“You would do that for me?” he asked, looking at me so lovingly that it made my heart melt.

I nodded. “Yeah, I’d follow you anywhere if you asked me to.”

“But you’d be leaving so much behind, Angel. Your school. Your friends. Jake. Your home,” he whispered, cupping my sore cheek gently.

I nodded. “Yeah, but I’d get to be with you, so that makes everything worth it.” I shrugged.

“How the hell did I get a girl like you?” he asked, rubbing his thumb over my cheek softly.

“Maybe you were a murderer in a previous life,” I teased, making him laugh.

He nodded. “Serial killer,” he joked, making us both laugh again. He bent forward and kissed me so softly and tenderly that it made me feel like the most special and luckiest girl in the world.

He pulled out of the kiss way too soon for my liking. “Will you move to Boston with me, Angel?” he asked.

I grinned and hugged him tight. “I’d love to, Liam.”

I needed a fresh start. So much had happened here that I just needed to go and start over. I needed to forget everything and look to the future - my future with Liam.

Epilogue

~ 5 Years later ~

~ Liam ~

I glanced down at my watch and gasped. Crap, it was almost two thirty. “Pete, I need to go! Is this gonna be finished or not?” I shouted through to the other room.

“Yeah, boss. Go. It’ll be done, don’t worry. Call me as you leave and I’ll do the last bits, OK? And good luck!” he shouted back.

“Right. Bye, and thanks for doing this,” I called as I ran out of the building and jumped into my car.

Oh crap, please don’t let me be late!

I sped to the college, panicked, and ran as fast as I could around the back to the field. It was ten to three now and it was due to start in ten minutes. I slid through the crowd, looking for them. I spotted Matt straight away; he was standing up on his chair scanning the crowd. He waved like an idiot when he spotted me and I couldn’t help but grin.

I started making my way to them, when a guy stepped in front of me. “Wow, you’re Liam James! Can I get your autograph? Seriously, wow, I’m like your biggest fan,” he enthused, as the woman he was with fumbled through her purse for paper and a pen.

I laughed. They were all my biggest fans; seriously, I heard that like fifty times a day. “Sure.” I smiled politely, holding out my hand for the pen. I scribbled my name and slapped him on the shoulder. “I gotta go get my seat.”

“Yeah, of course. Thanks!” he chirped, grinning wildly and looking lovingly at my name on a scrap of paper.

I knew I would never get used to that, people got so excited just because I signed a scrap of paper. I mean, yeah I know that I play for one of the best teams in America, but I’m still just a person at the end of the day. I’m no one special. I’m just Liam, and I’m lucky enough to get paid a lot of money for doing something that I love - not many people can say that.

I made my way through the crowd and sat down at the end of their row. Matt immediately dived for my lap. “Hey, kiddo. Being good?” I asked, tickling him, making him laugh and squirm around.

“Get everything set up?” Jake asked, grinning.

I grimaced and nodded. “Yeah. Christ, man, I’m so nervous.” My hands just hadn’t stopped sweating all day.

He laughed and shook his head. His girlfriend, Charlotte, leaned over. “You’ll be fine. Just calm down,” she stated, rolling her eyes. Charlotte was awesome, her and Jake had been together for about six months and he was really into her. She was his first ever real girlfriend, and I could really see it lasting.

I waved to my parents who were grinning proudly, chatting to the random stranger next to them as usual. I smiled; my mom seriously could start a conversation with a mute.

“Hey, Liam,” Margaret greeted as she squeezed down the aisle to hug me.

“Hey, Margaret. How are you?” I asked, hugging her back tightly. I hadn’t seen her for about four months because she’d been travelling with her new husband, Greg.

“I’m great. Greg couldn’t come though; he’s stuck in Thailand for some promotion. He’s so upset that he’s missing it,” she replied, frowning.

I smiled. “Well, just make sure you take a load of photos for him then.”

Matt jumped off of my lap and ran back to his mom. I smiled at Ruby. Her, Johnny and Matt still lived in Timberfield, but we got to see them quite a bit - they came to stay with us in the holidays and stuff. We had more than enough room, and we also went back there whenever we could.

Johnny and Kate didn’t last. They managed to date for a year before they just drifted apart; they’re still great friends though. Kate hadn’t settled down in the slightest. She’s still a flirt and is currently ‘playing the field’ as she liked to put it, but she’s always been a great friend to Amber so she comes to stay with us too. I just have to keep her away from all of my team mates; she would seriously eat them alive.

A lot had happened in the last five years. Stephen Walker, Jake and Amber’s father, got arrested about a year after we left for Boston because he’d apparently been scamming money from his clients. He was currently serving six years for fraud and embezzlement. He never did get in contact with any of them, and they all still have the recording that Amber made of him admitting to the abuse, so if he ever did come back they’ve agreed they would all file charges against him.

Suddenly, everyone started clapping and my heart took off in overdrive as I scanned the crowd for her. I spotted her standing off to the left of the stage, chatting with Samantha, one of her friends. She looked smokin’ hot in her blue and grey ceremonial robes. I hadn’t seen her all day. I’d left her just after breakfast. She thought I was at practice today, I wasn’t, I was setting up a surprise for her as a graduation present.

Amber was graduating college today with a full degree in dance choreography. I was incredibly proud of her; she’d worked so damn hard for the last few years at college and was graduating with honours. I tried to listen as the little man gave his speech about the graduating class, and then started going through the list of names of the graduates, while they walked on and shook his hand getting a certificate. I couldn’t concentrate; I was so freaking nervous that I actually felt sick. I couldn’t take my eyes off of her, she was so beautiful. She honestly still took my breath away every time I saw her.

The paparazzi loved her too. They were always following us around, wanting photos and interviews. They loved the story of us being together for five years. They just loved Amber, full stop. She would always be in magazines and newspapers, little pictures of her out shopping with her friends or something. They always thought she was adorable and people would come and ask for her autograph just as much as they did mine. Amber just found the whole thing amusing and would tease the crap out of me when we got stopped in the street or something.

People often ask me how it is that I stay grounded, with the fame and the money, and I always say the same thing. None of that was important to me; the only thing that mattered to me is my Angel. She was the only thing I needed. If everything else went away tomorrow, the big house, all the cars, the money, I wouldn’t care. As long as I still got to hold her every night, I would still be the luckiest guy in the world.

I heard the Dean shout her name and I grinned, clapping like crazy. She was beaming as she scanned the crowd; she spotted me and waved her little certificate at me, proudly. I winked at her and watched her skip off of the stage happily. I was shifting in my seat nervously because it was almost over, it was almost time. I rubbed my hands on my jeans, trying to dry them. I’d honestly never been so nervous in my life.

After another few minutes the last certificate was handed out, and I saw her slinking her way through the crowd towards us. As she got to me, she threw her arms around my neck and kissed me. I lifted her off of her feet spinning her in a small circle as I relished the feel of her lips against mine. She pulled back and laughed, she was so happy that it made my heart beat faster.

“Congratulations,” I cooed, grinning. She kissed me again and I held her tighter. Damn, five years and I still couldn’t get enough of her. I pulled out of the kiss, very aware that her little brother was sitting there making loud kissing noises and singing ‘Amber and Liam, sitting in a tree’.

“Thanks. I was worried when I didn’t see you; I thought you couldn’t make it.” She smiled as I set her back down on her feet.

I smiled and brushed her hair behind her ear. “I wouldn’t have missed this for the world,” I replied.

She was pulled into hugs by all of her family. Matt, as usual, was clinging to her legs so she couldn’t move. He adored his big sister, not that I blamed him, I mean, who wouldn’t adore my Angel? You’d have to be crazy. I bent down and pulled him off of her, tipping him upside down by his legs, making him laugh.

“So, what are you guys doing now? Shall we go have a drink or something?” Amber suggested.

Oh crap!

Everyone looked at me. OK, wow, add more pressure, I’m already freaking terrified! “Um…. actually, Angel, I was wondering if I could take you somewhere after. I’ve got something to show you,” I answered, trying not to give anything away.

She looked at me curiously, she hated surprises. “Yeah? What?” she asked, wrapping her arms around me.

I bent and kissed her nose. “You’ll have to wait and see,” I replied, smirking at her, knowing this was probably killing her. She frowned and narrowed her eyes at me, making me laugh; I grabbed her hands, unwrapping them from my waist. “You ready to go now?” I asked, hopefully.

She nodded and looked back at her family who were grinning like mad people; my mom was crying happy tears. OK guys, tone it down! She looked at them all a little confused, obviously wondering what they were all acting like this for. “I’ll see you at ours later then. One of you has a key, right?” she asked.

Jake jiggled his keys at her. “Go. We’ll see you later,” he instructed, nodding towards the exit.

I wrapped my arm around her waist and we walked towards the front. “So, how did practice go?” she asked.

“Um, yeah good,” I lied as I opened the car door for her.

She kissed me again as she got in. She was grinning, obviously proud of herself for graduating. I phoned Pete on the way round to the driver’s side to tell him we were now leaving.

~ Amber ~

Something was definitely going on. I glanced over to him again, he looked nervous about something; he was sitting really straight in his seat. This wasn’t the normal, relaxed Liam, that I loved to death. After about twenty minutes of driving and making small talk about the weather and my graduation ceremony, we pulled up. He grinned and got out.

OK, where the hell are we? I thought he’d be taking me to dinner or something. I got out and held his hand as he led me forward, stopping outside a building with glass doors. I think it used to be a gym or something, but it looked like it had been done up recently, the outside had been painted a nice cream colour and the windows had been replaced.

“What do you think?” he asked, wrapping his arms around me from behind.

Think about what? What am I missing? “Um, it’s great?” I shrugged, confused.

He laughed. “OK, you have no idea what I’m talking about do you?” he teased.

“No. Sorry, lover boy, should I have?” I asked, smiling apologetically.

“Well, see that building in front of you, with the glass doors?” he asked. I nodded, still a little bemused as to what this was all about. “It’s yours.”

Mine? What the hell is that about?

I turned around to face him. “Liam, I don’t understand, babe. I’m sorry,” I said apologetically. Damn it, I was ruining his surprise.

He smiled and brushed his fingers across my cheek lightly. “I bought it for you. I’ve had it all done out inside……. it’s a dance studio,” he explained.

Oh my freaking God, he didn’t! I gasped, looking at him to see if he was joking. He grinned at me. No, he really wasn’t joking, he was totally serious.

“Oh God, Liam, you’re kidding me!” I squealed as I threw myself at him, wrapping my arms around his neck. We’d talked about me setting up my own studio but he had convinced me to wait a year after my graduation, I bet that’s because he was planning this! Jeez, I have the perfect boyfriend! “Thank you, thank you, thank you!” I cried excitedly.

He kissed me gently. “You’re welcome. Come on, let’s go look.” He turned me towards the doors, smiling happily.

I could barely contain my excitement as he handed me the keys. My hands were shaking so badly that I couldn’t even get the key in the lock, so he had to do it for me. As we walked through the doors, I was already crying. There was a little reception area that led on to two huge dance studios that had mirrors on the whole of one wall and gorgeous hard wood floors, perfect for dancing on.

“Oh, Liam, this is perfect!” I cried.

He smiled. “I had someone come in and design it all. But if there’s anything you don’t like, we can change it, OK?” he stated, taking my hand and pulling me out of the door. “Let’s look upstairs,” he suggested, motioning towards the back.

I nodded and skipped along excitedly at his side. He was always so freaking thoughtful and sweet. He had been the best boyfriend anyone could ever ask for in the last five years, better than I could have ever dreamed.

Upstairs, there was a little recreation room with a pool table and air hockey table, a juice and snack bar with tables. There were even changing rooms with showers and everything. He took my hand and pulled me towards the last door. He looked really nervous again. He wasn’t smiling now.