The next morning, Alex was waiting patiently inside his extremely expensive car as he had parked it outside Owen's home. He was fixing the wayward strand of hair that flopped onto his forehead as he used the rearview mirror to fix his appearance that took only a little time to perfect.

With music playing ever so quietly in the background, Alex was tapping his fingers against the steering wheel when he saw Owen come out with a rucksack.

Alex watched Owen hug his father before moving closer to join him in the car. Alex politely waved back at Owen's father as Alex then leaned across the seats to open the door for Owen.

"Thanks," Owen said as he did his special handshake with Alex. No matter how young they were when they created it, neither of them did it in shame.

"You got all your shit?" Alex asked as Owen put his bag in the back seat. "I don't want us to drive back here because you forgot your retainer like last time."

Owen laughed as he tapped the pocket in his bag that held his retainer. He took extra care in remembering to bring it because last time he had to desperately beg Alex to turn the car around.

"Got it, Captain." Owen grinned. "I've also got my clothes, my toothbrush, and some snacks for the road."

The Beckerford Knights had a game tonight in a different town. Because of the time period, the whole team was planning an overnight stay in the same town for the rest of the weekend.

Instead of taking the school bus with the team, Alex kept their tradition of driving up there himself with Owen once he got his license. Not only was it a nice bonding time between the brotherly friends, but they also had their own privacy, space, and quietness.

"Let's go!" Alex cheered. He turned the engine on and smacked Owen's hand once he reached to change the radio channel. "You know the rules... My station only."

~~~~~~~~~~

A couple of hours on the road and they were both almost at the motel. A red light was ahead of them as Alex slowly put the brakes on. The slow momentum had caused something to roll out of Alex's bag from underneath Owen's seat and hit the back of his feet.

Owen was curious as he picked up the can that rolled to the front seat. He then held it up in the light as he turned to Alex with a confused look on his face, "Why do you have spray paint in your car?"

Alex reached towards his bag from behind Owen's seat and placed it in Owen's lap. The metal clanging of the cans hitting each other was loudly ringing as Owen picked out the several different colors of spray paint.

"I'm going to tag Liam's car," Alex told Owen.

Owen was confused by this because he had never seen Alex plan to do anything so artistic and creative. "You what?"

Alex wanted to draw a phallic shape symbol on the side of Liam's car. He hadn't determined what color he wanted to use, so he was going to test several different colors on whatever car Liam drove.

"Liam makes me want to be extra creative in how I get my payback," Alex emphasized.

Owen put the spray cans back in Alex's bag as he then tucked the bag underneath his seat. Owen then foiled Alex's master plan when he told him, "Liam doesn't have a car. He can't even drive."

Alex didn't have this information before and felt slightly stupid in having a plan revolving around something non-existent. "But I need his car to draw a penis!"

Owen held his hands up as he shrugged his shoulders. "Can't help you there. He definitely doesn't have a car. He told me when I offered him a lift home after work once."

"Shit."

Alex had to admit that he didn't have much left in the creative department. He didn't even have a lot of information about Liam, so Alex didn't know what he could do that would annoy Liam as much as he annoys him.

"You seem to know a lot about Liam, what else can you tell me about him?" Alex asked nonchalantly.

Owen was shaking his head because he knew Alex was prying for information. "Before you decide to do something stupid, I really don't think there's any dirt you can use on him."

Alex groaned because Owen wasn't helping him at the moment. "Everybody has something on them. Nobody's perfect, certainly not that cocky asshole..."

"Are we talking about you?" Owen laughed.

Alex shoved Owen as he couldn't hide the smile on his own face. If there was anybody else that called him something similar, then Alex would have had their head on a pike. Fortunately for Owen, he was the one person Alex would never try to hurt.

"There's got to be something I can do," Alex whined. "Does he have a girlfriend I can DM?"

Owen knew that Alex was joking around because he swore he would never do something like that. After witnessing Alex go through a similar event, Owen knew that Alex would never be the homewrecker ever again - accidental or not.

"No, he doesn't," Owen answered. "He even rejected Kimmy when she was all glammed up and tried to get his phone number yesterday. She used all sorts of tricks in the book and Liam didn't even bite once."

Kimmy had a reputation of being wanted by a lot of the students at Beckerford High School. She had looks that could rival any runway model, brains that showed why she was a top student, and humility that demonstrated how everyone always had the wrong initial impression of her.

"Wow..." Alex wanted to double-check he heard correctly when he tried to confirm, "Kimmy Giovana?"

After Owen nodded his head, Alex was still mildly surprised over the whole situation. Liam was the new kid in town and he didn't even give someone like Kimmy a chance. She was everything so many people wanted, and someone so many people wanted to be with.

"But it's Kimmy!" Alex chuckled in an exasperated state. "There's definitely something wrong with him if he doesn't want her."

Owen knew there wasn't as he assuredly told Alex, "Liam's gay." 

A car horn beeped behind Alex which indicated to him that he was blocking the road despite the green light. Alex finally started the car once again as he began to drive them both to the motel that the team was staying at.

"Like, actually gay?" Alex repeated himself as he was processing the new information, "Like dude on dude gay?"

Owen wasn't sure why Alex seemed to be taking this so difficultly. "For someone that's into both men and women, you sure aren't grasping that Liam is only interested in men..."

"It's because my gaydar is broken," Alex said with laughter. "I had no idea."

"Well, he's definitely gay." Owen then shared with Alex that Liam told Kimmy he was gay, and also how he shared the same thing to him once she left the coffeehouse afterward. "The dude's super confident in who he is."

"Wait a minute..." Alex's laughter was soon stifled when he remembered something that happened a couple of days ago. "The guy didn't even peek a glance at me when I was naked in the locker room with him."

Owen also stopped laughing after hearing something so risqué from Alex. "You what?"

Alex remembered the incident of how the initial situation was accidental. He was the last one in the showers and he didn't expect to run into anybody - yet alone Liam. He remembered how Liam had given him complete privacy by turning around and not ogling him when he got changed.

"It's not what it sounds like, but the conclusion is still the same." Alex vaguely shared.

This left Alex in a completely befuddled state of mind. Liam was alone in the showers with a bisexual, naked, attractive, wet guy. It was something every hormonal teenager fantasized about because it was practically a classic movie scene of seduction.

"Am I not physically attractive? I'm everybody's type!" Alex yelled out loud exasperated. He waved his hand to gesture towards his face and body when he continued, "You're telling me Liam had no interest in all of this?!"

Owen ended up giggling at Alex's vanity and his meltdown of not being wanted like Alex was suggesting. "I guess you aren't as irresistible as you think you are."

Alex was nodding to himself as he thought of a new angle to approach their ongoing feud. "Maybe there's something I can do with this..."

It all sounded very ominous to Owen as he wasn't sure where this was leading to. "Alex... What are you-"

"We're here." Alex declared.

Alex parked his car beside the school bus as the rest of the team started heading towards the motel. Their conversation was interrupted as Alex left the car first, with Owen following him shortly afterward and dropping the conversation once they joined their teammates.

~~~~~~~~~~

The game ended up being a stomp as the Beckerford Knights reigned victoriously. To celebrate their easy victory, a small gathering was being held in one of the knight's motel rooms.

With plenty of alcohol that was sneaked onto the trip by everybody, they were all careful to make sure they weren't going to get caught by anybody that could ruin the party. Music was quietly playing in the background as pizza, chips, and dozens of cans of beer were all that was offered in the private party.

"Can I get you a drink, Alex?" Julio offered to the team captain that was sitting alone in the corner of the room.

Alex was showing off the beer can in his hand when he replied, "I'm all good. Thanks."

Julio weakly smiled as he ducked his head at Alex. Julio left the unusually quiet Alex alone as he then went to join the rest of his celebrating team. Crossing paths, Owen comradely patted Julio on the shoulder before making his way towards Alex.

Owen exchanged the can in Alex's hand that he knew was empty with a full one. He sat down beside Alex as they both took a sip from their own can.

"How'd you know?" Alex asked, referring to Owen knowing he was holding an empty can.

"Because you do it all the time when someone offers you a drink. Empty or not, you dismiss them away and act standoffish when you're not in the mood." Owen then sat forward as he rested his elbows on his knees. "What's up?"

"Nothing's wrong. I'm just not in the mood for a party right now." Alex explained.

Owen had an inkling of what upset Alex's mood as he recalled what happened at the game earlier. "Want to talk about it?"

Alex looked down at his leg that was propped up on the table. His knee was swollen and covered with an ice pack. "It's fine. They told me I need to rest it for a couple of days so it's nothing to worry about."

"I wasn't talking about your knee." Owen began to tap the side of his beer can as he tried to be considerate and cautious with Alex's feelings. "I'm talking about the thing the guy whispered to you before you got injured..."

Alex was shaking his head as he tried to prevent Owen from going down that rabbit hole. "Owen I-"

Owen spoke over Alex as he read out the list of events that assumingly caused Alex's troubled mood. "You guys crashed into each other on accident and you guys ended up lashing out at each other. I saw you threaten to punch him after he laughed in your face once he whispered something to you."

"It was just a little back and forth," Alex tried to rationalize. "Things get heated on the court."

"Things don't get so heated that one person illegally takes down the other, and ends up stomping on their knee - making them rest for a couple of days."

Alex didn't have his head in the game because his mind was already pre-occupied by Liam. After Alex apologized for the first collision on the court, the captain of the rival team ended up antagonizing Alex by digging into his background.

"I tried to apologize to Lawinsky at first, I even offered my hand to help him back up," Alex said truthfully as he tried to show good sportsmanship.

But that didn't mean anything because Zayn Lawinsky practically spat in his face. "Instead he just started egging me on in the middle of the court. He made things personal and talked about some things that pissed me off. Fucking jackass."

Owen put his hand on Alex's knee to show support and solidarity. It wasn't often he saw his best friend this hurt and vulnerable over a couple of words. "He must have dug deep."

Alex nodded his head as he downed his drink in one go. "The guy really wanted to throw me off my game so that his team could win. He got into my head when he mentioned a certain property developer and a world-renowned surgeon."

"Your parents." Owen understood how the fractured relationship Alex had with his parents was always a dark figure in his heart. He witnessed over the years how they all grew apart from each other, and how it shaped a young Alex into the person he was now.

But Owen knew that multiple people have used the same things against Alex before. So Owen deduced that he didn't get the full story from Alex yet. "I'm sorry Alex, but there's got to be something else you aren't telling me."

Alex deeply exhaled when he finally looked Owen in the eyes, "Lawinsky mentioned him."

Alex took a deep breath because he wanted so desperately to change the subject and reel in his own emotions. He scratched the back of his neck and looked around the room before pointing towards the bathroom. "Can you help me up? I need to pee."

After several wobbles and limps, Alex eventually made it to the bathroom and urinated. As he went on to wash his hands, he avoided looking in the mirror and thought about how he wanted to get away from everyone at the party. So Alex then discreetly left the bathroom and made his way towards the exit door, hoping that none of his teammates would make a scene out of the team's captain leaving a victory party.

It only took a couple of seconds for Owen to quickly follow Alex when he spotted Alex leaving with the corner of his eyes. When Owen eventually caught up with Alex, they both found themselves outside their shared room because Alex was waiting patiently for him.

"How'd you know?" Owen asked, referring to Alex knowing he wouldn't be far behind.

"Because I know I've always had, and always will, have you by my side," Alex said honestly.

Owen put his hands on Alex's shoulder and squeezed it affectionately. "That's what brothers are for."

~~~~~~~~~~

After spending the evening with some pizza Owen went back to steal from the party, both of them were ready for a good night's sleep as the night had passed by with them just simply hanging out.

Alex came out of the bathroom to see the bedside lamp being the only light in the room. He saw Owen lying down on his own twin bed, and so Alex decided to do the same n his own bed so he could get some rest.

"Mind if I turn the light off?" Alex asked. It had been a long day and Alex wanted nothing more than to sink into a deep sleep.

"One second," Owen grinned as he continued texting on his phone. "Let me just finish talking to Liam first."

Alex already had his head on the pillow when he then immediately sat up straight after hearing Owen speak. Alex's ears were burning because he had just found out that the two of them were suddenly acting buddy-buddy.

Alex was completely bewildered that Owen would be friends with the person he openly hated. "Why are you texting Liam?"

Owen knew that he would have to have this conversation eventually. He's slowly been getting to know Liam ever since Alex dragged him into the dumb feud, and the more Liam was away from Alex, the more Owen saw Liam as a potential good friend.

"Liam's actually pretty cool and everything. He's certainly better than the people you pretend to like." Owen laughed.

Alex scoffed as he didn't think he could ever hear something so preposterous. "That's debatable..."

Owen put his phone on the bedside table as he tried to make do on the promise he made to Liam. "If you start treating Liam nicely for once, then maybe you can see him as someone you could actually like. You both are a lot similar than you think."

Alex despised the idea that he could ever like Liam after everything they had been through. The entire week had been embarrassing and humiliating for Alex because his pride and ego were damage, and Alex blamed it all on the new kid in school that had messed with the school's social ladder.

"Liam made me look weak in front of everyone. He's made me a laughing stock, and now everybody is laughing at me because I let the new guy in school do this to me. Why the fuck should I treat him nicely after all the shit he started?"

"Did he though?" Owen wanted to get Alex to understand where Liam was coming from. Owen had seen it first hand how the pair of them began to fight each other. It was only recently that he saw how it was affecting Liam differently. "Who is always the one that starts every negative interaction?"

Alex ignored this because he thought it was irrelevant. The context was key because he was always the one worse for wear after they butted heads. "Liam's undermined me too many times for me to roll over and let him win. I've spent years making a reputation for myself. And in one week, Liam comes in with a bulldozer to destroy everything important to me."

Owen was shaking his head because Alex was seemingly too stuck in his ways. "Liam only retaliates because he is forced to. He's dealing with the cards that you deal him because you choose to fight him."

"But he fights back! So I have to then fight back against what he first fought back with," Alex explained.

"There's plenty of other people who are more deserving of your wrath, Alex." Owen then listed a bunch of names that were either more physically violent towards Alex, malicious gossipers that spread rumors about him, or just people he could never like to begin with. "Liam isn't any one of them."

"You're my best friend!" Alex was frustrated that Owen was no longer on his side anymore. He felt like he was being betrayed because Owen always understood him the most and could see where he comes from. "You're meant to be helping me out here!"

"I never agreed to help you harass Liam," Owen pointed out. "Besides, I definitely won't now since I like Liam. He's just one of those people that you can't help but like and be friendly with."

"Traitor," Alex huffed as he then turned the bedside lamp off. The room was finally pitch black as Alex covered himself with the duvet and faced away from Owen.

Owen laughed at Alex's childish antics before switching the light back on."You do realize that you are in the wrong, right?"

Alex didn't respond so Owen continued to drive his point home. "All Liam wanted was an apology for how you treated his friend. In both incidents, the same friend was either doing her job as a reporter or just sitting down and eating her lunch."

Alex threw the duvet off himself because he needed to point out his actual first interaction with Liam, the main cause for it all. "But he-"

"Yes, he hit you first," Owen acknowledged. But despite the sudden violence against his best friend, Owen saw himself as a good judge of character and knew that there was more to Liam than the impression he got in the first couple of seconds when they met each other. "But the more I get to know and understand Liam, the more I know he couldn't hurt a fly unless aggravated."

"Back the fuck up..." Alex strongly gestured towards himself as he pressed his finger aggressively against his own chest. "So this is my fault?"

Owen was rocking his head side to side as he tried to put it lightly. "Well... I mean... Kind of."

"But he attacked me first! You just said it yourself." Alex was hitting himself on the head because Owen was quickly making him frustrated over the fact that he had to repeat himself multiple times. "I fought back because nobody walks over me. I can't stop now because he's still attacking me. He's all in my head now and I can't make him leave!"

Owen got out of his bed to join Alex in his own bed. He forced Alex to look at him because he wanted Alex to know that he wasn't trying to judge or hurt him. "As much as I love you, Alex, you were definitely wrong about how you approached this whole thing. You were a jerk to his friend for doing something that was actually harmless. And instead of deescalating the situation by just apologizing, you have been relentlessly targeting Liam for just being a good friend."

Alex didn't like to be challenged by anybody, regardless of the circumstances. It would bring out the fighter in him because it was a defense mechanism whenever he took somebody's accusation and blame so personally.

But Owen was his best friend that wasn't afraid to challenge or highlight his behavior. This was because he knew that deep down, Owen was always impartial in many matters and always stood on the unbiased fence. Having him point out everything he was afraid to hear made Alex process that there was nothing unjust in anything either Liam or Melissa did.

Owen felt horrible because he could see the impact his words were having on Alex. He was visibly unnerved and Owen knew they were finally making progress because his words seemed to be getting through to Alex.

Owen took a calming breath as he put a comforting hand on Alex's shoulder. "You're letting your own problems affect how you treat other people. You're not going to be able to intimidate every single person that looks or does you wrong, Alex - no matter what or how you justify it."

Alex swallowed the uncomfortable lump in his throat because Owen's words were punching his heart. He looked down at his own lap as he reflected on his own actions that he had now deemed unfair.

Alex thought about how he was the instigator in so many fights he had with other people. He thought about how he always dropped them within the day because he never cared about them. So he then began to question why it was Liam's constant retaliations that affected him the most. And Alex knew that it was because Liam was constantly holding up a mirror to him, showing himself as the monster he had created a long time ago.

"It's too late now," Alex mumbled. "The bridge hasn't been burnt because there was never one to begin with. I've got to finish what I've been trying to end now. You can hate me all you want, but I can't let how Liam has made me feel suddenly disappear."

Owen was left disappointed as he accepted Alex's answer. With a heavy sigh, Owen moved Alex's head to face him once again. "You're actually a better, more understanding, and a more loving person behind the mask you've created to protect yourself. Don't make people see you as the monster you're pretending to be when we both know that there's somebody better underneath all of this anger, jealousy, and pettiness."

Alex was shaking his head as if he could get rid of the cloudy thoughts that made him negatively judge himself. He couldn't listen to Owen's words anymore because he was on the verge of an emotional outburst that picked at his entire character.

Alex cleared his throat as he tried to undo all the progress Owen was slowly making. "Like I said... What's done is done."

Owen bit his lip as he looked away disappointingly. Alex began to hate himself even more because the person who swore to stand beside him was no longer there at the moment. The look on Owen's face showed it all, and Alex was now regretting everything he had said or done.

"I'm in the right with this. I have to be." Alex whispered out loud.

Both of them were silent after Alex tried to justify his behavior. After Owen went back into his own bed, Alex was left alone with his own thoughts. With his own brain doing a terrible job in justifying his own actions, Alex was no longer sure if he wanted to convince Owen, or if he was trying to convince himself.

===========