I don’t usually eat much for breakfast if I have a big dinner and vice versa, but I don’t say anything and let him crawl out of bed. When I get up after him, he tells me I can stay in bed, but I follow him into the kitchen. I hop onto his counter as he walks to the fridge. When he lets out another yawn, I shake my head at him.
“Liam, just–”
“No.”
I shrug in response, although he can’t see me.
“Do you want to try more of the food I got earlier, or do you want something new?”
I take a second to think, and I really don't want to bother him with cooking, but one thing comes to mind. “Can I have chocolate chip pancakes?”
He turns to me like he either didn’t hear me or understand what I just said.
“For din–” He shakes his head. “Whatever you want, Dory.”
A smile grows on my face as he gets everything he needs, but I speak up again when he grabs the chocolate.
“Maybe without the chocolate chips, though? How many more calories would the chocolate be?”
Liam doesn’t answer me as he dumps a pound of them into the bowl. I feel myself smiling, but don’t tell him I don’t want to eat anymore, and it’s not because of the chocolate.
I read somewhere that eating at night makes you gain weight, but I know he’ll shut me down if I bring it up. I glance down at the tile but look back up when I remember something.
“My brother almost always eats breakfast for dinner, and I think he’s rubbing off on me because I also had waffles the other night.” It was also all I had that day, and Liam was upset even though he tried not to show it.
At the reminder of my brother, I turn my head in thought as I watch Liam. “Do you have any siblings?” I swear he freezes, but before I blink, he’s back to mixing everything in the bowl.
I wait for him to respond, but it's clear he isn't going to. “You know, I feel like I don’t know much about you.”
“Is that so?”
“It is.”
He adds the butter to the hot pan in silence, and I study him. “I feel like you were an only child. Don’t take this the wrong way because I think you’re a great person, Lee, but your meanness gives me the vibe that you never had to share your toys and always got your way. Only child or the youngest, for sure.”
He doesn't respond as I go on. “Maybe it’s because I’m comparing you to my siblings, and August is the oldest, by like thirteen minutes, but he’s the sweetest. Then Sire and I are the middle ones, but he’s younger and can definitely be a bit mean. Then there’s Lis, and she’s definitely an ass sometimes.”
“Sire isyounger?” He says, almost to himself.
“Yup.” I bring my legs up and sit criss-crossed on the counter. I sit in thought, and when I don't add anything else, Liam steals a glance at me from over his shoulder.
“What?”
I shrug in thought. “I’m trying to think of whether or not they’ll like you and–”
“Who cares?”
I try to answer, but he goes on.
“Don’t answer. I don’t.”
The kitchen fills with my laugh, but Liam seems serious. “I care,rude. They’re my brothers.”
Liam pours a small circle of batter into the pan before turning to me and leaning against the counter. “You really care what they think about me?”
“Of course I do.”
His face morphs with confusion but also like he didn’t like my answer.
