Author's Notes: This story is an idea I've been playing with for a while, and it's a nice change of pace from the slightly darker and more serious writing of "Falling Apart Together". Anyway, I hope you enjoy reading it!

Shane POV

He was just about to take a shower when his phone played "Dancing Queen", a ringtone he had specifically assigned to Liam.

That was weird, Liam was still supposed to be at school. They were having some stupid social experiment, so Shane had decided he would be 'sick'.

He jogged back to where he had left his pants and tried to find his phone before the call would go to voicemail. He finally grabbed his phone and answered it.

"My favorite straight guy!"

"Shane, can you come get me? I really need to talk to you, in person."

"Uh, our big faction war hasn't ended yet, has it?"

"It's not like I haven't skipped class before… I just really need you now, please get over here."

"I'm on my way." Shane put down his phone, quickly tried to make himself look halfway decent and got his car drive to Hester High didn't take long, and soon he was pulling up in the school's parking lot. Liam was already standing there, but his posture was different than usual. His head was down and his shoulders slumped inwards, a far cry from his usually imposing figure.

As soon as Liam spotted the car he started walking towards it, keeping his head down. He opened the car door and climbed in. It was then that Shane got a good look at his face. It was red and puffy, and his eyes were still wet. He'd cried, that was sure.

"Shit, Liam. What happened?"

"Let's get out of here first, I'll tell you on the way." Shane nodded and turned on the engine. As they pulled out of the parking lot, Liam started talking.

"Karma knows. I told her last night, and she's furious. She didn't just stop talking to me, she even dumped Amy. If she's done that, I don't think she'll ever forgive me."

"What? Why would you tell her?"

"I don't know, you know I don't like secrets. I just decided I'd tell her, but apparently that was't such a good idea."

"Wasn't such a good idea? You told your girlfriend you slept with her best friend just to hurt her and you're surprised she's mad at you? I might not be straight, but even I understand how stupid that is."

"I know, I know. Just please don't be mad. I can't lose another friend right now." Shane heard how vulnerable Liam's voice sounded and decided to be more supportive.

"Maybe she'll cool down, you just need to give her some time." Liam looked at him and his face hardened.

"To be honest, I don't know if I want her to forgive me. The trust is gone now, I don't think we'll ever go back to the way things were. Maybe it's for the best. I don't think I'm the one Karma wanted, not really. She was in love with the idea of me, just like I loved the idea of her."

"You're starting to depress me, Liam. You need to change, and then we'll go visit the nearest bar."

For once, Liam followed his advice without complaining. Shane dropped him off in front of his giant home and gave him a few minutes to change.

When he came back, he almost looked like regular, woman-charming Liam. He jumped in the car and tapped the dashboard twice.

"Let's go get drunk!". And so they did.

Shane was quite the expert on finding bars that weren't too picky about ID, so they didn't have any problem getting into a place where they could grab some drinks. Shane went ahead and ordered them some drinks that looked, smelled and tasted like nuclear waste but were guaranteed to get your buzz going as fast as possible. Liam had apparently already drunk a lot of the stuff, because his speech was slurring a tiny bit. That didn't stop him from talking as much as humanly possible though.

"I don't need a girlfriend. You know what I need? A true friend. Like you. Yourrrr my friend."

"Yeah, I'm your friend alright. Otherwise I would be hitting on that hot guy over there and not sitting here consoling your sorry ass."

"I've always wondered: Isn't dating guys much easier?" Liam looked over at Shane, but directed his gaze at Shane's lips instead of his eyes.

"I wouldn't know, I've never tried dating girls." Well, except for some girl in kindergarten, but Shane didn't think that one counted.

"Lemme tell you, they're nothing but trouble. You're a lucky man, that's what you are."

"Yeah, tell me about it. Who wouldn't want to listen to the great Liam Booker's drunken rambling…", Shane joked.

"Well, I'll make it a little more interesting for you. Do you want to know a secret of mine?"

"Sure, enlighten me."

"I've always thought you were handsome." Well, that was unexpected. Shane glanced down and tried to make sense of what Liam had just said. Handsome could imply a lot of things, couldn't it?

Liam interrupted his thoughts by loudly taking another large sip of his drink.

"Do you think that's weird? I thought it was weird. But it's true, you look gooood" Liam pointed his drink at him while speaking.

"It is a little weird… I think you've had quite enough of those drinks, let me take that." As he took the glass from Liam, his hand lingered on Shane's for just a tad too long. It reminded him of a saying one of his boyfriends used to tell: 'There's no such thing as a straight guy, just a sober guy'. He used to say it as a joke, but there might have been some truth to it. He'd fantasized about Liam a few times, but those had been just that: fantasies. Liam probably needed to get home, they had school tomorrow.

"Alright Booker, let's get you back home."

"Just one more drink? I really like these drinks. They're sooooo good..." He was barely understandable now, so Shane just took his arm and tugged him away from the table. Liam protested weakly, but he eventually followed him.

The drive back to Liam's house was a bit awkward, Liam tried his best not to puke while Shane thought about the things he'd just heard. If it had been anyone else, Shane'd been sure of what those words would have meant. But Liam was just so… straight . He'd never shown any interest in Shane's love life, aside from being sympathetic after a breakup. Shane shrugged and turned his attention back to the road. Next to him, Liam had just fallen asleep, and his hand slipped down onto Shane's.