Chapter FOUR

C A L E B

I stared at my reflection, rolling the sleeves of my flannel shirt. A knock suddenly came from the door. Archer peeped his head in before I could even say anything.

"I could have been naked, you know." I said, running a hand through my hair. Archer just let himself in, crossing his arms over his chest. "My, my, my, don't you look handsome." He smiled teasingly. It was work not to roll my eyes. "What are you even doing here?" I asked.

"Well, Max and I wanted to see your boyfriend." Archer bit his lip to stop himself from laughing.

"Arch?"

"Yes, Caleb?"

"Bite me."

"I'll leave that to your boyfriend."

"He is not my boyfriend!" I huffed like a petulant child, walking towards my bedside table. I slipped my phone, wallet, and keys into my pockets.

"So," Archer dragged the word out, continuing like he didn't hear what I just said. "About your boyfriend..."

"Oh for fuck's sake." I pinched the bridge of my nose. I walked out my room, hearing Archer's laughter follow me down the stairs.

"So, where are you taking Liam?" I simply ignored the question until we reached the living room, only to see Max sitting on my couch with his legs propped up on the coffee table.

"Caleb!" Max grinned.

"Max, put your feet down."

"Jeez, someone's in a good mood." My bandmate mumbled. A sigh escaped my lips as I sat down on one of the other couches. "Sorry, I'm just-"

"Excited about your date with your new boyfriend?" Max cut me off. I wanted to throw the remote at him.

I scoffed. "He's not my boyfriend, you dicks!" Archer sat beside Max, both of them were laughing. "Aww, lighten up, Cal! I mean, it could be worse. Liam Walker is actually a good-looking guy." Archer said. Max agreed, nodding his head. "Yeah, I've seen some of his movies. He's a talented actor."

"Guys, I know you're both just trying to make me feel less tense in your own annoying ways, but there's no way this date could go right." I confessed, looking down at my boots and the rug.

"Why wouldn't it?" Max asked.

"Because!" I groaned. "This whole thing is fake. We're not even friends! We're so far from it! I haven't spoken to him in years and now suddenly in the eyes of the media we're 'dating.' This entire thing will be a gigantic fail!"

"Which reminds me, why did you guys grow to hate each other?" Archer asked the one question I knew was coming but had been hoping to avoid. I gave him a long look, closing my eyes and letting out a deep breath.

As I opened my mouth, a ring came from the door.

I tried not to let the relief of having to delay this conversation show on my face. "That must be him." I mumbled.

I opened the front door to reveal a nervous-looking Liam. I stared at him with a blank expression. Liam raised a groomed eyebrow. "Nice to see you too, Caleb." He was dressed casually, wearing black skinny jeans with a black and white baseball tee that had white x's on the arms.

"Yeah, yeah, come in." I didn't try to be polite, opening the door wider and just letting him close it behind him. I heard Liam stop his tracks when he saw the two idiots on my couch.

"Hey! You're Caleb's boyfriend, right?" Max pointed a finger at Liam and Archer placed a hand on his mouth to stop himself from laughing.

Liam turned towards me, raising his eyebrow. "Do they—"

"Yeah, they know. They're just being annoying." Liam nodded, still a bit confused.

Archer stood up, walking closer to Liam and extending his arm. "Nice to finally meet you, Liam!" Liam gave one of his bright smiles, shaking his hand. Max stood up and followed Archer's actions. "Huge fan, by the way." Max said, making me scoff.

Liam shot me a look before returning his attention to my bandmates. "Thank you. I'm huge fans of you guys, too. Well," He glanced at me once more before returning his gaze towards them. "I don't really like your lead singer."

Of course my two traitor bandmates would laugh at that.

"Um, hello? I'm right here!" My words were left unnoticed.

"So, Liam, what made you agree to do this whole thing? I'm pretty sure you two don't really like each other at the moment. Not that I'm not grateful or anything for you helping us out, I'm just really curious." Archer said.

I coughed before Liam could reply. "Sorry, guys, but I think we have to get going."

"Did Patricia say where we actually need to go?" Liam asked. I shook my head. "No, she said she'd leave the details to me."

I turned my gaze towards Archer and Max, giving them a pointed look. "You two, do not mess up the place. Okay?" They both nodded, Max even saluting me. "Yes, sir!"

I exited, Liam following close behind. We walked to the elevator in silence.

#

"So, why did you agree?"

We were currently in my car, the first few minutes of the ride had been quiet except for the faint sounds of the radio. "Is it because of the publicity?" I asked. Liam sighed from the passenger seat, rolling his eyes.

"Trust me, I wish I did this solely for the publicity."

"What does that mean? Did they offer you, like, a deal or something?" I asked, grateful that I had a reason to keep my eyes solely on the road.

"Yeah, there's that and—" Liam stopped. "Wait, how'd you know?"

"Trust me, I know how management works."

There was a moment's pause. "Was that all?"

"Why are you so curious?"

"Because I know you." I said and felt my insides twist. "You wouldn't do this just because of those reasons."

"You don't know anything about me."

I ignored the sour tone of his voice. When another awkward silence settled, I was convinced the entire ride would be like this, until he spoke up.

"I know how you felt."

I quickly glanced at him before snapping my eyes back at the road. I wasn't able to catch the expression on his face. "What? What are you talking about?"

"I don't know if I should even be telling you this. But, about a year ago, some drunken man I slept with released naked pictures of me. I didn't even know he took them. Point is," He took a deep breath. "I was scared and desperate, because I knew that if I didn't do something, my entire career could be affected. If it weren't for Dave, I guess I'd still be stuck, traumatized."

I didn't reply immediately, processing what he just said. I knew that feeling furious and wanting to find that drunken bastard, whoever he was, so I could bash his skull against a wall over and over was not a normal reaction. It was a reaction I did not expect to still feel, especially because this was Liam.

But maybe that's why I felt it. Because it was Liam who experienced it.

"I'm sorry." Was all I could say.

From my peripheral vision, I could tell that Liam was conflicted between looking at the side of my head and looking at the road in front of us. He was opening and closing his mouth, unsure of what to say. In the end, he just shook his head and cleared his throat. "Where are you taking me?"

#

I parked my car and already a few paparazzi were swarming outside. I turned towards Liam who seemed calm enough, though I noted how he was running his hands up and down his thighs; a nervous tic.

"You good?"

He turned towards me, and his expression shifted ever so slightly. "Yeah. Let's just go." The statement was said almost coldly before he opened his door.

I closed my eyes, willing myself to keep my temper in check. I opened my car door slowly and was immediately blinded by the flashing lights. Liam was waiting for me, ignoring the paparazzi's questions towards him.

I placed my hand on his lower back, slowly walking towards the entrance of the restaurant. Security was pushing the paparazzi away, making a path for us.

We got into the restaurant, a symphony of jazz music filling our ears. A waiter appeared in front of us. "Good evening, sirs. Do you have a reservation?"

"Yes," I breathed out. "Under Caleb Novak." The man nodded, leading Liam and I to a table near the window. Just to play the part, I pulled out Liam's chair for him. His back was turned to the window where paparazzi were still fighting to take pictures. It was causing a bit of a ruckus, thankfully there weren't many people in the restaurant. However the ones inside were actually shooting us annoyed looks.

I paid them no attention.

"What a gentleman," Liam said it monotonously. I just plastered on a grin as he sat down. I sat down on the opposite chair as the waiter handed us the menus. I told him we'd need a few minutes.

"So, the seating near the window is part of the requirement?" Liam asked, eyes on the menu in front of him. I shrugged. "Patricia said we needed to be photographed."

Liam continued to scan the menu.

"You've eaten here before," I said. That caused Liam to glance up at me, his brows knitting together.

"What?"

"I remembered you were the one who first told me about this place. It's when we were younger, high school I believe, and your family visited Australia again for the summer. I didn't recall that when I made the reservations for this place but..." I trailed off, unsure how I'd even finish my sentence. Why did I even say all that? Why did that memory have to suddenly pop in my head?

Liam looked just as surprised as I felt.

The waiter came back to take our orders. We told him our orders for the main course and he asked what we wanted for an appetizer. "Might I suggest our Shrimp Scampi?"

I immediately turned it down. "No, he doesn't eat shrimp." It took me a second to comprehend what I did. I turned to Liam who was blinking at me like he didn't know how to react either. He licked his lips and turned to the waiter. "Sorry. Yes, he's right, I don't really care for shrimps."

Once the waiter left, I was left to deal with what I just did. And I could tell Liam was not at all impressed.

"Stop doing that."

I chewed on my lower lip. "Sorry." I didn't know exactly what I was apologizing for, but I knew I had just made the situation even more tense. "Stop doing what?" I asked, still unable to meet Liam's eyes.

"Stop saying things you know about me. Maybe you do, but just... Stop it. I don't like you doing it."

"Why—" I closed my eyes and forced myself to look up at him. "Why does it bother you?"

"You know exactly why it bothers me. Could you please just pretend that we're strangers put into one hell of a mess? Because you, this—our past, it's not helping."

I still didn't exactly grasp what he was on about, until I saw it in his eyes. Pain.

It pained him to remember.

"Yeah," I let out a shaky breath. "Sure."