Half Truth

~Liam's House~

Third Person's P.O.V.

"F*CK. Not again," throwing the gaming controller on the table, Ethan curses loudly.

"Shame on you, loser,"- Liam's barb comes followed by his loud chuckle. "At this rate, I'll forget when the last time you gave me a hard time in a game let alone defeated me."

"Shut up bro,"- Ethan whines. "I know you are more energized today, cause you got that chance to teach that nerdy bitch a solid lesson. Though it's hard for me to admit, that smoothie prank was SICK." Taking a sip from his bear, Ethan continues- "You sure have the cells of Satan inside your skull. Will give you that."

"Just wait and watch,"- Liam speaks through gritted teeth. "There's more coming. The loser had the audacity to make mistakes in our homework. The smoothie incident was just a prank, the trailer of the big show coming ahead."

"Eagerly waiting for that,"- Ethan sounds exuberant.

Bzzzzzzzt bzzzzzzzt bzzzzzzzt.

Ethan picks up his vibrating phone. Looking at the caller ID, he narrows his eye.

"Have any idea why Nathan is calling me?"- he throws the question at Liam. However, looking at his mute responder, he decides to pick up.

"Hello, bro,"- Ethan answers the phone politely while Liam is looking at him with intense eyes.

"Uhm. Ya. Liam is with me. We're in his apartment right now,"- Ethan answers Nathan's question.

Liam's solemn gaze never moves from him while Ethan is listening to Nathan's other question.

"We met at 'La Crema'. There he offered me to come over to his place and we-" before Ethan can finish his line the phone is cut leaving a 'tood' sound.

"What the f*ck," Ethan swears annoyingly.

"What's going on dude? Why the hell did your brother's lap dog call me to hear your whereabouts?"- he questions Liam.

"Nothing in particular,"- looking away from Ethan, Liam answers. "Aiden had asked me to wait at 'La Crema' where I found you. However, I was getting bored doing nothing. So, I pulled that prank to kill some time. But Aiden was dawdling and I was losing my patience for trying out this 'new baby'. So I bail on him."

Ethan gives a stern look at the new Xbox Elite controller, which Liam was addressing as his 'new baby'.

"You are joking, right?"- pinching the bridge of his nose, Ethan asks.

"I know that big bro will be mad at me. But I can manage him just fine. So, chill,"- Liam tries to sound cool. "Let's have another match."

"NO!" Ethan's answer comes out like screaming. "I'm leaving."

"Oh, c'mon Ethan. Don't be such a wimp. I just kicked your sorry ass twice today," Liam whines like a stubborn kid who is good at nothing but stomping feet.

Ethan sighs. "For the sake of your brand new gaming controller, stop bragging about those lucky wins,"- Ethan tries to sound cool.

Liam's sneakers come followed by his death glare, -"Oh, really? Then, stop being a bummer and challenge me for another round. I wanna know how many losses it takes to shut your big mouth."

"And your big brain knows it very well that the issue here is your big brother, not my big mouth, you big numskull," Ethan gives Liam a tight smile.

"Your sore ass might get some ointment after being spanked since you are his sweet li'l bro after all. But in my case, he sure will sprinkle some salt on mine after skinning it," Ethan states with a straight face.

"So, Imma save my sexy ass while I still can. And you better come up with a spicy story that can save you from his wrath. If he finds out that you disobeyed him to try out your new gaming controller,"- Ethan pauses. Sighing dramatically he continues- "Then best wishes for your afterlife. Hope not to meet you soon."

Ethan leaves Liam's apartment, but not before getting hit by the soda can Liam throws at him.

Liam sighs as he watches his friend leave. Ethan's last words are ringing through his head.

"F*ck,"- Liam curses under his breath. "Gaming controller my ass."

Ethan lectured him as if he were a toddler. But truth be told, he is as scared as Ethan, actually more scared to be honest.

Aiden's order is not something that one can overlook. If it wasn't for 'her', Liam never would dare to defy Aiden.

Liam runs his fingers through his hair out of frustration and then the heart-clenching sound comes.

BANG!!

The banging sound of the door makes Liam look at the intruder.

"I'm dead,"- Liam says inaudibly as he sees the raging Aiden.

"Speak."

Just one word from Aiden and Liam can feel his legs have started shaking.

"B-bro, I know that you are mad at me, but I-I can explain,"- Liam's stammering is a rare sight to be seen. But that's how Aiden's aura affects others.

Now making a stupid story would be the death of Liam and fortunately, Liam seems to understand that. So, not to mess up things more, he decides to tell the truth.

"It's about Beyonce,"- Liam finally speaks.

Mentioning the name Beyonce brings a frown to Aiden's forehead.

"Do you mean Auntie Beyonce?"

"Uh-hm. Yes."

"What's up with her?"- Aiden is losing patience.

"She came here today to join some bullshit dinner with dad,"- Liam speaks in a low voice.

Aiden notices the annoyance in his voice.

"Dad called me this afternoon. He asked me where I was and hearing that I was in 'La Crema' he asked me to tag along with Beyonce as she was coming from the airport by the same road. And.."- Liam pauses halfway.

Back brushing his hair with his hand, he continues- "I hate Beyonce. Her coziness with Dad irks me."

For the first time, Aiden's eyes soften up. But he brushes his emotion away.

"You think this excuse is enough to defy my order?"

"Bro, I swear that I'm not making any excuse. I was waiting for your call in the cafe. You can ask Ethan. He was with me. But after getting the call from dad, I left cause.." he pauses again.

"It's hard for me to accept their relationship. I'm not yet ready to accept her into my family. If I was there Beyonce sure would have found me out. And I don't want to attend some kinda wack dinner with the people I hate,"- Liam speaks without making any eye contact with Aiden.

A few minutes have passed and no one has said anything.

"Do you think this type of mentality fits in Hellions?"- crossing his arms, Aiden breaks the silence.

"Bro, I'm sorry. I'm really sorry. It won't happen again. I swear," Liam tries to convince Aiden.

Aiden's intense gaze never leaves Liam's eyes.

"Aiden, let's leave now,"- Nathan speaks as he feels pity for Liam. "It was his first mistake. Just let it go for once."

As Aiden turns his eyes to Nathan, Nathan shows him the time on his wristwatch. They have other things too.

"Liam, I won't tolerate any kind of excuses in the future. Be aware of that,"- Aiden turns his back for the exit. "And I want to believe every word you have told me today was true."

'I told you the truth, bro,'- Liam's inner voice states. 'Truth indeed. But half-truth.'