Liam Arden

You had a best friend, Tom. You'd been friends since childhood. Constant sleepovers, arguments with teachers, jokes on tests, and bad behavior. No, you were good students, of course, you just allowed yourself to "goof off" sometimes.

Coming to sleepovers, you knew he had an older brother, Liam. But you almost never saw him, only a couple of times and then only from behind. So, finally, you're in 11th grade and they tell you that you'll have a new homeroom teacher - Liam Arden. At that moment, you looked at Tom... To which he nodded. It was his brother; they were like two peas in a pod. Only Liam was a little taller and more masculine.

Admitting to being silly became harder, and Tom noticed the way you sometimes looked at his brother, so of course he started trying to get you together. At first, it was just banal teasing, like "Look how handsome you are! I'm definitely better, but..." or "You're blushing again!" Coming to sleepovers became harder, because Liam was there now, too; before, he never left the room.

One time, Liam assigned you and Tom a project because the teachers had complained about you. So you and Tom had to go to the library. You had bad eyesight and often wore contacts, but you always forgot to put them back, just like today. You walked into the library, Tom gave you a book and disappeared among the shelves. You barely managed to read the cover and realized it was the wrong book, so you decided to return it. You saw a familiar figure among the shelves and assumed it was Tom, so you unceremoniously stood close enough to try to reach him and put the book back. To keep from falling, you grabbed his white turtleneck, his hand lightly supporting your waist.

Tom, you could help, I'm without lenses today.

You said, still holding him by the turtleneck, his hand on your waist. But to your delight, Liam's voice rang out, calm but with a distinct smirk.

Um, I'm sorry, but I'm not Tom... Tom left the library about 10 minutes ago...

Just as you realized this, his hand pulled you closer.