Liam got up early one morning in a rush to get the day started. After taking a quick shower, Liam fixed his hair in the mirror before finishing getting dressed.

Quietly closing his bedroom door shut, Liam then made sure he finished the rest of his morning routine. He ended up making his bed that was in the corner of the room, stuffing his backpack with the multiple papers that were splayed out on his desk, and pocketing his phone before leaving his room.

Liam went to the kitchen and grabbed a banana and a cereal. He was about to leave his apartment when he stopped himself once he saw his mother sitting down near the dining table.

Liam took a diverted tour by kissing his mother on the head. "Morning Mom."

Shannon Crossford looked up from the letter she was reading and smiled when she was given a brief hug from her only son. "Morning sweetheart."

Liam had made another attempt to go out the front door when Shannon had held his hand and rooted him in place. "Stay inside and eat your breakfast. I don't want you to get indigestion because you're eating whilst moving."

Liam only agreed because he knew she would use her puppy dog eyes on him. He sat down beside her in the only other seat in the dining room and began eating his cereal bar first.

Shannon was chewing on the end of her glasses when she then accusatorily pointed them at Liam. "I saw your light was on pretty late last night... Couldn't you sleep?"

"I had to stay up all night because I had a lot of work I needed to do for school; a history paper on the Vietnam war, research for a group project in physics that starts very soon, a practice test paper I need to redo for maths, and something else I can't remember for Spanish."

"You sound very busy." Shannon grew very concerned with all the workload her son had on him. The school year had barely started and it seemed like he was already doing too much. "I can see the bags under your eyes, Sweetheart. You look exhausted."

Liam laughed as he brightened his own mood up by stealing the cup of coffee in front of his mother. "This will perk me right up!"

As he took a sip of the stolen coffee, Liam couldn't help but be curious as to what his mother was reading. "What's that?"

Shannon cleared her throat before scrambling to hide the letter away under a stack of other bills that were splayed out on the table. "Don't worry about it, Sweetheart. It's nothing you should be worried about."

Liam was nodding his head as he took the letter for himself. Shannon sadly hung her head down as Liam skimmed through the letter. "It's only a little rent increase. I'm sure we have this covered."

"We?" Shannon was shaking her head because she didn't like that her son was involving himself in their financial problems. "You're too young to be worrying about this."

Shannon nervously began to play with her braided blond hair that dangled over her shoulders. Income was difficult because she was a full-time mother with the occasional shift in whatever she could get her hands on. There were the added costs of taking care of the baby that was sleeping in the next room. And now she was also trying to save money to help pay for Liam's college.

Liam reached out to grab his mother's hand and squeezed it lovingly. "We'll be alright, I promise. I'm going to ask if I can get more shifts at work to help out more."

Shannon felt like everything was going to eventually overwhelm her son. He had too many things on his shoulders to try and carry. "Liam, you don't-"

"What do you want for dinner tonight?" Liam only smiled brighter because of his mother's concern. Their problems were shared because they were a family, and Liam wanted to do his best to support his family. "Just a heads up though, right now the only acceptable answer is Indian because we haven't had it in a while."

Shannon took a calming breath to try and control the overwhelming emotions that were threatening to surface. She had never been prouder of having such a considerate and thoughtful son.

Shannon's voice came out choked up when she whispered, "Sounds perfect."

Shannon pulled her son into an affectionate hug when she could no longer look at him without tearing up. With a kiss on the cheek and his hair ruffled, Shannon squeezer her son tighter as she felt Liam's arms comfort her by rubbing her back.

The heartfelt moment was then interrupted by a piercing cry in the next room. Shannon let go of Liam before fanning her teary eyes. "Somebody's hungry," Shannon chuckled.

Liam nodded his head as he watched his mother stand up from her seat. "I really need to finish my breakfast on the run because I'm late," Liam apologized.

After peeking to check his mother had closed the door behind her, Liam took out the wages he earned recently and slipped them into the shoebox of money that they all used to pay for their more serious bills.

For as long as Liam started having jobs, he would always split his wages to support his struggling family. Even after his very first paper round, he would end up sharing his money with his family. Nobody called him out on it, but Liam knew that his family was too grateful to bring it up. So Liam continued to do this over the years because his family needed it more than he did.

Liam had a proud smile on his face as he safely locked up the shoebox full of money. Carrying his breakfast remains in his hands, Liam began to put his backpack on as he then left the apartment to start the rest of the day. 

~~~~~~~~~~

"Owen! I'm really sorry I'm late!" Liam came rushing through the coffee shop door with barely an ounce of breath to spare.

Owen was standing behind the counter with his apron and name tag in place. He was in the middle of pouring a cappuccino into a coffee mug when he told Liam, "Don't worry about it. Things happen."

Liam was late for his afterschool shift because he had detention. It ended up bleeding into when Liam's shift had already started, so Liam was the fastest he ever was as he couldn't afford to lose his job.

"Mr. Counterdale was running detention. He disappeared for some emergency phone call and told us to study while he was gone. There were only two of us in detention and we weren't even allowed to leave early. He said he would make us spend the rest of this month's lunch breaks with him if we ditched." Liam explained.

"He's never this strict with the rules," Owen said confusedly. "If there are only a few people, then he would usually end detention early. Mr. Counterdale is usually pretty lax about afterschool detentions."

"Maybe Alex influenced the sudden behavior change," Liam bitterly cursed. He then told Owen how Alex had used his name to insult Mr. Forretine on his test paper, and that was the reason he even had detention in the first place.

"Surely Alex couldn't have suddenly made Mr. Counterdale strict with the rules," Owen tried to reason. He didn't want to believe that Alex was still being spiteful.

"Yes he can, he told me," Liam said bluntly. "Alex laughed in my face about it when we crossed paths before I even went to detention."

Owen avoided looking at Liam because he felt guilty for not being able to stop Alex from bothering him. He hated breaking his promises because he believed words were sacred and an important tool in life.

"Has he still been bothering you?" Owen asked hesitantly.

"Nonstop." Liam groaned out loud as he recalled some of the annoying things Alex had done recently. "He decorated the inside of my locker with a shitload of confetti. He decorated the outside of my locker with so many stickers and post-it notes. And he even hid a recording device that continuously played animal noises in my backpack."

Owen would have laughed to himself about the animal noises if he couldn't already recognize that Liam was completely drained of everything. Liam looked especially worn down today as there was no fighting energy or uplifting spirits left in him at the moment.

"I'm really sorry," Owen said honestly.

Liam didn't want any sympathy because he didn't have the time or need for it. There was a flood of customers that began to swarm into the coffeehouse, so Liam had to focus on his job rather than his own emotions and personal conflicts.

Liam forced a smile on his tired face as he had to remember how his brain and body worked. There was a long shift ahead of him, and Liam couldn't complain about it because he needed the money.

~~~~~~~~~~

Later the same evening, Liam was restocking the dessert tray with fresh muffins when he had been called into the back office. The store manager made it seem urgent because she stood beside her office and was watching every one of Liam's movements.

Liam was nervous because he couldn't help but notice her hawk eyes on him. He was uncomfortable because the added pressure of an audience made him fumble around a little bit.

There was only slight relief from this scrutiny because she had disappeared suddenly, but that was only because she was opening her office door for a meeting with Liam. Eliza had sat down behind her office desk as she then gestured for Liam to take a seat across from her.

"Is this about the allergy incident?" Liam was quick to try and rectify the reason he was summoned into a meeting with his boss. "She didn't mention anything about a nut allergy! It's literally a banana nut muffin!"

"It's not about that," Eliza clarified. "But good job with your quick reaction and everything."

Eliza had the shop's books in front of her as she opened up the page to yesterday evening. She noticed that something was wrong with yesterday's entry as she then asked, "Can you tell me what happened with that massive company order yesterday?"

Liam nodded his head as he repeated everything that had happened yesterday. "Someone placed a very large order last night. They told me it was for some big corporate building, so I wrote down their order and all of us here completed it."

Eliza was listening as she was jotting down Liam's story of the event. "And I assume they never picked it up?"

Liam guiltily looked away as he knew that she figured out what happened next. If nobody came in to pick up the massive order, then no one was there to pay for it either. All of the drinks and food were wasted because he had made a mistake in taking the order, which meant that over a hundred dollars went down the toilet because of it.

"Please don't fire me," Liam pleaded. "I promise I will work harder and better."

Eliza looked at Liam with a slight fond look in her eyes. She could immediately tell that he regretted his actions, and the fact that she thought he was a hard worker made Eliza certain that she didn't want to fire Liam.

But the money for all the expenses had to come from somewhere. "You still have your job, Liam. But the money from yesterday will be coming out of your wages."

Liam's heart was palpitating because he was panicking. Every cent and dime he earned was valuable to Liam because it would be going to his family, and the promise he made to his mother that morning made Liam even more anxious. He wanted to protest and yell out that he couldn't afford to have money taken out of his wages, but Liam knew there was no point to it.

Eliza was unaware of everything Liam was thinking as she then explained to Liam how to stop this from happening again. "If somebody places a suspiciously large order, in person or over the phone, then you need to take down their contact and card information so that that we have somewhere we can deliver the bill. I can't let money like this slide away because this is a business, and business relies on money."

Liam still didn't have anything to say back. Having money taken out of his wages was bad, but Liam felt fortunate he still had his job and that it could have been much worse.

"Thank you." Liam bowed his head briefly as a sign of respect before closing the office door behind him.

~~~~~~~~~~

Liam had barely walked back into the main area when he started to feel a little dizzy. He didn't have time to dwell on how he was feeling because he soon saw Alex sitting at the counter across from Owen. Alex had only noticed Liam when Owen glanced at him briefly, and that caused Alex to have a gleeful smile on his face when he made his way to Liam.

"My night's gotten so much better now that you're here," Alex grinned. "I was wondering if you could help me out with something. Owen is watching the front, so I think you are the man for the job."

Liam didn't feel like he had the energy to fight back tonight, he didn't feel like he had any at all. Something awful was stirring inside his stomach that was threatening to spew out.

Liam tightly gripped the corner of his apron so that he could focus on its fabric. The distraction allowed Liam to briefly suppress his feelings and pain as he tried to ignore how his head started to ring painfully.

"Leave me alone, I'm not in the mood." Liam walked away from Alex and unsteadily made his way beside Owen. He then turned to Owen and asked, "Can you deal with him? I can't afford to screw anything up at the moment since I just lost a chunk out of my wages."

"You okay Liam?" Owen studied Liam's face and saw how he looked worse coming out of the office. "You look a little peachy."

"I'm fine," Liam insisted. "Let me just deal with this customer while you deal with another one of Alex's stupid demands."

"Not stupid," Alex interjected. "I just wanted a blueberry muffin and I couldn't see any out here."

Owen ignored Alex and waved his hand in front of Liam's face. "You sure? I think you should sit down for a minute."

Liam only shook his head once because he didn't want to make his headache feel worse. "It's probably just low blood sugar since I haven't eaten in a while. Please just deal with Alex."

Owen nodded his head as he wiggled his finger to make Alex follow him. "Let's go, Dummy."

"Why do I need to go to?" Alex whined.

"Because I said so." Owen wanted to make sure that Alex didn't leave his sight. He didn't want to leave Alex alone with Liam so he pushed Alex towards the stockroom.

Liam braced his hands on the table as he looked up at the next customer. "Sorry about that. What can I get you?"

The man in front of Liam was wearing shorts in the cold weather, and a denim jacket over a dirtied white shirt. His frame was a lot bigger than Liam as he impatiently stood in front of the barista.

The man took out his wallet and threw several dollar bills in front of Liam. "I would prefer you to not sweat in my iced caramel macchiato when I order it. The name's Aaron. A-A-R-O-N."

Liam didn't realize he had a cold sweat until he wiped his forehead. "I'm sorry. I'll get started on your order right away."

"Get me one of those muffins too!" Aaron demanded as he threw more money at Liam's back. "That guy made me hungry when he talked about it earlier."

Liam eventually served Aaron his drink in a takeaway cup before crouching down to pick up the crumpled dollar bills that he threw at him. Liam put the crumpled up money into the till as he then reached into the basket of muffins that Owen was carrying and grabbed one. He then served it to Aaron as Liam then checked, "Is there anything else I can get you?"

Aaron began to take a sip of his drink when he thought it tasted funny. "This isn't what I ordered."

Liam was confused until he checked that he gave Aaron the drink with his name on it. "That's definitely your order."

"The milk's off," Aaron complained. "Let me see the expiry date on whatever crap you used."

Liam obliged as he brought out the same milk he used for Aaron's order. Clearly stated on the bottle was the date on which the milk hadn't expired.

"Then you used the wrong milk," Aaron complained. "My drink tastes as if you put full-fat milk in it when I wanted skimmed milk."

Liam didn't know what to think because Aaron was currently holding the skimmed milk in his other hand. He couldn't fathom how Aaron decided he used the wrong milk when it was literally in front of him.

"The milk is-"

Aaron held his finger out to silence Liam as he then addressed Alex, who was watching the event unfold with Owen. "You. Taste this and tell me what kind of milk was used."

Alex was happy to oblige as he then shared, "That's definitely full fat. How could you screw up something so simple, Liam?"

Liam couldn't believe anything that was coming out of Alex's mouth, so he tried the drink himself. To Liam's own horror, he realized that he indeed used the wrong milk.

"I'm sorry, Sir. Let me fix-"

Aaron had suddenly flared up with anger as he beat his fist against the counter. "What kind of fucking idiot uses the wrong milk?! Are you so brain-damaged that you can't even read properly?! How dare you lie to my face and make it seem like I'm the dumb one?!"

Liam was left speechless at Aaron suddenly losing the plot over a coffee order. His intense reaction was ridiculous because it sprouted from a simple mistake, and Liam had already made it clear that he wanted to make things right.

Liam needed to calm the situation down as he cautiously held his hands up as a sign of peace. "Let me get you a free one. I'll make it right in front of you again so you can watch me put the correct milk in."

Aaron's intensity increased as a vein soon popped out of his neck. "I don't have time to wait, you fucking imbecile! My daughter is waiting in the car right now and I need to drive her back to her mother's!"

"Dude... It's just a drink." Owen then stepped in for Liam as he then offered to do the same thing Liam had just offered. "I'll make your drink for you right now."

"It's fucking too late now!" Aaron screamed. "My ex is going to hand my ass in because I dropped our daughter home late."

In a sudden burst of anger, Aaron unleashed all of his rage and fury by throwing his drink right at Liam. The freezing drink landed right in Liam's face as the sound of the ice and coffee poured onto the ground.

Liam was standing still in complete shock over one tiny mistake. Liam had never had a drink thrown in his face before, and he didn't even know how he should have reacted to it.

Fortunately, Owen knew what he needed to do after seeing his friend and coworker being treated like that. "Get the fuck out of our store. You're banned from ever coming in here again."

Aaron began to challenge Owen as he then walked right up to his face. "You going to throw me out?"

Aaron's height towered over Owen, and their age difference put Aaron way out on top. But Owen stood his ground and didn't let himself get intimidated by someone who was clearly looking for a fight.

"Owen's not the violent type, but I am," Alex chuckled as he pushed himself in front of Aaron. "But I fear that laying my hands on a disgusting creature like you will contaminate myself with all sorts of nasty shit that I don't want to deal with."

Alex then brought his phone out and continued to put Aaron in his place. "My family is not one you want to mess with because we have all the money in the world to sue your pathetic ass into the ground. I have some of the best lawyers saved on speed dial, and they will certainly take your ass to the cleaners for treating these employees like this. How's your daughter and her mother going to react when their alimony will come straight to our pockets?"

Even before Aaron could argue back, Alex didn't give him the opportunity. Alex gestured towards the camera that was clearly above them all, and the several witnesses that were still inside the coffeehouse. "We have so much fucking evidence that show you harassing them, all of us in fact. So do yourself a favor and get the fuck out."

Aaron gritted his teeth as he looked at every single person that could make him pay for what he had just done. Deciding that fleeing was the best option, Aaron did that as he ended up slamming the door shut behind him.

Owen couldn't help but laugh at Alex's cocky bravado, "Look at you! Using your power for good for once."

Alex cheekily winked at Owen because he was proud of how much crap he managed to lie about, without faulting. "Not all heroes look as good as me."

Interrupting their little banter, Liam was seen and heard dislodging the ice cubes that were stuck on his person. He swept his entire face and body of the coffee that was splashed at him as he then silently walked towards the bathroom.

"Liam?"

===========

Author's Note: Next chapter will be a continuation of this one. It's longer than this one so it was better to split it up.