hfjone aftermath type thing

TWO [ p 1 ]

[ about 5:36 am . . . ]

{ LIAMS POV }

I shoot up in a cold sweat, hyperventilating. lightning just struck pretty close by and shook the whole building. Bryce is already awake, cooking breakfast.

" liam? " he says.

" I . . huh? "

" you alright? "

" . . mhm. " I lay back down. I remember how the lightning felt. It was freezing cold for the first few seconds, then painfully hot the next. I look at the key shaped imprint on my hand. Bryce has a matching one on his hand.

I sit back up and turn on the tv. I'm not sure what Bryce is cooking, but it smells good.

" we're going down to brads about 12:00, so we have a lot of time on our hands. Ozzie doesn't have school today, so he'll be there too, is that alright? " he tells me. 

" yeah . . " I say as lightning strikes outside and lights up the entire apartment. I feel my whole body tense up. I look towards the covered window beside Bryce's bed. I haven't seen it uncovered since the smokestack incident. I turn off the tv and go to the bathroom to change. I don't want to think about anything to do with that smokestack.

When I come out, bryce is already preparing plates. He's got this giant red scar that covers like . . half his face. It spirals out down his neck and across his arms and legs. Its really pretty.

" are you okay, liam? " bryce asks me.

" uh . . yeah. Yeah, im alright. " I say as I go to sit down at the table.

" you sure? You seem . . tense. "

" yeah . . its just the storm . . "

Bryce looks at me for a second, then smiles. " alright. Just making sure. I really care about you, liam. "

I've never heard him say that before. What do I say to that? I nod slowly as I feel my face getting hot.

Bryce changes the subject. " so, how do you like the food? I tried something new with the bacon. "

" Its really good, what did you try? With the bacon, I mean. "

his eyes light up. His expression doesn't change, but his eyes do. " I tried caramelizing it, I don't really know if I did a good job though. "

" honestly bryce, you could compare this to a gourmet chefs cooking and I wouldn't know the difference. I don't even think there's a difference there to begin with, though. " I say the words without thinking. Bryces cheeks go pink.

" I . . you really mean that? " he asks.

" why wouldn't i? " I say.

After we're done eating, we clear our plates and watch tv. I'm not really paying attention because I'm texting owen.

[ OWEN ] : how is connecticut?

[ LIAM ] : its quieter than San Francisco

[ OWEN ] : rlly?

[ OWEN ] : I might have to move there

[ OWEN ] : too loud here lol

[ LIAM ] : theres more storms here though

[ LIAM ] : I hate storms

[ OWEN ] : ???

[ OWEN ] : I thought you loved storms though????

[ OWEN ] : you changed a lot since I last saw you in san francisco

[ LIAM ] : me and bryce live too close to a smokestack

[ LIAM ] : very loud

[ OWEN ]  : that must suck im sorry man :(

[ OWEN ] : gtg 

[ LIAM ] : bye owen

[ OWEN ] : byeeeeeeee 

I check the time, then put my phone away. 

[6:43 am.]

[599 words. even shorter than last time. Gonna split this up into 2 parts because I don't wanna just write a bunch of filler lol ]