Lifesaver »» l.p {AU} (Discontinued)

The New Liam

**Chapter 16**

-Liam-

I rushed to English class, knowing I was at least fifteen minutes late. When I walked through the door, all eyes were on me, making me feel a little uncomfortable. My eyes landed on the deep blue eyes that belonged to Julina, making me feel comforted. She had a small smile on her face when she saw me, butterflies rise up into my stomach, gently fluttering, "Glad you could join us, Mr. Payne." Mr. Matthews muttered towards me.

"I apologize for being late and interrupting the class." I said as I sat down in my chair.

Mr. Matthews shrugged it off, "It's alright, Liam. Let's not make it a habit though, okay?"

I nodded, "Of course. It won't happen again." I said.

"Now, as I was saying," Mr. Matthews continued, but I zoned out quickly.

The next forty minutes of my life were the longest minutes I've ever been through. I just wanted to talk to her, apologize to her for my pushiness yesterday. I wanted to mend the parts of our very fragile friendship, if we even had one to begin with. As I rushed to English, I decided if Niall wasn't going to listen to me and help me keep Julina away from Harry, my last option was myself. I was going to be nice to her. If I couldn't help stop the hurt she was facing, then I would pick up the pieces afterwards. That's all I can do now right since no one is going to help me?

The small smile suggests to me that she is over what happened yesterday. Or at least that's what I think. I've never been good with picking up signals from girls. I'm just a failure as a man. That's one thing I admired about Julina. She never held a grudge. Something bad could happen and the next day she could be over it. That's something I want to be able to do, forgive easily and move on from that.

Mr. Matthews voice snapped me out of my train of thought when I swore I heard a dreadful word. A word no college student wants to hear.

Project.

I don't want any projects. I didn't even want homework, let alone a project.

"Next Monday, I will give you guys more details about your project. This is going to be an easy one, and you will need a partner for this. By next Monday, I will hope that you'll all have one so we can get started right away. This project won't be heavily graded or a major part of your final grade. Just a simple, easy introduction to what I will be looking for when I give you future projects."

I rolled my eyes and sighed heavily, "I hate this fucking class." I mumbled under my breath.

Julina turned around towards me, "I heard that." she smiled. I couldn't help but smile back at her. Her smile was always so contagious. "Do you want to be my partner?" she asked me, raising her eyebrows at me, nodding her head. I rolled my eyes playfully at her before nodding my head. Her small smile spread from ear to ear. She turned back around and was quiet for the rest of the class.

Soon enough, class was over with, and for some reason, my body was telling me to hang out with Julina. Yeah, I'm probably getting to close to her, and I probably shouldn't be. Yeah, I'm falling more and more for her, but I trust her. I trust her not to hurt me like everyone else. I trust her word when she makes a promise to me. I really, truly trust her and that's a really difficult thing for me to come a realize.

For years, I had blocked people out, protecting myself from the devastating hurt of other people. Then one day, Julina walks in, destroying everything that I have built up over the years. Every wall slowly came crumbling down with every conversation that we had, every laugh we shared, even every time we would sneak glances at each other. And I'm okay with that.