Suzy seized the opportunity to suggest, "Liam, why don’t you and Noah move up to the twentieth floor today?"
"Move up to the twentieth floor?"
Liam’s immediate reaction was that moving in would cause unnecessary trouble for Suzy, and his instinct was to decline. "Would that really be appropriate?"
"There’s nothing inappropriate about it," Suzy said with absolute seriousness. "You and Noah are family now. Living up here closer to us makes it much easier to look out for one another."
More importantly, the living conditions on the twentieth floor were vastly superior to their current setup downstairs. The heating alone was incomparable, not to mention the steady supply of electricity and running water. Living here was practically no different from life before the apocalypse; both Liam and Noah would be infinitely more comfortable.
Now that Liam belonged to her inner circle, Suzy naturally refused to let him suffer downstairs. Though he felt a bit self-conscious at first, Liam eventually yielded to her persistent insistence and agreed.
Meanwhile, outside the bedroom.
The atmosphere in the living room was far from peaceful.
Thomas stood by the window with his hands shoved deep into his pockets, his back turned to everyone else in the room. On the sofa sat Derek, clutching a glass of water that had long since gone cold. His eyes were glued to the tightly shut bedroom door. He had been holding this exact posture for so long that Leonard was beginning to think he would burn a hole through the wood.
Leaning back in another chair, Leonard drawled lazily, "Stop staring. They won’t be out anytime soon."
"How long has it been?" Derek finally spoke, his voice muffled and tight.
Leonard flicked his eyes toward the wall clock. "Less than an hour."
"What do you mean, ’less than’?! It’s practically been an hour!"
Derek set his water glass down on the coffee table, the sharp clink of glass hitting wood echoing loudly in the silent room. He shifted his posture, uncrossing his legs only to cross them the other way a second later. No matter how he sat, he couldn’t get comfortable. His fingers tapped a rapid rhythm against his knee, stopped, and then started tapping again.
Leonard set his book down and stared at him. "Do you have ants in your pants?"
Derek didn’t answer. His gaze drifted right back to the door, his brow furrowing as his lips thinned into a tight line.
"What are they even talking about in there... for this long?" he grumbled under his breath.
Leonard shrugged, offering no answers. He had no idea what the two of them were discussing, but he knew better than to go in and disrupt them.
Derek stood up, paced a couple of steps across the living room, and sat right back down. He glanced at Thomas’s back. Thomas stood by the window, utterly motionless, like a carved statue.
Standing up once more, Derek walked over to the window and took a spot beside Thomas. Keeping his eyes fixed on the gray, snowy squall outside, he murmured, "Thomas."
"Yeah," Thomas replied, his tone flat.
"Aren’t you worried at all?" Derek kept his voice low.
Thomas turned his head slightly to look at him. "Worried about what?"
"Worried about..." Derek paused, searching for the right words. "Worried about Liam."
Thomas didn’t answer immediately. He turned his gaze back to the bleak weather outside. "What is there to worry about?"
Derek took a deep breath, his expression turning deadly serious. "With one more person, Suzy’s attention is going to be divided even further."
Thomas remained silent for a few seconds. "And?"
Derek stared at him, waiting for him to expand on the thought. But Thomas simply kept his eyes on the snow, offering nothing more.
"And so we need to do something," Derek whispered urgently. "We can’t just let him slide in so easily."
Thomas turned his head fully to look at him. "Like what?"
"Like..." Derek hesitated. "Like making sure he knows he isn’t the only one."
Thomas’s expression didn’t fluctuate in the slightest. "He already knows he isn’t the only one," he said simply.
Derek choked on his words.
"So there is no need to do anything," Thomas said, turning back to the window.
Derek’s hands balled into tight fists inside his pockets. "Aren’t you afraid?" his voice betrayed a hint of desperation.
"Of what?"
"Afraid that Suzy will only have eyes for him."
Thomas didn’t answer. Derek waited for a response, the suffocating frustration in his chest compounding by the second.
"Thomas, can’t you..." He bit his lip. "Can’t you show at least a little bit of a reaction?"
Thomas finally turned around to face him fully. "What kind of reaction do you want from me?" his voice remained level, neither rising nor falling. "Should I go knock on the door? Should I drag Liam out? Or should I go tell Suzy not to choose him?"
Derek was rendered speechless.
"I can’t bring myself to do those things," Thomas said calmly. "And you shouldn’t either."
"Why?"
"Because Suzy wouldn’t like it."
Derek’s heart sank.
...Damn it.
He felt incredibly annoyed, mostly because it felt like he was the only immature one left in the room. Since Thomas clearly had no intention of entertaining his scheme, Derek dropped the subject and sulked back to his seat on the sofa.
Still, he remained completely restless. The moment Liam had entered the apartment, Derek had anticipated what was coming. He just hadn’t wanted to admit it to himself. He had hoped to form a united front with Thomas to ward off the newcomer, but Thomas had refused to play along.
He had to admit, Thomas was far more magnanimous than he was.
Infuriating!
Derek felt thoroughly dejected. However, Thomas’s words—because Suzy wouldn’t like it—had struck a chord, and he took them to heart.
Leonard glanced at the two of them, chose not to intervene, and quietly went back to his book.
Another ten minutes ticked by before the bedroom door finally clicked open.
Suzy stepped out first, a soft, faint blush dusting her cheeks. Liam followed close behind her, his head slightly lowered, his long hair falling over his shoulders.
The moment they emerged, the attention of the three men in the living room snapped directly to them. Derek’s eyes instantly locked onto Liam, his gaze immediately dropping to the sandalwood bracelet on his wrist.
He distinctly remembered that Liam’s wrists had been completely bare before he went in.
Suzy gave that to him?
The realization flooded Derek with a wave of jealousy. He pressed his lips together, keeping his mouth shut.
Meanwhile, Thomas stepped away from the window. Ignoring Derek, he focused his gaze entirely on Suzy. "How are you feeling?" he asked softly.
Suzy offered him a warm smile. "Much better now."
Thomas nodded, his gaze finally shifting to Liam. Gauging the subtle shift in the air between them, it was clear Suzy had accepted him. This was well within Thomas’s expectations. This meant Liam was officially one of them now.
Thomas was practical about it; truth be told, he had foreseen this day long ago, so he didn’t harbor any bitter feelings. Suzy had dropped subtle hints about her system in the past, and while she had never spelled it out, Thomas was perceptive enough to put the pieces together.
"Liam," Thomas spoke calmly.
Liam lifted his eyes to look at him.
"You and Noah should pack your things and move up here to live with us," Thomas said.