Upstairs, Liam had been practicing the piano when he heard a commotion down stairs. He stopped playing and recognized Lita's voice, but he couldn't make out who she was talking to. He sat for a moment until he heard the mystery visitor laugh. Immediately, Liam felt his stomach flutter--it was Zack. Ever since Lita suggested Zack was free-game, Liam had found himself increasingly infatuated. While he was nervous around Madeline, Zack outright crippled him; forget walking into traffic, Liam could nearly forget to breathe.
"Just don't go downstairs...there's no rea--" said Liam to himself before hearing his sister call from downstairs; he groaned, closing his eyes.
"Liam!" she called again, her tone impatient. "C'mere!"
Gathering his courage, Liam pushed himself away from the piano and slid off of the bench. Lita was up to something and he was pretty sure it had something to do with the ebony haired dreamboat downstairs. He raked his hand through his hair, contemplating on whether or not he should get his hat from his bedroom. Before he could decide, Lita started whining for him again. Liam grumbled, blowing a stray hair out of his face. ("I'm coming--sheesh!") As he descended the stairs, his assumptions were confirmed: Zack and Lita were sitting on the couch watching reruns of Primeval. Liam fought back the urge to run away screaming as he stepped onto the main floor.
"There you are," said Lita unable to mask the excitement on her face.
Liam made his way around the chaise, "I was trying to practice, you know."
Lita waved him off, "You can practice later...we have a guest."
Resisting the urge to give his sister the look, Liam nervously waved at the boy sitting next to his sister, "Hey, Zack..."
Zack glanced over, double taking, "Liam?"
Liam stood in place, not sure how to respond, "...yeah?"
Zack laughed, "Sorry--I almost didn't recognize you."
Liam cocked at eyebrow and few strands of hair he had previously brushed back fell across his face, "What do you mean?"
"Your hair," said Zack, nodding his head. "You've always got that beanie on..."
Liam flushed, "Oh, yeah...My mom's been dying to cut it..."
Giggling, Lita piped in, "You ought to see him run every time she has a pair of scissors."
Zack chuckled, "Well, what I was going to say was that it looked...nice."
"You can be honest with him, Zack, he's used to the abuse," said Lita, winking in Liam's direction."
Zack jabbed Lita playfully with his elbow, "Don't listen to her,man--It takes a badass dude to work that Kurt Russell style."
While Liam wasn't sure he could take much more embarrassment, he couldn't help but laugh out loud and drop his voice an octave lower, "The name's Plissken."
Lita sat back as the two boys simultaneously started laughing and bantering between each other. She apparently was missing something very funny. As both Liam and Zack realized they were the only two laughing, they quieted and looked to Lita for a response.
"...I don't get it," said Lita blankly.
"You know, Escape from L.A.?" asked Zack incredulously.
Liam rolled his eyes, "That's the one where Kurt Russell's a mercenary hired by the President to find a doomsday device and then was injected with a virus bomb that'd kill him if he didn't find it...?"
Lita narrowed her eyes, tilting her head in thought, "...Yeaaah.."
"You fell asleep and woke up when he was being held captive by the plastic surgery rejects..."
"OH! Yeah, that move was dumb."
"Well, you also didn't like Galaxy Quest, so, you're opinion is meaningless," said Liam with out missing a beat.
Zack looked shocked, "Seriously, Lita?"
"I mean it was okay...I wouldn't watch it again..."
"I don't think we can be friends anymore," said Zack with a smile.
Lita sneered as she stood up, "Well that's okay, you and my brother can be BFFs and watch all those dumb movies. So, I'll just leave you two to bond mano a mano."
Liam's face fell, "OH--come on Lita..." he said as he motioned back towards the television, "you'll miss the best part."
Lita grinned, "I've seen this episode like a thousand times--but can you believe someone's never watched it before?"
Zack half held his hand up as Lita walked around the back of the couch towards the study. She stuck her tongue out at Liam when she knew Zack couldn't see. Liam quickly narrowed his eyes, before turning his attention back to his friend.
"...Well, prepare to have your mind blown," said Liam, miming an explosion from his head with his hands. "Two words: time travel and dinosaurs."
"...That's three," said Zack, smiling.
"Fine, three words--shut up. Down side, you gotta start from the beginning or else you'll be hella confused."
"Well, now you have my interest..."
Liam sat down in Lita's spot and grabbed the game controller from the side table and began scrolling through the episode titles until he found the first one and pressed play. Zack carefully watched Liam, amused by the red-head's excitement. Sitting back against the couch, Zack pulled his attention away as the show began playing. Lita had peered around the door from her seat at the computer desk. She smiled to herself before disappearing from sight once again.
"I didn't realize that you and Lita were like...buddy buddy," said Liam, glancing over to Zack.
"Well, we don't really do much outside of school...but I just moved to this side of town, so maybe we can all hangout -- Lita actually caught me on my way back home."
Liam felt his heart skip, "How far? You don't have to watch this you know, it can be...addicting."
Zack chuckled, "Pretty close actually--we're neighbors, so marathon it up!"
"If it gets too late, you can just stay here," called Lita unable to contain herself.
Liam could have died. Just died...
"Well, depends on how mind blowing Liam's taste is," said Zack slyly, looking over to his left.
...and then be resurrected and die again. Liam flushed, realizing he had made a grave mistake. He was going to have a difficult time surviving the evening without letting his feelings for the other painfully obvious. Zack, no matter how coy his tone, appeared none the wiser. Liam could only hope.
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