Last Girl Standing

Liam’s arm fell to Jenna’s shoulder, as he pulled her closer to him. He kept his hand like that, running his fingers through her hair as they followed behind the group.

None of them knew what the date was going to be, only that they were to dress relatively nice. Jenna didn’t really care what the date was, she was just thankful that she got to go on it. Smiling to herself, she made a mental note to thank Niall for it later. She didn’t know if Liam had told him who to pick for his date or not, she was just glad that she’d been picked for Liam.

As Niall opened the door for the group, allowing everyone to step into the building in front of him, she shot him a smile and he nodded, knowing exactly what it meant.

“Thanks, mate,” Liam said to Niall, as the blonde boy quickened his pace to catch up with October.

In the center of the building’s large foyer stood Tanisha, who was looking back at them with a large smile on her face.

“Hello, everyone,” she said, folding her hands in front of her. “For tonight’s date, you will get a romantic dinner. Niall, since you won the date, you and October will be heading upstairs to the VIP suite, where you will get full service, while everyone else stays down her to be waited on.” Tanisha paused, looking off to the side, a smile on her face. “By the other girls.”

At that, the girls who hadn’t been chosen for a date stepped into the room, their grins anything but happy. Jenna heard someone snicker, but was unsure which of the boys it was.

Without a doubt, the night was going to be interesting.

“If you’ll all follow your servers, they’ll lead you to your tables. Niall and October, you can head upstairs.”

With a nervous sigh, Jenna stepped in time with Liam, as they followed behind Rachel, who was stuck serving them, while Kass had Harry and Sadie, and Haley had Louis, Megan, Abelia, and Zayn.

Rachel showed them to their table, keeping an awkwardly unpleasant smile on her face as she did so.

“Is there anything I can get you guys?”

“I’ll just take water, thanks,” Jenna said, biting her lip tightly.

Liam nodded. “Same.”

When the girl stepped away, heading towards a door on the opposite side of the room, Liam let out a nervous chuckle.

“Well, this is strange,” he said, as he folded his napkin in his lap.

Jenna nodded, biting her lip as she did so. “I wonder whose awful idea this was.”

“I imagine they want to start some drama,” Liam said. “I mean, they have Haley serving Megan and Lou. That’s a circus if I’ve ever seen one.”

Laughing, Jenna nodded her head. “I feel bad for the poor girl. I’d hate it if I had to serve you on a date.”

“Luckily you don’t have to.” Liam smiled at her, reaching his hands out across the table to rub her fingers. “All the boys already know how much I like you, so you don’t have to worry about them sending me on a date with anyone else.”

Jenna blushed, her gaze falling to the table. She still couldn’t get over how sweet Liam was to her. He was so different from any of the other guys she had met, and she felt so lucky to have found him.

“Jenna,” Liam said, his voice soft. She looked up at him, and he continued speaking. “Do you want to skip dinner? The beach is right there, so I thought we could go for a walk or something. It’ll be loads better than this place.”

Biting her lip, she nodded her head quickly. He stood up and stood her hand, ignoring the strange looks from the cameramen and other couples.

With her hand in his, she followed him out of the restaurant and out into the parking lot. The sun was just beginning to set, and the sky was turning pink with it.

Liam looked to her feet, at the small pair of flats she was wearing, and chuckled. “You’ll have to take those off, yeah?”

“Yours too,” she said, pointing to his black loafers.

With a smile, he kicked them off, pulling off his socks with them, and she was quick to do the same. He reached for her hand again, and guided her out towards the sand, where the grains fell between her toes.

The sand was soft and constantly shifted beneath her feet, causing her to stumble a few times before she got her footing. He pressed his hands to her waist to help balance her, and she smiled at him in a silent thank you.

His hand locked around hers, with his rough thumb rubbing against her soft skin. He did it over and over, each time sending a warmth running through her body.

Every time she looked at him, he was smiling at her and she couldn’t help but smile back. Liam was a dream come true.

“Jenna,” he said, kicking his toes in the sand. He paused for a moment, forming the perfect sentence in his mind, while she looked at him. “Do you think we could talk about something?”

Jenna sighed, before softly nodding. “This sounds bad.”

Stopping in his tracks, Liam pulled Jenna’s hand back, so that she was standing right in front of him. Her toes were pushing beneath the sand, making her even shorter than him than she already was.

Her teeth were nibbling at her bottom lip in her nerves. Every time a boy said they needed to talk, it started with a speech about how she wasn’t right for him and ended with her heart being shattered into a million in pieces. Her heart sunk in her chest, as she braced herself for the words she didn’t want to her.

She knew it was only a matter of time before Liam realized that she wasn’t perfect; she just didn’t know it would be so soon. No matter how hard she tried, she was never the one that boys wanted to be with, just the one that they wanted.

“It’s not bad at all,” he said, shaking his head. A small smile fell to his lips and he chuckled. “I just – I wanted to talk to you about things.”

“What sort of things?” she asked. She tried so hard to look into his eyes, but every time she did it only made her more nervous. She settled for staring at his lips, hoping it would be enough.

“About the tour,” he said, squeezing her hands tighter. “We go on tour just a few months after the show’s over. I just want to know – I need to know – that you’ll still be here when I get back. Most girls can’t handle the distance and being away for so long. It just breaks them.” He moved his hand to her chin, tilting it up so she had to look into his perfect eyes. “I can’t have that happen with you. Jenna, I don’t know how it happened so quickly, but you mean the world to me, and I can’t stand the thought of losing you to the tour.”

His eyes looked into hers for a moment longer, causing her entire body to freeze. She didn’t know if he expected her to say something, but she was too lost in him to speak.

“God, that’s stupid.” He chuckled, shaking his head. “It’s months from now and I’m worried about it. I’m not even worried about this stupid game, just about losing you to a tour that’s so far away it isn’t even on my calendar. You’re not even my girl yet and I’m worried about losing you. It’s stupid.”

Jenna shook her head quickly, her mouth speaking before her mind had time to catch up.

“I don’t think it’s stupid,” she said, her voice soft. “I think it’s –”

Before she could finish speaking, Liam pressed his lips against hers, stopping the words on her lips. He felt so soft and tasted so sweet that she couldn’t help but let out a sigh. His hands moved to her hair, wrapping his fingers in the blonde locks, and it sent a chill through her body. He felt her relax and pulled her closer to him, so her entire body was pressed against him

When his soft kisses had pulled every breath from her lungs, he parted their lips, pressing his forehead against hers. His breathing was ragged, as his chest heaved up and down.

Looking into her eyes, he moved his free hand down to hers and held it tightly.

“Jenna,” he said, between deep breaths. “I can’t lose you. Not to this game or to the tour or any of the other thousand things that don’t matter. I want you to be mine, Jenna. Always.”

A smile fell to her lips, and she pressed them back against his.

With her hands wrapped around his neck and his holding onto her waist, nothing could break them apart. Not the games or the tour. Not the other girls or the screaming fans. He wanted her just as badly as she wanted him.

For once in her life, Jenna wasn’t being pushed to the side, because Liam only wanted her.