Chapter 14 Flood Warning
Distance Hurts
Liam knew something was wrong.
Not the kind of wrong that arrived dramatically.
Not an argument.
Not a breakup.
Not a single moment he could point to and understand.
This felt worse.
Because it happened slowly.
Quietly.
The same way water seeped into walls before anyone noticed the damage.
Mason was pulling away again.
And this time Liam couldn't understand why.
The previous few weeks had felt different.
Better.
They'd stopped pretending.
Stopped hiding.
The first kiss had changed everything.
The conversations afterward had changed even more.
For a little while, Liam had allowed himself to believe they were finally moving forward.
Together.
Then something shifted.
Again.
The texts became shorter.
Less frequent.
Mason still showed up for work.
Still smiled.
Still asked how Liam was doing.
Yet the warmth felt muted somehow.
As though part of him had already stepped back.
The realization sat heavily in Liam's chest.
Every day made it harder to ignore.
Every day hurt a little more.
Wednesday afternoon found Liam sitting in the university library.
Books surrounded him.
Research articles filled his laptop screen.
Three separate deadlines waited for attention.
Unfortunately, his concentration had completely abandoned him.
The same paragraph remained unread.
Again.
And again.
And again.
A frustrated sigh escaped him.
Across the table, Emma looked up from her notes.
"You haven't done any actual work in twenty minutes."
Liam groaned.
"That's not true."
"It absolutely is."
The accusation sounded annoyingly accurate.
Emma closed her textbook.
"What's happening?"
The question carried enough concern to make avoidance impossible.
Liam looked down at his laptop.
Then admitted the truth.
"I think Mason's pulling away."
The words felt terrible spoken aloud.
Because saying them made the possibility real.
Emma frowned immediately.
"Did something happen?"
"I don't know."
That was the worst part.
If there had been an argument, Liam could understand it.
If Mason had changed his mind, at least there would be an explanation.
Instead, he was trapped between uncertainty and assumption.
Neither felt good.
Emma listened while he explained.
The shorter conversations.
The distance.
The feeling that something had changed.
When he finished, she leaned back thoughtfully.
"Have you asked him?"
Liam laughed humorlessly.
"Again?"
"Again."
The response arrived instantly.
Apparently Emma remained committed to solving every problem through direct communication.
Annoying.
Reasonable.
Effective.
Unfortunately.
"I don't want to force him."
The words escaped quietly.
Emma's expression softened.
"Liam."
The younger man looked away.
Because part of him already knew what she was going to say.
"You deserve honesty too."
The statement lingered.
Painfully.
Because it was true.
Yet somehow asking still felt terrifying.
The conversation followed him throughout the afternoon.
Unfortunately, so did everything else.
A professor emailed requesting revisions.
A financial aid office reminder appeared in his inbox.
A group project partner missed another deadline.
Every responsibility seemed determined to arrive simultaneously.
By the time Liam returned home, exhaustion sat heavily across his shoulders.
The house felt unusually empty.
The repairs were nearly complete now.
Only a few small projects remained.
Most rooms looked normal again.
The visible signs of damage had disappeared.
Liam wished emotional repairs worked that way.
A truck pulled into the driveway shortly after five.
His heart immediately reacted.
Still.
Every single time.
Mason stepped out carrying equipment.
The sight should have made Liam happy.
Instead, nervousness arrived first.
The older man knocked.
Liam opened the door.
"Hey."
"Hey."
The smile that followed seemed genuine.
Which somehow made everything more confusing.
Because Mason clearly cared.
Liam knew that.
Yet the distance remained.
The contradiction was becoming unbearable.
The evening passed beneath that familiar tension.
Not hostile.
Not angry.
Just uncertain.
The kind of uncertainty that slowly exhausted everyone involved.
At one point, Liam caught Mason staring thoughtfully out a window.
The older man looked distracted.
Lost somewhere inside his own thoughts.
The sight hurt more than it should have.
Because lately it felt like Mason was carrying entire conversations Liam wasn't allowed to hear.
The realization made him feel helpless.
And Liam hated feeling helpless.
Especially after everything he'd fought to overcome.
Dinner happened quietly.
Work continued.
Neither addressed the obvious problem.
By eight o'clock, Mason packed up for the night.
The familiar routine should have felt comforting.
Instead, disappointment settled inside Liam's chest.
Another day.
Another missed conversation.
Another opportunity slipping away.
Mason paused near the door.
"You okay?"
The question sounded sincere.
As always.
Liam almost laughed.
The irony felt overwhelming.
The person causing most of his stress was asking whether he was stressed.
Life had an incredible sense of humor.
"I'm fine."
The lie escaped automatically.
Mason looked unconvinced.
Yet didn't push.
A few moments later, he was gone.
The truck disappeared down the street.
Silence returned.
Liam stood alone in the entryway.
Watching empty pavement through the window.
Wondering how something that had felt so promising could suddenly feel so fragile.
His phone buzzed.
The notification interrupted his thoughts.
An email.
Then another.
Then a weather alert.
Liam frowned and opened the notification.
The message came from local emergency services.
A major storm system was moving toward the area.
Heavy rainfall.
Strong winds.
Potential flooding.
The warning immediately caught his attention.
Oregon storms weren't unusual.
This one sounded different.
Meteorologists expected several days of severe weather.
Residents were advised to prepare.
The timing felt almost cruel.
After everything the house had already survived, another storm was approaching.
Wonderful.
Exactly what he needed.
Liam tossed his phone onto the couch.
Then immediately picked it up again when another notification arrived.
This time from his mother.
His stomach tightened.
The message contained flight details.
Travel dates.
Arrival information.
And one sentence that seemed to leap directly off the screen.
We'll be home on the 14th. We can't wait to see you.
The 14th.
Three weeks away.
Not months.
Not eventually.
Three weeks.
The reality hit with surprising force.
His parents were coming home.
The storm was coming.
University deadlines were multiplying.
Mason was pulling away.
And somehow every problem seemed determined to arrive at exactly the same time.
Liam sank onto the couch and stared at the message.
Outside, the sky had already begun changing.
Dark clouds gathered beyond the neighborhood.
Wind stirred tree branches.
The first signs of approaching weather.
For several long moments, he simply sat there.
Listening to distant thunder.
Watching darkness spread across the horizon.
Feeling pressure building from every direction.
Because storms weren't the only thing heading his way.
And unlike the weather forecast, Liam had no idea how to prepare for what came next.
Running from Happiness
Mason had always been good at making difficult decisions.
Not because they were easy.
Because someone had to make them.
When a repair required tearing apart a wall to prevent bigger damage later, he did it.
When employees needed hard conversations, he had them.
When his marriage started falling apart, he'd eventually faced that reality too.
Painful decisions were still decisions.
Necessary ones.
At least that was what he kept telling himself.
Which was exactly why he spent Friday evening sitting alone at his kitchen table reviewing partnership documents.
Again.
And again.
And again.
The numbers made sense.
The business made sense.
The opportunity made sense.
Everything about the offer pointed toward a better future.
More money.
More stability.
More security.
The kind of future he'd spent years trying to build.
Objectively, it was exactly what he should want.
So why did every page feel heavier than the last?
Mason already knew the answer.
Liam.
Always Liam.
The younger man seemed to exist inside every major decision now.
A reality that should have frightened him more than it did.
Instead, it mostly made him tired.
Because caring about someone was complicated.
Especially when that someone deserved more than you believed you could give.
The thought followed him through the weekend.
Every time his phone buzzed, he hoped it was Liam.
Every time he saw a text from someone else, disappointment followed.
Ridiculous.
Completely ridiculous.
He was a grown man.
Yet somehow a twenty-one-year-old literature student had become the center of his thoughts.
The realization would've been funny if it weren't so dangerous.
Saturday morning brought another call from Tom.
The older man remained determined to get an answer.
"You've had enough time."
Mason stared out the windshield of his truck.
Rain clouds gathered along the horizon.
The weather forecast had been warning about the incoming storm for days.
Apparently the meteorologists were finally getting their wish.
"I know."
"So?"
The question lingered.
Mason rubbed his jaw.
The familiar stubble scratched against his palm.
"I haven't decided."
Tom laughed.
"That's a lie."
Unfortunately, it was.
Because Mason had been deciding for days.
Just not in the direction anyone expected.
The partnership wasn't really the problem.
The problem was what accepting it represented.
Distance.
Change.
A clean break.
An escape route.
The realization made something uncomfortable settle inside his chest.