"Date me for a month."
"What?"
He leaned forward, his hair falling to his face as he moved. He looked at Liam, a smirk making its way to his face as he stared. He was obviously confused, probably even thinking it was a prank. "You heard me right. Date me for a month. That's my condition."
"Are you-? Oh- I didn't know you were-" Liam replied him, making his omission of the 'word' too obvious. He hesitated for a while then continued. "I'm not gay."
"You don't have to be gay."
"Oh, yeah? Then how am I supposed to accept your ridiculous condition to date you when I'm not gay like you," Liam continued, unsure of how he was feeling himself.
"Then be gay for me," Steve said, as he leaned even closer. He smiled, making Liam realize how pretty his smile looked. It looked way better than the smirk he always had on his face like it was his default look. "Be gay just for me."
"You're insane."
—————
It should have been a regular Thursday morning but it wasn't. The house was empty. Emptier than usual.
Liam Wyatt had gotten used to not having his parents around having his dad die on his 13th birthday and having his mum in and out of the hospital since he clocked 15. Now, 17, he was more than used to empty houses except that it was emptier on that Thursday morning- they had just relieved their remaining maids of their duties.
He grew up in their huge house with maids roaming about every minute. Call him spoilt, he never really had to do anything herself. His parents loved him dearly- probably because he was the only child or the only child they could have ever had. He wanted a sibling so bad but his mum was just never able to have a child again.
Birthday wishes never came true. On his 15th birthday, his mum had collapsed. All of a sudden. He had closed his eyes to make his birthday wish only for him to open it and get the opposite of his wish right in front of him. It was sudden and all a 15 year old could do was scream and cry uselessly.
A heart disease, the doctors said. His mum's heart was sick. His heart hurt. Few pills and injections would cure him, wouldn't they?
Months passed and he was able to still live a normal life with his mum. She just had to use her drugs and eat healthy. He had almost even forgotten she was sick until a Monday morning. He had gone to her room to bid her goodbye for school and met her on the floor.
 This time, a 16 year old could barely do more than scream and cry uselessly. He screamed, cried and called the maids. Panicked, they rushed into the room and help carry him downstairs. They called 911 and is family's driver but that didn't calm Liam. None of the maids could drive and all they could do was ask him to calm down.
After a while, the family's driver arrived and he was taken to the hospital.
"Liam," the sound of his name coupled with the blaring of the horn brought him back to reality.
He sighed as he grabbed his sandwich from the kitchen counter. He promised his mum never to skip breakfast so he just had to have breakfast. He made the last maid teach him a few dishes before leaving so he could survive and take homemade meals to his mum once in a while in the hospital.
"Good morning," Brian said, opening the door to the car's backseat. "We're running quite late."
He got in, adjusting his red tie as he sat down. Brian Jung was his their driver and had been working for their family ever since he could remember.
"How are you, Liam?" he asked, glancing at him through the driver's mirror. Liam looked up, his gaze meeting Brian's. He could read his face well. He has always been around him since he was a child and has always been like a second father to him since his original dad had left him.
"The house seems bigger? Emptier?"
"Yeah," Liam replied, eyes fixed on the car's window. "June left too."
Ever since his dad died, the family's business went through a major downfall. His mum still managed to run it successfully to an extent but ever since her illness got worse, the business did the same.
His mum never really told him, but he wasn't dumb. Business wasn't going well and they were spending millions on his hospital bills. Unnecessary expenses were cut which included the maids.
He had expected them to leave but didn't expect to feel so…alone when they finally did.
Everyone was leaving, he could just do the same.
"You might have to leave too, you know," he said, his eyes not leaving the window. He wanted to look at Brian in the eye when he finally said what had been on his mind for a while but she couldn't. He feared what his eyes will say. The eyes never lied.
"No, I won't be leaving."
"And when my mum can no longer afford to pay you?" he asked. "You don't have to play hero, feel free to leave once it's time."
"Liam," he paused on a red light. "I'm not leaving, trust me."
He wanted to believe him. He really wanted to but it wasn't that easy. His dad had no plans on leaving him and his mum sure doesn't either.
"To school?" He asked, starting the car's engine as the traffic light flashed green.
"No, the hospital first."
"But you're gonna be late."
"Just for 5 minutes. I won't be long. I promise."
---
Liam didn't keep his promise but didn't regret it either. He spent almost 30 minutes with his mum, talking about the most random things and trying to not cry whenever she took a break to breathe. He couldn't say she was getting better- she still had a dozen machines connected to him.
He wanted her to stop talking. He just wanted her to rest but he couldn't. He missed her and it felt like talking to her was the only way he could almost assure himself she was still with him.
He got to school few minutes after the first period. Brian spoke to her homeroom teacher about his reason for coming late and she sympathetically let him go. Of course, not without words of encouragement and comfort that did nothing but make him feel worse.
"How's your mum?" Jasmine Rivers, his best friend and only friend, actually, asked. Jasmine clutched onto his shoulder, brushing a strand of his brown hair off her face. "You seem stressed. Not better, right?"
"No, she's not," he replied, holding Jasmine's hand. "When he smiled, it hurt. It felt so difficult to do."
"Oh, sweetie," she stroked his hair in a way that always made him feel better. "She'll be fine."
"I've heard that a dozen times already," Liam exhaled. "I just really hope so."
"Have you completed your maths assignment?" Jasmine asked, pulling away from their quick hug. "It's due today."
"Oh, shoot," Liam almost cried. "No, I've not."
"I thought as much," his best friend replied, smiling as she pulled out sheets of paper from her backpack. "Here."
"Oh my God, Jasmine-"
"Yeah, yeah," she smiled. "You should be really grateful. I had to study just because of you. The questions were quite difficult."
Liam smiled at the sheets in his hand. Jasmine never really bothered to do assignments. She was smart but being unserious was her own way of rebelling against her parents. They wanted her to study law which she was hell bent on never studying.
"What would I do without you? I love you."
"Nothing, actually," Jasmine replied matter- of-factly. "You need me to exist."
He nodded knowing how true it was. He loved his best friend a little too much. Being the only outsider that has been around him the longest, other than Brian, she knew and understood him well.
Jasmine knew everything his family was going through, financially too and would have loved to help but unfortunately hated her parents. They barely even spoke to each other and whenever they did, they were always at each other's throats.
"We have English, let's go."
"Yeah," Liam replied, slamming his locker shut after grabbing his English assignment which he had thankfully completed.
"Liam," Jasmine paused, holding Liam by the shoulder. "You can't give up. You know that, right?"
 He nodded. "I won't."