Authors: Bethany Daniel
“I like this.”, I whisper as I lay my head onto his chest and wrap my arms around his middle.
“
Me too Katy, I’ve missed this, missed us.”
I nod swaying with him to the music. “I did too.”
Chapter 9
Liam relaxes against me and smiles softly. "Do you remember the first time we had to dance together?"
"I remember I was very mad at you for picking on me, and we were at someone's wedding and our moms made us dance together because it was "just so cute"."
He laughs and I laugh along with him. "We were what, like 15 then?"
"Mmm, something like that. You were a big jerk then.", I tease him and look up at him as the music picks back up.
"I was not....I was just already falling for you and you wouldn't give me the time of day."
I roll my eyes, "If I remember right, you were dating that Lindy girl then."
"Yeah...because I wanted you to be jealous!"
I laugh and start moving to the music again and laugh even louder when he spins me around quickly and brings me back to him with my back to his front.
"We're good together baby.", Liam whispers and puts his hand across my stomach and kisses from my ear down.
I close my eyes and sigh, "We were....", he turns me back to face him and places his hands on my hips again to hold me tight. "We can learn how to be again."
When he opens his mouth to say something, Krista appears towing Scott behind her.
"Oh my gosh, Kate, this place is like the best ever!", she bounces on her toes and grabs me and spins us both around.
"Whoa, Krista...Kris.", I stop us and look at her hard. "Are you drunk? What did you drink?"
She giggles and I glare over at Scott. "Just a little bit Kate, I promise."
"Scott...why did you let her get drunk?", I glare and look between him and Krista.
"I'm sorry! We were just sitting and talking and the bartender just kept refilling her drink when it got low.", he looks down sheepishly.
"Well, as you can tell, she's a light weight! Look...we need to get her home before she just crashes. Can you have the car brought around?"
Liam nods and steps to the corner to make a phone call and I sigh holding onto Krista's arm as she stumbles around.
"I really am sorry, Katy.", Scott says, "We were just having a good time."
"It's ok....you don't know she gets sometimes, right Krista?"
"I just really really liked the drink the nice bartender gave me.", she giggles again and adjusts the top of her dress.
"They'll be here in a couple minutes.", Liam comes up to tell us and rests his hands on my hips.
"Good.", I smile softly at him and lean into Krista's ear, "Do me a favor and don't throw up all over the pretty limousine seats or your dress, ok?"
"Of course not!", she slurs and Scott moves over and takes her into his arms.
"Alright, sweet heart. Let's go get you some fresh air....our next date, no drinking allowed, that sound good?"
"Mm-hmm", I hear her hum as he walks towards the exit meeting Eric and another security guy along the way.
"Looks like our night got cut short.", Liam says sadly and I nod as I stand on my tip toes to kiss his cheek.
"Rain check?", I ask softly and tuck a piece of his hair back.
"You bet.", he smiles as we start towards the exit and see the limo drive up. "Don't forget, duck your head!"
I do as a bunch of camera flashes go off and I hear people yelling my name trying to get the perfect picture for their precious magazine.
Once we're safely in the back again and Scott has gotten some water in Krista, I relax a bit again.
"So, when will we be able to get together again?", I ask resting against Liam's side.
"Well, we're finishing up final scenes and things this week, so maybe by the weekend we can cut loose."
I bite my lip and nod not knowing how broach the conversation about what happens when he's all done here. Will he be done with me too? The future of our relationship seems so unattainable right now.
Just a few minutes later, we've pulled up to our dorm and Krista is already clutching her stomach.
"Oh God.", she moans and quickly gets out and makes a dash for the door.
"Oh boy...sorry guys, I better go help her."
"Call me when everything gets settled, ok?", Liam yells as I chase after her.
"I will!", I call back and dart inside and hear her heaving and groaning.
I pull my heels off and lean against the bathroom door. "You’re going to get that pretty dress all dirty.", I say with a smirk and duck when she throws a toothbrush at me.
"Shut up....God, I'm never drinking again!", she rubs her face and I go into the kitchen to get her a glass of water.
"That's probably a good idea.", I tell her as I set the glass down. "You’re lucky Scott thinks you’re cute even if you’re drunk."
She groans and covers her face with her hands, "He didn't see me like that, did he?"
"Not sick, no."
"Oh thank God....are you sure he doesn't hate me now?"
"Positive. He mentioned another date."
That put a smile on her face and she slowly gets up off the bathroom floor and goes in search of comfortable clothes and I follow behind.
"Did you at least have a good time before I ruined it?", Krista asks me after we're both changed and sitting on our beds.
"I did...we danced...and talked and stuff. Liam's actually a pretty good dancer, he did all the leading.", I laugh softly and lean back.
"Oh, I saw him leading you on that dance floor missy; he had his hands all over you. There's no question he was showing everyone that you're his!"
I blush slightly and shrug. "Like I said, we had fun. What about you? Did you and Scott still hit it off?"
"Uh-huh....and that boy is a very good kisser.", she grins and tucks a stray curl behind her ear.
"Oh really? Anything else I should know about?"
She pauses to stop and think and shakes her head, "No, just lots of sneaking kisses and dancing all up in each other’s space.", she laughs and seems to be lost in the memory of it.
"Well good, I'm happy for you, Kris."
"I'm happy for you too, Kate....we've worked hard and got good grades to get our degrees and all. I think it’s about time we have some men to come home to so to speak."
"You know what? I agree with you."
"Good, you should.", she smiles tiredly and climbs up to her pillows. "Nighty night, Kate"
"Good night, Krista.", I whisper as she drifts off to sleep and I pull out my phone to send Liam a text.
"Will call tomorrow. I'm beat, had a good time tonight though. Next time, maybe we can have a alone date?", I send him and sit back anxiously waiting his reply.
"For sure, I had fun too. Can't wait to see you again. Night baby, I love you."
Those last three words both made me extremely happy and very nervous. Part of me never stopped loving Liam, but another part of me is very scared to give him my heart again.
Chapter 10
Over the next week Krista and I became so used to Eric and Nate being around that we hardly even acknowledge them being there. It's still strange to know I have someone guarding me though.
Liam and Scott call us every spare minute they can find. Including their early morning shoots, those sure don't make Krista very happy, but I can tell that she's really falling hard for Scott. As for me? I'm really falling for Liam all over again. The only problem is that I see Lucas almost daily. And it breaks my heart seeing him be so lonely. Anytime I so much as walked into the same room with him he would go to the opposite side of the room and just look totally unapproachable.
Finally one day, I'd had enough of it. I decided I was going to have it out with Lucas if nothing else to clear the air between us. I at least missed him as a good friend. He had been part of my life for the better part of a year and I hated him just not being there anymore.
I walked over to where Nate was leaning against the wall by my class after it was over, “Just fair warning...there's a good chance that there's going to some yelling between Luke and me as soon as I can get him somewhere I can talk to him privately.”
Nate raises his eyebrows and crosses his arms, "I'm not sure I can allow that, Mrs. Warren. Yelling can lead to physical violence, and that I cannot allow to happen. It'll result in something on him being broken."
I roll my eyes and wave my hand in the air, "No need to worry about that. Luke would never do me any bodily harm. But I've hurt him a lot in the last couple weeks, and now he won't even so much as look at me. I want my friend back, that's all this is going to be about, Nate."
He pursed his lips together and I had a feeling I would probably get griped at by a certain movie star later, but right now, I had something to fix.
I smiled tightly at him and turned to make the walk down the hall and around the corner where I knew Lucas would be coming out of his class. Sure enough, after I was around the corner, I saw him talking with one of his friends and as soon as he saw me, he quickly pivoted and bolted towards the door.
"Lucas, wait!”, I yelled and ran after him, "No more avoiding me.", I grab his arm and pull him outside and into a shaded area where there aren't many other students. "We are going to talk....or at least I am. I'm tired of you going out of your way to not be near me. I know what happened sucks, and I'm really very sorry for that. For at least how everything fell apart, but I still care for you, Luke. You and Krista have been my rocks the last couple years; I wouldn't of survived college without you guys. Just because Liam is back in my life doesn't mean I have to toss you out completely, ok?"
He runs a frustrated hand through his short brown curls and closes his eyes as he takes a deep breath, "Somehow Kate, we'll find our way back to being friends. I don't like keep away from you anymore then you do. I admit, I'm still jealous of Mr. Hollywood getting to be the man in your life again...but if you'll have me, I'd like still be a man in your life, even if its just as a friend, deal?"
I smile and nod, "Deal!", and move to hug him but he holds up a hand. "Wait, I'm not gonna get jumped if I hug you, am I?"
I laugh and step forward and wrap my arms around him, "No, hugging is fine"
"Good", he squeezes me back and sighs. "I'm really sorry, Kate. I've been a huge jerk."
"You kind of had the right to be, but I want to put this all behind us, alright? Just turn the page and start over."
He smiles and puts his arm around my shoulders, "I think I can do that."
"Good, so what are you doing this afternoon?"
"Uh...nothing, why?"
"Krista and I are going to the set to see the guys and I thought you might wanna come along."
"Do you really think it’s a great idea for me to come along and hang out with your boyfr-...husband? I mean, we didn't exactly get along very well the last time we saw each other."
I bite my lip, "If he has anything to say about you coming along, as my friend, then he'll just have to answer to me about it. So, will you go?"
"Ok, I'll go. Let me go and change. Don't wanna look like a grungy college guy around the Hollywood ladies.", he winks and I laugh.
"Ok, just meet us at the dorms in like an hour."
"Sounds like a plan. See you later, Kate."
I wave and watch him go and sigh in relief. That definitely went much better than I expected it to. Now to just keep my fingers crossed that Liam or Krista for that matter, don't freak out about him coming with us to the set.
I met up with Krista about half way to the dorms and decided to just let it all out, "So um, I talked to Luke and things are good again....and he's coming with us to set!"
She stops in her tracks and grabs my arm, "He's coming to set? Are you insane?...Your HUSBAND is going to be there. The one who didn't like your ex-boyfriend very much, remember?"
I roll my eyes and nod, “Yes, I remember. But I have to get used to all the people he has in his life, including his flings, ie Alexia. So he can just get used to Luke being part of my life during our time apart. And yes, there was a time where I thought Luke and I could be more, but in the end we’ve decided to be friends, like we were before.”
Shaking her head as we approach the door, Krista looks over at me, “You are one brave woman, Kate Parker-Warren.”
I laugh at that and walk down to our room and throw my bag near the closet. “Let me let you in on a little secret. I’ve never backed down to Liam Warren. He can be pissed if he wants to. But I won’t let what he wants ruin a relationship, even with another guy.”
“Man, I wish I knew you guys before everything went all crazy with ya’ll. I have a feeling you would have been at the very least entertaining.”