I laced up my cleats, sat in my car. It was my first proper match since I had been kicked off the team and Coach had made it very clear that it was going to effect my recommendation statement. I had to play well.

I got out of the car, slamming the door shut. I cringed at the sound of cleats on concrete, hurrying over to the pitch and dropping my bag with everyone else's. Coach greeted me with a nod and my team mates greeted me with a glare. Charming.

"Start warming up." Coach barked, "Everyone will be arriving soon."

I did some basic stretches before breaking out into a light jog around the pitch. I didn't want to tire myself out, doing sprinting laps like the goons- it was simply burning energy unnecessarily. Once I was warmed up, I jogged back to where Coach was sorting stuff out, lending him a hand.

"You'll kick ass today; ignore the others." Coach mumbled, his voice so low I almost didn't hear him.

A wide smile stretched out on my face, my heart warming. He actually did like me, after all. The stands were full of people now and the other team were warming up on the opposite end of the pitch. My eyes scanned the crowds and widened in surprise.

I jogged over to the group of people who were rooting for me. Obviously my family were there, but Felix had brought the whole group too. It had been a week since I had seen them, so I was ecstatic they were here.

"It's the superstar himself!" Saint cheered, his arm around a girl, "He's graced us with his presence."

"Shut up, Saint." I laughed, "You must be Mia."

"It's so good to meet you! All of these idiots have been singing your prayers." Mia gushed, wrapping me in a hug.

"You're gonna kick ass today!" Mary cheered with Angel.

"Kicking and Screaming." Felix reminded me, with a wink.

"Kicking and screaming." I nodded, feeling pumped.

"Kicking and Screaming? What is that?" Oli scrunched up his nose, looking curious.

"Our motto." I shrugged, smiling.

I can't believe everyone had turned up for this. It was really sweet. It was really tugging at my heart strings- I finally had a friendship group. Everyone gave me a high-five or a hug and wished me luck.

"Wanna celebrate if we win?" I asked, everyone cheering.

"Daxx and I are going out tonight, so you can use our place if you like?" Connor offered sweetly, taking a hold of Daxx's arm.

"We are?" Daxx asked, clearly confused.

Connor whispered for him to be quiet, nudging him. I nodded, saying thank you. We all agreed to meet and head there together after the match. I was really hoping we won now, so that I would get a chance to celebrate with my friends.

I received another round of good lucks from everyone, before heading back to the pitch. I did some more stretches and then headed over to Coach to go over strategy. Coach gave us a less than inspiring group message, but I remember what he had said to me personally and my confidence grew once again.

"Kicking and screaming." I heard several people yell from the crowd, making a smile crack out on my face.

"Who are they?" Jimmy's voice questioned from behind me, making my stomach churn.

"My friends." I shrugged, sending them a wave.

"They all look queer, like him." A goon spat near my feet, making my lip curl up in disgust.

"That guy's literally making out with a girl." I deadpanned, referring to Saint and Mia.

"Probably still gay." The goons snapped, realising his logic was flawed.

"Just focus on winning- a brain your size can't exactly multitask." I snapped back, sending him a glare.

"Andy." Jimmy warned, obviously not wanting me to get the shit beaten out of me.

They couldn't touch me when all these people were around and I wasn't letting him talk about my new friends like that. The referee blew his whistle and I focused on the match, getting into my position. I had been avoiding Jimmy since the balcony mishap, so I was glad to have an excuse to leave that situation.

The match started and I reminded myself of coaches words. I really wanted to do well, so I was going to put my whole heart into it. I sprinted off, dodging bodies as I got into an opening. A goon passed me the ball, since I was the only person not being locked and I set off, sprinting as fast as I could. I dribbled the ball around opponents, heading towards the goal.

I was getting super close to the goal when two defenders ran towards me, ready to tackle me. I saw a goon off to the side and I tapped the ball towards him, right at the last second so that the defenders were too late to stop it. I sprinted past them, receiving the ball again as the goon passed it back. My heart was pounding in my chest as I neared the goal, the goalie crouching- ready to save my shot.

I swung my foot back, swinging it forward. The goalie jumped to the left, stumbling. I let my foot miss the ball, swinging it back again and actually kicking it this time, shooting it into the right side of the net. A clear shot. My hands flung into the air, cheering. I could hear my friends going wild in the stands.

By the time the match was over, my cheeks were bright red and I was huffing and puffing. I had a stitch, but I was over the moon. Jimmy had barely let any goals in and I had scored five, meaning we had won. My whole team was going crazy, congratulating each other.

I ran straight past them, going to the stands. Felix practically tackled me, telling me how great I was. Oli caught me, so I didn't topple down the stairs as Felix jumped on me. Mia had yelled 'group hug' and we were all huddled, jumping with our arms around each other and laughing. Daxx and Connor watched with a smile from the side, probably happy I wasn't friendless anymore.

"Party at Andy's!" Saint cheered, wrapping his arms around Mia's waist.

Everyone whooped and we headed down the stands, going towards the carpark. I saw Jimmy watching us with curious eyes, but I ignored him. Felix went with Daxx, Connor, Angel and Mary in their car and everyone else piled into my car.

"Is that him?" Oli whispered to me, nodding to Jimmy, "He hasn't stopped staring."

"Yeah. He can't figure out if he's gay or not." I shrugged, starting the ignition.

"He could be bi? Or pan." Oli suggested, confused.

"He said himself that he hasn't ever liked a girl in that way. He's just scared to come out, so he takes it out on me and pretends he's straight." I chuckled darkly, "Forget it. Let's have fun."

Oli nodded, turning up the radio. We all sang along, talking about the match. I received so many compliment from them on how I played. Saint was astounded that I had that much stamina and I laughed, telling Mia about how he was out of breath from racing to a tree and back.

"Stop negging me." Saint teased, making me blush.

"I was not." I shook my head.

"Mike, are you okay? You look lost without your hip attachment." Oli teased, making Mike send him a glare.

"Felix will be fine." I teased, "Angel and Mary are probably just gossiping with him."

"I can survive without Felix for five minutes." Mike rolled his eyes, sneakily checking his phone for any texts from Felix.

"Young love birds are cramping up the back of this car." Oli shook his head, "Us singletons don't want to see that shit."

"Don't act as if you weren't making moves on Andy!" Saint gasped, defending himself, "You're so underhand."

Everyone laughed at that and my blush grew stronger. They had noticed it, too? I pulled into my driveway and we all piled out, them following me inside. They all complimented the house, commenting on how different it was to every other one in the neighbourhood. I explained it was tinted because of Daxx's condition, which was why he was so covered up at the football match. To my surprise, they didn't even bat an eyelid.

Heading inside, I saw that they had gotten back before us and Connor and Daxx already had a little overnight bag packed, ready to leave. I knew they were only doing this to give us some space to have fun, which I really appreciated. They were really good to me.

"We're going to head off now. Stay safe, we love you- don't do anything I wouldn't do." Connor cooed, kissing my forehead.

"So nothing's off bounds then? Just girls?" Mary teased, making Connor swat her.

"I love you." I yelled after them, making Connor gasp audibly and coo to Daxx, yelling he loved me back.

"And then there were eight." Felix joked, looking around the empty house, "Presuming you guys are going to stick around?"

"Sure." Angel and Mary nodded in unison, which was pretty creepy. Sometimes I thought they acted more like twins than Angel and I did.

"Okie doke. Well then, invite your friends. Everyone." Felix cheered, whipping out his phone, "Only nice people, though. Homophobe free zone."

"Are we seriously throwing a party, Felix?" I groaned, thinking about all of the mess.

"Andy, do you want to go to Uni knowing you've never thrown a kick ass party? It's an opportunity to make more friends- everyone we invite will only be super nice. No dickheads. Please, please, please!" Felix begged, making a smile slip onto my face.

"Fine, but you have to help clean up tomorrow." I sighed, making everyone whoop.

Everyone headed to the lounge, flopping down on the sofas. I shared a loveseat with Oli, watching everyone tapping away on their phones. Felix was right, exams were approaching rapidly and after that, we would have our camping trip and then everyone would be gone. I would head off to Uni and I wouldn't get this opportunity again. I had to take it- have fun and let loose.

After everyone was done texting friends, we realised we still had hours until the party began. They decided to order food and I placed my order before heading upstairs, showering and changing into something that wasn't a sweaty football kit. I bounded downstairs just as the doorbell sounded.

I flung the front door open, paying the delivery guy. I carried the food into the front room and everyone cheered, collecting their orders. We ate happily, chatting amongst ourselves as we watched a Netflix show. After working myself so hard during the match, I was starving; that veggie burger was gone in mere minutes.

"About this camping trip, who has tents?" Saint piped up, keen to plan our trip (per usual).

Saint had created his little group chat and it had been popping off with messages since it was created. I swear these guys were nocturnal- I always had messages flooding through at all times of the day. Everyone else spoke about uni and music or who's party was happening and when. Saint, however, only wanted to talk about camping. He was like an over-excited puppy.

"I want to be added to that, by the way. I've met Andy and we're bezzies now, so I'm qualified for the cool kids group." Mia smiled, "This idiot won't stop talking about camping. I swear, he'll forget to revise for his actual exams."

"We can only go if you ace them." I warned, making Saint pout.

"You guys are going camping?" Angel asked, curiosity dripping in her voice.

I nodded. I felt bad about it, but I didn't really want to share this trip with her and Mary. It was selfish, I know. However, this was my first group of friends- something I had never experienced. Angel and Mary had so many close friends that I lost count. I just wanted to have something of my own, for once. Not to feel constantly compared to my better twin.

"It's basically a couples retreat, not a camping trip." Oli scoffed, "Except I've been bro-zoned."

"He's not wrong." Mike shrugged, wrapping his arms around Felix.

"If you guys dated then our group would all be together!" Saint realised, his eyes lighting up in excitement.

"That would be cute! We could triple-date!" Mia gasped with him, sharing his excitement.

I rolled my eyes at them, blushing slightly. Oli suddenly felt very close to me on the small loveseat, making my skin feel all hot. He sent me a knowing smile and scootched away, giving me some space. He had been exceptional at respecting my boundaries, despite a few teasing comments. They were all only poking fun at himself for being friend zoned, rather than spiteful towards me.

"I'd rather not third wheel your brother, Angel." Mary laughed, "We have that girls trip, anyway."

Angel nodded and I tried to not show my relief, guilt eating away at my chest at the same time. I felt entirely selfish. We settled into watching a film, Felix flipping off the lights. I ended up leaning against Oli, since he was pretty comfortable. I noticed Felix sending me looks, but I ignored him.

The credits rolled and everyone stretched, talking about how the movie was. Felix whispered in Saint's ear before jumping off the sofa, flipping the lights back on. I cringed at the sudden light, moving off of Oli. We all looked at Felix as he made his way to the centre of the room, stepping up onto the coffee table.

"Time to party!" He cheered, fist bumping the air.

"Kicking and screaming!" Saint yelled back, making us all laugh.