.:Author's Note:.

Liam's Papa at the top.

The song that Liam recorded at the top too.

***

Liam's POV:

The sound of knocking on my bedroom door woke me from my slumber. Once the knocking had stopped, Papa's voice drifted to my ears.

"Lima Bean? It's time to wake up. You have twenty minutes to eat and brush your teeth before your class starts." He said before I heard his retreating footsteps. I groggily wiped the sleep from my eyes before standing and stretching out my body. With a content sigh, I exited my room and went downstairs for breakfast.

"Morning, Ma." I mumbled as I hugged her from behind. She was currently at the stove making a batch of potato pancakes. They were to die for.

"Morning, Liam!" She responded cheerfully before turning around to kiss my forehead. After, I stepped away to sit on one of the stools and patiently wait for my breakfast. Papa entered just as I had taken a seat, decked in a nice pair of jeans, a shirt, and a blazer. He ruffled my hair before kissing Ma's cheek and rushing out of the house with his briefcase in hand.

Ma chuckled as she served me a stack of pancakes. I licked my lips hungrily and thanked her before taking my first bite. I was only halfway through my first pancake when there was a knock at the front door. Ma stopped eating to answer it, leaving me to finish my food.

"Good morning, Blake. Don't you look handsome?" Ma's voice sounded from the foyer. My eyes widened as I looked at the clock over the doorway. I only had ten minutes left!

"Good morning, Angela, and thank you. You don't think it's a bit over the top?" Blake's deep voice answered back after the front door closed. I finished all of my pancakes just as they both stepped into the kitchen.

"Not at all." Ma replied.

Blake, much like my Papa, was dressed in a pair of jeans, a shirt and a blazer. However, unlike my dad, he had glasses on. I giggled since it kind of reminded me of Harry Potter. My laugh caught both of their attentions.

"Hey, Liam!" Blake said with a grin as he placed his bag down. It sounded heavy by the way it hit the island. I blushed before waving shyly.

"I have to go shower and brush my teeth quickly." I told him as I put my plate in the sink. He laughed before nodding, sending me on my way. I raced upstairs to take my shower and brush my teeth. I can't believe it's only my first day and I'm going to be late.

Once done, I entered my room and took out a random pair of clothes. I opted out of blow drying my hair and instead left it wet to air dry as I put on sweatpants and a plain T-shirt. Grabbing the school supplies Ma and Papa had bought for me yesterday, I headed back downstairs to Blake. He was in the living room, standing in front of a large whiteboard.

"You're late, Mr. Nelson! This calls for afterschool detention." He said seriously once I took a seat. I looked at him nervously as I bit my bottom lip and an embarrassed blush filled my cheeks. My eyes fell apologetically, but before I could apologize, he was laughing.

"Nah, I'm just messing with you." He said in between chuckles. I grinned as my blush darkened. He was joking with me. The thought made a stampede of elephants appear in my stomach.

"Anyways, your mother left shortly after you went upstairs to shower. She said something about going to apply to the local vet." Blake said thoughtfully as he wrote something on the whiteboard.

Before the move, Ma was one of the best veterinarians in our old town. Most of her customers were upset that she was moving, but she didn't go without leaving someone of high quality in her place. Now, seeing that we were in a new town, she had to apply for a job at the local animal hospital and hope they needed an extra hand.

"I figured we can work on the subjects from hardest to easiest throughout the day. That way, instead of looking forward to the end of the day because it will all be over, you can look forward to your favorite subject instead. How does that sound?"

"I-it's fine." I mumbled, causing Blake to turn to me with a smile.

"Now, I hope you know that these are classes you'll have to speak with me through. I plan to be very interactive with you and make sure you're processing everything. It's completely fine to ask questions when you don't understand something. I'm here to help you, not bully you. Do you understand?"

I played with the bottom of my shirt as I nodded. Blake was in teacher mode now which was slightly intimidating. I did my best to relax, seeing that he wasn't being mean at all to me. In fact, he was quite comforting.

"Verbal answers, Liam." His tone was encouraging, not demanding. I bit my lip again before looking at his nose. I didn't really feel comfortable looking at him in the eyes.

"Y-yes, I understand, Blake. Um, I-I'll participate."

My response caused another grin to appear on Blake's face, making my own redden in embarrassment. He clapped his hands loudly, causing me to jump in my seat.

"Sorry. Sorry. I just got excited." He explained. I giggled before quickly covering my mouth. I didn't really like my laugh and apparently Blake didn't either because he was now staring at me weirdly. Stop being weird and making people uncomfortable, Liam! Freak.

Blake shook his head quickly before another grin appeared on his face. It didn't stop my train of thoughts; I am a freak.

"Okay, on a serious note, let's start with AP Government."

***

It was now lunch time.

Being at home helped tremendously because I could eat whatever I liked. I grabbed a bowl and made myself an overly healthy dose of cereal. Blake had brought a sandwich for himself, seeing that we (my parents and I) were vegetarians and he was not.

"You were great for the first half of the day, Liam." Blake complimented before he bit into his sandwich. I blushed and mumbled out a thank you as I drank a spoonful of the almond milk.

"Is there anything you want to ask me? It doesn't have to relate to school if you don't want it to. We can just talk for the next half hour."

I stopped eating to look at Blake in shock. He wanted to talk to me?

"Y-you want to just talk to me?" I questioned. Asking the question out loud didn't make it sound any less unusual. Blake chuckled as he nodded.

"Yes, I do."

"Why?" My voice was quieter than usual. I didn't want him to think that I didn't want to talk to him. It's just that people never used to try to talk to me before, not like I gave them a valid reason to.

"Because I talk to all of my friends." He said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Cereal now forgotten, I continued to look at him in shock.

"I-I'm your friend?" Again, he laughed as he nodded.

"Definitely. Unless, you don't want me to be your friend..."

"No!"

My outburst made Blake's eyes widen. I shrunk in my seat as I looked at the bottom of my shirt, playing with one of the loose threads nervously.

"I mean, I want you to be my friend. I-I've never had one of those." I admitted embarrassingly, tapping my fingers on my thighs now. The cold sweat appeared at the back of my neck and on my forehead as the kitchen filled with silence.

"It's okay if you don't want to be my friend now. I wouldn't be my friend either." I wasn't sure when I had started crying, but I made sure to rid myself of the tears quickly. Blake didn't need to see me so weak. I jumped as a threatening lion's roar rattled some of the utensils in the drainer.

I looked up to see Blake glaring at me slightly. It made me squirm, and I wanted to do anything else but be at the butt end of his glare. I didn't want him to be mad at me.

"Liam, I don't mean to scare you at all. However, I don't want to ever hear you say something like that again. I would love to be your friend and don't tell Dimitri this, but you are definitely taking his space." He finished teasingly, making me giggle again despite how hard I tried to conceal it.

The tension in my body seemed to seep away due to his words. I was excited, and so was my sheep, because I had my first friend. Silently, I promised to not mess this up.

"O-okay, Blake. Thanks for being my first." I mumbled cheerfully as I continued to eat my cereal.

***

"At first, I wasn't sure how I would grade you for this class." Blake told me as we headed downstairs towards the recording studio. I silently followed behind him, flicking on the light before we went down.

"Music is an art and it can be interpreted in many ways. You're basically a prodigy and don't need to be graded. So I figured, you can choose whatever songs or music you would like to learn and just practice."

I blushed at Blake's compliment but still kept quiet as we reached the bottom of the steps. He turned to me quickly, stopping so suddenly that I almost ran straight into his chest. My cheeks were basically on fire as I looked at our bare feet buried in the carpet.

"Do you have anything you want to add, Liam?"

I thought about it before shaking my head slowly.

"Okay. Your mother says that this is a one-way glass." He continued speaking as he walked over to the soundboard and touched the glass right above it. "Is it because you don't like to see people watching you?"

I wrung my hands as I nodded.

"If that's the case, would you prefer I stay upstairs while you work?"

Timidly, I nodded. Even if Blake was my friend now, it would still make me uncomfortable to know that he was on the other end of the glass watching me. It was the same reason why Ma and Papa didn't make their presence known to me until I was done recording myself. Maybe over time, I would allow them to watch me from start to finish, but for right now, all I could handle was the sneaking.

I thought Blake would be mad at me for my answer, so I prepared myself for the angry shouts I was sure to receive. However, as I looked up at him, there was just an understanding smile on his face. As always, I found my eyes glued to his pearly whites. If I wasn't looking at them, I'd be staring at his nose.

"It's okay to want privacy, Liam. I don't mind waiting upstairs. Will you come get me when you're finished?"

I smiled gratefully before nodding.

"I-I can do that! Will you listen to it when I'm done?" I asked, thinking he at least deserved that much.

"Of course. Just call me up."

After that, he was gone. I released a small sigh of relief as I relaxed in my comfort zone. I knew exactly what I wanted to record for Blake, and with a little practice in the next half hour, I would have it ready for him.

After pressing record on the soundboard, I entered the recording booth, starting with the song's instrumental. I recorded myself playing the keyboard, drums, and bass before I headed for the mic. With the prerecorded instrumental, I recorded myself singing over it. To me, it sounded great, and by the time I had edited and put everything together, I was really excited for Blake to hear it.

Once everything was done, I headed back upstairs. I found Blake sitting in the kitchen by the island again, going over some of the work I did today. As if sensing my presence, he turned around on his stool to face me just before I could properly enter the kitchen.

"All done?" He asked, grinning widely. I nodded as I looked at my toes. Huh, you have small feet, Liam.

"You can just press play on the soundboard when you go down." I told him with a heated face.

"You're not going to listen to it with me?" Blake asked back, sounding almost sad. I glanced at him to see that there was a slight frown on his face. It made me feel bad.

"Umm, I-I wasn't planning to. D-do you want me to?"

"Only if you're comfortable with doing so."

I thought about it before silently agreeing. I really did want to see his reaction when he heard the song I recorded for him. My response seemed to brighten Blake's mood because he was smiling again as he hopped off of the stool.

"Well, come let's go downstairs then."

I followed silently behind Blake, suddenly feeling like I was heading towards my doom.