*Edited

"So when's your birthday?" I ask him curiously.

He glances over at me and raises an eyebrow.

"March 21st." He answers as he makes a right turn.

"Ah, so you're an Aries!" I exclaimed looking at him.

He looks over at me and shakes his head smirking.

"Yours?" He asks me looking back to the road.

"My birthday's the 14th of December," I tell him.

He licks his lips and glances at me.

"Sagittarius," He says.

I look at him surprised.

"Why so shocked love?" He says his voice coming out husky.

"What do you mean?" I say smugly.

He rolls his eyes as we finally make it to the city.

New York City.

Living here my whole life and I could never get over how beautiful it was.

I was always so mesmerised by its beauty.

The lights, the people, the food and everything all together just brings me at peace.

I've always been a city type of girl, I'm hoping to get into college here too.

I've been applying to colleges these past couple of weeks, more in the hope to get into one here in New York.

I watch the lit-up buildings and advertisements displaying along the streets.

I've only been to the city a handful of times, I didn't go much only if I were to do some serious shopping.

The times I went were when I was a lot younger with my parents.

When they would actually spend time with me instead of working 24/7.

I love my parents but I swear they love their jobs more than their own daughter.

Landon drives through the city with ease, and before I know it we make it to the stadium.

My nerves start rising as we enter through the gates.

Breathe bitch you've got this.

Just don't fuck up.

Thanks.

"Layla?"

I turn my head to Landon, to see him looking at me.

"Yeah?" I ask confused.

"You're going to do great." He tells me as he lifts his hand tucking a lock behind my ear.

I smile at him softly and peck his cheek.

His cold eyes stay on mine as I move away from him.

His hand comes to my cheek and caresses it before pulling his lips onto mine.

I melt into the kiss feeling his soft lips plush against my own.

I deepen the kiss by wrapping a hand around his neck pulling him in deeper.

His lips move skilfully against my own as his hand wraps around the back of my neck.

Before we got carried away, he pulls away and leans his head on my shoulder.

"Perfect." He mumbles and I laugh.

"Come on we've gotta go," I say unbuckling my belt.

He leans away from my shoulder and comes face to face with me.

He leans down to the corner of my lips and kisses me, lingering his lips there before pulling away and getting out of the car.

He pulls open my door then goes around to grab my bag.

I get out of the car and shut the door.

He throws my duffle bag over his shoulder and holds his hand out for me to take.

I take my hand in his and walk with him towards the doors.

We make it inside and I see the team already there, including Iris and Alec.

I turn around to face Landon and see Dante and Andre walk in behind him.

I smile at them and wave as they near Landon and me.

"Layla!" Andre says and engulfs me in a bear hug.

I laugh and pat his back.

He pulls away once he sees the deadly glare being sent his way by Landon.

Dante keeps his distance and nods his head at me with a small smile.

"Hey Layla," He says staring into my eyes.

I smile up at him in return.

"We're gonna go get some seats," Dante says walking away with Andre.

I look over to Landon and see him staring down at me.

"I've gotta go get ready, I'll see you soon," I tell him.

He nods and lifts his left arm up silently asking for a hug.

I grin and wrap my arms around him.

His arms come around my waist as he leans his head down to my ear.

"You're going to do amazing love." He whispers into my ear.

I blush as he pecks my neck before pulling away.

I send him one more smile and take my bag from him walking away towards the back of the stage.

I make it through to the backstage doors and see everyone getting themselves ready.

"You ready Lay ?" Iris says from behind me.

I grin up at her and wrap my arm around her shoulder.

"Yep, let's do this."

*

"Hello New York, and welcome to the finales !" The announcer yells into the microphone.

The audience cheers as the stadium light up.

"Before the game tonight we have our special New York dance team performing for us tonight !"

Hearing this brings adrenaline of excitement and nervousness.

"Were gonna do great Layla," Alec says patting my back.

I'm not sure why I was so nervous, I've done heaps of comps throughout the years and danced for many teams and audiences. I guess it was because there were so many people here due to it being the finales between the New York Knights and the Manhattan Tigers.

Everyone cheers and claps as the curtains open revealing us on the stage.

The music starts playing through the speakers and everyone starts their routine.

*

I panted heavily and grinned as I finished my final dance.

The screams and cheers of the audience go wild and I couldn't be happier.

I look down to the front and see Eliot and Violet jumping up and down and cheering for me.

I smile at them and then move my gaze to find where Landon is.

I see him in a couple of seats down next to Andre and Dante.

Dante and Andre were standing and clapping for me and Landon's eyes were on me.

I bring my eyes to him and our eyes lock instantly.

He stares at me with a smile on his face and to be honest that was the best thing to happen to me all day.

I see Dante and Andre look at him in shock as they see the smile.

Landon sees that, and his smile leaves his face instantly and turns back into its cold demeanour.

The curtains close just as his cold eyes meet mine again.

"Great job everyone!" Luca yells out and everyone starts cheering.

Alec comes over and hugs me and so does Iris.

We make our way over to the changing rooms.

Alec goes in with the boys and Iris goes to the bathrooms telling me she would be back.

I walk into the changing rooms and go into a stall.

I take my clothes out of my bag, as doing this I hear some people come in.

"Did you see who was sitting in the front?" A girls voice says.

I pay no mind to what they were talking about as I start getting dressed.

"No who was it?" Another voice answers.

"Landon Malik."

I freeze halfway through pulling my shorts up.

I become interested in what they were saying and decide to eavesdrop.

"No fucking way. Gosh, he's so hot." The girl says.

"I know right, I would totally let him take me. But I heard he's dating Layla."

The other girl scoffs and laughs.

"Please what has she got to give him."

"I know. I mean you wouldn't even think he would date anyone, I've heard he literally just fucks and dumps. Not that I would mind. But I'm shocked out of all people he chose her." The girl says shocked.

I shake my head in amusement.

How pathetic.

I've never understood how people could talk so badly about someone else.

Especially when they're innocent and have done nothing wrong.

I walk out of the stall and pull my bag over my shoulder, and I see their faces drop.

"Hey, girls." I say smiling at them and walk out as their faces turn pale.

I slam the door shut and walk out.

As Selena Gomez once said,

Kill em with kindness.

As I near the front doors I see Eliot and Violet waiting for me.

Once they see me, Eliot runs up to me and squeezes me to death.

"You were so good Lay!" He says pulling back and ruffling my hair.

"Thanks Eli." I say smiling up at him.

Violet hugs me next and high fives me.

"Girl you looked so hot up there." She says winking at me.

I laugh at her and we all start getting into a conversation.

All of a sudden I'm pulled into someone's arms being absolutely squashed in them.

"You need to teach me how to dance like that Layla." I hear Andre say as he pulls away.

"It's not easy," I say laughing at him.

I see Landon and Dante behind him.

Dante gives me a smile and says,

"You did great."

I thank him and turn to Landon.

Landon had his attention on Dante but then his eyes locked onto mine as he licks his lips.

He lifts up his left arm and I instantly engulf him in a hug.

He rests his chin on top of my head as his arms wrap around me tightly.

He kisses my temple and whispers in my ear,

"I'm proud of you Layla." He says huskily and my face turns red.

As I pull away from him my eyes lock onto Dante's.

He seemed pretty pissed as his hands were clenched into fists but his demeanour was cold and calm.

He instantly looked away from me and I couldn't help but be confused.

Did I do something?

My thoughts are cut off by Landon wrapping his arm around my waist bringing me to his side.

"We're gonna head out Lay, we'll see you tomorrow for our binge day." Eliot says.

I hug them goodbye and watch as they leave.

Landon tugs on my hand and I turn to him and see him nodding towards his car.

We walk to his car and get in.

He starts driving out, and once we hit the roads I realise that we weren't going back towards our town and more into the depths of the city.

I look at him confused.

He glances at me and looks back at the road not saying a word.

"Where are we going ?" I ask him confused.

"You'll see."

I lean back in my seat and sigh watching as we drive through the streets of New York City.