Sapphire *One Direction* [Liam Payne]

Chapter 13

Caitlin and Zayn laughed at my comment before explaining, "We know, but its just a little odd hearing someone calling football 'soccer.' We know it’s the same as football but its just odd hearing it like that, we just aren't used to it." Zayn elaborated making me feel slightly dumb.

"I guess I'm not used to it either," I chuckled. "Whenever I hear football, I think of the kind with the brown oval ball that people throw to each other in attempts to score a touchdown without being tackled."

"Yeah, that is also called football, accept we add an American to the front," Caitlin informed.

"American football?" I questioned with one eyebrow raised.

"Yeah," Zayn assured me.

Liam and Andy showed up in perfect timing, right before our silence became awkward. Liam offered his hand, and I, stupidly, took it. Liam pulled me from the couch onto my feet, and in the next second, his biceps were flexed around my body as he held me like a child flopping onto the couch letting me rest in his lap with my head falling against his chest. I quickly tried to sit up and slide off of him, but Andy had already sat to the immediate right of Liam leaving me nowhere to sit accept for on his lap.

"Hey Catie," Liam grinned at the girl sitting on male to his left.

"Hey cheeky," she nudged Liam's arm with the heel of her palm grinning back at him.

"So, nice party you're throwing Li," Andy butt in.

"Thanks, some guy named Andy took over being the host for me because I got these really awesome tickets from him yesterday that I couldn't pass up," Liam sarcastically replied.

"This Andy sounds like the best guy in the world," Andy's cockiness shone even through his black, cotton shirt with the Throstles logo stamped in the center.

"HA!" Liam's spurt of laughter filled the room and I couldn't help but to marvel at the perfect laugh this boy possessed.

Once the highlights were over, a group of people stampeded down the black spiral staircase that sat in the corner of the living room. "LOU!" Liam shouted as he lifted me by the waist and set me on my feet before running to embrace the guy he was shouting at.

"Hey Li!" his raspy, hi-pitched voice rang back. He adorned a pair of khaki shorts and a pair of Navy toms. His bare chest was painted with a navy 'R' and a small messy bird had been painted in white and navy on the left side of his chest. A younger girl with her brown hair tied back into a ponytail supporting a navy sports-bra and a white painted "O" on her stomach stopped slightly behind the medium-height brown haired male. "Have you met my sister?" his distinguishable voice sounded as he pulled away from Liam and placed his hand on the young girl's back pushing her forward.

"Don't believe I have," Liam smiled as he offered his hand. "I'm Liam," he gave the girl a cheeky grin.

"Grae," she smiled as she took the Liam's hand in efforts to be polite.

"Have you met my girl?" Liam's attention drifted from the male to me motioning me to join him. My nerves were acting up, not because I was meeting an attractive, shirtless male, but because Liam had called me 'his girl'. My pace seemed slow, but not slow enough. Liam wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled my body into his. "This is Lexi, Lexi, this is Louis and Grae," Louis and Grae each gave me a smile as Liam spoke their names. Grae was beautiful, and appeared to be a few years younger than myself. I marveled at how much she and Louis looked alike yet different at the same time. Her brown eyes held the same sparkle and clarity as Louis' blue ones, and their face shapes, although slightly different, held the same soft edges and dominant cheek bones.

"So, how old are you?" Louis bluntly questioned.

"18, how old are you?" I asked in the same tone.

"23, Grae is 16 though," he gladly allowed me to indulge into my curiosity.

"A 16 year-old is allowed to be out this late?" I pressed.

"Yeah, she lives with me here instead of in Yorkshire with our parents. I'm just that loveable," he flattered himself.

"I'm sure you are. And that is why she lives with you?" I continued.

"Well, that, and I'm rich," he smirked. "Just kidding, Grae wanted to come to London and we are really close, so I said, 'Why not?'" His enthusiastic tone struck as a sign that he was always happy and easy to get along with.

"He wanted me to come," Grae joined the in on the conversation for the first time.

"I suppose," Louis kissed his sister's forehead. "Andy and I created this software for the MI6 that blocks any hacking and viruses and can download any files from any computer all over the world without leaving a trace. The MI6 felt it would be necessary for the both of us to move to London incase of any technical difficulties with the software, they paid us an extreme amount of money just to move down here, and I figured I would be lonely so I let Grae tag along."

"Please," Grae rolled her eyes. "You begged me to come along."

"Alright," Louis admitted. "What's wrong with a guy wanting to take care of his sister in return for a little company eh?" he rubbed Grae's shoulder as his smirk grew to a full smile revealing his pearly teeth.

Now I knew the source behind Andy's money, and wondered if his partner's flat was just as high-tech and decked out as his.

The night continued to be full of laughter, stories, and memorable moments including the back-hand-spring Caitlin threw in the middle of the room after endless seconds of chanting. At about 1:00a.m, Louis and Grae said their good-byes and the only two people left in the disheveled flat were Liam and I.

"I'll take you home," he lulled. I could smell the alcohol on his breath, and although he wasn't drunk, his driving would definitely be impaired.

"No Liam, it's okay." I began to think of how scary it would be to walk home at one in the morning before I continued, "I'll walk."

"That’s crazy! I'm driving you," his persistence wasn't hindered at all by his consumption of alcohol.

"Liam, you can't." I tried to think of a weakness he had that would make him give into me. In that second, everything changed, I realized his weakness, me. "Liam you can't drive me home because it would put me in danger."

His lips pressed into a hard line, and he looked away to think of another solution. He would never let me be in danger. He turned to me, eyes wide and lips soft as his gentle voice suggested, "Stay here."

_________Author's Note_________

Thank you all so much for reading! I appreciate it so much! Please leave comments and suggestions, and I will try my best to fit you're suggestions into the story. Also, if you leave me a name, I will feature that name into the last chapter (or second to last chapter) of Sapphire:) Also please vote!

P.S. Sorry for any typos and spelling errors. I try to go back and fix most of them, but because I wrote it, I tend to read it how it should be and I miss a lot of the errors:(