IMAGINE

Part 17

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Liam's POV

The crowds continue to die down. As the people leave, I hold (Y/N)'s hand. I smile down at her and receive a smile back. Her head moves around the field and to the groups of people leaving in all different directions. I watch as she does this, admiring the expression on her face. Her eyes continue to wander and catch the light from the stadium lights.

"(Y/N)," I say, looking down at her and squeeze her hand. She hears and looks at me. "What?" She grins. "Ready to head out? We can go out to eat to celebrate...," I look at her, preparing myself for rejection. "I'd love to," she smiles and kisses me. I smile back and lift her up, causing her to laugh. "I love your laugh," I tell her, looking into her eyes. She looks at mine, having a pink color form on her cheeks. "No, you don't," she laughs. "Yes, I do," I set my forehead against her, still holding her. "Nah," she grins, still looking straight into my eyes. "Yes, I do," I kiss her back.

"Payne!" I hear someone call for me. I gently set (Y/N) down and look behind her, seeing Harry jogging across the field towards us. "Harry, how many times have I told you to not call me 'Payne' on the field?" "I don't know, like a hundred times?" He shrugs and reaches us. I glance down at (Y/N) and see her looking in the distance, probably feeling awkward now that it wasn't just us. "So what do you want, Styles?" I raise my eyebrows at him. "The team wants to go out to eat like we usually do after a win. Do you two want to join?" I smile when I realize he included (Y/N). He knew I wouldn't leave without her.

"(Y/N)?" "Huh?" She looks back at me. "Do you want to join the team or do our own thing?" "Uh," Harry interrupts, "Andrea is already joining me there, so I think she would prefer (Y/N) to be there too." "Yeah, I'll join all of you then," she looks at Harry. "Okay, cool. Andrea is waiting in my car right now, so I should get back to her. The boys said to be at the restaurant by 10:30, or else they won't save some seats. Sam figured you'd join and now that the whole team is questioning what is going on with you and (Y/N), they will probably save her a spot too." "Well, if they want answers, then they'll have to ask me tonight." "Agreed. Well, I'll see you two in a little bit." "Okay, see ya." Harry jogs back to the entrance of the stadium and to the parking lot.

***
(Y/N) and I arrive at the restaurant just before 10:30. We had gone back to my house so I could quickly clean up. I was now in black skinny jeans, a white t-shirt, and my black leather jacket. (Y/N) had decided to just wash her face to wash off the #5. She had actually picked out my outfit. I hold her hand as our black converse hit the slightly wet pavement of the parking lot. I hold the door open for her and see her smile, causing me to smile back. We enter the building and I notice the team in the back right of the restaurant. Harry sees first and he waves us over. Andrea sits to his left, and waves to us too. (Y/N) waves back and stays close to me.

Your POV
"So, this is the famous girl who helped us tonight," Brent jokes. I recognize a few of the boys from the sideline earlier. They laugh along with Brent, receiving other laughs too. The only people who don't laugh are Harry, Andi, Liam, and I. I look at Andi and figure she isn't fitting in so far. We will have a rough beginning in the group. Liam squeezes my hand, causing me to smile up at him.

He smiles back at me and leads us to the other side of the group. I frown when I see we will be away from Andi and Harry. I know Liam would put us next to them in a heartbeat, but the only available seats were next to two guys I didn't recognize. We sit down and I automatically look down at the menu in my hand. Liam's hand stays connected with mine as he reads over his menu. The waiter comes by and asks for our drinks. Liam orders us waters and winks at me. I grin and look back at my menu, finding something right away, but wanting to avoid eye contact with others.

***
"So, Liam, tell us about....," a guy says, gesturing to Liam and I. I sense eyes on me and feel awkward. I grab my water and take a sip, then set it back down. I glance at Andi and she gives me a grin, trying to help. I give her a look that says, 'thanks', and go back to avoiding looking at anyone but Liam or the table. "Why do you need to know about my love life?" He asks defensively. "Liam..." I whisper. "No, these idiots are being rude and think they're funny. I find all of it completely pathetic. It just shows they have nothing else to do or any sense of control." He looks around the group. Wow, this was the quarterback of our school defending us against his own teammates. US, damn, that's still taking some getting use to. We weren't officially dating, but we obviously acted like it.

"Same with you, Harry," another guy says to Harry. Harry's face goes from calm to annoyed in two seconds. "What?" He says with a harsh tone. Andi whispers something to him, which results in nothing but Harry pissed off. "You guys need to get a life and stop making jokes about my best friend and his life love. That's his own personal life, and if you have a heart and brain, you'll know to back off. The same goes with my own love life. If you know what's good for you, you will back off." He grabs his drink and takes a sip, and remains silent. Andi and I exchange a look, knowing we were thinking the same thing. What did we seriously get into?

"Well...uh- I'm sorry guys," the first guy tells Liam and Harry, making sure they were both looking. "Yeah, I'm sorry too," the second guy adds in. "Whatever," Harry says, whispering something in Andi's ear, resulting in her laughing. I grin and feel Liam squeeze my hand again. I smile at him and squeeze back. "Are you okay?" He whispers in my ear. I nod and whisper back, "I'll get use to it." "Babe," he whispers back. "Trust me, I can get through it," I respond. He sighs and releases our hands, wrapping an arm around my waist. His gesture wasn't a problem, since he had pulled my chair to his soon after our arrival. "I will help you through this, with or without them," he tells me just as the food comes.

//Feedback would be appreciated. Thank you. //