A group formed in the bedroom of one boy as he slept peacefully. The 4 boys stood there, pots and pans in hand, ready to “practice their new instruments” with the unconscious audience member. A hushed “1…2…3” came from the dark messy haired blue eyed boy.

Clashing and banging woke the 5th boy. His hands found way to his ears quickly. “Stop it! Bug off!” He screamed. The curly haired boy jumped onto the bed and hit a spoon to the pan in his hands. “Harry, you are dead!” He lifted his hands and pushed Harry to the side; he grabbed the wooden spoon and the pan and started hitting it in front of his face.

The 3 others stood at the end of the bed and laughed. “Zayn, mate. Okay. I think he gets it.”

Zayn rubbed his eyes glared at the other 3. “Can’t a man sleep anymore?” He asked, falling back in the spot he started. He took the pillow and covered his face. Harry grabbed the pillow and ran. “Thanks, guys.” Zayn growled, sitting up to climb out of bed.

“No problem.” The one with fading blond hair smiled. “Before you kill us, it was Louis’ idea.”

The messy haired boy stepped up, “Oi, Liam encouraged me!” He smiled at the dark haired, dark eyed boy beside him.

“Take the credit for this one, Tommo.” Liam shot his gaze to the blond, “Niall, did you eat all the bread again?” Niall shook his head. “Great, I want some toast.” He turned and walked out of the room. Niall laughed in confusion.

Zayn watched the boys interact. It’d been a while since they all lived under one roof. Now they were living away from home for a few months in California. Zayn hated the idea; his recent break up with Perrie was still lingering around the tabloids and he just wanted to stay home and have some time to recover. But no, Simon had to insist the boys jump on a plane to California for no reason at all. In the week they had been there, they’d done nothing.

Louis and Niall soon left after Zayn finally pulled himself out of bed. He found himself in the living room, flipping through the many pointless channels trying to find something interesting on the dull Sunday morning. When nothing sparked his interest, he opened his laptop to check his emails. “Junk, junk, crazy fan girl, mum, fan girl, fan girl, weird fan girl.” He mumbled.

Niall snuck up behind him, “Whatcha lookin’ at?” Niall’s eyes scanned the screen as he leaned over the couch. “Oh! Click her; she has pickles in her name!” Zayn looked up at his friend and rolled his eyes.

“Fine, I’ll click her.” He read the subject, ‘Hi Zayn’ his only thoughts were, ‘Just another fan wanting to confess their love for me.’ It turned him off, he loved the attention, he loved his fans, but when fans went to crazy extents to get his attention, like hacking his accounts, finding his private email and sending umpteen messages. Those were all too much. He hardly read the fan mail he got online. “Mainepicklequeen at aol dot com.” He read aloud.

“I like her already.” Niall confessed. “Now I want a pickle. Liam! Get me a pickle!” He demanded.

“It’s 10am, eat an apple.” The boy replied, spreading cream cheese on his toast.

“It doesn’t matter what time it is, I want a pickle.” The Irishman stood and ran to the fridge.

Zayn scanned the email. His curiosity got the best of him after reading the first paragraph. So far he liked this Natalia girl. But suddenly, the email took a turn for the worse. He regretted opening it, instantly. He nearly clicked delete, but he continued reading and finishing the email. As his finger went to press “reply” a knock came at the door.

Simon walked in, dressed in a suit, with Lou trailing behind. “Lou is going to make you guys presentable, dress in a tux; we have a wedding to attend.” The boys looked around confused. “It’s a paying job, boys. Don’t worry. You’re the entertainment for a friend of mine, long story short, they had a DJ, but they cancelled and needed a replacement.” The boys still didn’t budge. “Well?”

“Simon, we have to ask, why are we even in Cali?” Harry questioned, his nearly naked body poking out of the bathroom doorframe.

“Down time, face time, publicity. Sure, you get enough back home, but I need a fresh plate to start you on. I want you to look for adventure here, meet some girls, party. Collect data for the next album. You get where I am going? I want you to have a life here in California. It’s just a few months, no big deal. Have fun.” Simon waved his hands as he talked. “Just, get ready for the wedding, please?”

‘So this important move is for the new album?’ Zayn thought as he closed his laptop. Lou walked up to Zayn and smiled. “You look fine today, I don’t need to do much, maybe touch up your hair a bit.” Zayn nodded and headed back to his room to grab one of his tuxes.

His mind continued to drift to the email he just read. This Natalia girl had written to him, telling him her most private secret. Telling him of her life, of her pain. What could have driven her to do so? Why was she still with her father if he hurt her? Why was she not telling anyone? Thoughts of her continued to flow as he dressed.

When he finished, he and the boys set out with Simon to the location of the wedding. Through the entire event, he was distant. Normally he would be having fun, blending in. But today, his mind wasn’t on being a celebrity, wasn’t on his current heart break or his career. His mind was on her.

“Goodbye, Zayn Malik. I will be writing again tomorrow.” was the end of the email. He needed more of her; he needed to talk to her, to reply. But how? What would he say? “I’m sorry your life sucks.”? No, Zayn couldn’t think of a single thing to send the girl. It bothered him. But again “I will be writing again tomorrow.” He would get more. He’d be able to look into the life of this girl, to understand her, to understand how he could help her. It was one moment, as he lay in bed that night where his brain clicked. His spoke quietly to no one in particular. “I need to help her.” He said. He reached to his night stand and pulled out a notebook. He turned to a blank page and wrote in big bold letters “Plans for Saving Talia”