A couple of days later, on the first day of March, Scott is sat in Beacon High's library. Frost has crept up the windows, announcing that winter is finally here. He is pretending to do work, yet his mind is somewhere else; mostly revising what has happened over the past few months, while he should be revising his Chemistry.

But he doesn't feel like focusing. After his little, and completely unexpected, breakdown on Sunday, he has decided to stop overthinking his relationship with Liam. And in order to stop overthinking it he just has to overthink it one last time, you know, to really finish things up.

It's taken a little over two months for Scott and Liam to go from acquaintances to boyfriends. Two months. Two months and a bit. Two months and one official date. Crazy, which is probably why it has been so confusing for the most part. So many new things have happened in such a short time span that, if Scott reminds himself of all of it, he can hardly believe that they have become so adjusted.

But they have.

Sure, it's taken them a lot of long conversations and a lot of comforting – which Scott secretly doesn't mind, because touching Liam is the most amazing thing on Earth – but they are finally there. Liam hasn't cut himself for a while now and Scott has accepted that he actually is in love with him. Truly and utterly in love. He has stopped mixing up his caring with his loving nature, and even though Scott still feels like everything will go to hell eventually – because that's just how life works – he is ready to enjoy his time with Liam for the time being. And if everything falls apart, then they'll manage. Or they won't. Eh, either way, they'll eventually be fine.

So, in pursuit of that new way of life, Scott sent Liam a text message this morning, right after he had woken up. It hadn't been anything special, just a 'Morning! Hope you slept well!' with a little heart emoji. Maybe a little sappy, but hey, it had worked, because not long afterwards Liam had invited him to come over that night.

Scott's staring at the entrance of the library from behind his table, deep in his thoughts, not actually registering who's been coming in, but he perks up when he recognizes Mason in the doorway. His eyes follow the boy as he walks over to one of the bookshelves. For a moment Scott debates if he should do what he wants to do, but then decides he might as well stay true to his tactless nature.

"Hey, Mason," he greets his boyfriend's best friend, tapping his shoulder lightly. "You busy?"

The guy turns around, seemingly surprised at Scott's sudden appearance. "Hey, man, no, just looking for something. What's up?"

Scott flashes a lopsided smile, feeling more anxious than he had intended to. He scratches the back of his neck. "I just wanted to say…sorry…?" It sounded like a question; unsure and hesitant. "I mean, I get it if you're upset that Liam told me before you about…you know…him."

Mason stops his search, his face having faltered ever so slightly at the indirect mention, but he regains his composure just as quickly. He tilts his head back a little, and with narrowed eyes, he says, "Thanks. I don't feel like that, but it means a lot that you thought about the possibility."

Scott nods, kicking the floor shyly. "Yeah, I… I don't want to come in between you two or step on your friendship or something."

Mason scoffs. "And even if you did want to, you couldn't," he replies. "But don't worry. We're cool."

Scott exhales a sigh of relief, which Mason snickers at, shaking his head a little. Scott frowns, instantly wondering what exactly Liam has told his best friend about him, but then figures he will probably never find out. Mason goes back to finding his book.

"So, can I ask you a question?" Scott interrupts him again, after he has remembered he wanted to ask something.

"Shoot."

"Have you ever met Liam's parents?"

Mason raises his eyebrows. "Of course I have. We've known each other since, like, forever. Why do you ask?" But when he notices the disappointed look on Scott's face, he starts laughing. "Oh, God," he chuckles, rolling his eyes. "Let me guess, Liam's being weird about you meeting his parents?"

Scott nods fiercely. "And I don't understand why! It's really starting to mess with my head a little. Like, are they going to get freaked out about me being older or something? I have only seen his stepdad once, he seemed kind of cool, but I don't know..."

"He is," Mason acknowledges. "And you're close, but, no, it's not the age difference."

"Then what is it?"

Mason thinks for a moment. "It's…" He huffs. "It's Liam being Liam; a teenager going through puberty, and suddenly becoming incredibly ashamed of his parents."

Scott frowns, swallowing his initial, incredulous response that that's crazy, because who doesn't love their parents? He could never be ashamed of his mother. Gosh, no, he loves her and he wouldn't mind telling anyone how great she is. So, instead, he wonders, "Aren't you guys, like, fifteen? Shouldn't you be over that by now…?"

"Liam was always a bit of a late bloomer," Mason says, winking.

Scott blinks at him, because it takes him a moment before he fully understands what Mason means, but before he can respond, the guy has already found the book he had been looking for and is attempting to walk off. "See you Friday?"

"Yeah…see you Friday…" Scott mumbles after the guy, meanwhile fishing his vibrating phone out of his pocket.

"Got my History grade for our last test," Liam's message reads.

While walking back to his seat, Scott types, "And? How did you do?"

The reply doesn't take long.

"Failed it."

Scott sighs, pressing his lips into a thin line. He taps his phone against the palm of his hand, thinking. "I'm sorry. I'm sure you'll do better next time. I mean, you obviously had other things on your mind," he writes back. The constricting feeling around his heart makes him realize he's still afraid Liam will hurt himself again. Scott can't really tell yet as to what extent Liam will be put down by things like this, or if his boyfriend's destructive behaviour is completely off the table. The uncertainty makes him apprehensive.

Yet, the teenager decides to stay true to his resolutions: he and Liam are going to enjoy their time together. No more drama.

Which is why he's carrying a bag of Sour Patch Kids when he rings the doorbell to Liam's house that evening. His fingers are buzzing lightly. It feels good to be his supportive self again. This is who he is, and he doesn't need to know why he is that way. It doesn't matter if it's because of his father's influence or not—and if that's bad or not. It makes him feel nice, and that's the only thing that counts.

"Hey," Liam says after he has opened the door. Scott notices the beaten look on his face.

He steps forward, hugging him tightly. The bag of sweets makes a cracking noise when pressed against Liam's back. "I'm sorry about your test," he mumbles, rubbing his spine comfortingly.

Liam sighs, letting go of Scott a bit quicker than usual. Scott figures it's because his parents are home.

"I know. It just sucks."

"Which is why…I brought you a little present," Scott says, holding up the candy with a bright smile.

"Ah…" Liam visibly melts. He takes the bag from Scott, looking at it. "Because you figured I might be sour?" he asks jokingly.

Scott's eyebrows knit together, because he doesn't have a clear explanation as to why he had bought them. Somehow he had just spontaneously thought of them…

…Or had he?

Oh! Oh, God, no. No, it hadn't just been an unconsidered idea: Liam tastes like sweet and sour candy!

Scott's face heats up when he becomes aware of this. While blinking rapidly he answers, "Yeah, yeah…that's why." He chuckles, clearly uncomfortable.

Liam cocks his head, eying him suspiciously. "You're doing that blinking thing again," he correctly observes. "Why are you lying?"

Scott unzips his jacket and puts his helmet on the floor, next to the doormat. "You taste like candy," he mumbles from his ducked down position.

"What?" Liam moves his ear closer to Scott's face, after the guy has gotten back up.

"You taste like candy," Scott repeats quietly.

Liam begins blushing furiously. "…Let's go upstairs."

"Yup."

Scott follows him obediently, leaving the awkward moment at the front door.

"I saw Mason today," he mentions after they have entered Liam's bedroom, throwing himself onto the bed. It squeaks under his weight as he bounces. Briefly, his eye falls onto a little notebook on Liam's bedside table and Scott assumes that Liam has taken his advice and has started a diary.

"I know. He told me," Liam replies matter-of-factly, sitting down next to his boyfriend. "You apologized to him, even though I told you that you didn't have to."

Scott screws up his face. "Sorry. I just couldn't help it."

Liam sighs, but smiles nonetheless. "I know. You have this uncontrollable need to be liked by people."

Scott grins happily. "Yes, exactly!" He looks up at the ceiling, stretching his upper body, his arms spread above his head.

"So did he tell you about anything else we talked about?" he asks as he averts his gaze back to Liam.

The boy looks up, and there's a hint of a glimmer in his eyes. Scott frowns, looking down at himself, trying to see what had drawn Liam's attention, but he can't find anything in particular…except for the fact that he's showing a little skin. Apparently his shirt had crawled up mid-stretch and… had Liam been staring at his slightly exposed stomach? An exciting tingle shoots through Scott's abdomen.

"No, he didn't mention anything," Liam says, after having licked his lips. "Why?"

Scott shakes his head. "No reason."

Liam gives him a look, so Scott quickly changes the subject. "I wanted to ask you a question, though."

"Sure."

"I told my mom about us, and she really wants to meet you…" Scott trails off.

"Oh…really?" Liam asks, face twisting in an awkward manner.

"Yeah...do you mind?"

Liam shrugs a little. He's not jumping at the opportunity, which shows his hesitance. "I guess so…but what if she doesn't like me?"

Scott smiles. "Clearly, you don't know my mom," he answers reassuringly.

"I don't, which is why you want me to meet her."

Scott raises his eyebrows.

Liam lets out a deep breath. "I'm sorry. I just get really nervous when it comes to parents."

"So I've heard…" Scott mentions cheekily.

"Ah, so you and Mason did talk about more stuff," Liam states. He gets up, picking up the Sour Patch Kids from his desk. By the time he sits back down he has the first one in his mouth. "Fine, I'll meet her. But please make sure we have something to do, because I would hate to just sit across from her and be forced to talk."

Scott perks up, nodding. "No problem. We can cook dinner for her."

Liam chuckles. "We can try to cook dinner for her."

"It'll be fine," Scott reassures him, moving over to steal a sweet from the bag. His ears warm when he recognizes the flavor, and suddenly his playful nature starts boiling to the surface, especially when he notices Liam's glancing over at his stomach again. He chews on the candy.

"So what do you want to do tonight?" he asks, biting his bottom lip as he smiles up at the boy.

Liam shrugs lightly. "I don't know. We could watch a movie or something?"

Scott nods slowly. "Sure." He's totally up for 'watching a movie', but decides that, first, he needs to test the waters a bit more. He gets up to take off his jumper, refraining from commenting that he's hot, because he doesn't want to sound too obvious about it. "Which movie?" he asks, stalling time a little.

Liam thinks. "I don't know…and I just realized I don't even know what kind of movies you like." He shows a goofy look.

"Don't mind," Scott answers indecisively. "Comedy, horror, rom-com, anything, really." He falls back onto the bed again, but this time moves onto his side, leaning on his arm, his hand under his head. Cold air brushes against the skin of his abdomen, confirming that his shirt has crawled up again. "You?"

"Same," Liam replies, putting another sweet into his mouth. "I'll grab my laptop. We can probably find something to watch."

Scott nods, making it seem like he's looking away from Liam, but secretly watches his boyfriend's eyes flick downwards again as he gets up, adamantly avoiding eye contact. Internally, Scott chuckles. This is way too easy. And too interesting. They have seen each other before in the showers after lacrosse practice, so why does it feel so different now? Has Liam always looked at him like this? Scott can feel a sense of excited curiosity growing inside his chest. Maybe he should make a move.

As he contemplates how he should go about it, Liam returns with his laptop, occupied with actually finding something for them to watch. His face is illuminated by the soft white light coming from the screen and Scott notices how clear the ocean is tonight.

"Mason mentioned something else that was very interesting as well," he suddenly recalls.

"Yeah, what?" Liam asks, not looking up from his laptop.

Scott grins mischievously. "That you're a bit of a late bloomer."

Liam's eyes flick up. He glares at Scott for a moment before responding in a very bitter tone, "I'm going to kill him." Scott stares back, intrusively, and Liam sighs. "My voice broke quite late, okay? That's why he said that."

Scott chuckles. "It also explains why you're so small."

Liam's jaw drops an inch.

"Hey, I'm not saying I mind," Scott says, holding his hands up defensively. "I mean, to me, you're the perfect height." More color spreads through Liam's cheeks. Scott smirks, moving his hand up. He pretends he's scratching his neck, fingers sliding across his collar bone, his bicep flexed. "You know, for hugs and stuff. Probably for cuddles as well, but we haven't figured that out yet…"

Liam's eyes widen ever so slightly as he closes his mouth. He swallows—Scott can see his Adam's apple move in his throat. His eyes flash to Scott's arm and back to his face so quickly that it's actually a miracle Scott notices. The tension between them sits heavy and thick in the air. Scott can feel his nerves buzzing with hungry anticipation.

Then he goes in for the kill, sitting up, not wasting any time to close the distance between their faces, mouth only inches away from Liam's lips…

But right when Scott moves, Liam does the same. He turns around, attempting to stand up, arms flailing around him, and his elbow hits something in the process.

Scott utters a groan, folding his hands over his nose. "Holy… Ah, that hurts," he cries out.

"Oh my God, I am so sorry!" Liam exclaims, putting down his computer. He crouches down in front of Scott. "Are you okay? I'm sorry, I just remembered which movie I really wanted to watch and I didn't expect you-"

"It's okay," Scott waves away his apology. "I'm okay." He wiggles his nose a little, slowly removing his hands.

"Oh my God, you're bleeding," Liam says.

Only then Scott feels the warm liquid on his upper lip. He dabs at it, looking at his fingers. "Oh, yep. Yeah, I'm bleeding." He chuckles, shaking his head at himself.

"Wait. I'll get some paper towels. Just…just don't put your head backwards. Put it forward, okay? I know that doesn't make sense, but it'll actually stop the bleeding way quicker like that, I don't know why. I also don't know how I know that. I think I have read it somewhere…or maybe Mason told me once…I don't know," he rambles, before realizing he really needs to get up. He rushes to the bathroom, coming back a couple of seconds later with a roll of toilet paper in his hand. "Here," he says, ripping off a couple of pieces and giving them to Scott.

"Thanks," Scott says, folding the paper over his nose.

Liam slumps down in front of him again, hands on the older guy's knees. "I'm so sorry," he repeats.

But Scott can't help but smile. "It's fine, you didn't mean to," he replies.

Liam smiles a little helplessly at him, raising his shoulders. A short silence falls between them where Scott checks if he's still bleeding.

"Can't believe you tried to kiss me and I punched you in the face," Liam mumbles, head bowed.

Scott snickers. "Can't believe I tried to flirt with you."

"Is that why you were teasing me?!" Liam asks as he looks back up. "Gosh… We are awful."

"Yeah…we have said that before, haven't we?"

"No, that was boring."

"Ah, yes," Scott recalls. "Nice."

Liam chuckles as well. "I don't know why we're like this."

Scott pulls a face. "It's probably because we're trying to be something we're not. Let's face it, I can't flirt."

Liam looks away shyly. "That's okay, you don't have to."

Scott grins, appreciating the moment. He dabs at his nose, finding that it has stopped gushing blood. Liam takes the paper from him and moves to the bathroom to flush it down the toilet. When he comes back, Scott shows him his face, turning to face different angles. "Does it look okay? Not crooked or anything?" he jokes.

Liam snorts. "No, you look fine. Don't worry."

"Great," Scott replies, reaching over and touching Liam's hand with his. "Now…can I get my kiss?" he asks in a low voice, lips pulled into a gentle smile.

Liam blushes, then nods. He bends forward and presses a kiss onto Scott's mouth. Scott, in turn, quickly takes hold of Liam's wrist and yanks him forward. The boy falls half on top of him, and half on the bed. Scott grins, rolling them over so that Liam is on his back.

"You're quite reckless for someone who just got punched in the face," Liam mentions.

Scott chuckles, propping himself up on his elbow, hovering over the boy slightly. He drapes his arm around Liam's stomach, his thumb brushing against his side. His boyfriend squirms.

"Tickles," Liam mumbles.

Scott's scared his face will rip if he continues smiling the way he does, but he can't help it. "Sorry," he replies.

Liam looks away for a second, shifting a little on the bed, but doesn't move away from Scott. He also doesn't move closer, Scott notices. Quietly, the older one continues to stare into Liam's eyes, examining the ocean that steadily seems to rock back and forth. Time seems to have frozen. There aren't any noises in the background. It's just them. His eyes hover over to the boy's cheeks, which still look slightly flustered from the unexpected fall. His pupils continue their journey down towards Liam's parted lips, which look incredibly soft. The smell of sour sweets tickles his nose.

Only then he notices the ragged tone in Liam's breathing; the slight hitching of air that seems to have to force its way out of his body. Scott frowns a little, because he recognizes that tone; he has heard it before.

When he remembers, he falls onto his back. "So, what movie did you have in mind?" he asks.

Liam clears his throat and Scott notices the deep breath of air he inhales. "Gone Girl," he answers, getting up. "It's supposed to be really freaky. I read a review online that said it'll make you go 'what the fuck' at least five times."

Scott sits up as well, rubbing his face. He smiles, content. "Sounds good."