1st July 2019

The day had finally come, after 3 long and hard years, Lauren Nicola and Dylan finally graduated from university. The day was filled with smiles, hugs and tons of pictures. Sam had come along to support Lauren, and anyone could tell just by looking at his face the immense pride he felt watching his girlfriend walk across the stage and collect her degree. Afterwards, he showered her in hugs and kisses, posting a photo of her on his story to profess his pride and taking hundreds of photos of her in her gown.

Afterwards, Lauren, Sam, Nicola and Dylan met up with Sam's friends to celebrate. They all said goodbye to the graduating trio's parents and made their way into Newcastle. Also joining them was Connor, a boy that Nicola had recently met at the same time Lauren had met Sam, and they had recently made things official.

Sitting with Sam's arm snaked around her waist, Lauren could feel that her cheeks were red and she was swaying slightly into her boyfriend, the alcohol clearly affecting her.

'I think the highlight of tonight was definitely the duet Sam and I partook in at the Kareoke bar,' Connor said gesturing to Sam across the table. Before the group came to this bar, they had been to Cosy Joe's, a Karaoke bar, where Sam and Connor drunkenly belted out a Whitney Houston song to their girlfriend's. Lauren and Nicola didn't know whether to be flattered or deeply embarrassed. He then made Lauren duet 'Dancing in the Dark' with him, which she was still slightly pissed at him for considering she was an awful singer.

'Does drinking make you posh or something?' Lauren questioned Connor. 'Thought you were meant to be geordie, who the fuck says partook?' Dean snorted with laughter, and for the next 10 minutes, the group ripped into Connor for his newfound Queen's English accent.

'Shall I get the next round?' Lauren asked the group. 'Same again for everyone?' They all agreed and Lauren slid out from the booth, heading over to the bar. Sam's arm fell reluctantly from around her waist. The girl found a gap in the bar, trying to catch the attention of a bartender.

'Can I get you a drink?' Lauren's head turned instinctively at the sound of the voice. A young man, not much older than her, was looking at her expectantly. He leant on the bar, lips pulled into a smirk, with an empty glass in his hand. Lauren could smell the alcohol on his breath and the smell of cigarettes that clung to him. She kept her expression stoical and replied with a simple 'No thanks.'

'Are you sure?,' he pressed, sliding closer to the girl. Lauren tried to manoeuvre away from the man, but the bar was so packed there was little room to move away. 'You're the prettiest girl I've seen tonight, and it would be a crime not to buy you a drink.'

Your chat up lines are awful mate she thought, but she bit back the retort, not wanting to aggravate the man. She didn't really know how to handle the situation, wanting to tell the man to leave her alone but not wanting to cause a scene, so she kept her focus on the bar, trying to signal a bartender to come over to take her order.

'I'm alright thanks, I'm buying drinks for my friends,' she finally replied, feeling his stare on the back of her head.

She hoped the mention of friends would put him off, but apparently not. He inched closer to the girl. 'Oh yeah? he said, 'are your friends as pretty as you?' Before she could turn to face him, his hand reached out and grabbed Lauren's bum as though she was a possession. Disgusted, Lauren swatted his arm away.

'Why the fuck are you doing touching my lass like that!?'

Lauren span around and saw Sam approaching the two. The look on his face is like thunder, and Lauren realises she has never seen him this angry before.

The man laughs in Sam's face, and with no signs of intimidation said 'Why? Because you said so? I can do whatever the fuck I want.'

'Shut up. Leave her alone mate' Sam snapped back. The look of rage is so alien to Lauren, not like the sweet Sam she knew. She didn't know whether to be proud of her boyfriend for defending her like this, or frightened of what could happen next.

It happened so fast it was almost a blur. The man lunged at Sam, swinging his arm towards Sam. His fist collides with Sam's cheekbone and he staggers backwards. Lauren gasped, but more because she knew exactly what Sam was going to do next. She tried to grab Sam's arm, but it was already too late.

'No! No Sam don't!' she screamed, trying to put herself between Sam and the guy, but he was already moving. He stormed forwards and raised his arm. It collided with the man's cheek with a sickening crunch. Lauren hoped that was the sound of the mans nose breaking, and not of Sam's knuckles dislocating. The man grabbed his bloody face, staring venomously at Sam who was just standing there, breathing heavy.

'Take it outside!' the bartender shouts, too busy serving customers to sort the two out, staring across at the group with an annoyed look on his face.

'Move, Sam go!' Lauren shouted, grabbing onto Sam's arm, making her way across to the table to grab her bag and tell her friends they needed to go.

'Bitch' the guy snapped at Lauren as she walked past.

'Twat' she retorted, returning his icy stare and pulling Sam along as he disappeared outside.

The two returned to the table full of their laughing friends, but as soon as they saw the expressions on Lauren and Sam's faces, and the small cut on Sam's cheek, their smiles dropped.

'What the hell happened?' Drew asked, looking between the two. 'I'll explain when we're outside, we need to go,' Lauren said, her hands still laying protectively on Sam.

'Lauren? Sam? What happened? Why is Sam hurt?' Dylan asked as soon as the group exited the bar. 'I thought Sam was checking up on you because you were taking so long at the bar, what happened?'

Lauren could feel the adrenaline from the situation still rocketing through her blood. "Some complete prick decided to try it on with me at the bar," she explained. "Then Sam turned up and it ended with those two throwing punches."

'Are you too okay?' Nicola asked. 'Yes we're fine, we'll live.'

It took a lot of persuasion, but Lauren told the rest of the group to go on without them. She just wanted to go home and curl up with Sam, but she didn't want to ruin the rest of the groups night. The couple found the nearest taxi rank and caught a cab back to Lauren's flat in Tynemouth.

As soon as the two got back to the flat, Lauren immediately went for the first aid kit as Sam sat down on one of the sofas.

'My hand hurts' he called out.

'I'm not surprised' his girlfriend replied, walking over and sitting next to him.

Sam, frowning with both pain and worry, looked up at the girl unpacking the first aid kit. 'Are you mad at me' he asked, sounding like a child who had done something wrong.

Lauren sighed at the boy. "No I'm not mad at you."

He continues to frown. "Are you sure? I mean... I was only-"

"'Defending my honour', yeah I know," I interrupt. Sam chuckled and Lauren managed to crack a smile, but his laughter abruptly stopped as the facial movement tugged on his cut. It was only a small line across the left cheek bone, barely breaking the skin, but head wounds always hurt and bleed more than is necessary. "Honestly Sammy, I'm not mad at you. I was glad you came and saved me actually; it was sweet of you. It's just... I don't know, I guess it was just a bit of a shock seeing you angry like that."

Sam apologised profusely, feeling awful that he had caused this and potentially ruined the girls night. But Lauren just shushed him, took his hand and led him to her bedroom, wanting nothing more than to be wrapped up in her protective boyfriend's arms. Staring at a sleeping Sam, Lauren was sure she was falling for this boy.

A/N

Hi guys, I absolutely hate this chapter its been in my drafts for days. I wanted a bit of a filler before we go into summer festivals/ album release to show their relationship progressing!!