Love Drunk 2.0: Chapter Nine

***WARNING! THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS NSFW LANGUAGE, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!***

Last chapter Lainie had the difficult job of giving TLC to two very heartbroken teenage boys. Luke and Rosie were having problems while Daisy was only just getting somewhere with Kieran. Lainie bit the bullet and visited Dexter to discuss their youngest child resulting in feelings flooding back and some long overdue intimacy. Keira and her father also buried the hatchet which pleased Joshua greatly, his brother's behaviour however was worrying him. And Rita Swift, Lainie's niece, appeared much to the sadness of young Liam who feared he was losing Cormac to a girl he barely knew! The buzz around the gang is Dexter and Lainie's afternoon tryst, but will Dex ever win his wife back?

Roxy and Matthew Hayes sat awkwardly in the large sitting room in the mansion they once called home as Erin and Ash Maloney sat equally awkwardly. Between the two couples sat their two sons, Cormac had his head down while Liam stared straight at him with pleading eyes. 

"Well I...I don't know what to say Matt I...Liam is a good boy he..." Erin cut in,

"What my husband is trying to say is that your son is a lot older than ours and if there was any leading astray or pestering as you call it then...well I don't have to spell it out do I?" Roxy threw an angry look at Erin, only a day ago they were sipping coffee and giggling over Lainie and Dexter and now they were exchanging icy glares.

"Cormac tells us that Liam is following him around and we believe him! All we ask is that you stop this, okay Liam?" Matthew's voice was shaky, but it was hard to tell whether it was rage or fear of Ash, who at that moment was not giving away anything. His blank stare was aimed at the wall behind the Hayes family as his wife squirmed in her chair.

Liam did not take his big eyes off of Cormac, willing him to look back at him, but he just kept his head down. Finally Liam spoke, "Cormy? Why are you doing this? Tell them the truth, tell them..."

"Liam, son don't!" Ash cut in, his voice was lower than Erin had ever heard it, it was normally softly spoken and sweet like his brother's.

"My son is a good boy!" Ash continued, his gaze now fixed on Matthew, "And I find it extremely insulting that you come in here and imply that he is stalking your precious, crass, ignorant excuse of a son!"

"Now wait a minute..." Matthew began as Roxy let out a small cry of surprise at Ashton Maloney's harsh words.

Ash stood up and his face turned a dangerous colour of Crimson, "No YOU wait a minute! How dare you accuse Liam of this! Does he look like a sexual predator to you??? HUH???" Erin shot up and stood by her husband as Liam's tiny sobs echoed around the large room. "He's only 14 for Christ sake! What the hell is wrong with you people?" Erin squeezed his hand to calm him as he took a step back and let out a huge deep breath.

"Cormy?" Liam cried, "Cormy tell them I didn't do anything wrong PLEASE!" Cormac twitched slightly but still his eyes remained on the ground. 

"Cormy tell them I just love you!" Both Roxy and Matt let out huge gasps as Cormac finally locked eyes with Liam.

Ash was no longer red in the face, he was as white as a sheet as he ordered Liam upstairs, "Liam go to your room...NOW!!!" Liam flinched when his father's voice got louder and did as he was told. Scurrying out of the room, but not before he threw another pleading look at Cormac who was finding it hard to hold back tears, boy did he feel like a total creep!

With Liam out of the room, Ash was about to speak again when Matthew stood toe to toe with him, "I think we can both agree that this has to stop now!" Ash nodded in agreement as Cormac made his way in between them.

"Please let's just forget this okay? I may have exaggerated about things so let's..." Ash growled at him as he recoiled.

"Get out! All of you GET OUT!!!" Ash bellowed and turned his back to them, leaning on a nearby table with his clenched fists.

"This isn't over!" Matthew muttered as Roxy pulled him away and out of the house, Cormac shuffling behind them.

Erin stood behind her husband and rubbed his back soothingly. "What are we going to do?" she mumbled as Ash pushed her away and headed for the hall.

"Ash?" Erin called to him in a panicked voice. "What are we going to do???" She repeated as he merely muttered,

"F****d if I know!" and slammed the door behind him.

Liam played with Sassy, trying to focus on anything but what just happened downstairs. He got the fright of his life when his father walked in, he feared he was going to be punished but Ash merely sat down in front of the T.V. and sighed.

"Dad?" Liam whimpered as Ash patted the space on the couch beside him.

"Come 'ere kid!" he whispered as Liam slowly approached him and sat down.

"Daddy? Do you hate me?" Ash looked at his youngest son in surprise and swiftly replied,

"Liam, that isn't even physically possible! I love you! Always have and always will! That is one thing in your whole life that you can be one hundred percent sure of!"

Liam smiled for a moment, then remembering how Cormac had blamed him for everything his smile soon faded. "I didn't do anything wrong dad, Cormac was my friend! He hung out with me and then he just...changed! It hurt, because I love him! I've always loved him!" Ash nodded and replied,

"No you didn't son, Cormac may be older than you but he seriously needs to grow up! He doesn't deserve you! Try and forget about him okay?" 

Liam felt hot tears sting his cheek as he sobbed "Why do you all keep saying that? Cormy is a good person, he just doesn't show it often enough!"

"Well that's his problem not yours, I mean it Liam, forget about him!" Ash ruffled his hair and got up to leave as Liam called to him.

"Dad?" Ash didn't turn around, he merely replied,

"Yeah?" After a long pause Liam finally blurted out,

"I think I'm...I love Cormy so that must mean...dad am I gay?" Ash let out a belly laugh that surprised both himself and his son.

He turned to look at him and grinned, "Yes Liam, you are and have been since the day you were born and it's a beautiful thing! Don't ever let anyone tell you you're not normal! You're my son, and I love you just the way you are! Be yourself, always be yourself! Don't be anyone else! Because you're a beautiful human being! And if Cormac can't see that, another more worthy young man will!" Liam smiled back at his father blinking back tears, but this time he was happy!

"Thanks dad, I love you too!" He sniffed, Cormac had hurt him badly, but his father was behind him all the way and that meant more! If Cormac was in denial then it wasn't Liam's problem, he loved him but he wasn't going to be his mental punching bag a minute longer! Liam finally decided to let him date Rita, if it was meant to be then Cormac would come back to him eventually!

Dexter Maloney stood outside the houseboat where his wife and two sons were currently living. He stood there for a very long time, he wanted to go and visit Lainie desperately, after their afternoon together two days before he couldn't get her out of his mind. 

He could never get her out of his mind but this time, rather than fear and regret, he felt love and yearning and if he was truly honest...arousal!

As he attempted to pluck up the courage to visit her, a voice from behind made him jump. "What are you doing here?"
"Jesus! Damon?" he spun around clutching his chest as his heart threatened to escape it, pain seared through his rib cage and up into his throat, an all too familiar and frequent pain but he ignored it like he always did.

"You're not wanted here! Mum doesn't want you, take the hint!" Damon's eyes bore into his skull, he scowled at his father with a look of pure hatred as he dropped his school bag onto the deck with a thud.
"Damey, son! I...I'm sorry about Friday night! I should'a been there I...there's no excuse!" he hung his head as Damon scoffed.

"You're not wanted here!" he repeated, "Nobody wants you, you washed up has-been!" he spat, blinking back the moisture that built up in his big blue eyes.
"Damey..." Dexter approached him with open arms but he backed away and sneered.
"You're way too late...DEXTER!!!" 

Damon scooped up his bag and brushed past him into the houseboat muttering to himself as Dexter's heart sank to his knees.

Lainie stood by the window and gave him a sympathetic smile, Dexter stared back hoping she would come outside and talk to him. Or better still, run into his arms and tell him how much she loved him.

He waited, the pain in his chest returned, he fought the urge to buckle over and curl into a ball to make it go away, but instead he stood pleading with his eyes for his wife to come to him. Please baby, please freckles I need you! She took the hint finally and made her way outside.

"Dexy!" she sighed as he squeezed his eyes shut and focused on her voice rather than the stabbing hot pokers that were piercing his heart. Freckles just hold me and this will all go away! He thought as she took hold of his hands and shook her head, but she smiled despite herself, she smiled at him.

"Baby! I've missed you! Evelyn..." This was not a hot poker, no this was a fireball searing through his entire body and bringing him to his knees. Lainie cried out as he fell to the ground grabbing fists of his shirt and gasping for breath. His face turned blue as he heard Lainie shout for the boys, such panic in her voice, at least she cares he thought to himself. All he could think about at that moment was leaving things unfinished! He wasn't afraid to die, he was afraid to die without having righted his wrongs! I'm not ready, the voice inside his head screamed.

Lainie cried and held him close, "Don't you dare leave me!" she muttered, "Don't you f*****g dare!"
"F...freckles!" he whispered as Damon stood over him, not as angry as he was minutes before but this time terrified.
"Dad?" he whimpered, "Daddy???"

Luke came racing out of the houseboat and almost tripped, "I called for an ambulance, I...mum what do I do?" he wept as Lainie gathered Dexter into her arms and Luke dropped down in front of his father.

"Dexy?" Lainie grabbed his face to hers, "Dexy! Look at me! LOOK...AT ME!" Dexter's eyes opened and closed lazily as he struggled to stay awake, the pain in his chest replaced with a buzzing numbness as every part of his body felt paralysed! "Dexter William Maloney, don't you leave me! I won't allow it! Dexter???"

"I love you, I love you...my Dexy!" she wailed, and that was the last thing Dexter Maloney heard as he closed his eyes for the last time.

"Hey!" Rita Swift jumped as she was grabbed from behind and a familiar voice greeted her.

"Hey yourself, where have you been? We said 3pm, it's now after 4!" Cormac pouted and spun her around to face him.

"So? Are you mad? Or do you wanna get off with me?" he smirked, cocky and arrogant...and oh so beautiful!
"Hurry up and kiss me before I change my mind!" she mumbled as their lips touched and Cormac obliged.

But this kiss, their first, was not what she expected. It became forceful, it was dominant, painful...rough! 

She tried to pull away but it only made him worse, pulling her close to him and devouring her, his tongue invading her mouth recklessly. 

What happened to the gentleman who came into the cafe and wooed her? Why was he so aggressive???

She managed to pull free and catch her breath as Cormac gave her a dirty look, "So you want me, but you don't want me?" he grunted and pushed her away roughly.

"Cormac what's gotten into you? You don't treat a girl like that!"
"Like what?" he shot back, fire in his eyes, why was he so angry with her?

"You know what? You're so dumped, you're an ugly bitch anyway! I just wanted to screw you, I haven't had any pussy in ages and I was desperate!" Rita recoiled in horror over his Jekyll and Hyde behaviour.

"Absolutely fine by me!" she replied shakily and attempted to leave.

Cormac chased her like a naughty little boy, trying to suck up to her it seemed. "I'm sorry Reet petite! I...I've had a bad day!" he tried to grab hold of her for a hug but she was having none of it.

"Look, I don't like bad boys okay? My mother has brought plenty of them home to put me off for a lifetime! I thought you were different! I thought you were a good guy but you're just like the rest of them!" She left him to think about what he'd done, but not before she added one last thing.

"Oh and thanks for making my first kiss a shitty one!" she wept and stomped up the hill away from him.

"Shiiiit!!!" Cormac groaned, shoving his hands roughly into his pockets and feeling his phone.

"Liam you little turd!" he cursed angrily as he looked through the photos in his phone, mostly of Liam waiting in the mansion garden for him. Before he would scale the wall, he usually hid within the grounds and took pictures of the pretty young man who had captured his heart. Yes Cormac wished that Rita was Liam and he had punished her for not being the one that he truly wanted, he wanted to deny it, but he couldn't live a lie any longer!

"What do you want??? I was in the middle of something Cormac! What do you f*****g want???" Rory shouted as his older brother pushed him into his bedroom.

"Shut up, I...I need to talk to...to someone I..." Cormac ran a shaky hand through his hair as Rory's anger turned to concern.
"Mac, what...what's going on?"
"Rory you're my brother!" Rory let out a frustrated sigh and attempted to leave.

"No wait! Please Rory!" Cormac pleaded. Rory shrugged and remained where he was.
"I don't have time for your shit Mac!"
"This isn't...please I'm pouring my heart out here!" he cried and blinked away the stinging in his eyes, he would show Rory his true colours but he would not cry in front of him, that was a step too far!

"You're scaring me brother!" Rory replied softly, worry etched on his face as he tried to read his brother's expression.
"I know I always give you a hard time, I'm a jerk!"
"I won't argue with you there!" Rory snorted.
"But...the reason I'm such a jerk is because...well..."

"...I'm so f*****g jealous of you!" Cormac's voice broke, he squeezed the tears back in and continued. "You're so sure of yourself, you and Josh! And you know what you want, you know what you like..."

"Rory I...I'm in love with someone and it's...it's not going to end well!" Rory looked deep into Cormac's eyes and smiled.
"Cormac I know you're a homo!"
"What the actual f**k Rory???"

"Cormac you're a homosexual! And you wanna know how I know?" Cormac couldn't speak, he stood staring at his brother with his mouth gaping open. "Because you try too hard! Nobody is that much of a jerk and cares! You treat me and Josh like shit, but you dote on Evie and even Liam until he became obsessed with you and then you panicked!"

Cormac closed his eyes, took in a deep breath, and then looked at Rory intently. "I'm not gay Rory, but I love that little f**kwit Liam Maloney, I've never loved anyone the way I love him!" And the tears finally escaped as Rory quickly reassured his brother.

"Do you like girls?" he asked quietly.
"I..." Cormac stammered.
"Have you ever looked at a girl and thought 'I wanna do her real good'?" 
"No!" Cormac blurted out, he had to admit he never really did feel sexual feelings towards any female.
"Then you're a homo Mac, trust me! If you've never stared at a girl's tits and wanted to eat ice cream off of them...then you're as bent as a boomerang my dear brother!"

Rory continued in amusement, "If you've never wanted to have your head crushed by a girl's thighs and suffocate to death while performing a sex act on her then you're so gay!" Cormac felt his brother was being rather crass, but he had to admit he never really fantasized about girls at all, it didn't come naturally and he tended to force things! "If you've never jerked off thinking about pounding a girl as she screams your name, balls deep givin' it to her? Then you are not straight you are GAY!" Rory chuckled.

He headed for the door shaking his head in amusement, then suddenly stopped. "Cormac, don't punish Liam for being the one you love. He can't help the way you feel, and he can't help returning those feelings either! It's not a sin to be into guys Mac! It's the 21st century, catch up will ya?" Rory left his older brother to think about their very helpful conversation.

When Liam's phone rang and he saw Cormac's name, he was torn. He wanted to speak to him, but he was so hurt over the things that he'd done. He let it ring, and ring until it finally stopped. Moments later the voicemail symbol popped up.

Liam grabbed his phone and listened to the message, holding his breath as Cormac's voice rang through his ears. "Hey, it's me I...Liam I'm so sorry I've been an a$$hole lately and nothing I ever say will make it alright! I just wanted to tell you something and...I really didn't want to do it over the phone I wanted to meet you so...look I'm gonna come and meet you in the garden like we used to and...if you're not there then I understand! Same time, I hope you come!"

Liam's heart raced and his mouth was dry as his mother burst into his bedroom in floods of tears. "Liam???"

"Oh Liam, honey! Your dad and I need to go to the hospital your uncle Dex...he's had another heart attack and it looks really bad! Honey, stay here with James okay?" Liam's excitement changed into fear, his uncle!
"Will he be okay mum?" he muttered in shock.

Erin wept even more and shook her head, "I don't think so baby..."
"Where's dad? He needs me I..."
"No you have to stay here with your brother! There's nothing you can do sweetheart! There's nothing any of us can do!" she whimpered, held him for a moment, then rushed out, leaving him alone.

Liam had forgotten all about the voicemail and his meeting with Cormac as he hunted high and low for James. He finally found him in the home cinema being comforted by Mandy Mitchell. "Jamesie?" he called him by the pet name he had for him as a child.
"Oh Liam!" Mandy said sympathetically. She was hurting too, Dexter was her godfather and had been like an uncle to her growing up.
"Jamesie? Uncle Dex...he's dead isn't he?" James still said nothing as Mandy approached Liam and pulled him in for a hug.

"Your dad got a call from your cousin Luke. Uncle Dex was at their houseboat and he just collapsed, he's apparently been having pains for months and ignored them!" Mandy rubbed his back as he pushed her away gently and looked at his brother.

"Jamesie please talk to me?"
"We should've kept an eye on him!" James muttered angrily.
"How were we to know..." Liam began but James jumped up and cut in.

"Because we're family, but we shunned him because of what happened at Christmas and who f*****g cares? I mean boo hoo Keira didn't get the round of applause she wanted after declaring she's a raging slut!" Mandy gasped, she'd never heard James put down any of his family before.

"Jamie you're grieving!" she tried to soothe him, "You're lashing out!"
"And why the hell are we here? Why can't we go to the hospital? He's our uncle!" James raised his voice. "We should be there!" his anger subsided and he wept like a child.

"We should get to say goodbye!" he sobbed.
"Jamesie?" Liam cried along with him, suddenly he pushed past the two of them.
"I cant stand this! This is bullshit!" Mandy reached out to him but he avoided her and exited the room.

Liam had nothing to lose. He sat in the seat at the back of the garden waiting for Cormac to arrive. Things mattered less now that he'd most probably lost his uncle. As Cormac swooped down from the wall and strode towards him, he felt nothing.

Cormac felt everything as he saw the little figure sitting there waiting for him, little did he know that this was not going to be the amazing reunion he had hoped for. "Hey!" he breathed, smiling broadly, "I wasn't sure you would be here after..." his words got caught in his throat when he saw the haunted expression on Liam's face.

"Liam?" the boy did not move, just stared into space. Finally he replied,
"Cormy, my uncle Dex is dead!" Cormac felt sick! Liam was calm, serene even. It was eerie!

"Oh my God, I...Liam!" Cormac pulled him up from the seat and drew him in for a hug. "When? What happened?"
"Heart!" Liam simply answered.

"Oh my poor baby!" he kissed the top of his head tenderly. "My poor, poor darling boy!" Liam looked up into his eyes.
"What did you want to tell me?"

Cormac smiled sadly, "I just wanted you to know how sorry I was, but that doesn't mean shit right now!" Liam smiled back.
"I forgive you Cormy! Life is way too short!" Cormac gazed back into those pretty eyes and just went for it.

"Screw it! Liam, I love you! I love you so f*****g much I wanna just scream!" he began to sob as the beautiful boy pressed closer to him.
"But you're not gay Cormy!" despite the tragic circumstances, he still had a sense of humour.

"To quote my very annoying little brother, we're both as bent as boomerangs!" he laughed quietly.
"So what about Rita?" Liam's stomach lurched having to say her name.

"She's not you!" Cormac replied lovingly.
"Cormy please don't leave me? Will you stay?" How could Cormac refuse. His beautiful darling boy needed him, and after everything he'd put Liam through, he owed him that much.

To Be Continued...

Thank you for reading, chapter ten will be coming soon and will take place roughly a year later.