How To Play the Player (COMPLETED)

The Night Calls

Apparently the girls definition of a sleepover was staying up until around two before knocking out in the middle of Titanic. Once I was sure they were asleep, I slipped out of the room, leaving the door open a crack so I'd be able to sneak back in without waking them. As usual, Bryan was awake and on his laptop, editing photos. I didn't bother to knock and sat on the edge of his bed, laying my head against his shoulder.

"I'm in charge of pictures for Prom and the Senior project, which is strange since I'm still a Junior, but whatever." Bryan said softly, nodding toward the picture. It was a photo of the Valedictorian, Ivy, in the middle of a student council meeting.

"You take such beautiful photos, Bry." I complimented. "Have you ever tried to like send them into modeling agencies or wherever it is that you send pictures to get recognition."

His shoulder moved as he laughed. "I never really thought about it. I do it for fun. I love photos because no matter what is happening in someone's life, for that fraction of a second that I catch, nothing else matters. Time is frozen in that second."

I couldn't help but stare at him. It'd been a long time since I had allowed myself to take a good, hard look at him. His eyes, once so heavy he could hardly hold them open, were wide and glistening. His nose was even doing the little twitchy thing that only happened when he was happy.

"You know, Reese, it's funny. You gave me the courage to talk to Shay. Never in a million years would I have done it if it weren't for you."

I raised a brow. "How did I give you courage?"

"You showed me that if its possible to change the biggest asshole in the school, then I can step it up and talk to her." He grinned, touching a hand to my chin. "You never give up on anyone. So I wasn't going to allow me to do it. I couldn't give up on myself without trying."

"Are you happy, Bry?" I whispered. ."I mean it, no bullshit."

"I am." He admitted, a sheepish smile on his face. "Happier than I've been in a long time. I'm just worried about you."

My voice cracked as I spoke. "Don't be. You deserve to be happy."

"You are part of my happiness, Reese." He replied. "I want you to be happy too."

"I am." I lied.

His look told me he could see right through it too. "Life can be really shitty sometimes, Reese. Other times it can make you feel high. Then it may even throw a curveball your way. What I know is that you've suffered through the worst of storms and came out the other end stronger. You've just got to brave it a little longer, Re, and you'll see the light."

I could feel warmth on my cheeks as I pulled my knees against my chest and watched him exit his photo editing app and open his gallery. Most of the pictures were from tonight, many of them of the players. But the one he opened was one of the few that wasn't. It had been a few seconds before Jay ran into Liam. My best friend, as sneaky as he was loveable, had taken the photo from an angle so you could see the look we were sharing. I looked like a cold mess; my hair was in a messy bun, loose strands of my blonde hair fanning my forehead. My nose and cheeks were red from the cold, but my eyes had remained untouched. Infact, one of the light flurries had landed on my eyelash and made my blue eyes stand out even more. Liam had one hand on the small of my back and the other on the side of my neck, a smile on his face. But there were lines of exhaustion around his eyes, his bad one still only able to remain half open. There was something about the fact that we hadn't known the picture was being taken that made it so perfect.

"We talked for a while." Bryan's voice was a quiet hum in the even quieter room. "Poor guy is so lost. He's trying to cope and you're over here clouding his thoughts on the daily."

"I'm sorry."

"I didn't say it was a bad thing." Bry wrapped his arm around me. "Just give him time, Reese, he'll come around. But that light I'll know you'll see, that light is Liam."

**

Tin Man: sorry abt tn

Tin Man: for what its worth, I felt it too, on Wednesday night.

Tin Man: I wanted to kiss you

Four in the morning running on no sleep and Liam had to blow my phone up enough to make sure I was a zombie. Even if I tried I couldn't close my eyes because those five words continued to bounce around in my head.

I wanted to kiss you.

It took over ten minutes for me to answer. I would type an answer then erase it before trying again just to repeat the process. Finally, I grabbed my phone from the bed beside me and gave him a short, six word sentence of my own.

I wanted to kiss you too.