Ding
...
Ding
...
Ding
...

The sharp chirping of what sounded like an alarm pierced Liam's sleeping mind. He groaned lightly as he stumbled into consciousness, immediately searching for the thing that woke him. He squirmed beneath Alex's arms, (which were wrapped messily around him) and sat up. He focused his gaze at their Callie Alarm clock, trying to make out the blurry numbers.

He scoffed. It was nearly 3am, why did Alex set the alarm for this time. He pressed the snooze button and snuggled back under the covers.

He hated waking up in the middle of the night; he might not even be able to fall back asleep. Nonetheless he shut his eyes. He was dozing off until the loud sound awoke him again. He sucked his teeth in annoyance. It couldn't be the alarm clock...

"Then what the f-" He squinted and searched around the room until he heard the sound again. This time he saw a light go off on the other side of there bed. He made a sound of contempt as he finally realized what had woken him. It was Alex's phone, which he always forgets to silence before bed.

Liam huffed and clumsily stretched over his still sleeping boyfriend to reach the nightstand on the other end. He all but sat on Alex's face as he tried to extend his body. Eventually he had to get out of bed to reach it, which he wasn't happy about. He winced at the coldness of the floor as he frigidly walked around the bed.

When he finally reached the phone, he motioned to silence it before a text on the screen caught his eye. It was from Anabelle.

Ana: yo, don't forget about tomorrow. I'll be waiting for you. Tell Liam you have to go to the store or smthn so he doesn't get suspicious. ;3 <3

Liam's eyes widened, "what the hell?!" He exclaimed quietly.

Instead of getting angry and kicking Alex out of their bed to wake him up, Liam let himself think. He could be taking this in the wrong way. The reason Alex has been so secretive lately might not be because he was going behind his back or anything, it was probably because he was trying to surprise him with something.

He thought back to when he was still a kid and Alex surprised him with a pre-owned splat roller for his birthday. Apparently he'd spent nearly all he had on it, and it wasn't even brand new. Despite that, it was his first real weapon for Turf Wars, and he remembers nearly crying over it.

Was that the day I started falling in love with him?

Liam smiled softly and chuckled to himself, all the previous frustration now gone.

Yeah, he was probably planning to surprise him.

Liam smiled at the thought, and he let himself believe it. After all, they were engaged. He could have found a place for them to get married, or found the perfect cake flavor. It was probably just a cute harmless surprise that  he shouldn't worry about. If anything, he was ruining the surprise by looking at Alex's text messages.

Liam took a deep breath and put Alex's phone on silent before placing it back on the nightstand. He then padded back over to his side of the bed, and hopped in. A surge of excitement shot through him, and he suddenly felt really really happy. He had the best soon-to-be husband in the world, and he should trust him, even if it was a crappy surprise.

Liam sighed softly and contently as he pulled the covers over him.

He hoped he was right, at least for Alex's sake.

__

When morning finally came, Alex rose quietly, so he wouldn't wake up his boyfriend, who was breathing steadily beside him.

Leaving Liam sleeping soundly under the covers, he quickly got dressed and left their small apartment to go meet up with Ana and Leon.

The day before, he asked Anabelle to try and find out more about some girl who's been harassing the love of his life. He knew Ana was nosy, but he didn't think she'd actually break into the girl's house. Nonetheless, as long as she found some dirt on her, he'd be content. He could blackmail her into never bothering Liam again, which would make him happier. Maybe he could even convince her to leave inkopolis forever, which would make him even happier. Then Alex and Liam will be able to tie the knot without having to worry about any unwelcome disturbances.

Alex smiled to himself as he walked. He knew he was walking on thin ice by being so secretive from Liam, who was a low-key psychopath, but his boyfriend would understand eventually that he's doing it for the good of their relationship.

Alex smiled wider. How could this possibly go wrong.

__

He arrived at his teammate's house a little later in the morning. He didn't really know when to come since Ana hadn't really given him a time. However, based on the group's tendency to rise early (and Ana's certain impatience to spill the tea) he assumed they were here already.

He gave a few light knocks on the door to a small house just outside of Inkopolis Square. A few seconds later, he heard footsteps galloping down a set of stairs. He flinched when the door swung open in front of him. Ana's beaming smile and glistening eyes met his own. He gulped lightly. Not even he could be this enthusiastic in the morning.

"ALEX! Holy CARP!! You'll never believe what I found in that girls apartment!! Which is actually really cute to be honest. I mean, it wasn't extravagant or anything but it looked fairly comfortable. Big enough for at least two people in my opinion. Not that I- ".

"Whoa!" Alex stopped her from talking him into oblivion. "Chill, at least let me get inside first." He prompted. Ana huffed slightly, moving to the side to let him through.

He set his backpack down at the side of the stairs, where there was a mat for shoes. He decided to keep his shoes on and followed Ana as she led him up the stairs.

'She usually grabs my hand whenever She wants to take me somewhere...' He thought as they climbed the flight.

He'd noticed the way she's been acting lately. She's an enthusiastic person, but now its like shes always in a state of panic, especially when she speaks. Maybe this Melon chick really did have some sort of manipulation tactic because now even Ana was acting weirder than usual. His stomach tightened. Maybe she was worse than he'd thought.

All thoughts of dread left his mind when he reached the top of the stairs and entered a relatively small room, which was surprisingly bright and tidy. Leon was a member of their team, and therefore also had blue tentacles, although they were a little lighter. His eyes were brown, and his stern, pale face made it seem as if he were always uninterested, like he wished to be somewhere else no matter where he was. On the contrary, he could be even nosier than Anabelle, if that were possible. The only difference was that the team could always rely on him if they needed any sort of information. He was good at digging up facts and deciphering situations, which was one reason they decided to let him on the team.

The only downside was that he was kind of a nerd.

Alex laughed to himself. Leon hated when they called him a nerd.

But he is.

"YO LEONNNNNNNNN!!! LE-ON! L-L-L-LEON!" Ana yelled upon entering the room. Leon covered his ears in annoyance as Ana started to beat-box his name. Alex rolled his eyes.

"Ana!! My little sisters sleeping next door, shut up!" Leon uttered through gritted teeth.

"So what did you find?" Alex asked, once Ana finally decided to shut up.

"I honestly have no idea!" she exclaimed in bewilderment. I went on her adorable pink laptop, and found a bunch of weird documents. She sounds like some sort of secret agent. Also, she's OBSESSED with Callie and Marie. Like honestly, I went in her bathroom and it was loaded with their stuff." Ana rambled enthusiastically. Alex groaned.

"Ana I don't care about that!- wait why were you in her bathroom?" he raised an eyebrow at her. Ana shrugged impishly. He disregarded the question.

"I just wanna know who she is and why no one knows her." He spewed. Anabelle huffed.

"I'm just trying to give you all the details" She retorted in defense, a light blush now splayed over her cheeks.

Leon, who had been sternly staring at his laptop screen, turned to face them.

"Actually, Anabelle could be right about the secret agent thing. One of the documents is a certificate for completing a series of difficult trials. Whoever this girl is, shes definitely had training, and shes hiding something." He stated plainly.

"I've also never really noticed her before myself. She just kinda...appeared one day." He added with a shrug.

Alex nodded. "Yeah, and no one seems to know who she is. Except for maybe Liam, but he..." he trailed off. Liam always got antsy when they even brought her up. How could he possibly get him to tell him anything about her.

Ana inserted herself into the exchange suddenly, "This could only mean one thing. SHES A NINJA! No, a NINJA ASSASSIN!!! WITH THE POWER TO BLIND OTHERS WITH HER IRRESISTIBLE CUTENESS!!" She boasted. Alex and Leon both looked at her in amazement, then turned around again to ignore her.

"So you don't know who she is? Or where she came from??" Alex levied, the glistening hope draining from his eyes. Leon shook his head dolefully.

"No, I honestly have no clue what any of this means. Most of these other documents are in some other language." He replied.

"What do you mean?" He asked. Leon turned the screen towards him. Alex narrowed his eyes at the writing trying to make sense of the letters.

"I-it's almost like our language but..." Alex sighed heavily. Something weird was definitely going on, and he was getting more worried the more he found out. Maybe this situation was more serious then he'd previously presumed.

He gulped lightly before turning back to his teammates. "Well, shit... so what do I do now?" He asked. He knew it wasn't really their problem, but he'd already dragged them into it.

The room went quiet as they thought.

"We could go get something to eat..." Anabelle prompted after the silence stretched for an uncomfortably long amount of time. Then she looked at Alex with soft eyes. "I know this all seems weird, but she doesn't seem that bad. Maybe you should just forget her..." She suggested innocently. Alex was slightly bewildered by her sudden rationality. Forget her??

This all had started out as sort of a joke. He didn't know who she was but he disliked her for having a secret relationship with Liam. He wouldn't have cared so much if Liam would tell him about her. But for some reason he refused to talk about her. He seemed almost scared to. And that scared him. The way his expression changed to fear whenever he brought her up.

Did she do something to him? He thought. The mere speculation sent shivers down his spine.

Alex stayed quiet for a few more seconds before shaking his head. "Nah, I think I'll try talking to Liam about her again." He mumbled. He gave her a dejected look before turning and walking back down the stairs.

Alex frowned. Maybe he was being paranoid. He could be making the situation more than it was. Maybe he should just forget her. But why did she insert herself into the picture in the first place...

Fear began to rush through him. He groaned and left his friend's house before walking back up the street to appeal once again to his boyfriend.

__

Once he got back, he prepared himself to get tackled onto the floor and interrogated. To his surprise however, Liam was nowhere to be found. He looked all over their cramped apartment, a little confused. Liam rarely left the house and didn't really have any friends. So where could he be?

He looked around some more before a yellow note stuck to their fridge caught his eye. He walked over to it and held it in the light so he could read it.

It read; "Alex, left to meet up with a friend. Be back soon. Don't eat my chips in the cabinet." Alex tilted his head, puzzled. Who could he possibly be meeting up with? 

He opened the cabinet and ate some of Liam's chips before noticing that there was more to the note.

"P.S. I'm mad at you"

Alex couldn't help but smile. He didn't need a note to know that, but he did need to find out where Liam was so he could complete this mission or whatever it was...

Whatever it was becoming.

He sighed lightly. He could be making a mistake. Like Ana said, maybe he should just let it go. Could this Melon person actually have a real negative effect on their relationship? They've been together since forever. They were practically inseparable at this point. How could some nobody ruin them?

Just then, he felt something soft rub against his leg. He glanced down to see a mess of white fur, which could only belong to their cat, Mochi.

He sat on the cool, smooth tile floor of their small, yet comfortable, kitchen. Mochi curled up against his side, and he stroked her fur gently.

He dully stared out of the light filled window, his mind adrift in his thoughts, which used to mainly circle around Liam, and he assumed that Liam's centered on him too. But now, it felt like whoever this girl was; she was threatening to tear them apart.

He remembered when she first appeared. Everything was going great for them. But now it was like things were slowly falling to pieces.

Liam's downhearted expression, when he saw her, or talked about her, or even thought about her, popped into Alex's mind. A frown captured his own lips as he recalled how Liam didn't really manifest the usual brightness in his eyes, or his usual bubbly personality. Shit, he barely wanted to fuck anymore either. And it was all because of that green-tentacled bitch.

Alex's fear was replaced with rising anger. He rolled his eyes at the very thought of her.

he thought back to what Anabelle said again, about just forgetting her. He couldn't help but feel a twinge of guilt for harassing this girl. He didn't know her, she might not mean any harm. Even if she did mean harm. Even if she was some secret assassin, he could care less about her.

But he did care. Not because he didn't know who she was, but because she was messing with Liam. His Liam. He'd known ever since they were young that he'd never let anyone hurt him, or separate them.

He loved him like he couldn't survive without him. Which was probably true.

Just forget her...

He continued to stare blankly out of the window for a long moment; then, he sat up and shifted abruptly to his feet.

"Fuck that." He spat, and motioned back towards the door. He wouldn't let anyone tear them apart. He'd hurt anyone who would even try.

His mind grew more aggressive with these possessive thoughts drowning him. His only motive was Liam, and he couldn't suffer the thought of losing him to someone else.

"I'm getting him back one way or another" He hissed, and he shut the door behind him.

--------------------♡♡-------------------

This chapter is dry I know. But things will get more interesting in the next one
:3