"Liam," I began to say but was soon cut off by the serious look he's currently giving me, shaking his head for me to hear him out before I'm able to beat him to the punch.
"Let me just say what I have to say, Giana. . . And then if you decide that this isn't right than I promise to leave you alone, but I have to tell you how I feel— I have to— at least this once." His words struck me by surprise, making me feel like I completely forgot how to breathe.
Feelings? Liam might actually has feelings for me?
My heart is literally pounding out of my chest right now. I think he could tell how nervous I was because he placed his hand on top of mine once again to calm me down.
"I like you, Giana Russo. More than you could possibly ever imagine and if I'm being honest, I didn't think that I could ever like someone to such an extent, but when it comes to you— I don't think I can really control how I feel." He professes and it makes my stomach do backflips.
It's like everything that I've been yearning to hear, he's finally confessing and I don't know how to react. I'm completely speechless because this has never happened to me before. I'm not good at the mushy stuff since I have zero experience until he popped into my life.
My cheeks flare a shade of red, and despite the cold trickles of rain that is now suppose to be aiming for the ground, they land on my cheeks, only relieving a little of the burn. But like I said only a little so it's practically nothing compared to the rash that I'm broken out in.
I think he took my silence as a bad thing because he decides to test the waters to see if he should stop confessing the truth or if he should continue telling me everything he's been holding back.
"You're everything, and for the longest time I didn't understand that, and maybe it's because I don't like the idea of heartbreak or maybe it's because I don't like the idea of it to be from you. What I do know is that I want you. I want you in my life, every single day of it."
My heart thumps loudly in my chest as my body shivers from his words but I don't get much of a chance to respond as the rain starts to get heavier, building up with every second I choose to ignore, my feet glued into place as I struggle to find the words to tell him that I like him just as much.
Say something, Giana, say anything!
I gulp hardly as I advert my gaze up towards the dark clouds that. And out of everything I choose to stay silent, only growing Liam's worries, and making me feel a gnaw of guilt eat at me.
If this happens, if we happen, nothings going to be the same.
I don't love easily, but when I do, I love with everything I have.
And I hate for him to tear up the best thing he could ever have, to hurt me. He's never had the best reputation but he's shown me otherwise, but I don't want this to end badly if it does come to an end.
I know I shouldn't be thinking like that but somehow my fears get the best of me.
He nervously clears his throat as he swings his backpack onto his shoulder and lifting himself off the ground. "We, uh, we should probably head back inside."
He holds out his hand for me to grab onto and I feel as if I'm in sort of trance, not controlled by my own choices or my own movements and actions. I feel my body erupt with butterflies as our hands touched.
We stand face to face as the rain starts to grow heavier, my hair now clinging to my face, and I could only imagine how I looked in this moment but I choose to put that thought aside before I loose my chance completely.
"No, I want to stay. It'll probably pass in a few minutes." I try my absolutely best to persuade him, but I don't know if he's actually going to give in to what I want. Especially since this is the most dumbest idea that I could ever come up with.
Liam looks back at to where the door was as if he's contemplating whether or not to listen to me, but as if something gets the best of him when he decides to stare into my eyes- he gives in and with one of his famous, charming smiles.
He brushes back the wet strands of hair from my face so they're firmly away from my face and that's when I notice how close we're currently standing next to each other.
I bravely look up through my lashes and manage to say what I've been meaning to say this entire time.
"Well, Liam Palazzesi, my heart is yours just as yours is mine. So, if I decide to break yours I'm breaking mine too."
A mixture of shock and joy passes through his face, but I'm mostly assuming the shock is from the silent treatment I was giving for the past five minutes. I let out a short and quiet giggle as I stare up at him, the thought of him and I, being together was the silliest idea I ever had, but also the best.
I daringly take a step closer towards him and he takes that as an opportunity to wrap one of his arms around my waist as his eyes continued to explore mine.
"Does that make 'you and I' a thing now?" But as he smirks cockily, his voice was nothing like he was portraying, low and timid as he asks that one question.
A small smile breaks onto my lips as I do my best to casually lean my arms against his shoulders without freaking out on the inside.
"I think we've always been a thing, Palazzesi. The real question is, is that your way of asking me out?" I tease confidently, suddenly forgetting any trace of rain smacking me. Liam bites his lower lip down to stop a smile that clearly wants to form on that perfect face of his.
"Alright, let me phrase this differently then." He chuckles but I could feel his entire body go tense underneath my fingertips. "Giana Russo, will you please be my girlfriend?"
"Yes." And as soon as that one word leaves my lip it's official. I'm Liam Palazsesi's girlfriend, I'm with the same guy I hated only months prior but now he's mine and I wouldn't have it any other way.
Liam engulfs me into a hug and my entire body instantly relaxes into his arms and even though the rain was ice cold, I felt nothing but warmth.
_____________
"Emma?" I puzzle in confusion as I now swing my front door open to be met with her sheepish smile and tiny wave.
"Hi."
I scrunch my eyebrows in confusion as to what she's doing here and return the wave. "Hey?"
Usually whenever Emma is about to come over she tells me in advance. So, I'm super confused as to what is going on here right now.
We finished school about two hours ago- meaning I didn't actually get home until like an hour ago because of Liam. Luckily, I took a shower to get the chills out of my body from the cold rain and I feel much better already.
"I need a tiny favor," she begins with a hopeful smile and I nod understandingly urging her to continue.
Emma asking me for a favor? That's definitely a first.
Today's just full of surprises! I finally got my first boyfriend and now Emma is showing up on my doorstep asking for favors.
"Do you think you and I can drive over to Alex's house? Something's wrong with Ariana. She's not answering her phone and she's been super snappy in class today. I even checked by her house and no answer." Emma further explains with a deep frown.
That's totally unlike Ari completely. She's the most responsible out of all of us. She wouldn't ever blow her friends off and suddenly now she's dating Alex King things are changing?
Not to mention the fact that she's been avoiding us as if we didn't exist for the last few weeks.
I mean I get that she has a boyfriend and all now but she won't even answer our text messages anymore!
"Yeah of course, but there's just a slight issue to that plan of yours." I admit truthfully and she shrugs in response. "I don't drive and neither of us knows where Alex lives."
She gives me a sheepish smile once again and folds her hands together. "I was hoping you could ask a favor from a specific quarterback."
_____________
Liam's car slowly pulls up to my parent's perfectly white painted house and Emma instantly runs outside in a blink of an eye before his car could even come to a full stop.
Liam now gets out of the car as Emma jumps in to the back seat. He opens the passenger side door for me and looks over curiously as I walk over to him. "What is she doing here? I thought we were going on a dat-" He asks in pure confusion and I cut him off before he could go on. "Emma is worried about Ariana. She's not home and she won't answer her phone, we were kinda hoping that you might know if she's with Alex and if you could drive us there." I beg pleadingly with a hopeful smile and he looked at me unsurely for a few moments, probably debating if this was a good idea or not.
It felt like eternity if I'm going to be honest!
"I'll make it up to you." I promise, placing a warm hand on his chest and this instantly makes his eyes light up in joy. "You got yourself a deal, Russo." He winks and I sigh out in relief as I slid myself into the seat which he closes the door for me right after.
A few minutes later and we were on our way. Emma nervously shifts her feet every two seconds and I suddenly feel more anxious than I was moments ago.
"Are we almost there yet?" She whines again for what seemed like the hundredth time since we got in the car. "No." Liam sighed in annoyance.
Emma's been asking if 'we're almost there yet' about ten times in the past ten minutes and Liam's getting pretty perturbed.
He had one hand on the steering wheel and the other lying against the console of the car. He looks pretty amazing but when does he? This is probably the first time in fifteen minutes that my nerves are finally settling down, and thankfully I can feel myself slowly escaping all my worries about Ariana from my head. I now sneak a look at his Liam and notice how cute he looks with his hair gelled to perfection rather than his normal slightly tousled hair.
His outfit is something that he normally wears which just consists of a muscle tank and a pair of joggers, something that I find myself liking more and more everyday on him.
Liam soon pulls into a quaint neighborhood and goes down a few houses until he stops at a warm beige colored home. Emma doesn't hesitate to hop out and leave the two of us alone before we could stop her.
"Definitely one of my favorite second dates." He chuckles in amusement and I shoot him a tiny glare. "I needed a way for you to pick us up and I didn't know if you would come if I told you the truth." I admitted sheepishly.
"I would go anywhere for you." He replies seriously, all traces of humor gone as his eyes swarm mine. My heart feels as if it's going to explode. It's official. Is it possible to have so many feelings for one single person?
I don't know how long we sat like that for because I completely forgot where we were and what we were doing here, but one thing I do know is that I'm completely hypnotized by him. It's clear that I'm terrible at hiding how I'm feeling because an automatic smile starts to tug at the corner of my lips.
Liam has changed so much since we first met. . . And of course I know what some say, people can't change who they are, but what if this was who he's been all along?
"Guys!" Emma shouts.
(A/n- Chapter nineteen is now out! I hope you enjoyed it! The original chapter got deleted but I tried my hardest to just as great. I'm really proud in how it turned out in the end. Thank you for reading this chapter and please don't forget to comment and share. I love to hear what you all have to say. If you have any suggestions feel free to tell me. Until next time!)