A loud yawn was released from the brunette's lips as he stretched out in his office chair. His green eyes looked above the rim of his glasses at the clock that read ten o'clock AM. The dark circles under his eyes indicated quite well that the man had been up all night. He pushed away from the desk and stood from his chair. His first thought was bed, but he realized that wasn't an option. He had a visitor today, someone he could actually manage to allow into his house. He should probably show some signs of self care. Though, he wasn't really looking forward to moving so much after the night he had. He'd probably just let the mess slide, most of it was in the office anyway. He let another yawn slip as he left the office and went on a search for clothes that weren't torn and bloody. Liam was able to find something at least halfway presentable and moved on to making himself some coffee. On his to the kitchen a tune played as his cellphone went off. He let out a groan as he moved back to the office and grabbed the phone from his desk. "Hello?" Liam answered not holding back his annoyance. His publisher was beginning to be a real pain in his ass. "Hello, Mr. Baxter, how are you doing this morning?" "Fine, Michelle," Liam muttered, "Why are you calling?" "Oh, I wanted to talk to you about that movie offer again-" "I told you no the first time." "I know, but..." Liam ignored the other end as he reached up to grab the can of coffee. He felt a surge of pain go through his upper arm and let out a yelp. "-Is everything alright, Liam?" "Everything's fine, just got surprised by a spider. Look, now's really not the best time to discuss this. Can I call you back?" "Uh...Yeah, sure, call me back before one, okay?" "Will do." Liam hung up the phone and rolled up his sleeve. Bandages were wrapped tightly around his upper arm a small bit of blood was visible through the banages, but nothing seemed out of place to Liam. He tugged his sleeve back into place and finally got to making his coffee. He probably should have found something to eat too, but he didn't have the energy to go searching.

Kurt Aldritch furrowed his brow as he studied the still wet developing photographs hanging on the clothesline he had strung up in his dark room. They were landscape photos taken from different angles. The first one looked off, the second one he used too much exposure. The third one looked fairly good but it was the fourth that earned a nod of approval. "You'll go to the gallery tomorrow." He smiled and then began the process of developing several more photos. As he reached for the chemical bottles, he caught a glimpse of his wristwatch. He lifted his left wrist closer to his face to see the time. The clock face read 10:45. "Oh, shit. I forgot all about Liam." He withdrew his hand and hurried out of the room. Developing films in the old fashioned way had always fascinated the raven haired photographer. And every time he worked in the dark room, he seemed to forget about everything else. He quickly washed his hands, grabbed his backpack and his car keys and was out the door in only a few minutes. Driving to Liam's house took a good fifteen minutes. Along the way, he considered stopping to get some sort of peace offering but when he saw the time in the dashboard, he changed his mind and continued on his way. No amount of peace offering would be enough if he arrived later than he already was. As he pulled over in front of Liam's house, his mind raced through all possible alibis he could give despite the fact that he knew that Liam won't believe him anyway. Settling for his usual "I forgot the time" excuse, he got out of the car and made his way to the front door. Promptness has never been his strong point. And it was something that irritated his writer friend. He lifted his hand and pressed a slender finger to the doorbell and waited, staring at the dark wooden door that was the same shade as his eyes.

Liam made himself comfortable on his couch and turned on the television, not bothering to turn the channel from the news channel it was already on. He didn't really care much about watching TV, he spent most of his time on the computer typing out the next part of his book so he could make the due dates for the next book. He did have a schedule to keep even with the long nights he spent outside doing something completely different. The only reason he wasn't in his office was to look like he had just woken up and was keeping some kind of average schedule. It also allowed him to get to the door quickly when he was expecting someone to show up. Most of the time that someone was Kurt, since Liam didn't allow many others near him. It'd have to be really important for him to allow others to be allowed near him. After a few minutes, Liam started to glance at his phone, waiting for some kind of text to tell him that Kurt was not going to make it today. When that didn't happen he started to worry a bit. He tried to keep himself calm, figuring that he just was late again, it happened all the time. Though, he couldn't help himself worrying about maybe Kurt ended up in a car crash because of him, or something really wrong happened and Kurt had no way of texting him. His mind started to race as he started to think about all the terrible things that could have happened to him. In turn, it made his heart race, and start to breathe rapidly. All those thoughts were taken away when the doorbell rang, but his racing heart and heavy breathing stayed for a while longer. Liam took a few minutes before he could even stand up to answer the door. The feeling of being tried just got worse. He got up and answered the door, glaring at Kurt, "You're late. You could have at least called."

When the door opened, Kurt braced himself. There would be a glare and a reprimand about him being late. He would stand there and nod and try to explain. Liam would finally let him in but would still complain about it. He would promise it won't happen again but in the end it always does. The whole cycle occured so often, it was almost a routine dance. And sure enough, there was Liam, glaring at him. He ran a hand through his hair. "Sorry, sorry. I was working in the dark room and kinda forgot the time. I would have called but obviously, I didn't have time for that while I was hurrying over." Kurt explained smoothly. He was about to say something else when his eyes fell on the bandaged arm. He raised an eyebrow and studied his friend more thoroughly. There were dark circles under his eyes and his shoulder were hunched. "What happened to you? You look like hell." His eyes shifted from Liam's face to his arm.

Liam knew better than to be worried about Kurt, though this happened so often that he probably should expect it. It still didn't stop him from being concerned everytime his friend was late. He didn't even need to hear the response to his complaint. He already knew the excuse too well, and it bothered him that it hadn't really occurred to Kurt that the fact that he was late wasn't what irritated Liam. It was the fact that there was no text before hand, or some kind of warning so he didn't have a panic attack everytime his friend was late. Then there was the pause and a question Liam wasn't expecting. He glanced at the bandaged arm himself and instinctively placed a hand over it. "It's nothing. I was up late writing and went out back for some fresh air and a break. The neighbor's dog had gotten into my yard and wasn't friendly." Without skipping a beat Liam switched the subject. "If you're going to be late, give me a text or something. It's not going to matter if you're a few more minutes late because you took the time to let me know." Liam moved away from the door, "You still gonna do my grocery shopping today or should I just pay someone else to go do that for me?"

Kurt raised an eyebrow. "Oh. Mrs. Parks got herself a dog? That's strange. I thought she hated animals...or were you talking about Mrs. Kent? Oh wait, wait, she's a cat person and I think she hates dogs too..." He thought out loud and then promptly forgot about the dog issue when Liam launched his complaint. "Right, the texting... I keep forgetting about that... Well, I'm here now and I'm late but I'm fine." He grinned as he looked at his friend's face which still looked irritated. "Alright. I apologize. I swear I will keep that in mind starting today... But... You know...You don't have to worry so much about me. I'm a big boy and I can take care of myself. And my house... My house is just 15 minutes away from here. I could shout from there and you could practically hear me even if your windows are closed." He chuckled and then stepped in. When Liam didn't smile, he raised both hands. "I'm just saying..." He cleared his throat and focused on the writer's next question to stop himself from aggravating the situation even more. "Grocery shopping... I'll do it. What do you want me to get?" He asked.

Liam glanced at Kurt and headed into the kitchen. He pulled off a piece of paper from the fridge and handed it over to Kurt, "Here, a list. Make sure you get everything. It's not like I like bothering you with my issues if you forget something." He shoved a hand in his pocket and searched for his wallet, but quickly figured out that his wallet was not in his pants. He looked around the room as if maybe he had left it on a countertop, and it wasn't there either. "Where...where did my wallet go?" Liam muttered as he started to wander around the house for his wallet. "I'll give you some money to pick up something for lunch, and the spare key. I may try to get an hour or two of sleep while you're away, so it's probably better if you can just let yourself in."

Kurt watched as Liam wandered all over the house looking for his wallet. He shook his head. For someone so smart, so eloquent and so darn on time all the time, he could be such a scatter brain to misplace something as important as his wallet. "Okay, okay. Stop." He held up his hands. "You're making me dizzy walking here and there. I'll pay for the groceries for now. And..." He reached into his pocket and withdrew a key. "You already gave me a key last week when I came over. Now, just go and relax... And..." His eyes fell on the bandaged arm again. "Maybe you need to get that looked at by a doctor. And maybe get a tetanus or a rabies shot or something." Kurt took his backpack off his shoulder and laid it on the couch. "I'll see you later." He said before walking towards the front door.

Liam paused when Kurt told him to stop, and shook his head when his friend brought up the bite on his arm again. He knew that it was just a normal concern, but the last thing he was going to do was have a doctor look at the wound. It surely didn't look like a dog bite, and he already medicated himself for whatever he could have gotten from the bite. "Yeah, yeah, maybe if it gets worse. It's honestly nothing more than a shallow bite, it's been disinfected and everything. Besides I don't do that whole...people thing...remember? Having a panic attack in front of a doctor would be a great way for me to get admitted into a hospital for no reason." He headed for the bedroom while Kurt was walking towards the door, "Yeah, wake me up when you're back."

Kurt shrugged. Liam was right. He was not such a people person. He would probably choose to starve than go the grocery himself. "Yeah, have a nice nap." He called back as he stepped out of the front door. On his way to his car, Kurt's mind drifted back to the writer. Liam was an extremely private person and preferred to stay home most of the time. No family members or friends visited his place. Well, except for Kurt himself. For the past few years they've known each other, he always seemed to have some sort of injury. "Huh. For someone who stays home all the time, you sure get out enough to get bitten by a dog." Kurt started the engine and headed to the grocery. "Or walking into street posts." He shook his head and chuckled, remembering the time when he visited and found Liam with a nasty black eye. It was either Liam was a total klutz or he had some sort of secret. He shook his head again, feeling silly for his thoughts. He settled for Liam being a klutz. The grocery was a mere five minutes drive from Liam's house and as Kurt pulled into the parking lot, he wondered for the hundredth time what it was about people that repelled his friend enough to shut himself in his house. He got out, checked all four doors of his car if they were all properly locked before he headed to the grocery's entrance. At the entrance, he pulled out the list from his pocket and glanced at it. "The hell...?" He muttered and took a second look. The list was long and had enough stuff on it that would last a year. "You must be planning a huge party with all this shit in your list, Liam." He muttered as he pulled a shopping cart and headed in.