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Liam always had a certain pull to him, something that drew people in. Noel noticed it when they were kids–the way their dad never hurt Liam and the way he got along with the other children easily. People wanted to be Liam's friend, they wanted to be noticed by him, they wanted to be seen by him. Liam was a cute kid and adults would comment on that fact to his mum quite often, and Peggy thought it was sweet how many people saw what she saw in her boy.
The pull Liam had only seemed to become stronger when Liam became a teenager. No matter how many times he acted out, it always seemed that people would forgive him. He had lots of mates to go play footie with and a lot of birds who wanted his attention. It wouldn’t have surprised Noel if the kid accidentally became a father while he was in school considering the amount of girls he ended up hanging around and how many weekends he spent away from home. The most Noel had done to prevent that outcome was to give Liam some advice on his first time and drill it into the kid’s head that he needed to use protection if he was planning on getting laid. Liam, of course, ate up all of Noel’s words and asked endless questions, most of which Noel brushed off because it wasn’t important and also because he didn’t want to give his brother the sex talk anyway.
That last conversation was the final one Noel had with his brother before he left to go on tour with Inspiral Carpets for the first time. Somehow he doubted Liam would’ve followed his advice, but then again, the kid never had any scares that Noel knew of. Speaking of which, Noel could ask him about that himself anyway since he was on his way home to their mam’s house in a cramped taxi. Noel was not immune to the pull his brother possessed, even now that Liam was nineteen and didn’t really need his brother in his life so much.
“What’re you doin’ here?” Liam asked when he answered the door for his brother. It was late and Noel just looked the boy over before saying anything.
“Just… wanted to come around and spend the night.”
“Don’t you got Louise or summat to worry about? Where is she?”
Noel tutted his tongue and pushed past Liam into the house, opting to dodge the question. “Thought you didn’t like her.”
“No, because she’s annoying and pushy and needy and that.” Liam closed the door behind Noel and followed him up the steps to their room.
“She’s not any of those things, Liam.”
“Then why didn’t you go home to her?”
“Maybe I did, you twat, and now I’m here.” Noel shrugged but he doubted his brother would buy the excuse. He set his suitcase down and began unpacking. Liam watched as brother pulled out a pile of clothes and threw some into the laundry bin, mixing his clothes with Liam’s. Everything around them seemed familiar, comforting in a way it hadn’t been before Noel showed up.
“Dunno why you hang around those posh blokes. You’re too good for ‘em, our kid.” Liam took a seat on his own bed as Noel kept sorting through his laundry and then he hummed.
“Thought we’ve been over this, mate,” Noel was still facing away from Liam and staring at the clothes strewn across his bedspread. “I need money and I’d rather do it with a band than… fuckin’... working at the library, d’you know what I mean?”
Liam swung his legs childishly. “Yeah, but I don’t like those posh bastards.”
“Who do you reckon I should hang around, then?”
Liam looked off at the wall. “Dunno, but not them.”
“Louise, then? Mam likes her.”
The younger brother rolled his eyes. “No, not her. She’s gonna keep you away from home too long.”
Right, and the last time Noel was away from home for too long, Liam ended up upset and clingy and sad. But the kid was nineteen now, so Noel doubted he had to worry too much about Liam crashing out in his absence, or rather, because of his absence. “Guess I’m out of luck, then, because I don’t really see my old mates from school around here anymore.”
“None of them?”
“None.” Noel finished sorting through his laundry and began hanging up some of his shirts.
Liam clicked his tongue as if in thought. “You can come to the pub with me while you’re here then, there’s a new one on the corner.”
“Is there? I didn’t see it on my taxi ride home.” Liam grinned and Noel caught it out of the corner of his eye. “What?”
“If you went to see Louise before coming here, she would’ve driven you home, wouldn’t she?”
Shit, the kid saw right through him. Liam was far more clever than he was when Noel first left home to tour and he’d somehow missed the development of the kid’s mind into something a bit frightening. “Right, well, didn’t fancy waking her up at this hour. And I knew you’d be awake so…”
“You could have called her if you wanted to stay with her.”
Noel faltered for a moment. Then he slipped a shirt onto the hanger and put it up, continuing to hang shirts. “Fine then, I didn’t want to see her first thing after the tour.”
“What, were you homesick?”
“Something like that.”
Liam sprawled out on his bed and Noel finished with the laundry. He would have to run a wash cycle tomorrow, and there were enough clothes between him and Liam in the laundry bin to not waste any water. “Didn’t know you could miss the place so much,” Liam said, staring at his brother.
For the first time since he entered through the doorway, Noel really looked at Liam. His bone structure was more mature, he lost some of his baby fat, his haircut looked better than when he left to tour. Noel missed out on watching Liam grow up into the man who was lounging on the bed before him, and he missed him dearly while he was with his ‘posh mates’. That was what he really missed.
“What?” Liam asked, face now displaying something of shock.
Bloody hell, had Noel said that out loud? “I- Fuck- That’s not what I-”
“You missed me?” The kid’s voice was so full of curiosity and genuineness that it was surprising for Noel to hear.
No point denying it if he already said it out loud. “I guess I did, yeah.”
“So you came home because of me?”
Noel brought a hand to cover his face. “Yeah.”
“Why’d you miss me so much?”
“Because–fuckin’–you’ve got some sort of… something that pulls me back to you. I dunno why I didn’t go to Louise’s. I told the driver to take me home and then I spat out this address. I don’t know, Liam. I just missed you.”
Liam stared at Noel and Noel stared back, both brothers locked in a staredown.
Then Liam grinned his cheshire grin and Noel groaned low in his throat. “You’re sayin’ it like it’s a fuckin’ love confession.”
“Fuck off, I’m knackered. I need to sleep.”
Liam got up tossed over the throw blanket from his bed. “Go to sleep then, wanker.”
…
Peggy was delightfully surprised when she walked down the steps the next morning and saw her two sons in the kitchen.
“Fucking greedy twat, I’m home for the first time in how long?”
“Yeah, so that’s why you don’t get priority over the good cereal! You don’t live here so leave it for the locals!”
“Fucking-! You’re supposed to make the guest feel at home! So give that back!”
Noel was trying to reach over Liam to grab the box of cereal out of Liam’s hand, and the younger brother held it protectively over his head.
“Noel! When did you get home?” Peggy asked, her heart suddenly feeling full.
Both brothers were taken by surprise and turned to face her. “He got in last night, I got the door for ‘im. He showed up in the middle of the night like a robber or summat, thought I’d have to do his head in,” Liam explained, not lowering the box.
“I would’ve called but I didn’t have change for the pay phone, but I knew this knobhead would be awake to hear me knocking.” Noel took in their mam’s appearance, her face bright and joyful.
“Why don’t you two stop fighting over the cereal? I’ll make something for you both myself. Pancakes?”
Liam and Noel exchanged a look and then grinned. “Yeah, sounds lovely,” Noel replied as Liam put the cereal back on top of the fridge.
…
“You should come home more often. Mam likes it. It’s good for her health.”
Noel stared at his brother as he stepped out of the doorway, suitcase in hand. “I’m just off to Louise’s, I’ll call and that. It’s not like I’m going to be touring again immediately or anything.” Liam held his hand on the door and the two said nothing to each other. “I’ll probably visit before I leave again with Inspiral Carpets.”
“Right then. See you.”
They both knew Noel wouldn’t visit again. Noel was a stubborn bastard and he knew he would inevitably end up back with Liam before long, but he would put that off for as long as he could. He was not immune to the pull Liam had but he could resist.