I nervously tapped my foot on the bleacher in front of me as I looked around the lacrosse field in search for my brother. He said he would be here, yet both he and Kira were no where to be seen. I was starting to get concerned, mostly due to the fact that Scott would never willingly miss the first game of the season. 

I looked down at my phone, letting out a small curse when I saw no response from Scott. I had texted him at least twenty times at this point, partnered with a few phone calls, yet I had heard nothing.  My nervous eyes travelled to the field, meeting with Liam's who was scanning the crowd, also in search of my brother. 

"Hey Soph?" I muttered, turning to her. "I'll be right back, okay?" I announced, standing up and adjusting the beanie on my head. 

Sophia grinned, "Going to see your boyfriend?" she cooed, giving me a teasing look as I went. After this afternoon when Scott had found out about Liam and I, I decided I might as well tell Sophia. Truly, I'm not sure if I have ever seen her so excited. 

I turned, shooting her a glare as I made my way toward the bench where Stiles and Liam sat, both of them looking slightly concerned- Liam more than Stiles. "Where the hell is he?" Liam questioned as soon as I was in ear shot.

I shook my head, throwing my hands up, "How am I supposed to know?" I demanded, "He told me as much as he told you." I explained.

"Guys," Stiles interjected, "Calm down, he'll be here." he assured.

"MINI MCCALL!" Coach yelled from the end of the bench.

I reluctantly turned my head to see him giving me the death stare. "Yes Coach?" I replied weakly. I knew the question he was about to ask me and unfortunately I didn't have an answer.

"Where the hell is your brother and Yukimura?" he snapped, "The game is about to start!" 

"Well you see Coach," I began, already moving so Liam was shielding me from his wrath,  "I actually don't know at the moment." I sheepishly explained.

"They'll be here!" Stiles insisted.

"Well they better be" Coach grumbled.

"We're gonna lose without them." Liam mumbled, dropping his face into his hands. I placed a supportive hand on his back as Stiles spoke up.

"No we're not." He assured,  "I'll tell you what, I've been practicing. I'm getting good. Real good." Stiles said a sly smile on his face.

I tried my best to stifle a laugh. I loved Stiles with all of my heart, but the kid could barely play lacrosse to save his life.

Stiles shot me a glare as he began making his way onto the field, "Shut up, Sydney!" he yelled, kicking his feet against his butt to presumably warm up.

I let out a small laugh before looking back at Liam who looked like he was about to throw up. "You'll be fine." I promised, giving him a warm smile, "If anything happens, Stiles is here. And I'll be in the stands the whole time." 

Liam gave a small nod, "Brett will be after me." he pointed out, his eyes travelling to where Brett stood by Devenford's bench. 

I followed Liam's gaze, meeting Brett's eye briefly before looking back to my boyfriend, "Scott's saved his life twice now. It would be nice if he could lay off."

Liam muttered something under his breath before bushing himself to his feet, "I better get out there." he announced, his nervous eyes moving to meet mine. 

I nodded, giving him a quick smile before leaning in to kiss his cheek, "Good luck," I muttered, "You'll do great."

With one final nervous glance toward the field, I make my way back to the bleachers to join Sophia and Mason, along with Sydney, a girl from Scott's grade. 

"Where's your brother?" Mason asked as I sat down beside Sophia. He looked nervous too- probably worried that we were going to get destroyed like last time. 

"I have no idea," I muttered as I watched the face off. 

Stiles, the one who had said he was getting good-"real good" no more than 5 minutes ago, was taking the face off. I watched as he immediately missed the ball before face planting in the middle of the field.

I broke into laughter which earned many stares being sent my way. "Sorry." I muttered, holding back another laugh.

---

I winced as Stiles was sent crashing to the ground. "Oh god" I mumbled, putting my hand over my eyes. This was bad.

"It's okay," The other Sydney enthused, "They can still pull it together." 

My eyes traveled to the score board, "That's unlikely." I muttered, inwardly cringing at how bad this game was going. 

"COME ON!" Coach yelled as Devenford Prep scored once again. He was not going to be happy with Scott the next time he saw him.

The ref blew the whistle, signalling halftime, which resulted in both teams returning to their benches. I watched as Liam and Stiles exchanged a few words before Stiles gathered his things, rushing off the field to talk to his dad. 

I felt myself getting nervous as I leaned forward slightly, trying to see what was going on with Stiles and Sheriff. Soon enough, I saw them both leaving the field, which only made me more concerned.

"LIAM!" Coached yelled, bringing my eyes out to the field. "GET ON THE FIELD!" he ordered. 

Five minutes later, and the bleachers finally erupted into cheers as one of our players broke into a breakaway. However, the cheers quickly turned to disappointed sighs as Devenford took the ball once again. They charged down to our end as Liam step up ready to take them on. I felt Mason shift eagerly beside me, both of us nervous for what was about to happen. But Mason and I both were plunged into confusion as  Liam stopped moving. He stood frozen in the middle of the field, a horrified look on his face.

"What is he doing?" Mason questioned, looking to me for answers. 

I shook my head, my eyes still locked on Liam, "I don't know." I mumbled furrowing my eyebrows.

"LIAM FOR GOD SAKES, MOVE!" Coached yelled, which seemed to snap Liam out of whatever trance he was in but it was too late, Devenford Prep scored once again.

Another few minutes had passed, but luckily Liam now had the ball in his possession as he ran down the field,  "GO LIAM!" I yelled, anxiously watching as he got closer and closer to Devenford's net. 

"Come on Liam." Mason mumbled beside me as the other Sydney held up a home-made sign which read 'Go Liam'.  Sophia was loudly cheering as well, all of us full of excitement. 

Liam dodged around another player, and he was almost to the net when a body crashed into him, sending him to the ground with a thud. I watched as Liam flung off his helmet, as did the person who hit him. With no surprise, it had been Brett. 

"What the hell!?" I yelled,  shooting up from my seat.

"Sit down McCall." Coach ordered, turning to me with a glare.

"Sorry," I mumbled, quickly sitting back down.

---

The game had finally ended and I was grateful that everyone could be put out of their misery and just go home. Safe to say BHHS got their asses kicked. 

Everyone else had gone home, yet I stood outside the locker room, impatiently waiting for Liam. 

I checked the time on my phone, letting out a small groan, both at the fact that Liam was still not out, and I had yet to hear from Scott. "How long does it take this kid to get changed?" I grumbled to myself. Every player had come through that door except for him.

I perked up when I heard footsteps coming closer. However,  to my disappointment it wasn't my boyfriend, but instead it was Brett. "Sydney" he greeted sending me a wide smile.

I smiled, pushing myself off of where I had been leaning against the wall, "Hey, Brett." I greeted, before narrowing my eyes, "Good game." I reluctantly forced out. 

He let out a small laugh as he nodded, "Thanks." he grinned before, glancing toward my torso, "I'm glad to see you're doing better." He announced, pointing to my stomach where the bullet wound had been. 

I nodded, "I didn't get a chance to thank you for looking out for me that night." I began, "I'd probably be dead if you weren't there."

Brett shook his head slightly, "Your brother has done enough for me," he explained, "It was the least I could do."

I was about to say something else when the locker room door swung open, Liam rushing out. "Syd, let's go." he muttered, grabbing my hand and pulling me with him. 

Brett was snickering as he sent me a wave, "See you later then." he called down the hall. 

I sent him an apologetic look as I struggled to keep up with Liam, "Bye!" I yelled back.

Once we were outside of the school I stopped and pulled my hand out of Liam's grasp. "What the hell are you doing!?" I snapped. 

Liam just shook his head ignoring my question as he turned his back to me, his shoulders rising and falling with each deep breath he took.

I let out an agitated sigh, "Okay, if you're pissed that I was talking to Brett then-"

Liam spun back around to face ,e, "I'm not mad that you were talking to him!" he snapped, causing me to step back.

"Then what are you so upset about!?" I demanded, throwing my arms up in anger.

Liam's eyes locked with my own, "I'm mad because I wasn't there to protect you." he admitted,  raising his voice.

I shook my head, "What are you talking about?" I asked lowering my voice.

His eyes fell to the ground as he lowered his voice, "That night you got shot," he began, "I was too scared to go, so instead Brett had to protect you." he admitted, "I should have been there Syd, you shouldn't of gotten hurt. It's all my fault." 

"Liam." I breathed, reaching out to grab his hand. "Look at me." I demanded. 

He slowly looked up,  his blue eyes meeting with mine. I gave him a sad smile as I shook my head,  "It was not your fault, no matter what. Even if you were there, this would have happened okay?" I whispered, "I'm, glad you weren't there. If you weren't ready you shouldn't have gone. Hell, I shouldn't of gone but I did and  it was my own fault. So please just stop blaming yourself."

Liam sighed and closed his eyes before he finally nodded, "Okay." he mumbled, reopening them to look at me. 

"Good." I muttered, a smile coming to my face as I leaned forward to press my lips to his. We were interrupted when my phone rang. 

Stiles' name popped up on my caller ID, sending a mixture of fear and hope through my body. "Hey." I breathed, bringing the phone up to my ear.

"Syd," Stiles announced from the other end,  "We have a problem."