Chapter 13 Liam #2
“Yeah.” I swallowed. “I know I don’t say this stuff enough, but you’re really good at what you do. Like, scary good. And I’m glad you’re on our side.”
He blinked. Adjusted his satchel. “Dude. Are you okay?”
“I’m being genuine.”
“I know. That’s why I’m asking if you’re okay.”
I shoved him lightly. “Shut up. I’m trying to tell you that you did good.”
“You’re proud of me.” Noah’s eyes lit up with that knowing look. “Oh my god. Liam Moore is experiencing a feeling and expressing it with words.”
“I take it back.”
“No take-backs.” He was full-on smiling now. “This is growth. This is what we love to see.”
“You’re the worst.”
“And yet you just complimented me.” He bumped my shoulder with his. “Thanks, though. Really. Means a lot coming from you.”
I nodded. Didn’t trust myself to say anything else without it getting weird. But something in my chest felt lighter.
“Where’s Emily?”
“Bathroom.”
Noah nodded, his gaze scanning the lobby before landing on something over my shoulder.
His expression shifted.
“Hey. Liam?”
The voice came from behind us.
I turned.
Alex stood a few feet away, hands in his pockets. He looked like hell. Dark circles under his eyes. Hair disheveled. And a bruise blooming along his cheekbone—purple-yellow, the kind that came from someone’s fist. The exact thing I tried to defend him against.
A feeling rushed through my body. It wasn’t the usual excitement I felt seeing Alex. It was something else. Sadness. Pity. And something so much deeper.
I shut it down. I couldn’t go there.
Noah’s posture shifted. Protective. “Alex.”
Alex blinked. Looked at Noah like he was trying to place him. “Uh—“
“Noah Patel. I’m Liam’s roommate,” Noah said.
“Right. Sorry.” Alex’s eyes flicked to me, then back to Noah. “Congrats on the debate. That was... really impressive.”
“Thanks.”
Silence stretched between the three of us.
Alex shifted his weight and looked at me. “Can we talk? Just for a second. Alone.”
Noah stepped closer to my side. “Anything you need to say to him, you can say to me.”
Alex’s jaw tightened. “Alright. We need to talk about the thing.”
“The video?” Noah asked.
“You know about the video?”
“Of course he does, he’s my best friend,” I said.
Noah’s head snapped toward me. Eyebrows raised. A small smile tugging at his mouth.
I kept my eyes on Alex and ignored the warmth creeping up my neck.
Noah would absolutely bring this up later. I already knew it
“I can’t live with it hanging over my head,” Alex said.
Yeah. I can't either.
“Noah might have a solution,” I said.
Alex looked at Noah.
Noah pulled out his phone. “One of my friends from computer science—tech guy from the debate circuit. He figured out a way to trace restricted numbers.”
“You can trace it?” Alex’s voice cracked. Relief bleeding through.
“Give me a couple days. I’ll backtrack the number. Figure out who sent it.”
“That’s—“ Alex exhaled. “Thank you.”
“Me and Noah aren’t doing this alone,” I said.
The words slipped out before I could stop them.
“You’ve gotta come help.”
Immediately, I regretted it.
Spending more time with Alex. More opportunities for Emily to ask questions I couldn’t answer. More chances for this whole thing to blow up.
But Alex nodded. Too fast. Too eager. “Okay. What do we do once we trace it?”
“Depends on who it is,” I said with a sinister note in my voice.
“We’re just going to delete the video,” Noah said.
Alex nodded then looked directly at me. “I trust you,” then looked down, “both of you.”
He turned and walked toward the exit.
I watched him go. Watched the way he moved through the Kingswell lobby—shoulders back, head up, even with exhaustion written all over him. That classic Alex Harrington mask.
I trust you.
The words echoed in my head louder than they should have.
Trust. Alex Harrington trusted me.
Why did that matter? Why did it feel like something shifting in my chest, something I couldn’t name and didn’t want to?
This was supposed to be over after the race but it was like trying to keep water out of a leaky boat. He just kept seeping back in, those feelings just kept seeping back in.
He looked at me just now like I was the only person who could help him. Like he needed me. And I hated how much I wanted that to mean something.
“He looks rough,” Noah said.
“Yeah.”
“You good?”
“Yeah, I just can’t believe he had the guts to walk over here.”
Noah nodded and was quiet for a second. Then, “So. Best friend, huh?”
I shot him a look. “Don’t.”
“I’m just saying—that’s the first time you’ve ever called me that out loud. I’m touched. Really.” He pressed a hand to his chest, voice going mock-emotional. “Should I get us matching bracelets? Engrave them with ‘Liam’s words, not mine’?”
“You’re the worst.”
“And yet, I’m your best friend.” He grinned. “I’m never letting this go.”
“I know.”
I was smiling too.
Emily appeared from the hallway, walking toward us. Her eyes immediately found mine, then Noah’s, then tracked to the exit where Alex had just disappeared.
She slowed. “Was that Alex Harrington?”
My chest tightened.
“He just came by to say congrats to Noah,” I said, too quick.
Emily stopped. Looked at me. Then at Noah. Then back to me.
“Your rival came all the way over here to congratulate Noah on a debate?”
Silence. Noah shifted his weight and adjusted his satchel.
Emily’s eyes narrowed. “Tell me the truth. What happened?”
“Nothing happened,” I said.
“Liam—“
“Emily, it’s really not—“
“Don’t.” Her voice was quiet but firm. “Don’t do that. I can tell when you’re hiding something.”
The air between us felt heavy. Loaded.
Noah cleared his throat. “He probably just wanted to show some sportsmanship. You know, after we swept the debate.”
Emily looked at him, then at me. She didn’t believe it and I could see it in her eyes.
But before she could push further, Noah spoke again. “Speaking of which—can we please get out of this auditorium? I’ve been breathing Kingswell air for two hours and my lungs are suffocating.”
Emily’s expression softened. She looked at Noah, and something in her face shifted—the confrontation dissolving into warmth.
“You were incredible up there. Seriously. Crawford didn’t stand a chance,” she said.
Noah grinned. “Thanks. Felt good.”
“We should celebrate,” Emily said.
"You guys said you'd get me ice cream if I won," Noah said.
“Oh that's right," Emily said. "Let's go then."
She smiled, then slipped her hand into mine. “Ready to go?”
“Yeah.”
We walked toward the exit together—Emily on one side, Noah on the other.
The cool evening air hit us as we stepped outside. Campus stretched out—old buildings with ivy-covered walls, street lamps casting pools of yellow light across brick pathways.
I should have felt relieved. We’d dodged it. Emily had let it go, but my stomach was twisted in knots.
She knew something was off and she’d looked right through me.
Plus, I’d lied to her face.
Guilt crawled under my skin, sharp and uncomfortable. I couldn’t tell her that I was going to be working with Alex on this. Spending more time with him. It was bad enough that she knew about the video. But now I felt like she was suspicious of Alex in general.
The truth was getting too close—seeping in. Emily squeezed my hand. I squeezed back.
But it felt wrong.
***
We got ice cream at the place downtown—Rocky Road for Emily, Mint Chip for Noah, plain Vanilla for me because I didn’t trust myself to taste anything more complicated.
Then we’d dropped Emily off at her dorm.
She’d kissed me goodnight, quick and light, and I’d watched her disappear through the entrance before Noah and I walked back to our building.
Now I was sitting on my bed, back against the wall.
Noah was at his desk, pulling off his button-down and tossing it over his chair. He grabbed a t-shirt from the drawer.
“So,” he said, pulling it over his head. “We’re really doing this. Working with Alex Harrington.”
“Yeah.”
“That’s going to be... interesting.”
I stared at the ceiling. “It’s going to be a nightmare.”
“Probably.” Noah sat on the edge of his bed, facing me. “You sure you want to do this?”
“Don’t have a choice. We need to find out who sent that video before it gets worse.” I paused. “Besides, he’s got just as much to lose as I do. Maybe more.”
“True.”
Silence settled between us.
“Thanks... for having my back. With the video. With Emily. All of it,” I said.
Noah shrugged. “That’s what best friends do, right?”
I smiled. “Don’t start.”
“Too late. Already started.” He grinned, then grabbed his phone and headphones from the nightstand. “I’m gonna crash. Early practice tomorrow?”
“Yeah. Five-thirty.”
“Brutal.” He plugged in his headphones, pulled up whatever weird sleep playlist he listened to. “Night, man.”
“Night.”
Noah laid back, eyes closed, headphones in. I could hear the faint sound leaking out—some kind of ambient ocean noise. Whales, maybe. Or dolphins. He’d explained it once—something about how the low-frequency sounds helped him fall asleep faster.
I never understood it, but it worked for him.
I grabbed my phone and I had one notification from an unknown number. But the thing was... I knew it. I’d never forget it. It was Alex.
I used to have his number saved, back at the lake. Back when we were... whatever we were. But I’d deleted it the day I left for Riverside and told myself it was closure. A clean break.
Unknown
Thank you. For not turning me away.
I stared at the message for a long time.
Liam
Don’t thank me yet. We don’t know if this works.
Unknown
Still. You didn’t have to help.
Liam
Yeah, well. Maybe I’m just tired of carrying this shit alone.
Unknown
Me too.
My thumb hovered over the add contact button.
Don’t do it.
This was already complicated enough and adding his number back felt like opening a door I’d spent so long trying to keep closed.
But my thumb moved anyway.
And I typed his name: Alex Harrington.
Save.
I stared at the name in my phone. At the message thread that now had a face attached to it again and my stomach twisted.
What am I doing?
My phone buzzed again.
Emily
I love you. You know that, right?
The words sat there on my screen. Familiar. Safe. Everything I was supposed to want.
I typed back.
Love you too.
Three words. Easy.
I deleted what I’d written. Tried again.
I know.
Not enough. She’d notice. I forced myself to type it. Send.
Liam
I know. Love you too.
I did love her. I did. But saying it felt like swallowing glass, not because I didn’t love her but because my feelings for Alex were coming back. It was like no matter what the situtation, if he was around, I'd have feelings for him. The pull was magnetic… inevitable.
I set my phone face-down on the nightstand and lay back on my bed. Noah’s whale sounds hummed softly across the room.
I closed my eyes.
Alex’s number was in my phone again.
Emily’s text sat in my notifications.
And I was caught in the current between them—stuck in the middle of something I didn’t know how to navigate.
I didn’t fall asleep for a long time.