Forgive any errors as I was on a sleepover at work and couldn't sleep.... so I pinched the laptop to type up an update.... I now have an 8 hour shift ahead of me *cries*... zombified.com
Enjoy.
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***********
"Max hurry up!" I called upstairs.
He was having one of his boxing classes tonight and in typical little brother style he was taking a ridiculous amount of time to get his butt downstairs so that we could leave. I'd planned to treat him to a milkshake before the class as despite me taking him to all his boxing sessions, it felt like I hardly ever saw him lately.
He called downstairs that he would be one minute.
That's what he'd said five minutes earlier...
My mum was in the kitchen making a batch of her healthy smoothies and I eyed her warily.
The evening before Chelsea had popped round to double check if I was okay after what Candice had done. I'd been out with Liam and instead of going home when she was told that I wasn't in, Chelsea had told my mum all about the impending cheer off.
Needless to say, my mum was not impressed.
This was made apparent when she ripped my head off the second I stepped through the door.
Apparently she shared Candices opinion that I was obviously not giving the squad my all.
I grimaced as I remembered the awful lecture she'd given me about how I was representing the family and what a let down I would be if I didn't win the cheer off.
Liam, my friends on the squad and Contagious had boosted my self esteem, but within seconds my mum had popped it like a balloon.
I'd apologised and promised that I was going to win.
My tummy tightened as I considered the possibility that Candice would win - after all, I couldn't deny that she was a good cheerleader.
She was a Grade A bitch... but a good cheerleader.
The mum that was humming whilst she made the smoothies was a stark contrast to the one that had made me feel like crap the night before.
Chelsea had also mentioned Liam.
It was obvious because my mum had fired question after question about him to me after she'd finished threatening me about the squad.
I'd tried to down play our relationship, insisting that I only saw him when Max had a class and that he lead one of my exercise classes.
Luckily, I think she'd bought my story.
Something told me that if she knew he was my boyfriend, she wouldn't be too pleased and would probably interfere.
The thought of that terrified me, which made me realise just how much Liam had become to mean to me.
I seriously needed to have words with my BFF about the sort of information that we should share with each others parents.
The doorbell rang.
"You should get that sweetie" my mum called out happily, a smile on her face.
I opened the door, my face twisting in confusion when I saw who was stood there.
Brian.
"Um, hi?" I said, my tone questioning.
Perhaps he'd come to see my dad about the internship?
"Hi" he replied, shifting uncomfortably on the spot, "Are you ready?"
"For what?" I asked, sounding dumb.
My mum appeared behind me, opening the front door wider.
"Come on in Brian" she grinned, pulling me out of the way so that Brian could step inside.
He gave her the handsome grin that made most of the girls out our school go wild, before doing as she said.
When the door was closed, I stared at the pair of them, waiting for an explanation.
"Brian's going to go with you to Max's class and then after you've dropped Max off you kids can go and have some fun" my mum told me matter of factly.
In other words, she was letting me know that what she was saying was not open for negotiation.
"But-" I started.
I stopped when I saw annoyance briefly flash across my mums face.
"Okay" I mumbled, hating myself for not standing up to her.
**************
"Liam said I'm practically a ninja!" Max declared as we drove to the gym.
Brian laughed at his enthusiasm.
I was busy texting Liam.
I'd forewarned him that my mum had gone all Cupid on me and that I'd had no say in the matter.
Surprisingly, he said that it was fine.
Go figure.
"This isn't weird is it?" Brian asked, shooting a look at me whilst he was driving, "My mum said that you'd wanted us to hang out"
"It's fine" I lied, smiling at him.
It wasn't his fault that we had delusional, controlling mums.
We pulled up outside the gym and I quickly got out, opening the door for Max to get out with all of his training stuff filling his arms.
"Come on buddy" I said, ruffling his hair with my fingers.
He ducked out of the way and I followed him into the gym, Brian walking behind us.
I grinned as soon as I saw Liam.
He was shirtless and his skin was glistening, letting me know that he'd already been working out.
I watched as he pulled on a black vest with the gyms logo on it.
"Liam!" Max called out his usual greeting.
Liam smiled when he saw Max and high fived him when the three of us reached him.
"Get warmed up Missile Max" he told him, ruffling his hair like I'd just done.
Apparently it wasn't annoying when Liam did it, because Max grinned up at him instead of ducking out of the way like he did to me.
"Go! Go! Go!" Liam called out, clapping his hands together.
Max dropped his training stuff and ran over to where Ray was doing the usual warm up with the other younger members of the gym.
"Hey" Liam said, turning his attention to me.
I was about to respond when he reached out and pulled me towards him, kissing me hungrily.
Smiling against his lips, I pulled away, knowing that we had an audience.
"Hey" Liam said, this time to Brian.
He'd kept me close, his arms wrapped round my waist with my back against his solid chest.
"Hey" Brian replied, his tone forced.
For an awkward moment, he stared back at Liam.
I couldn't see Liams face but I could guess that he was probably wearing a smug smirk.
"Well jelloooo" a voice interrupted their little stare down.
"Jello?" I asked TJ, unable to keep the smile from my face.
"It's the jolly way of saying hello" he replied, as if I'd been stupid not to know that.
"Well jello to you too" I beamed at him.
TJ looked from Liam to Brian, assessing the situation.
"Soooo....." he said slowly, clearly not able to think of a conversation starter.
"I better get on with the class" Liam told me.
He twisted me round and kissed me again, his hands cupping my face.
There was a chorus of "eeeeew" and "bleurgh" and I pulled away to see Max and the rest of the kids that were doing the warm up, giving us looks of disgust.
I stuck my tongue out at them like the mature person that I am.
***************
Thank god for TJ.
I was sooooo glad that he was at the gym that night.
Hanging out and chatting with Brian was easy enough, but I think it would have been a lot more awkward if TJ hadn't been there to talk to as well.
TJ spoke to Brian normally, not letting the fact that Liam was his best mate affect the conversation.
"How funny was that earlier?" TJ laughed when Brian had walked over to the vending machine to get a drink.
"Oh, so funny" I replied sarcastically, rolling my eyes.
Without even asking, I knew what he meant.
"I think they were seconds away from ripping off their shirts and beating their chests while roaring like Tarzan"
I burst out laughing at his (pretty accurate) analogy.
"Quick question though, why is Brian here?" he asked.
Speedily, I told him about Chelsea telling my mum about Liam and about how conveniently my mum had arranged a date for Brian and I the next day.
Of course it could be a coincidence, but I highly doubted it.
"Why don't you just tell your mum that Liam's your boyfriend?" TJ asked simply.
Wow thanks, if only I'd thought of that....
"Trust me, she would not approve" I sighed, shaking my head.
My mum most definitely judged books by their cover.
"He still looks like a lovesick fool, despite Liams demonstration that you're his girl" TJ said, nodding his head to where Brian was retrieving his canned drink from the machine.
"He's a great guy" I sighed, "I just wish he'd find a girl to make him happy"
"Okay, this conversation is getting too girly and lovey dovey" TJ stated, wrinkling his nose, "I feel like I'm losing my masculinity!"
What a drama queen!
"You brought it up" I answered defensively, nudging him with my elbow, "Anyway, speaking of lovey dovey - Alicia has been talking about you nonstop"
I giggled when his face turned red like a tomato.
"TJ's in lurrrrrrrve" I teased, nudging him again.
Brian sat back down beside me and handed me a diet coke, passing the same to TJ.
"Is he a good fighter?" he asked, looking at Liam who was teaching Max how to block hits.
"Yup" I nodded, feeling proud.
TJ launched into a long description of what seemed like every fight Liam had ever had.
"The man's a predator!" he concluded at the end of his bromantic lecture.
I raised an eyebrow and TJ laughed.
"Okay, dodgy choice of word but you know what I mean"
Brian was laughing as well.
"He's fighting tomorrow" TJ added.
Liam had a fight scheduled for the next night, he'd been talking about it a lot for the last week. Apparently, he'd fought the guy a year earlier and had lost, so this time he was determined to win.
I was excited at the prospect of seeing him in action, but also a little worried.
I supposed it was only natural for a girlfriend to feel panicky about her boyfriend stepping inside a cage to fight somebody who had beat him up last time.
Not that I didn't have faith that he was going to win this time round.
"I'm going to ask Amber to be a cheerleader" I declared, in an attempt to distract myself.
"Amber who?" Brian asked.
"She's got orange hair and is always bouncing around" TJ described her, "Trust me man, you will have seen her around"
Brian looked thoughtful, but then realisation flashed in his eyes.
"The girl who danced with you on your birthday?" he asked me.
I nodded, affirmatively.
"Amber is gonna freak" TJ grinned, "She's never admitted it, but I know she wants to be one"
Grinning back at him, I hoped that he was right.
I had big plans for the cheer off and I pictured Amber as being a part of them.
*************
After the training session, Max ran over to us and excitedly described every little thing that he had learned.
Whilst he continued his incessant chatter to TJ and Brian, I walked over to where Liam was stood.
Tiptoeing, I gave him a quick kiss.
"What are you doing now?" he asked me, smiling as he wrapped his arms round me.
An uneasy feeling descended on me.
"My mum's expecting me to drop off Max and then hang out with Brian" I replied, chewing my lip nervously.
Why did things have to be so difficult?
"And what do you want to do?" Liam asked, his eyes fixed on mine.
Duh, that was a no brainer!
"Spend time with you" I answered truthfully.
His chocolate eyes sparkled at my words, making me feel giddy.
"Then do it"
It sounded so simple when it rolled off his lips like that.
I should do what I wanted to do.
My stomach clenched at the thought of my mums reaction.
Liams eyes had a mischevious glint as he continued to maintain eye contact with me.
"I- I can't" I stammered.
Leaning in, Liam covered my lips with his own and I sighed into the kiss, closing my eyes.
"You can" he mumbled against my lips.
Liam so wasn't playing fair.
He nibbled gently on my bottom lip.
Okay, decision made.
Pulling away, I could see the determined look on Liams face.
It was replaced with a triumphant one when I gave him a slight nod to say that I was going to do it.
I walked over to where Brian was talking to Max and pulled him to one side.
"Um, Liams going to drop Max and me back at our house" I told him, shifting uncomfortably.
My mum had put me in this predicament where I now felt like I was letting Brian down.
Brians eyes darted to where I knew Liam was and then back to me.
"Okay" he answered, his tone and face showing no slip of emotion.
Reaching out, I touched his arm.
"Thanks Brian" I said, hoping he understood that I wasn't trying to hurt him.
Quick as a flash he leaned forward and gave me a kiss on the cheek.
"See you later, Kaydie" he told me, stepping backwards a few steps, his eyes never leaving mine, before turning and leaving the gym.
***********
"Eeeew, why would you want Kaydie as a girlfriend?" Max asked in disbelief as Liam drove us home.
Huzzah for brotherly love.
Liam just laughed while I rolled my eyes.
"I mean she's good at being a sister, but eeeeew"
Oh well, at least he wasn't disputing the fact that I was an amazing sister.
We pulled up outside of my house and Liam shut off the engine.
The nervousness I'd been feeling had returned.
"I'm going to drop you off and then leave" I instructed Max.
He nodded and reached over to high five Liam.
Walking towards the house my stomach was twisting in knots.
Jeeez, I seriously needed to take a chill pill.
As soon as I opened the front door, Max ran straight to the stairs, no doubt heading up to his room - he'd been talking about playing on his xbox on the way home.
My mum instantly appeared in the hallway.
"Are you heading back out?" she asked me, a huge grin on her face.
"Yeah" I answered.
It wasn't a lie...
"You two have fun" she told me.
I could have sworn that she actually WINKED at me.
Impulsively, I stepped forward and kissed her on the cheek, giving her a quick hug.
"I love you mum" I said, before rushing out of the door and letting out a deep breath.
Every step I took away from the door, the less anxious I felt.
It was actually sort of liberating.
At 18 years old, it was kind of pathetic that this was what I classed as a huge act of rebellion - but I knew my mum would go mad if she realised I'd not gone out with Brian like she thought that I had.
Liams smile when I got back into his car made it all worthwhile.
"Bad Ass Barbie is back" he grinned, leaning across and kissing me.
*************
"I kinda don't want you to fight tomorrow" I admitted as I stared up at the stars.
Liam was lying on the blanket beside me in the park and he turned his face towards mine.
"You think I'm gonna lose?" he asked, a defensive edge to his voice.
Oh dear, I'd hurt the ego...
"Don't be stupid" I tutted at him, "I just mean, you're still no doubt gonna receive a few hits and it's going to be horrible to watch"
It wasn't a pleasant thought.
"You've seen me fight before" he said, clearly confused.
"Yeah, but that was different" I tried to explain, "I didn't lo-"
My breath hitched in my throat in response to what had nearly come out of my mouth.
I'd almost said: "I didn't love you then"
The words surprised me.
Did I love him?
We hadn't been together all that long.
Could you love someone after such a short amount of time?
"We weren't together then" I said quickly, in an attempt to cover up what I'd nearly said.
Liam was staring at me, an intent look on his face.
It was almost as if he wanted to say something to me.
I wondered if he'd realised what I'd come close to saying.
He couldn't have - he was still lying down beside me instead of running away at full speed.
"It will be fine" he told me, reaching out and stroking my face gently, "I'll have my own personal cheerleader cheering me on"
Instinctively, we both leaned in for a soft and lingering kiss.
Happy butterflies bounced around in my tummy; they always came alive when I kissed my Liam.
Snuggling up closer to him, I was engulfed by his warm, muscular arms.
"You're something else Kaydie Smithson" he murmured so lightly, that I wasn't sure if I'd imagined it.
************
I love Liam