Liam's Perspective-

"Dude calm down!" Liam chuckled, watching Alex pace around his room.

"I can't!! What if this college rejects me? What am I gonna do?" Alex asked, panicking.

"Apply to another college until you get into one. You've got killer basketball skills, there's no way every school would reject you." Liam said.

"I just...I wanna be in a school with you." Alex said, running a hand through his hair.

Liam blushed and avoided eye contact.

Alex sighs and lays down on the beanbag.

"So when are they sending out emails?" Liam asked.

"This week. I might have to wait until Friday; ugh that day can't come sooner!!" Alex groaned into his hands and Liam frowned.

"Hey well you have school to try and focus on." Liam shrugged, "And the game coming up this weekend."

"I can't focus on anything, Liam! It's always on my mind. I keep checking my email over and over again. I'm so paranoid that I'll fail."

Liam frowned and joined him on the beanbag.

"Just cause you don't get in means you'll fail." Liam said.

"I just feel like I'd let you all down..." Alex trailed off.

"What? Why?!" Liam cupped Alex's face in his hands, causing him to blush.

"Do you seriously think we'll suddenly hate you because of some stupid email? I don't care if that school decides they like you enough to let you in because you are always enough for me. No one cares if you get in or not. Sure we'd be happy if you do, but only because you're happy. We're not happy because that school let you in, we're happy you want to be there and seem like yo enjoy it. You're not gonna lose us because you couldn't get in. You're always gonna have people who support you and you still have your amazing basketball skills. And besides, there's always other schools. It's not just game over."

Alex blushed heavily and Liam smiled a bit, his cheeks also red.

"I only want you to be happy, you got that? You're not gonna let me down or mess up if you don't get into this school." Liam whispered.

Alex nods and Liam smiled.

He suddenly took notice of their close proximity and it became awkward. He leaned back, removing his hands from Alex's face.

"S-sorry." He chuckled nervously.

"No it's alright." Alex smiled weakly, his heart racing.

-

Later that week, their group were all hanging out at a pizzeria, planning on going to Jay's place later.

Alex was on his email, reloading the page over and over.

"Hey stop that." Liam chuckled, taking Alex's phone.

"Wha- hey! Give that back!"

"No! I'm not giving it back until you get some damn food in your system. You're checking this all day and night, you can step away for a minute." Liam smirked, pocketing the phone.

Alex sighed but grabbed a piece of pizza and ate it.

Liam smiled fondly and poked his cheek.

"See? That wasn't so hard." He teased.

Jay chuckled, "Yeah you need to chill out, man."

"I know I just...I really wanna get in."

"Hey, remember what I said?" Liam elbowed Alex, "It doesn't matter what you get cause we'll always be by your side and support you."

Alex smiled.

"And if I get into that school and you don't, we're gonna find a new school together."

Alex blushed a bit and Jay whispered "gay" but covered it up with a cough.

Liam glared at him and Jay smiled.

"What?" He batted his eyelashes innocently.

"I heard that." Liam muttered.

Jay shrugged and Alex huffed.

They left the restaurant and piled into Jay's car. Most of the boys were laughing and teasing each other but Liam and Alex were chatting about their future.

"Maybe we can dorm together, that'd be pretty fun." Liam said.

"Yeah maybe." Alex smiled, shrugging.

He looked out the window before turning back to Liam.

"Can I have my phone back now?" He asked.

"No, not until you stop worrying about it." Liam said.

"What?! But I won't stop worrying until you let me check!"

Liam chuckled and pat Alex's head.

"Dude, chill. I promise you whatever happens you're gonna be okay. You took your chances and you have a high chance of getting in with your skills. But if you don't, then there's always other schools. That's what you need to drill into your brain."

Alex sighed and Liam smiled.

"It's not the end of the world just cause of one simple email." Liam said, wrapping his arm around Alex.

Alex smiled and blushed a bit, leaning against Liam.

"Yeah...you're right."

Quickly threw this together with the anxiety built up over applying for this Grian comic zine on Tumblr. I've been checking my email so much this whole day cause they said the emails will be sent out this week. But hey now my panic is turned into a gay ship :D