Chapter Two #4
“I missed you, too, but I’m sure your mom said something about you not running out of the house like you just did, Melissa.”
“Mom isn’t fun,” Melissa complained.
“Mom is going to put you in timeout if you don’t check what you’re saying, little Miss,” Melissa’s mother said from the open door. “I understand that you’re happy to see Liam, but he’s right. You’re not supposed to run out the way you just did.”
Melissa pouted but let go of Liam to go back to her mother. Liam waved at both of them, trying hard not to smile. Melissa was so cute. He was sure that Melissa’s mother didn’t feel the same way right now, though.
He shook his head as he walked into the house and closed the front door to make sure Melissa wouldn’t escape again. He was pretty sure she wouldn’t now that he was inside, but who knew what went through her head. She was only three, after all.
He made his way toward the area of the house where his family lived.
He had to stop what felt like a dozen times to talk to people who exclaimed over finally seeing him again and how good it was to have him home.
It felt like he’d left years ago instead of just a few months, and it was a bit much, but at the same time, it showed him that they cared.
They truly wanted to know what he was up to in the outside world.
He wasn’t sure how to explain it to them.
They didn’t want to see the outside world or to experience it in any way.
They were happy where they were, leaving the house only when they absolutely had to, but that wasn’t what Liam wanted, and it wasn’t what he was working toward.
That was fine, though. He didn’t have to convince anyone else to live the way he did.
His mother was at the stove when he walked in, as always. She smiled when she heard him and turned toward him, and he rushed forward to hug her. He’d missed her, even though he hadn’t been away for that long.
“Your favorite,” she said.
“Thank you. You shouldn’t have.”
“Of course I should have. When else am I going to cook it now that you don’t live here with us anymore?”
She wasn’t saying that to make Liam feel guilty.
She was saying it as a fact, and Liam couldn’t argue it.
He wasn’t living here anymore, and since it was his favorite and not any of his siblings’, it made sense for her to make it only when he came home.
He tried to do so as often as he could, but it wasn’t always easy because of his shifts.
Luckily, no one in his family seemed to resent him for that.
“So, how’s work?” Liam’s mom asked as he sat at the table.
His father wasn’t back from work yet, and his sister was probably with her friends.
As for his brother, well, Liam never knew where he was, but the kid was only fifteen.
When he saw Liam at dinner, he’d probably grunt and nod at him, and that would be it.
Coming from him, it would be like a love declaration.
“It’s great,” Liam answered. He’d offer to help, but he already knew she would say no.
He wasn’t supposed to help in the kitchen.
It was ridiculous, and he’d watched West, Taylor, and other men cook plenty of times since he started working at the station, but it was just how it was.
“I like working with other dragon shifters. I didn’t expect to, but they’re great. ”
His mother tsked. “I’m still not sure I like that you have to deal with that. You know I don’t trust most dragon shifters.”
“Well, you would trust them if you knew them. Austin and West are good people. They could’ve made things difficult for me when I first arrived.
Hell, they could have found a way to get me transferred, but they didn’t.
They started helping me almost instantly, and they even invited me out for dinner with all of their friends so I could get to know them.
They really want me to be part of their group. ”
“And is that a good thing? You don’t know these people.”
“Not yet, but I will. I work with West and Austin. I need to be able to trust them with my life, just like they’re going to trust me with theirs. I promise you that they’re fine and that they’ll protect me if I ever need them to. I’m in good hands, even when I’m running into a burning building.”
“I hope you’re right.”
Liam sighed. He knew that his mother was worried because she loved him, but sometimes, it felt stifling and frustrating.
Liam was an adult. He could decide who he wanted to be friends with and who he was going to trust. His mother would have to make her peace with it, and he hoped she would.
He wasn’t sure he’d ever introduce West and Austin to her and the rest of his family, but he liked to think that maybe one day, he could.
Even if that never happened, though, it would be fine.
As much as he loved his clan and his family, they were part of his past, and he wanted to focus on the future.
That future would include West and Austin and their friends.
And maybe even Ethan.