∞∞∞
Sunday morning wasn’t the most romantic time to declare his love for Min, but he couldn’t wait. He couldn’t let another day go by without apologizing, without holding her, kissing her, promising he’d never push her away again. And that kind of declaration had to be done in person.
He just hoped he wasn’t too late.
Liam only had to wait a few moments after knocking before the front door of Min’s apartment swung open. But it wasn’t Min, or Jeff, or even Maria who opened the door. At 7:30 on a Sunday morning, it was Bobby who stood shirtless in the open doorway, sleep still clouding his eyes and his hair mussed in a way that said he hadn’t actually gotten much sleep the night before. Every part of Liam clenched – his jaw, his fists, his stomach knotting itself into a thicket of brambles that threatened to work its way up his throat.
The scowling tenor rolled his head on his shoulders and grumbled, “It’s fucking early.”
“Yeah, it is,” Liam grated out.
As soon as he spoke, Bobby’s eyes flew wide, his face betraying his shock as he registered who was on the front step. “Dr. Jacobs. What are you doing here?”
Before Liam could respond, Jeff appeared in the hallway behind Bobby, rounding the corner from some inner room as he pulled a faded t-shirt on over his head. “That better be someone delivering coffee,” he said as he came up behind Bobby. Noticing Liam, Jeff’s face split into a grin. “Mornin’, Dr. J. Fancy seeing you here.” Jeff wrapped his arms around Bobby’s waist, dropping a kiss on the tenor’s neck before he whispered, “I’m gonna grab a shower. You got this?”
“Yeah, I got it,” the brooding boy responded before Jeff bobbed his eyebrows at Liam and disappeared back down the hall.
Liam’s head was spinning. He felt as though he had all the pieces to a puzzle, he just needed to rearrange them in a new order. Bobby squared his shoulders and widened his stance, like a bouncer at a club, ready to evict Liam from the doorstep at a moment’s notice.
“Is she here?” Liam asked.
Bobby shook his head.
“Are you going to tell me where she is?” Liam asked, his best professor voice creeping in.
Bobby’s scowl deepened. “That depends on why you want to see her.”
Even as his jaw ticked with frustration at the immovable boy blocking his path to Min, his heart warmed to know she had such good friends protecting her. And he resolved to prove to her – and to them – that they never needed to protect her from him.
“I owe her an apology,” he said. “I’m going to fix this.”
Bobby surveyed his former professor, scanning his eyes, and Liam let him see behind any last vestiges of bravado, let him see how sincere he was.
“She went home.”
“Home?” he asked, all the air knocked from his lungs.Her home is with me.
“Back to Rhode Island. She finished her exams early and left last night.”
“Do you have an address?”
Bobby’s brow furrowed. “I’m not sure I should give it to you.”
“I need to see her.”
Bobby leaned against the door jamb, crossing his arms as he surveyed his former professor. “Seems to me that the last time she saw you, you sent her away. And then you let the University send her away.”
“I didn’t know they were going to do that,” he said, shaking his head.
Bobby shrugged. “Either way, you helped her burn it all down and then left her to clean up the mess. Why should I help you find her when the last time you saw her you broke her heart?”
Liam scrubbed his hand over his face. “How can I convince you that I’m going to fix it?”
“I’m not sure you can.”
“I love her, Bobby,” Liam said. Bobby’s eyebrows rose, clearly surprised by the confession. “I love her.”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake!” Jeff appeared around the corner, his shirt once again gone, throwing his arms out in frustration.
