.:Author's Note:.

I wasn't sure what picture I needed for this chapter, so I went with the glow stick balloons. 😊

***

Blake's POV:

Almost a month.

I've waited almost an entire month for the opportunity to make a move. An entire month to place Liam's plump lips against my own. An entire month to actually feel how smooth and luscious it is. And how does he react?

He fucking giggles.

I stopped kissing Liam and frowned as he tried to contain his laughter. Was I that bad of a kisser? Was it the wrong thing to do? Why was he laughing at me?

After some time, Liam glanced at me and caught my upset expression. He stopped laughing immediately. I don't really know how I was expecting him to react, but I didn't expect him to downright laugh at me. Maybe I shouldn't have kissed him.

"I-I'm sorry." Liam mumbled with heated cheeks, snapping me out of my thoughts. He was now twiddling with his fingers and looking at the ground with a frown of his own. "Your beard tickles." He continued, causing me to sigh in relief before lifting his head up and kissing him again. Of course, you're not a bad kisser, Blake! What the hell were you thinking?

This time, Liam didn't laugh. Instead, he gripped onto my shirt and tried to follow my movements. I knew this was his first kiss and I planned to make it memorable. With that thought in mind, I smirked before licking his bottom lip. Almost instinctively, he parted his lips, allowing my tongue to slip inside and make contact with his. I almost growled at the sound of Liam's soft whimper.

I couldn't stop myself as I gently opened his legs and stepped in between them, wanting as much contact with Liam's body as possible. I used both hands to softly hold his face as I delved into his wet heat. Fuck, I've never tasted something so... delectable.

Liam tasted like chocolate (granted he was just eating some), but he also tasted like honey and peppermint (an odd combination, but delicious just the same). His soft moans were what had my control slowly slipping away. The kiss became firmer and my tongue explored every inch of his mouth, taking in as much detail as I could. His hold on my shirt tightened as he sat up more, following my movements as I tried to pull away from him. I sucked on his bottom lip, lightly nibbling on it, causing him to release another whimper. I hope he can't feel how fucking hard I am.

When I felt like Liam had enough (because I would've continued until the end of time), I stopped kissing him. My eyes opened to watch as he licked his lips, as if savoring the feeling of the intense moment we just shared. His eyes were now open, hazy and wet, reminding me of the daydream I had of him a while ago.

It was like second nature as I leaned back into Liam's space, pecking his cheek, forehead, eyes, nose, and lips again (basically, anywhere my lips could touch). His skin was hot against me, signifying that his blush was back at tenfold.

"B-Blake?" Liam questioned as I buried my face into the crook of his neck. My arms wrapped around his waist, just wanting to hold him for a little while as he sat and I continued to stand between his legs. His hold on my shirt never loosened, which made my lion purr in content.

"Yes, Liam?" I replied, making sure my lips and breath fanned his heated neck. I didn't miss the shiver that racked his body.

"Y-you kissed me!" He stated, pointing out the obvious. I chuckled as I nodded into his shoulder.

"I know."

"Does this- does this mean that you like me?" He questioned nervously. I stood straight at that, arms still wrapped around his waist, and eyes looking into his own. It took a while before Liam was even remotely comfortable looking me in the eyes, but I loved that he was doing so now because he could never hide his emotions in his baby blues.

He was nervous, that I could tell from his actions alone. However, he was also hopeful, and that was all the encouragement I needed to reply to him.

"Yes, it does. I like you a lot, Liam."

I was hardly able to finish my sentence before Liam squealed and hugged me so tightly I swore my organs were going to burst. He buried his face into my chest, nuzzling the spot right where my heart was. I knew he felt it when it skipped a beat because he just squeezed tighter. My arms tightened around him also, savoring the feel of him in my hold.

"I-I like you too, Blake." Liam mumbled into my chest, but there was no force in the world that would've prevented me from hearing it. My heart skipped a beat again, followed by the familiar ache I got when Liam was around me. I smiled as I nuzzled my face into his hair.

I've waited almost an entire month for this, and it was so fucking worth it.

***

After our moment, Liam and I went back to our regularly scheduled program. Sorry, I've always wanted to say that.

"Can you crack the glow sticks?" I asked Liam as I opened the box with the helium tank. It was small and had a nozzle so that it was easy to use. Liam nodded before grabbing the pack of glow sticks from the Party City bag. I sat across from him as I grabbed another pack of white balloons. After opening them, I blew one up with helium as Liam watched me questioningly.

"Hand me one of the cracked glow sticks please."

He passed one over, which I quickly slipped into the blown up balloon before tying it. I released it and let it float to the ceiling, looking like a colorful cloud. I glanced at Liam to see that he was smiling as he watched the balloon. I guess he now understood my intentions because he then looked at me in excitement.

"Can I do the next one?"

Liam and I used helium for half of the packs of balloons and blew up the rest manually. When the balloons and glow sticks were all done, I turned off all of the lights in the house. Liam squeaked as I returned to the kitchen which was only lit by the glow stick balloons.

"Glow stick balloon war!" I declared as I picked up some balloons and threw them at Liam before running out of the kitchen. We managed to fill most of the floor with balloons, so I had ammo everywhere.

"Hey!" Liam called out from the kitchen before he ran after me. He was giggling as he threw some balloons at me, barely catching me as I tried to dodge and run. I laughed as I picked up another lit balloon and threw it behind me. I knew it hit its target as Liam playfully growled at me. Can lambs even growl?

With a shrug and another laugh, I ducked behind one of the sofas in the living room. I grabbed more balloons as Liam stood in the doorway, trying to find me in the dark. With my great vision, I watched as he picked up a balloon and tried to duck behind a sofa also, but not before I hit him with one of my own.

"Blake!" He shouted as he threw a balloon in my direction. It bounced on my head, causing Liam to laugh heartily. I had to pause as the sound of it made my heart race. This gave Liam just enough time to hit me with five more unsuspecting balloons.

"Liam!" I growled playfully as I grabbed the balloons that hit me in the face.

"Ha ha! I'm going to beat you!" He said excitedly as he threw more balloons at me. I grinned as I threw some more back. We tumbled from sofa to sofa, careful not to hurt ourselves in the barely lit room. That was how Liam's parents found us.

Liam and I didn't even hear the front door open over the sound of our laughter and joking threats. It was when the light flicked on, nearly blinding the both of us, that we realized we were no longer home alone. Angela and Jerald were both standing in the living room's entrance, looking at Liam and me frozen mid-throw.

"Liam, I can't believe you threw a party without us!" Angela said jokingly as she put her and Jerald's jacket to the side. Looking at Liam, I noted that he was blushing madly, looking at all of the balloons on the floor.

"I call being on Blake's team!" Angela declared as she and Jerald slipped off their shoes and turned off the lights once again. I laughed as she made her way over to me in the dark while Jerald went to his son. The balloon war started again as if it never stopped.

The four of us ended up running from the living room to the kitchen, to the stairs, and then back down. We were exhausted by the time our game to an end. The three sheep sat on the kitchen stools, catching their breaths as I took a pan of the chocolate covered balloons out of the freezer. I also made sure to grab the ice cream, letting Liam get the spoons.

Once I set the things on the island, Angela took a pin from her clothes and popped four of the balloons, making sure to take out any remains of it that would've been left in the bowls. Jerald dished out the ice cream for each of us before I returned the rest of the balloons to the freezer. After, I sat on the island thinking that this was family time, and I was glad to be a part of it.

"How was your day, Lima Bean?" Jerald asked Liam as we all ate our ice cream. Since I was sitting across from him, I didn't miss the blush on Liam's face as he glanced at me and then his dad.

"It was good, Papa. Probably one of my best days so far." He said quietly as he looked at his bowl with red cheeks and a small grin.

"Really?" Angela asked in surprise. "What made it so great?"

I paused as Liam looked at me nervously. Even though I was more than crazy about him, he was still underage, and I wasn't sure how his parents would react to me being involved with him. What if they disapproved and forced me to stay away from their son? How would I fucking handle that?

After getting a taste, there was no way I could stay away from him now. So before Liam could reply, I spoke up.

"Angela and Jerald, can I speak to you two for a minute?" I asked, knowing that this was the right thing to do. I wasn't going to back out now, not after a month of waiting and finally being able to feel how good Liam felt against me. Liam frowned as he looked at me and then his parents (who were looking at me in concern). I gave him a slight nod, silently dismissing him. He nodded back before taking his ice cream and heading to the basement. I waited until the door closed before sighing heavily.

"I kissed him." I admitted to Liam's parents, ripping the Band-Aid off as fast as I could. They froze in shock before glancing at each other. I waited as they seemed to have a silent conversation with each other before looking back at me.

"How did Liam react?" Angela was the first to speak.

"He kissed me back, and told me that he likes me." I replied, knowing that there was a blush on my cheek. This was so embarrassing, but if it helped to get into Angela's and Jerald's good graces, I would manage it.

"Yes! Jerald, you owe me one hundred bucks!" Angela squealed as she pointed at her husband in triumph. I looked at them in shock as Jerald grumbled before taking out his wallet and handing his wife the cash.

"What?!" I asked in embarrassed confusion. "You guys betted on us?"

Angela nodded happily as Jerald frowned at me.

"Ever since you showed up, you're all that Liam talks about." Jerald voiced. "He's happy you're around, and it wasn't long before he admitted to me and Angie that he had a crush on you. At first, I was really against it because you're five years his senior and I didn't want him getting hurt. However, Angie convinced me that this was a good thing because Liam is finally branching off and finding comfort in someone else. He's pushing his disorder aside and not letting it bother him as much as it used to. He's happy, and I couldn't take that away from him. So I didn't tell him to stop liking you and Angela betted me that something would happen between you two before the month was over. You couldn't have waited a few more days?" He finished in fake anger. Despite that, all I was hearing was that I had their approval. Fuck yes!

"So what you're saying is that I can be with Liam?" I questioned, just to clarify.

"You have our blessings." Angela teased. "However, this is my little lamb, and as his mother, it's my job to warn you that I will murder you if you hurt a hair on his head. This better not be some quick hit-it-and-quit-it because I will hunt you down and make sure you regret it. I've liked you from the very first day when you said you wanted to protect Liam, and I'm still holding you to that, Blake."

"I'd listen to her if I were you." Jerald said before I could speak. "Predator or not, take that not as a threat, but as a promise."

Surprisingly, I did just as he said. My lion didn't once try to prove to the two sheep that he was more dominant than the both of them. He was too happy to care, and honestly, so was I.

Now, I just had to work on wooing Liam.