Leah's POV

College came and went quickly and I was now stood waiting for Conor to come and pick me up. Liam had created this fancy scheme which just made it look like Conor and I were hanging out like friends - which after my outburst at Katelyn in English class seemed very reasonable. That gossip had spread slowly around and she was now giving me evils every time we had class. Not that I cared really; I think she was madder that she didn't get put in Liam's list rather than that I shouted at her but that's not something I can change now. Liam made his choice.

"Hey Loraini!" Conor appeared out of nowhere and made me jump. My heart was beating hard and heavy in my chest as I turned to him, him grinning slyly.

"Conor." I responded, unimpressed.

"What were you thinking about?" He quizzed, his face mimicking concern. I sighed and let out a half smile.

"Just how Katelyn was giving me death glares all through class." I laughed a little. "I wondered how long she'd keep that up."

"Depends on if she's mad because you shut her down in class or because Liam picked you and not her. The latter will mean this will go on until he's chosen whoever he wants to go to the leavers graduation and prom with." Conor said as he began to walk ahead of me, leading me towards his house.

"Are we walking?" I questioned, seemingly ignoring the statement he'd made about Katelyn.

"Yeah. Why? Too precious to walk?" He smirked back at me.

"No, I just clearly misinterpreted Liam's plan. When he said you were 'picking me up' I just assumed it was a car." I folded my arms and gave him a scowl. He slowed his walking to be alongside me.

"Relax Loraini. I was joking!" He patted my arm with a smile.

"Better be." I smirked. "We've got to spend all evening together, don't make me regret it."

"I wouldn't dream of it." He winked as we turned a corner and continued down another long stretch of road. The wind was cool as it breezed through us as if we were in the way. My hair blew across my face and whipped Conor lightly on his cheek.

"Sorry." I giggled as I pulled a hair-tie off my wrist and put my hair up into a quick ponytail.

"No, it's fine." He smiled genuinely, gazing longer at my face. "You look good with your hair up."

"Thank you..." I smiled, my cheeks flushing red. He smiled in reply and looked down at his shoes shyly. We walked the rest of the way in silence but it didn't feel bad, it wasn't uncomfortable or awkward.

At last we turned up a driveway and walked up to a large Victorian house. The three large front bay windows stuck out from the red brick building with lighter bricks decorating around the windows and doors. The door was dark wood with two long thin stained glass windows decorating it.

"Wow!" I breathed, internally comparing the size to my small place. When my dad took the job here and decided we had to move up here, we had to get the first place we could find. Now, don't get me wrong, it's not terrible, but at the same time it's not ideal. We can only just about afford it, with dad working full time and me working the weekend and some days after college. I hardly ever saw him because of it and we weren't a family unit anymore. My mum had found another man a few years ago and decided instead of finishing it with my dad and be fair to us, she cheated on him. Safe to say she wasn't very careful and he found out not long afterwards. He was distraught and forced her out of the house, which pleased her because she could just go with her new man, but it left my dad in a bad place. I stuck with him and picked him off the ground at the most difficult of times but he still felt like working all the hours he could would make him forget about mum despite me saying he was wrong almost every day. After trialling that and realising I was right, his next best move was to literally move away and once his workplace had given him an offer to work far away, he didn't even consult me before he gave them his answer. Fast forward a little and here we are; struggling with money, our relationship and life. "It's amazing." I finally said after a moment of silence.

"Really? It's not much, but it's home. We rent it with another few guys." Conor said proudly as he pulled the key out of his pocket and unlocked the door.

"That's great. How comes you all decided to house share?" I quizzed as I stepped into the house, admiring the light grey walls with pictures and ornaments displayed neatly on it.

"We all thought it was time to move out from mummy and daddy's house when we got into college. We're grown adults and we just want to experience adult life." Conor said smartly just as one housemate came out of the front room in nothing but a pair of boxing shorts, munching on some pizza. He had blond hair that was messy as if he'd just got out of bed, stubble, and a decent body. He stopped in the hallway and looked me up and down with a smile.

"That and you can't enjoy bringing girls home for the night if you're with your parents." He laughed and nudged Conor like it was an inside joke.

"Zach, aren't you meant to be out?" Conor scoffed, clearly unimpressed. "Liam said you were going out with Fran." Once again Zach let out a smile.

"No, Fran was yesterday. Today is Jessica." He said as he ran up the stairs to his room. Conor shook his head and lead me into the front room.

"Sorry about him. He thinks he's a ladies man." Conor rolled his eyes. "He's not as bad as he comes across."

"I didn't say a word." I said, holding my hands up in innocence. Conor let out a sly smile.

"Anyway, where do you live? And who with?" I shifted uncomfortably as I thought of the best way to answer. Honestly? Or quickly?

"I live with my dad. Exactly what you all wanted to avoid." I let out a nervous laugh. "Although we never see each other because we have clashing work schedules..." I saw Conor's smile fall as he listened intently, taking in every word and emotion I was portraying.