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“And so then Carson pounced on James - like full on pounced - and started demanding Ava if she said yes and then James flung him off his back and oh my gosh guys, it was just so funny,” I was laughing all over again as Becca and Riley listened over Skype a few days later, joining in on my giggles. 

“And? She did say yes right?” Becs asked, leaning on her elbows, face taking up most of the screen.

“Beca, stop hogging the camera,” Riley said, pushing her out.

“I’m not hogging it.”

“Yeah, you are.”

“No, I’m -”

“Guys?” I asked, watching them push each other back and forth.

“Sorry,” they both replied, still shifting so they had equal camera.

“She did say yes, but now she’s freaking out about it. And then she called me a hopeless romantic -”

“Which you are,” Becca said.

“- And then told me the next step is for me to land a date with Liam.”

“Well that’s obviously the goal,” Riley said, nudging Becca.

“Guys, I’m not kidding, this isn’t good. James knows I’m interested in him -”

“By ‘interested in’ you mean ‘in love with’ right?” Becca said, cocking an eyebrow. 

I rolled my eyes and continued, “Ava thinks that I’m in love with him and it just seems like it’s all going to explode one day and Liam will freak out and I mean, I already asked him out, so no backing out now, I guess.” 

Silence. Riley and Becca stared at me, mouths agape, eyes wide.

“Wait, what?” Riley screeched.

“What?”

“You asked Liam out?” Becca’s eyes were wide, hands planted on either side of her face.

“Did I not mention that before?”

“No!” Both of them yelled at the screen, hurting my ears. I took a deep breath as I relayed the entire story all over again, this time not forgetting to include that bit and explaining that it was just a joke and I knew nothing would come of it. Becca and Riley looked like they were about to die, not being able to believe that this had all happened with the Liam Hawthorne. 

“Anyway, now that that is all explained, I gotta go ladies. I gots school in the mornin’ and I still have to finish my essay on Shakespeare’s tragedies and the effects they had on modern society,” I stuck my tongue out, pretending to be disgusted by the work that lay ahead. Ok, no pretending. Homework was gross. Becs and Riley blew kisses as I hung up, turning to my work hoping to get it completed within the next hour.

Yeah, that didn’t happen. 

Instead I spent the next hour writing my name on the top of the page, scrolling aimlessly through Pinterest and Tumblr, then feeling my eyes droop at the lateness of the hour, scrambled to write a half decent essay under the influence of coffee when I finally collapsed on my bed in exhaustion. 

The week passed uneventfully for the most part. I went for tea at Rowan’s house and her grandma was the most adorable thing in the world as she continued to bring us tea and cookies (sorry, biscuits) every time we ran out. I now know where Rowan gets her excited nature; her grandma was a little ball of energy and smiles. By the end of the afternoon though, Rowan was calmer than her usual self, all James-related questions vanished and we ended up having a wonderful time and I made sure that she would come over sometime soon.

It was a lazy Saturday, as surprising as that was. James had the day off and he mainly had been bumming around the house eating his weight in snacks while I had been studying for AP Exams that were coming up in two weeks.

“Cammie!” James whined as he entered my room. “I’m so bored.” He flopped onto my bed and I turned to face him from my desk.

“Well. Then. Do something,” I said simply, resting my feet on the edge of my bed. 

“Would you be up for a game of Halo with me?”

“James, I really have to study for APs.”

“Please? Just take an hour break and play Halo with me.” He pouted his lips and put on a perfect puppy dog face.

“You do know I will show no mercy?” I asked him, challengingly. 

“Bring it, Cam!” Simultaneously, we jumped out of my room and rushed down the stairs, trying to nudge each other out of the way. It worked the same way every time. First one to the TV got to choose the arena and James, unfortunately, knew which arena I hated most. James leaped over the couch, while I ducked under him and touched it first. Laughing like a maniac, I turned the TV on while James grabbed the controllers and plugged in the game.

“Oh it is on, sucka,” I taunted as I chose the arena and the game began.

James and I had always been competitive when we played video games. Both of us went into hardcore gaming mode, our faces pursed into pure concentration.

“Dang it, Cam! That was a cheap shot!” James yelled when I hit him with a head shot.

“No mercy!” I cackled, just as James’ phone rang.

“Pause!”

“No!”

“Pause it, Cam. This could be important.”

“Screw you and your job, James!” I huffed, hitting pause. He merely laughed at me as he picked up his phone and answered it.

“Hello?” I glared at him, hoping he would hurry along. “Dude, that sucks.” Alright, it was one of his friends. Not important.

“I’m hitting ‘Resume’ if you don’t get off now,” I threatened, my thumb hovering over the button.

“Don’t you dare! I will actually kill you, if you do. No, not you! I’m talking to Cam. She’s threatening to resume the game if I don’t hang up now. Hey! Why don’t you just come over? You can ask the gang if they want to, too... Alright, see you in ten.” James hung up, throwing his phone on the couch.

“Let’s go,” he said, after picking up his controller.

“Who was that and who’s coming over?”

“Liam and he’s coming over. Probably Carson too and maybe Ava and Gemma. I doubt the girls though.”

“Ugh, that means I have to look nice.” I threw my head back, resting it on the couch.

“Just wear that. Nobody will care.” I looked down at my sweatpants and Star Wars pullover, with my socks pulled over my pants. My hair was in a messy bun at the top of my head, and not even the cute messy bun where it all looks perfect. Messy bun as in I looked like I just walked out of a hurricane.

“I care.”

“Don’t though. Come on, let’s finish this game before everyone gets here.” I sighed and hit ‘Resume’, even though my mind was totally not focused on trying to get some insane killing streak, which showed because James killed me three times in a row in five minutes. After his fifth consecutive kill and his endless evil cackling, the doorbell rang much to my joy and then the realization hit that that meant people were here.

“You should have been cast as the villain with that laugh,” I grumbled as he stood to answer the door. James snorted in amusement at my comment. Making a really unattractive grunt, I lifted myself from the floor to go make coffee. My energy levels had significantly dimmed since the announcing of people. Several voices were talking at once as they came upstairs and I heard them turn into the living room.

“Cam, you better not be upstairs,” I heard James yell, which I’m assuming he thought I was changing or hiding away in my bedroom.

“I’m making coffee, doofus. Want some?” I was being polite, but I knew James and he never said no to coffee.

“Really? You have to ask?” James called back.

“Anyone else?” I asked, trying to measure out an appropriate amount.

“Me!” That sounded like Carson.

“Can I have some tea?” A voice asked, who sounded like Liam.

“You can make that yourself,” I said, pouring water into the pot.

“Camille!” I heard him whine. “Please make me tea?”

“Nope,” I replied, popping the ‘p’. I heard a groan and then some footsteps echoing off the hardwood flooring.

“You’re a loser,” he said, entering the kitchen.

“You’re lazy,” I countered.

I heard him sort through the tea, until he found what he wanted and then headed over to fill the kettle with water.

“So, Camille,” I heard him say, with a hint of mischievousness in his voice. “Any new drawings?” I turned fast with wide eyes.

“You saw nothing, Liam. I don’t even know what you’re talking about.”

“Oh, come on. You drew an entire portfolio of work.”

“Shush, no I didn’t. Whatever you think you saw, it’s a figment of your imagination.” I waved my hand by my head, pretending to be a weird magician with a really lame magic trick. 

“Mmm, I’m pretty sure I saw some excellent sketches and paintings and-” I put my hand over his mouth.

“Liam. Shut up. It’s not something everybody needs to know about,” I spoke sternly, and I know it wasn’t something I should have been panicking about, but nobody needed to know about my artwork. It was a piece of my soul that I was expressing in pictures and I didn’t want to go around waving it in the air and rubbing it in people’s faces.

Then, I felt Liam lick the palm of my hand.

“Ew! Liam! Unnecessary!” I said, wiping my hand on his shirt.

“Get a napkin! Don’t rub it on me.”

“It’s your own spit, and you licked me. Stop complaining.” The kettle started whistling right as the coffee beeped and I snatched it off the stand and poured it into three mugs while Liam doctored up his tea. Attempting to take everything in one trip, I put the cream and sugar in between my arms and chest as I grabbed all three mugs with my hands, already feeling them starting to slip.

“Here let me help,” Liam said, taking the three mugs with ease in his much larger hands and made his way into the living room as I slumped behind him.

“Cammie!” Carson called as I entered the room and placed the sugar and cream on the coffee table. 

“Hey Carson, how’ve you been?” I said, flopping down onto the floor, taking my mug of coffee from Liam and began fixing it to exactly how I wanted it.

“Whoa whoa whoa. He’s allowed to call you Cammie and I’m not?” Liam said, looking like I just said something seriously offensive.

“In his defense, you never tried saying Cammie again, so who knows? Maybe you can actually call me that.” Liam narrowed his eyes at me, deciding if he was going to do it or not. 

“I like Camille better,” he said finally.

“Alright then, we don’t have an issue. Now. Game time.” I turned towards the TV while James browsed the arenas we could play because he won last round.

“So are we doing teams or everyone for themselves?” James asked.

“Teams!” Carson declared, holding his controller in front of him in a ready position.

“Ok, how are we splitting it?” 

“Me and Liam,” Carson said again before anyone else could say anything, “versus you and Cam. Should be even.” He shrugged so simply and I wanted to act offended that he thought James was incredible and I was terrible making us an even team against two people who were fairly decent, but then I looked at James who was giving me a knowing evil smirk that said, ‘let’s whoop their butts,’ and so I nodded and said, “Yeah, that should be even. I don’t play very often.” James nodded, looking shameful that I didn’t know how to play a solid game of Halo, but I just wanted to praise myself and give myself an award for stellar acting. James isn’t the only actor in the family, suckas. Prepare to lose, I told myself as I took my controller back in hand.

“Alright, let’s do this arena then.” I looked at the screen as James selected the arena that we were both good at. Whenever we played this arena, there was no obvious advantage to either one of us. We knew the ins and outs and we knew how to get people where we wanted them.

“I should warn you guys,” Liam began, looking falsely concerned, “I’m pretty good at this game and I am sorry if your losses are indefinite.” 

I eyed him and leaned closer, “I’m sure we’ll manage.” He looked slightly taken aback at my answer as James called, “Game on!”

Over an hour later, James and I were jumping around, hugging, and laughing in Carson and Liam’s faces as we celebrated our fifth consecutive win.

“No time for looooseerrss, ‘cause we are the champions - duh duh duh duhhh - of the world!” We sang, leaping across the room while Liam looked amused, but frustrated and Carson just looked genuinely ticked off.

“How?” He demanded. “How do you know how to play this game? You’re a girl,” he said in complete disbelief.

“Wow, sexist are we? I happen to have an older brother who has taught me well. Plus, this game is fun and I like it, so suck it up buttercup and face the facts. You. Lost,” I said, not letting him crush my victory.

“Well, we could do six out of eleven? Or do you guys want to call it quits?” James said, finally falling on the couch, still smiling triumphantly. 

“I think I better cut my losses and do something that doesn’t involve you on the same team,” Liam said.

“Black Ops.”

“No, Cam. I don’t think I can handle losing to you,” Carson said. I beamed.

“I might just head home,” Liam said, getting up and stretching his arms above his head. Goodness me, he was a fine looking specimen. How did someone always look like they just walked out of a fashion magazine? Every ripple in his arm was perfect and so well defined and -

I gasped in surprise as a piece of balled up paper hit me in the forehead. I looked over to James where I see him giving me a knowing look as he points to his eyes with his two fingers and then points them at me, finishing it up by pointing at Liam. My face dropped horrified that 1) James noticed me looking at Liam and 2) Liam and Carson might have seen what James did, but to my luck the two of them were discussing a scene from the movie. Glaring back at James, I got up and grabbed the now empty mugs off the table and took them to the kitchen. As I loaded the dishwasher, I heard heavy clomps of feet enter the kitchen and I turned to see Liam and Carson with their coats on.

“You guys leaving?” I asked, even if it was painfully obvious that was their intent.

“Yeah, I don’t want to face you kicking our butt any longer,” Carson said, pulling his beanie over his ears.

“You’ll get better, I promise.”

“So we’ll see you soon, yeah?” Liam asked.

“Probably not, I have APs coming up and I seriously have to actually do some studying.

“That’s boring,” Liam crinkled his face in disgust. 

“But necessary, so I’ll see you guys in the next couple of weeks or something.”

“Alright, see you later gorgeous.” Carson blew a kiss my way and I swatted it away, making Liam laugh and Carson pout and stomp out of the room like a child. “First I lose to you and now you won’t take my kisses! This is an awful day!” he shouted as he stomped down the stairs. I then looked up from my ridiculous laughing to see Liam still in the kitchen, a soft, subtle smile crossing his lips and I could feel my breathing stop and heart race as he looked at me.

“I guess I’ll see you later then,” he finally said.

“Yeah, have a good week.”

“You too, Camille. Bye,” he said, turning around and heading down the stairs as I did a little two-finger salute goodbye. My heart beat slowed down and I felt air return to my lungs as he exited my house and I heard the door slam shut.

“So...” I turned to find James leaning against the wall, arms crossed, his smirk boring into my head.

“Shut up.”

And that was all James needed to bust out laughing at me as I buried my face in my hands hiding the blush that was currently taking over my face

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Hey lovelies! Sorry this took some time, college is kinda sucking the life out of me, but y'know how it goes. Anyway! I hope you enjoy this chapter and remember to tell me what you thought. Camiliam stuff! AND IT'S WONDERFUL.

Got some great things in store, so remember to stay tuned and I really hope you enjoyed it.

Follow me on Twitter @KateWells7 or Instagram @katewells7

Stay classy and have a fabulous day!

-Kate