× Horan

"Six more games before the BUSA," Coach said inside the locker room once we had changed into our uniforms.

Over the past month, Coach had been taking the team into the boy's locker room for his pep talk before every game instead of talking over the crowd outside on the pitch. When the idea was first brought up, Lynn had protested saying how the room probably smelled bad because naturally the boy's locker room was supposed to, I guess. But she obviously had never been inside a boy's locker room because it actually didn't smell as bad as you would think, except for the overpowering cologne.

The BUSA was short for British Universities Sports Association. Since Lynn wasn't from here, she didn't really know what that meant, so Dylan had to bring her up to speed.

It was a football league system set up for universities in the United Kingdom. The BUSA is divided into North and South, each involving six teams. Teams in each section of the Premier division play each other twice, so each team plays a total of ten games.

I could tell that Lynn was still trying to wrap her head around all the new information about the differences between the two countries, but she had the gist of it and that was all that really mattered for the time being. Jace just told her not to worry about it and to just win the games. She seemed to understand that.

"We've lost a few games this season, but it had been less than the other years," Coach said from in front of the team. "I know for a fact that we are in the top five teams to go into the BUSA as of right now, but just barely. So we have to put everything we have trained for into the last six games to keep us where we are."

I took a quick glance over to my right and saw Lynn leaning against one of the lockers, staring off at something on the floor blankly. She was wearing her black shin guards and socks and maroon colored shorts. The weather outside was on the chilly side, so for the time being she was wearing Jace's jacket that was the same color as her shorts with his last name printed in golden letters on the back and the school logo on the sleeve.

No one had to say it to know, but Lynn was the reason why we were even in the top five for the BUSA. We were always good; it was just the other teams were a little bit better. Lynn broke that line and now we were the ones pushing the teams behind us.

"Did you hear me!?" Coach yelled. The team shouted in agreement. "Good! Then get out there and kick some Rover ass!"

There were more shouts from the players and then everyone piled out of the locker room and into the arena. Coach spewed orders at the players to either start running around the field or stretching. I stayed with Coach to go through the game plan as everyone got to their orders.

As important as it was, my head just wasn't in it. There was too much on my mind.

Ever since I told Jace what I did to Lynn, he had been giving me the cold shoulder. Whenever he talked to me, I had to say it over in my head twice because what he said probably had a double meaning.

Lynn hasn't been talking to me, either, but it wasn't like I was trying very hard to hear her voice again. It hadn't effect the way we played so for the time being, I was going to have to be okay with it.

And then there was the rival team, of course. They were standing on the sidelines in there baby blue and white jerseys, watching as some of my teammates ran around the pitch and stretched at the sidelines.

The Doncaster Rovers were not a friend of mine or to my team. They were the team that beat us, putting us into sixth place last year, kicking us off the list to the BUSA. But there was one tosser who I despised the most on the team.

Just as I was thinking that, I saw him on the field. And he was talking to Lynn.

"-feel like that would work," Coach was saying. I put my focus back on him and looked at the clipboard in his hands. I wasn't completely listening to what he was saying, but I nodded my head in agreement, trusting his judgment.

"Sounds great," I told him. "Can I join the team for warm ups?"

"Yes. Fifteen minutes until game time."

I started making my way onto the pitch and to Lynn. I wasn't exactly on good terms with her ever since she went through my stuff, but the person she was talking to was way higher on my Shit List and I had to make sure he wasn't playing any games with her. My team needed Lynn now more than ever, we didn't need her distracted.

As I got closer, I could tell Lynn didn't like the lad from her stance. She had her arms crossed and hip cocked in a sassy way that told me that she could see right through the lad's persona.

"What are you doing, Tomlinson?" I snapped once I was in talking distance. The lad looked over to me with a sly smile that told me that he was doing exactly what I expected.

"Nice face," he sneered and put his hands on his hips. "You almost look better like that. The bruise really compliments your eyes."

Louis Tomlinson. Star player for the Doncaster Rovers. Plays forward right, though he always seemed to find his way over to me and make sure I never had the opportunity to out shine him. Today was going to be different.

His unruly brunette hair seemed to be messier than the last time I had seen him a few months ago when I played against him, and his cheekbones were still as sharp as was his jaw. There wasn't anything complicated about our history. We both just wanted the same thing, and he always seemed to beat me to it.

"Come on, Lynn," I said and grabbed her arm and started pulling her away. Before I could get very far, she pulled back and out of my grasp. She had a look of irascibility that would have put anyone to shame.

Louis busted out laughing. "Looks like I'm not the only one who dislikes you," he observed with an amused look on his face.

"We need to get practicing," I told Lynn, ignoring Louis. "Please?"

Lynn's face softened from my plea, but there was still annoyance in her eyes. She let out a heavy sigh and dropped her hands to her side dramatically as she brushed passed me and to the rest of our team.

I followed after her and looked behind my shoulder at Louis to flick him off. He ignored my gesture and watched the two of us walk off with a knowing look on his face that sent chill down my body. I prayed that whatever scheme he may have for this game, that it didn't involve Lynn. Tomlinson and I had our own rivalry, she better not be dragged into it.

× × ×

The first half of the game was tight with the score of 2-2, and the cheering in the stands was brilliant. Granted, a lot of the cheering was against us, but the energy was still there all the same.

Once the fifteen minutes of halftime was up, I was ordered back onto the pitch. There was a pull on my gut, however, when I saw that Lynn was told to sit out for a while. The two of us always worked better as a team, I was shit compared to the rivals without her.

When I got to the left side of the center line, I came face-to-face with none other than Louis Tomlinson. I gave him a nasty look as I stood in front of him and waited for the whistle to blow, ending halftime.

"You know," he said in his high voice that I found extremely maddening. "Mercury is kind of hot."

My fist clenched, but I ignored his words and looked over at the referee and saw him talking to the Rover's coach.

"Great figure," he continued, stepping closer to me. "Nice chest, fine ass. Face of an angel - so pure. I wouldn't mind taking away her innocence, if you know what I mean."

"You better belt up, Tomlinson," I said through my teeth.

"I bet you think about her all the time. You probably lay in bed thinking about all the things you could do to her, because I know I would. Her voice would be heavenly when she would moan my name in my mouth as my hands trail down her soft-"

I didn't let him finish because as soon the whistle blew, I launched forward and bucked him out of the way, nearly making him fall on his ass. The game kept playing to my surprise - I thought for sure I was going to get called out - and the ball was kicked through the air and in my direction. I ran for it, but as soon as it was about to get to me, Louis was there and pushed me aside as he spun and started running in the other direction, leaving me in the dust.

By the time I reached him, he had already passed the ball to one of his teammates, but I made damn sure he wasn't going to get it back.

"Her hands tugging on my hair as she shakes with pleasure," Louis continued as he ran past me to get open.

I let him run away, though I made sure I wasn't that far behind. I watched as the ball came whizzing toward Louis like I had expected, and quickly started sprinting over to him. I snatched the ball away, just like he had done to me. I made sure to check him in the chest as I did so.

I was quickly blocked by a different opposing player and was forced to pass the ball. After kicking it away from me and to another player, Louis was right there again, spitting out nasty fantasies about him and Lynn.

It took everything in me to not punch him in the face.

William had the ball then, and I ran alongside him on the opposite side of the field as he booked it down the pitch, closer and closer to the goal. I could feel the energy in the room get higher as the football got closer. I kept sidestepping away from Louis incase William where to get stuck and needed a way out, but I didn't need to worry because the next second the ball swooshed past the goalie's gloved fingers and into the net behind him.

3-2.

There was a collective "boo!" of the home team audience as my teammates and I had a small celebration of the goal before finding our spots in line once again.

Only a half hour left before I was done with Louis' shit.

The game went on. Back and forth, both sides close to getting goals, but not succeeding. Lynn had been put back into the game and I had hope that we were going to win this game.

That was before Louis started up again, but this time, putting everything he had to push my buttons.

"I should ask Coach to switch me to forward right," Louis was saying as we waited for the whistle to blow and for the opposing team player to throw the ball in from behind the line. "That way I can feel Lynn's body pressed up against mine as we struggled to-"

I didn't give him the chance to finish because the next thing I knew I was gripping onto his jersey and pushing him onto the green grass below, pinning him down with my legs. I heard the muffled whistle blow from somewhere outside my aggressive bubble I had created, but knew that it wasn't the signal to continue the game.

The smile on Louis' face made me lift my fist and pound it into his face.

Before I had the chance to do it again, arms were around me and pulling me off. And then someone else was there and I could hear Coach shouting something and more whistles blowing and a flash of something red in the corner of my eye.

But my focus wasn't on any of that. My full concentration was on the wanker lying on the grass with a bloody nose.

Reese was the one holding me back, and just as the referees and other spectators who were supposed to standby until something like this happened came toward me, I jerked out of his arms and started marching away, not giving a second glance at Louis who was now being helped up by a ref.

"Hey!" Coach shouted, putting a hand out to make me stop. I paused in my tracks and looked over at him; his anger was just as clear as mine. "What the hell was that about?"

I just shook my head and started walking again. Coach grabbed the sleeve of my jersey and pulled me back to him before I could get very far.

"You know what this means, right?" Coach asked like I was an alien from Mars. I looked over at the ref next to Coach and saw the red card in his hands. "You sit out for the rest of the game and then the next. You probably cost us to go into the championship. Explain what the hell was going through your head."

Over Coach's shoulder, I saw Lynn standing next to Matt. He was saying something to her, but she was looking at me. I thought she was angry, but the heat from her eyes told me differently. She was a volcano ready to erupt.

"Sorry," I said with a shrug. There was no way in hell I was going to explain my intentions to him.

He finally let go of my sleeve and I marched my way off the pitch. I grabbed my water bottle and started making my way into the building, not wanting to stay and watch the fallout my actions had created. Before I walked through the doors, I looked over my shoulder and my eyes locked with Louis'.

He was surrounded by his coach, teammates, and medics in white looking him over to see if he was okay to continue playing. But even through the throng of people around him, the amusement was clear on his face.

Louis had gotten exactly what he wanted and I had given it to him on a silver platter.

× × ×

It was five in the evening by the time the game finally ended.

I stayed in the locker room because I knew if I were to leave, Coach would find me and I wanted witnesses around in case that happened. I figured I would leave with the other lads and pray that I would just blend in. Also, being left alone with my thoughts was probably the worst thing I could be doing with myself. The only thing I could think about was Louis' disgusting words and the thrill of punching him in the face.

Suddenly there was commotion from a few rows of lockers away.

"Where is he?" I heard and I quickly sat up on the bench.

Before I could make a run for it, Lynn stopped at the end of the row of lockers and spotted me instantly. She pushed her way through the shocked, half-naked boys who protested and quickly covered themselves, and walked up to me.

I could visibly see raw resentment in her deep blue eyes as she squinted at me like I was a rare bacterium.

"What the hell is your problem!?" she snapped, almost hysterically. All the other lads on the team had gathered around to watch what was sure going to be World War III. "Everyone is too scared to confront you, but I'm not. Do you know what you did, Niall Horan? Do you know where this puts all of us?"

"Lynn-" I started but she held up her hand and I was silenced instantly.

"Why did you do it?" she asked and the hatred in her eyes made me frown.

She was still wearing her uniform except she took out her pony tail, making her caramel hair fall down her shoulders and puffing out like a lion's mane.

I ran my hands down my face before answering. "He was pissing me off."

"So you hit him?"

"He was..." I trailed off, trying to find the right words for the situation. "He was saying inappropriate things about you and it was uncalled for."

"So was hitting him," she interjected, crossing her arms over her chest. "I've told you a thousand times that I can take care of myself. He was only saying stuff like that to get a rise from you, and it worked. This is a team sport and you were only thinking about yourself."

"Bullshit," I said through my teeth, standing up so I could have the height advantage. The teammate's closes to me backed up to give us more space. "That is obviously not true. I hit him because of the things he was saying about you. And from what I heard, you did just fine without me."

Once I had left the field after getting my red card, I had gone back into the locker room to shower and change and wait until the game was finished. By the time the game was done, I could hear the crowd express their disappointment with their team and later learned that the Rovers had scored once after I had left, tying the game, but then a few minutes before end time, Lynn scored, making it 4-3.

"That's bullshit," Lynn retorted. "We wouldn't have won if you didn't pass the ball to William before you lost your temper. Do you know where this puts you in your future with soccer? Do you know how many recruiters where watching you, waiting for you to graduate so they can snatch you up? Now you blew it. No one wants a player with anger issues, unsure when you might blow up next. They don't want that risk. You fucked up."

"Why do you care?"

Lynn didn't speak for a second and I knew I had her. She blinked a couple of times and looked around her shyly. "Because I know how much this means to you," she finally said, her voice softer than before. "I know because we share the same passion. Don't risk your dream because of me."

Before I could try and say anything else, Lynn was walking away through the mass of boys and I didn't even try to stop her.

It was ironic, really, the one person I was willing to risk everything for, was telling me not to do it. And as soon as I thought that, I knew it was the truth.

The locker room was engulfed in silence, every eye on me.

"Oh, piss off," I snapped and stormed out of the room.