To Love A Fighter |||| l.p.

The Answer

Stella's POV

My heart is pounding, there's a part of me that's elated, overjoyed! Me? To be with him? Like real time girlfriend? And then the other side of me kicks in, to be his girlfriend....to be seen on tabloids....to be spoken of my millions of people behind computers....me....I can just hear the comments,  why is he dating her? She's not even that pretty, she's just average, he could do so much better. I liked him better with Sophia. My pounding heart starts to feel as if its gonna float away from confusion. I'm speechless as I realize he's looking at me wide eyed, waiting for an answer. I don't know what to say so I just kiss him, deeply, passionately. I let myself get lost in the happiness he gives me for a minute. I stop the kiss and look into his beautiful brown eyes, "so, is that a yes?" He asks hopefully. 

I sigh and see him tense, "Its not a no, but I'm not sure if its a yes either Liam." He relaxes a bit, but looks confused, "Well, what do you mean love?" I look at him, feeling pained, confused. I start to list all the reasons why I'm not sure I could be his girlfriend. Everything from his types, to my fighting career, to his fans, to uprooting myself from my home in Houston. He looks down and nods occasionally as he hears me out. He doesn't say a word throughout my outpouring. I start to tear up towards the end, surely he'll take it back.  Surely he'll realize that this was a mistake, surely he'll realize he asked for the wrong girl, surely,  no guy as amazing as Liam Payne would ever want to be with a temperamental woman who fights for a living, who isn't a delicate flower to be admired by the media. But its better to get heartbroken now than later when I'm too attached. "Liam, I'm not gonna change, I'm still gonna fight, I'm not afraid to defend myself, and I'm not one to be waiting around for you to come home, I'll probably be out somewhere, hopefully traveling for my next pro fight, and I can't guarantee I won't look slightly battered up next to you in the red carpet....are you sure you'd want that?" I ask, completing my thoughts.

He pauses to think, which makes my heart start to skip even more. "It would be difficult for us to be together. I mean, you are definitely much different than some of the other girls who date musicians..." My heart starts to sink, I knew it.

He looks at me and asks me a question I wasn't expecting, "You want to know when I knew?"

"When you knew what?"

"When I knew I liked you. Well, when I admitted it to myself. I knew you were special from the moment you let me stay with you on the rooftop. When it dawned on me was when, despite my enormous stupidity of that day, and despite you clearly feeling hurt, the day I came to your hotel room and you shared your cheesecake with me to cheer me up. I bet that was for you wasn't it? To cheer you up, and instead you shared it with me. The idiot that ruined your day. I realized that I truly wanted to be with you, more than anything,  because you always had a way to make me smile. And I wanted to do the same for you."

My face gets hot as I realize how much he noticed from that day. He reaches out to hold my hand. "I'll be honest, I don't know how to make it work, but I could never ask you to change for me, I've always admired you for who you are, and thats what I like about you. I could not imagine you any other way. But I'm wanting to jump in, I think you're worth it."

I'm left speechless. My vision is shaky. Am I ready for this? "Liam....its been a long time....I'm....scared..." I manage to say. "Stella, living to not get hurt is not living at all, I can promise you, I'll make our time together worth the risk. I want you to be mine. So I'll ask again...Will you be my girlfriend?" He asks, a little more hopeful.

My face flushes as I smile, "Yes."