for school tomorrow. Only so far that hasn't happened. He had a fight with Liz, and could have possibly lost his best friend.

Now he is on his way to his boyfriend's house to find out if even a fraction of what she said could be true. A part of him really didn't want to believe it, but a big part of him did. Brody had been quite the player last year. Was it really so easy for someone to change?

A tiger couldn't change their stripes. Can Brody?

"You sure this is the right road, kid?" The driver asked gesturing to the dirt road. "We're in the middle of nowhere."

"Yes," he said, "just continue on this road please."

The driver gave him a shrug, but continued driving nonetheless.

Liam spent the last few minutes trying to build up his courage to do this. He would be all but accusing his boyfriend of treating a friend of his family horrible and then knocking her up and not doing anything to help her. Zoey would be a few months old now and Brody probably hasn't even seen her at all yet. Had he called Anne after she gave birth? Had he visited them? Did Anne send him pictures of Zoey?

He highly doubted it, but he needed to know. No matter what, he needed to know the answers. If he was going to continue to be with Brody then they couldn't have secrets. They had to be honest with each other otherwise their relationship would never work.

"Here we go," the driver said pulling into Brody's driveway. The last time he had been here Brody had been with him so the house didn't look quite so scary. Only now the size of it almost looked daunting compared to before.

Liam pulled out his wallet and payed the correct amount of cash to the driver. "You want me to wait?" He asked taking it.

Looking at the house again he shook his head. Surely, Brody would give him a ride home after their talk. "No its okay," he assured him. Liam climbed out of the car and made his way up to the front door. He knocked and waited for a moment. When nobody came he knocked again. Still no answer. He had tried to call Brody before he left the house, but his phone had been off. His truck was in the driveway though so he must be home.

Hesitantly, Liam twisted the door knob and found that the front door was unlocked. Opening the door, he called out, "Brody? Don't come out guns blazing or anything. It's just me."

Silence answered him back.

Slowly he made his way up the stairs and to Brody's room. The lights were off in the house which almost created a haunted atmosphere. Luckily Brody's bedroom was one of the first rooms at the top of the stairs so it didn't talk long to get there. The light was shining from beneath his door.

All of a sudden, Liam heard something through the door. A groan. His feet froze. He was unable to move from his spot in front of his boyfriend's bedroom. Another moan soon followed. The first one was familiar. It had been Brody. The second one though was strange and unfamiliar to Liam.

No. . . . It can't be. . . .

Liam's heart sank to his feet and his throat clogged up with unshed tears. He knew what was happening. A part of him wanted to run away and never return to that house ever again. Another part of him wanted to run into the room and demand to know what was going on.

Taking a deep breath to prepare him, Liam knew what he had to do. With shaky hands, he gripped the doorknob and pushed it open into the room. The sight immediately caused tears to blur his vision.

Lying on the bed with just a blanket covering him was Brody. However, it was obvious that Liam wasn't the one beside him. Another boy probably around Liam's age lay beside him. Like Brody, only a blanket covered his lower half. Liam immediately noticed that the boy looked familiar. It was the same black hair and jaw line that Liam had seen in the boy on Friday. The boy who was watching Brody. It was the boy that Brody had been talking with.

What had they been talking about?

"Liam? What are you doing here?" Brody's voice was filled with a mixture of shock and worry.

Without saying a word to him, Liam backtracked from the room and hurried down the stairs. He was in no mood to listen to Brody's lies.

"Liam!" He heard Brody yell behind him but he didn't stop. His feet didn't falter. He forced his feet forward and ran from the house. Running as fast as he could, he soon ran out of breathe. His side was aching and chest screaming. His legs were shaking as he stopped to catch his breath.

So distracted from his panting and exhaustion he didn't notice Brody's truck until it pulled up beside him. Liam glared at it and continued his walk.

"Liam, come on. Will you get in the car please? I'll drive you home," Brody offered.

"I'd rather walk," he replied stubbornly. The last thing he wanted to do was sit in a truck with Brody for twenty minutes as they drove back to the main part of town.

"Please Liam. I'll drive straight there. You shouldn't have to walk all the way back. It'll take you forever, especially at the pace you're walking," he pointed out.

As much as he hated it, deep down, Liam knew that Brody was right. It would take him a while to get all the way home.

"If you don't get in I'll just follow you in the truck the entire way there," Brody spoke up again.

He would do it too, Liam thought bitterly.

Groaning in frustration, Liam opened the door and climbed into the truck. Stubbornly, he crossed his arms and pointedly looked out the window refusing to acknowledge the person beside him. The drive was silent at first. Brody didn't dare to speak and Liam just wanted this drive over with as fast as possible.

"I'm sorry," Brody eventually spoke up.

"For what?" Liam dared. "For lying to me? For cheating on me?"

"All of the above," Brody said.

Shaking his head, Liam had to know. "How long?"

Brody was silent.

Looking over at him for the first time, Liam repeated himself only this time made it sound more like a demand then a question. "How long?"

Hesitating, Brody eventually admitted, "Five months. Adam and I have been dating for five months."

All of the air seemed to escape his lungs. His voice was shaky as he spoke, "So I was the one you were cheating with."

"Yes," Brody answered.

"Why?" He wondered. "Why cheat in the first place?"

Brody took his time in answering the question. "Adam is sixteen and is a sophomore at Central High School." Central is a high school in the next town over. "We don't always get to see each other . . . and I don't know honestly."

Glaring at him, Liam spat, "Bullshit. You're a jerk who likes to lie and manipulate people. You played us both."

They pulled up in front of Liam's house. Liam unbuckled the seat belt and climbed from the car. Before closing the door he paused and asked, "Is it true what happened with Anne McGuire? Did you really do all those things to her?"

Brody's green eyes that Liam had at one point loved were clouded with emotion. Without answering, his dropped his eyes down to the floor of his truck.

Liam nodded. As much as he hated it, he got his answer.

"You once asked me to reserve my judge. You asked me to judge you on the guy you are now rather than the guy you used to be." Brody's eyes watched him as he spoke. "Well I have my answer as the way I see it the guy that you are is still as big of an asshole as you've always been."

Without giving him a moment to respond, Liam closed the car down and ran. He didn't run to his house though. Running past it, he made his way down the familiar streets that he has walked many times. Soon enough the familiar house entered his vision. Making his way up the path, he knocked on the door and waited. He hadn't noticed that he had begun to cry again until tears started falling down his face.

He almost wept with relief when Liz opened the door. Her stance was stiff and her expression grim as she waited for Liam to speak.

"Please don't slam the door on me," he pleaded through his tears. "I made a big mistake."

Liz's expression softened. Moving forward, Liz wrapped her arms around him in a hug. In that moment no words were needed. They may argue and fight, but when worst comes to worst, they're best friends and they will always be there for one another. 

~*~*~

Honestly this is probably one of the most drama filled chapters I think I may have ever written. It was fun though. So part one of Chasing Liam is officially over. I will try to post chapter six - the first chapter of part two - within the next week. 

~Kaylee

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