I saw Asher's eyes narrow in on Noah's arm, which was resting on the seat behind me. Jacob and Shawn continued to glare, a venomous look in their usually friendly eyes.

My eyes widened. I was surprised that they were here, and even more surprised by the obvious hostility they were emanating.

Noah finally spoke up. "We're kind of in the middle of something, Williams." He stated, glaring right back. His arm tightened around me and he pulled me closer to his side, away from Asher.

"Wait, you two know each other?" I asked, confused. They went to different schools, but I guess their social circles could have overlapped a little bit.

"Sadly." Asher muttered, just loud enough for me to hear him. When Noah has pulled me close to him, he had created and empty space in the booth. Asher immediately took advantage of this, sliding in next to me. Jacob and Shawn remained standing, but I saw Jacob shift closer to Mia's seat on the other side.

"So, what's going on?" Asher asked casually, ignoring the glares from Noah and Mason. He stole the rest of my fries, shoving them into his mouth quickly. "Long time no see, Olivia."

"It's been a day." I told him, trying to focus on Noah.

"Well, I missed you. We should hang out." Asher was only talking to me, seemingly oblivious to the three others at the table. I rolled my eyes, annoyed. I was finally trying to get over Thomas, and here he was, messing the whole date up.

"I'm eating with Noah, Asher." I told him. I met Mia's eyes across the table; she was just as confused as I was. I had updated her on Asher and I's newfound friendship, but we were both wondering why he was here, interrupting our meal.

"Looks like you're finished." Asher responded, nodding to the empty plate in front of me. Noah and Mason had scarfed down their food in record time, so their plates were cleared too. "Were you about to leave?"

Noah responded for me. "Yeah, I was about to drive them home."

Mason nodded across the table, crossing his arms. "Alone." He added quietly, but I could tell Asher heard him.

Asher just scoffed, smirking at them. He exchanged a quick glance with Jacob before swiftly standing up, out of the booth. I thought he was leaving, but he turned around and extended a hand to me. I looked at it questioningly.

"Don't worry about it." Asher said to Noah with a fake smile. "I live closer, so I can just take her home." Apparently the boys knew each other well enough that Asher knew where Noah lived. Weird.

I could tell Noah was about to protest, but Mia spoke up. "It's okay, Liv. We can just go with them." She widened her eyes at me, sending a silent signal. I had been so caught up focusing on Noah that I hadn't realized how uncomfortable she was with Mason. Although I wanted to stay, I would leave for her.

I stood up, and Asher flashed a winning smile at Noah, who looked pissed. "I'm sorry Noah. I had a really nice time, though." I leaned down to give him a quick kiss on the cheek, feeling bold. Shawn spit out the sip of my drink that I hadn't even seen him take.

"I'll call you." Noah responded, but he wasn't looking at me. He seemed to be in some kind of staring match with Asher.

After a few moments, I got tired of their little feud. I grabbed Mia's wrist and pulled her to the door, Jacob and Shawn trailing behind us. I turned around to beckon to Asher, who muttered something indecipherable to Noah before following us. Shawn led me to his Range Rover and we got in silently, waiting for Jacob and Asher who trailed behind, whispering under their breath.

The car remained silent as everyone got in and Shawn drove away. Asher sat next to me, but I turned away from him, careful not to let our legs touch.

After a solid four minutes of awkward silence, I exploded. "What the fuck was that?" I exclaimed, pissed at them for intruding on my date. It wasn't that serious, but I had really wanted it to go well. Noah would probably never call me back now.

None of them answered me.

I waited, but my patience was diminishing quickly. I finally turned around and slapped Asher on the leg. His head spun to look at me, surprised. The silence was finally broken when Jacob, who had watched the whole thing, burst out laughing.

That seemed to soften Asher up, because he sighed and answered me. "We just saved you, trust me."

I scoffed at his cryptic answer. "Seriously? That's it?" I asked. I was tempted to have Shawn pull the car over and go back to the date I had just abandoned. Asher frowned at my annoyed expression.

"Look, those are bad guys. You do not want to hang out with them." Shawn muttered from the front seat, eyes focused on the road.

Asher smirked at me, thankful for the backup from his friend.

"Retweet!" Jacob added in a sing-song voice. Both Shawn and Asher rolled their eyes at him.

"I told you to stop saying that. You sound like a girl." Shawn lifted a hand off the steering wheel to punch Jacob on the shoulder.

"Why shouldn't we hang out with them?" I asked, refusing to be distracted by their antics. "And how do you know them?"

Asher ignored both of my questions, turning to stare out the window again with a clenched jaw. It was probably a bad time to notice how sharp his jawline was, but I did anyway.

It was Jacob who finally answered me, obviously feeling bad for his friends' silences.

"I'm sorry Olivia, really. Both of you just need to understand that those guys are bad news. I'm sure they seemed nice, but you probably don't know them as well as you think you do." His words were meant to pacify me, but they just ignited my curiosity further.

To my surprise, Mia spoke up. "We don't know them at all, actually. Olivia just met Noah last night." Something about her statement made Asher's lips twitch, but I ignored him.

"Mia! I thought you were on my side. Don't forget they ruined your date too." Mia blushed at this, and I realized I probably shouldn't have said it was a date around her crush.

"Liv, that guy was horrible." She stated plainly, and all three guys nodded in agreement. "He was totally cocky and bleh! All the guy talked about was beer and his old lacrosse team, and he didn't seem that smart. And I know you liked it when Noah put his arm around you, but Mason's was all sweaty! It was awful!"

I had to laugh at that. "Okay, okay, fine. Mason was awful. But I liked Noah!" I complained to her. Shawn, Jacob, and Asher all turned to stare at me with open mouths.

"Nope." Jacob muttered. "Incorrect."

"What?"

"Nope, you can't like him. That douche is awful." Jacob stated definitively as Shawn rolled up to my house. I huffed and got out, slamming the door behind. As Mia and I walked to my door, I was surprised to hear three more doors slam. I turned around to see Asher, Shawn, and Jacob following us.

"Will you leave me alone?" I asked them. "I'm pissed." I didn't really know why I was making such a huge deal out of it. I like Asher and his friends, but I had been having a fun date and trying to forget Thomas. They had interrupted that, and I didn't like people trying to control me.

The boys just laughed, walking into the house. Mia let them in, using the spare key to unlock the door.

Mia led Jacob and Shawn to get food since they hadn't gotten to eat in the restaurant, except for the fries they stole from our plates. Asher loitered behind, grabbing my wrist to get my attention.

I stared at him, raising my eyebrows. He met my eyes, hesitating.

"We've already established that I suck at apologizing, but I'll try. I'm sorry Olivia. I shouldn't have ruined your date, but I really didn't want you and Mia to be in with that crowd. I promise I did it for a reason." He rubbed the back of his neck, looking awkward. Wow, he definitely wasn't used to apologizing.

I bust out laughing, sidestepping him to walk into the kitchen. As I sauntered away, I looked back at him over my shoulder. "It's okay, Asher."

His face lit up as he followed me into kitchen with everyone else. I still had questions, but I could save them for a later date. Besides, if I was being honest, hanging out with Asher and his friends was more fun.

I stopped flat in the doorway of the kitchen, Asher running into me from behind. "Do I even want to know?" I asked.

"Nope." Shawn and Jacob said in unison. They were on the ground, covered in whipped cream and various other snacking foods.

"There was a collision." Mia whispered to me from across the room."

"What should we do?" Shawn asked, shaking a few crushed chips out of his hair. He extended a hand to Jacob, pulling him off the floor. "I can clean this up. Well, Jacob can." He reassured me, looking a bit guilty. Like Asher, they had both made themselves right at home, despite only hanging out with me once before.

When Jacob heard him, he tackled Shawn back on the floor. "No way in hell I'm cleaning this up." I heard him growl. I made eye contact with Mia and we silently left, Asher soon behind us. They could figure that out themselves.

"Idiots." I heard him mutter under his breath. Even though he always made fun of them, I could tell they were a close-knit group.

I collapsed on the couch, grabbing the remote. Mia and Asher plopped down on either side of me. "Should we watch a movie?" I asked them.

"The Conjuring." Asher said.

"Mean girls." Mia said at the same time.

"No way, Asher." I muttered. I hated horror movies.

"Wait, I kind of want to watch a horror movie right now." Mia said, betraying me once again. I threw a pillow at her, which she failed at deflecting. The girl had the worst hand-eye coordination of anyone I knew.

Jacob and Shawn sauntered in, holding bags of microwave popcorn and sodas. "How did you even find those?" I asked, but they ignored me.

"What are we watching?" Jacob asked.

"The Conjuring." Mia and Asher responded in unison.

"Fuck yeah!" Jacob said, jumping onto the couch beside Mia. She gave him a shy smile before turning her face to mouth "OMG" at me. Asher must have seen it too, because he smirked at Jacob.

"No," I emphasized. "We are not watching the Conjuring."

Asher just chuckled, grabbing the hair tie out of my long hair and ruffling it with his hand. I shoved him away, shaking my head at Mia's questioning stare.

"It's four against one. Sorry, Olivia." Shawn spoke up from the other side of Asher. He didn't sound very apologetic, though. He grabbed the remote and turned on the movie.

"I hate horror movies." I whined under my breath.

Asher leaned down to whisper in my ear, putting his arm on the back of the couch behind me. I felt his soft hair brush against my cheek as his lips touched my ear. Shivering at the feeling of his cool minty breath, I felt my heart race.

"Don't worry," He smirked. "I'll protect you."

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this chapter is dedicated to @harrystylesxxlove for all your continued support! i'm also obsessed with harry styles so i love the username

also, thank you for #81 on cute!

next update on Wednesday!