How To Play the Player (COMPLETED)

Somewhere Over the Rainbow

As we watched the rest of the year playing out before us, tears continued to silently flow, warmth in my chest as I saw the beauty of what Bryan had put together. It was when it ended and I finally thought the worst of it was over that yet another familiar song sounded through the room.

Somewhere Over the Rainbow. This guy's got jokes tonight.

"Is this fantastical enough for you, Dorothy?" Liam joked, then leaned down to kiss me softly.

I smiled through my tears. "Could be better, Tin Man, but it'll do. It'll do."

He looked ready to wrap his arms around me, but was interrupted by something I couldn't see behind him. He raised an eyebrow but stepped back and allowed Nicola to cut him. She didn't say a word but stepped forward and hugged me.

"I'm sorry, Reese. For everything." She whispered. "And yes, it does get tiring, the pretending. I just want to be loved the way you are, but I realized when I saw your face the night at the party, after you saw Liam with lipstick on his mouth, that I was doing exactly as he said.

I was pushing away everyone who could have possibly ever given a shit about me. I'm so sorry."

I swallowed hard, then slowly hugged her against me. "I'm sorry for falling in love with him."

She pulled back, her mascara slightly smeared beneath her eyes, giving her the appearance of a raccoon. "Don't apologize for that, Reese. You deserve one another. You deserve to be happy and I'm sorry it took me this long to realize that. I'm not asking for friendship, but for you to find it in you to forgive me."

Without another word she turned on her heel and hurried out of the hall before anyone could see the mess she'd become. Liam, who'd been lingering close enough to eavesdrop on the conversation was staring at me with a curious look. "So, you going to forgive her?

"Of course I am." I said, resting my head against his chest. "You of all people should know that even at their worst, I see the best in people, I see potential for them to change."

He rested his chin on my head as the song slowly came to an end. I felt his chest starting to move and after a moment I glanced up to find him laughing. Not even a quiet chuckle, but a loud laugh that drew attention to us.

"What? What's so funny, Liam?"

He shook his head and nodded toward my shoes. "You going to click your heels together and go back home?"

I reached up and touched my hands to his chest and smiled. "I wouldn't go anywhere."

"Why's that?" he asked with a dumbfounded expression.

"Because you are home, Liam."

Brianna wasn't too happy with our decision to ditch the afterparty, but Andy was able to talk her down. Bryan had sent us off with a very fatherly "behave yourself" and a dark look in Liam's direction that slowly turned into a smile as he hugged him goodbye. Turns out lounging in the back of Liam's truck eating was a much better alternative to the party.

"I bet I could feed you an entire buffet and you wouldn't gain an ounce." Liam said with an amused look, dumping the remainder of a packet of skittles into his mouth. "You legit eat like I do and it's actually kind of scary."

I looked back at him with a grin. "Eh, you'll get used to it. Don't worry, it took Bryan like our entire childhood too. Did he ever tell you I ate dirt when I was a kid?"

This had Liam dying. "I'm not surprised. Gotta make sure we feed you then, don't we? So you don't resort to eating the soil."

I flicked the arm draped over my lap with a laugh of my own. "Tell me something funny you did as a kid."

"Hmm, okay." He pretended to think about it. "When I was eight, Andy and Shay were over at my house and I bet Andy that I could totally impress Shay by being Tarzan and swinging across tree branches. So I climbed the tree and the moment I tried to grab at one of the branches I fell. Broke my arm, fractured a couple ribs, and sprained my ankle."

I gasped, tilting my head back to look at him. "That totally isn't funny, Liam."

"I wasn't done." He grinned. "When my parents asked why I did it, Andy told them it was because I thought I was Tarzan. Low and behold, I woke up the next morning with my Dad, brother, and Andy shirtless beating their fists against their chests and running around the room like a bunch of idiots while Shay and my mom sat laughing at them on the couch. It was an ongoing joke for years."

I grinned at the mental image. "I can totally imagine Andy doing that. I'm totally going to bring it up to him."

Liam made a face. "You wouldn't. He'll tell the entire team and they won't let me live it down until we graduate."

I considered his words for a minute. "I won't remind him if you promise to sit through at least one night of Romcoms with me without complaining."

A glint of amusement entered Liam's eyes. "Are you blackmailing me, Taylor?"

I turned over so I was staring directly into those beautiful blue-grey eyes. "It's more. . . negotiating."

He leaned forward and kissed me, "Get it right, Dorothy. It's definitely blackmail."

I wrapped my arms around his waist and rested my head against him, his arms immediately circled around me as I whispered into the quiet night.

"Once I had brains, and a heart also; so, having tried them both, I should much rather have a heart."