He meets Liam two hours later, outside, once again at the entrance of the school.
"Is this going to be a thing?" Liam jokes when he has walked down the steps.
"Only if you want it to," Scott answers casually, giving a small shrug. It's the first joke they've made together; it's nice, taking the heaviness out of their fragile relationship.
Liam glances away shyly as Scott smiles at him. They stand in front of each other awkwardly, the younger boy shifting his weight to his other leg before Scott breaks the silence, "Do you want to grab a cup of coffee or something? I know there's a café nearby."
"Coffee?" Liam asks.
"Yeah. You heard of it?" Scott jokes lightly, smile still friendly.
"I don't like coffee," Liam answers a little reluctantly. Scott tilts his head at him before deciding he isn't going to take no for an answer.
"Then you can get tea or hot chocolate or something. Come on," he says, already starting to walk off the school grounds.
He can hear hurried footsteps behind him and a mere second later, Liam's walking alongside him.
"I hope Lydia wasn't too up front," Scott sounds a little apologetic.
Liam shakes his head, snickering. "Nah, it was alright, just a bit weird. She popped up out of nowhere and just started chattering. I even felt pretty flattered when she asked for my phone number." He sighs. "Now I know why…"
Scott blinks at him. He hadn't thought of the possibility of Liam's feelings being hurt.
"Well, I wanted your phone number," he prompts.
Liam gives him a weird look and then Scott realizes how that sounds. "I mean, because, you know," he stutters, "because we had such a good talk the other day and it was nice, so, yeah, I just figured-" He finally stops blabbering when he notices the amusement on Liam's face.
"That was really bad, wasn't it?"
"Yeah, kinda."
Scott sighs. He can feel his heartbeat in his throat, causing a grin to form around his lips. After shaking his head at himself, he looks up at the road in front of them again. "So how have you been?"
"Good!" Liam nods, but there's a familiar tone to his voice...one Scott's starting to recognize as the tell that he's lying.
"Really?"
Liam's eyes fall instantly. Scott hadn't figured it would be that easy. "I've been alright," he rephrases.
"Have you…" Scott implies, before he remembers Liam had said it was okay to just say it, "…hurt yourself, since our talk?"
Liam's body shrinks. He shrugs.
Something unsettling shifts the air between them and Scott's stomach make a little turn. He stares at Liam. "Oh…"
So Stiles had been right.
Suddenly, Liam ceases walking, stopping dead in his tracks like he has seen something terrifying and has frozen solid. Scott turns around, lines of confusion visible on his facial features. He raises his eyebrows at Liam, asking him what's wrong without using any verbal communication.
Liam rubs his upper arm, visibly uncomfortable. 'Look, Scott," he starts, "you seem like a nice guy, but maybe we shouldn't do this."
Scott's confusion intensifies. "Not do what? We're not doing anything. I'm just taking you out for coff-tea! I meant tea. Or hot chocolate."
"Are you?" Liam asks, wrinkling his nose. "Because it seems more like you're trying to help me."
"I'm not!"
Liam gives him a look.
"Okay, maybe I am," Scott confesses guiltily. "But I also think you're cool and I like hanging out with you."
Now it's Liam's turn to be confused. "Name one thing you know about me."
Scott blinks at him. "You, err…" He scratches the back of his head. "You like playing lacrosse!"
Liam scoffs. "See, you don't know anything about me."
"Well…" Scott kicks the pavement, grabbing hold of the straps of his backpack. "I know you might need a friend? And I can be a pretty great one, so…"
Liam's eyebrows furrow and in a blur of a moment, Scott can see that certain glimmer in his eyes again. The wind blows a cold breeze across their faces, whipping up strands of Liam's hair. Suddenly, the boy turns his back towards Scott, and for a split moment the latter is scared he might run off, but instead, Liam's hands cover his eyes. Almost simultaneously, Scott kills the distance between them.
"Liam?" he asks, face stricken with surprise, voice laden with worry. He puts a hand on the boy's shoulder, feeling him tremble a little. "Liam, why are you crying?"
Liam sniffs, wiping his eyes dry before he dares to look back at Scott. "I don't know. I'm sorry, okay? I'm sorry, because I know you want to help, but I'm not sure if you can. You don't understand it. Even I don't." His nose has turned red from the cold and he wipes it quickly.
Scott purses his lips, cocking his head to the side. Liam's words don't strike him as an accusation, but more like an explanation. There's a hint of desperation in them that makes Scott want to wrap him up in his arms and take him into his lap, like a child that has scraped their knee on the pavement. And he decides that the impulse is a good one, so he surrenders himself to it.
His other arm trails around Liam's neck and he pulls him a little closer. Liam's body weight falls against Scott's chest and Scott can feel him relax under his touch. He smiles down gently at him. The glimmer in Liam's eyes is gone and for the first time Scott notices the ocean-like colour in them, though they're still surrounded by a little red. Mesmerized for a moment, he shakes his head, snapping himself back into reality. "Come on, let's get some tea."
Something uneasy settles in his stomach when he lets go of Liam, but he tries to ignore it. There's something about Liam's frame that causes Scott to have to resist the urge to leave at least one arm around his shoulders, so he starts walking again.
"I prefer hot chocolate," the boy says softly behind him.
And Scott smiles.
It's not as busy in the café as Scott expected it to be. Then again, it's Monday. Most people don't dive into fun encounters at the start of their working week. They leave it for Friday.
The chairs are different colours and they're set around small, round tables. The smell of coffee fills the boys' nostrils, making Scott smile and Liam scrunch up his nose. The walls of the building consist mostly of glass, but it's still surprisingly effective in keeping the wintery air outside out. It's a comforting warmth, like that of home, so Scott takes off his coat.
"So, are you a marshmallow or a cream?"
Liam gives him a disturbed look. "What?"
"In your drink."
"Oh!" he exhales a deep sigh of relief. "Cream's fine."
Scott throws him a lopsided smile and nods. He orders a large coffee and a hot chocolate with whipped cream, taking a few packets of sugar as well. Liam has settled down in a corner of the room. He's taking out his wallet when Scott comes back over.
"It's on me," Scott dismisses his gesture.
Liam frowns a little, but avoids a discussion. Instead, he thanks Scott, who's grinning happily at him. Scott sits down across from the boy, starting to unload the packets of sugar into his coffee.
"You take your coffee with four sugars?!" Liam exclaims after watching him go through his ritual.
Scott looks up, bluntly. "Yeah."
Liam scoffs. "That way anyone likes coffee. Hell, I don't even think you can call it coffee anymore. It's more like a caffeine milkshake."
Scott blinks, unaware of his odd habit. "Really? Then how do people drink it?"
"With milk or cream and one sugar at most," Liam laughs. "You're seriously telling me you didn't know that?"
Scott's eyes fall onto his cup before he looks back up at Liam again. He scans the room to see if any other people are doing what he's doing and then it finally dawns on him. The look of horror and innocence on his face is practically theatrical, but it makes Liam laugh. Scott's ears ring from the sound and suddenly the air in the room feels a bit warmer on his skin, like an unexpected ray of sunshine. Scott starts laughing as well.
When their laughter has died down, an awkward silence falls between them. Not that Scott's noticing that, of course. He hasn't stopped staring at Liam, who has started examining his orange cup. To make matters worse, Scott slumps down into his seat a little and bumps his feet against Liam's. The younger one pulls them safely back under his chair.
"I suck at Chemistry," Scott suddenly blurts out. Liam raises an eyebrow at him.
"I do," Scott continues, unaware of how random he's sounding. "I don't understand it. Lydia tutored me today, so maybe now it's a little better, but yeah."
Liam snickers, not really knowing how to respond to that. "Okay…"
"I think what's happening to you is like Chemistry."
Liam narrows his eyes a little suspiciously. "What do you mean?" he wonders.
"You said I don't understand you, and I probably don't. So, it's like Chemistry," Scott gestures at him. "Which means you can tutor me."
"Why do you want to understand me so badly?" Liam presses, wanting to know.
Scott shrugs lightly. "I don't know. Probably because I worry about you."
"You do?"
"Yeah! Like, when I'm in bed I think about you."
Liam lets out another chuckle, because, once again, Scott isn't registering his own words. He takes a sip from his drink, it finally having cooled down a bit. Scott's still blowing on his.
"So, tutor me," he says.
Liam sighs, sitting up a little. "Okay, err… I guess…" He turns to look outside for a bit. "I guess it's kind of like the weather," he says. "My moods just suddenly change. I can get crazily happy or really furious and sometimes I just get sad, without any explanation."
"Like earlier, outside?"
"Yeah, like that."
"I didn't mean to make you cry, you know."
There's a soft chuckle in the back of Liam's throat. "I know. It's okay."
"Are you still sad now?" Scott wonders, his eyes having narrowed a little.
Liam shakes his head. "Nope, I'm good. Right now I feel…content."
"Content?"
"Yeah. Like I have it together."
Scott nods understandingly. He glances outside as well, looking up at the thick clouds that threaten the sky. The coldness is somehow visible in the air and the world looks grey. If Liam's moods really are like the weather, then his mind can be a sad place.
Liam moves across from him, catching Scott's attention. He starts taking off his winter coat and Scott notices Lydia had been right. Liam's wearing a jumper. A soft-looking purple one. It contrasts with the orange cup in front of him.
"Stiles played a good game Saturday," Liam offers. "Like, better than I expected." Which is quite easy to say for someone who scored the winning goal.
Scott nods. "He can be quite a good player, as long as he doesn't get stuck inside his head too much. He's so easily distracted; sometimes I'm even scared he will hurt himself."
Liam chuckles. "I've noticed that. He can be a little careless."
"A little?!" Scott responds. "He gets run over by other players because he doesn't notice the ball has been flung his way. It's crazy. Have you seen the movie 'Up'? He's like the dog: squirrel!"
Liam laughs out loud. "Do you always talk about your friends that way?"
"It's true!" Scott laughs with him. "He's a great guy. We're brothers, sort of. But he can be so reckless. I still don't understand how he's doing so well at school."
"He's probably an easy learner," Liam replies. "Unlike us. We have to suffer through each exam."
"I take it your History test didn't go so well?"
"Failed it."
Scott nods. "Maybe we can study together sometime. You know, keep each other motivated."
"Sounds like a good idea."
Scott perks up. "If you want to, you can come over tomorrow evening? Lydia's gonna be there as well, you know, tutoring me and all. I'm sure she can even help with your History. And if you can't do tomorrow, we can do Wednesday evening."
"Is she coming to help you all week or something?"
"Four hours a day."
Liam's face shifts into one of clear disgust. "That's horrible."
"I know right? And she's very strict, too."
"You're making it sound really appealing," Liam chuckles at Scott's lack of tact.
"Oh, no, but it's great," Scott adds to the joke. "Especially when she starts slapping your fingers with her pen every time you give the wrong answer. Somehow the metal clip thingy is always pointed downwards…"
Liam hisses from the very imaginable pain. "Ouch."
They both perk up when a phone starts ringing near them. Scott doesn't recognize the ringtone, but apparently Liam does, because he's hurriedly searching his pockets.
"Hey, Mase," he says when he has picked up. He shoots an apologizing look towards the guy across from him. "Yes. Yes, I'll come to the mall this weekend." Scott chuckles, shaking his head a little. "I know! I know it's important. I said I'm coming, didn't I?" Liam rolls his eyes, but snickers quietly nonetheless. "Alright. Okay. Stop stressing. Yes. Okay, bye."
Then he kills the connection. "Mason has a date this Sunday, so he needs to buy an outfit," he explains.
Scott nods, grinning widely. "I guess he's nervous?"
"He's always like that," Liam answers. "He gets too excited and then freaks out."
Scott laughs, taking another sip from his coffee before he clears his throat. "So…are you coming over tomorrow?"
Liam blinks a couple of times, but then remembers their earlier conversation. He exhales a deep breath, shaking his head. There's a small smile pulling on the corners of his lips. "Sure, why not? But the moment Lydia hits me, I'm out."
"Don't worry, I'll protect you," Scott assures.
They both continue to take quiet sips of their drinks. In the meantime, dusk has started to fall around Beacon Hills and the café is slowly emptying.
"I have to admit," Liam says after a while. "This is more fun than I expected it to be."
Scott perks up, flashing a great smile. "See?! We can totally be friends. I mean, now I know you like hot chocolate."
"And I know that you don't actually like coffee," Liam jokes.
"Apparently I don't," Scott admits. "But before we go, I need to know one more thing about you."
Liam frowns. "What's that?"
"Are you planning on becoming team captain?"
