“You follow a lot of One Direction stuff right?” I asked Lilly my 12 year old sister as we sat eating lunch in a cafe not far from my parent’s house.

“You know I do.” She grinned at me, showing her teeth.

“Did something uh happen to Liam?”

“Like what?” She asked confused.

“I don’t know. Like something that might change his personality. Like his grandma died or something...” I trailed off looking at her intently.

“Shouldn’t you know if his Grandma died?”

“Or something like that?” I ignored her question. She sighed and put down her burger and stared at me for a moment. I couldn’t help but shift under her gaze. For a 12 year old she could really act like an adult.

“Well, he did have a girlfriend. Danielle. They were together for a really long time and apparently it was serious. But then they broke up.” She said shrugging. I frowned. I’m sure just a break up wouldn’t change someone’s personality completely.

“Why?”

“According to the media, she had enough of all the hate she got from his fans and they ended it.” She said shrugging before taking another bit of her burger. I bit my lip not really believing that this would turn Liam Payne into a drunk.

“Shouldn’t you be talking to your boyfriend about this.” She grinned at me cheesily. I rolled my eyes at her.

“What would you know about relationships?” I teaser her, poking her side. A blush rose up to colour her cheeks and my eyes widened.

“You have a boyfriend!” I gasped out.

“You can’t tell Tyler or Jared!” She squeaked out quickly. I laughed and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

“I would never put any boy through that torture especially at your age!” I smiled at her. She smiled back before finishing off her burger.

“I think you should be worried about Liam.” Lilly said suddenly as we began walking home. I glanced at her in surprise.

“He changed after breaking up with Danielle. He stopped taking pictures, signing, tweeting, doing twitcams. He stopped all connection with his fans. And he never told us why.” She looked away. I glanced at my sister surprised. I don’t think Liam realised how many of his fans he hurt when he broke contact with them. They were still hurting.

“So what’s this boy’s name?” I asked her changing the subject. She glanced at me and smiled softly before a blush split across her face again.

-

I stared at the laptop in front of me debating on what to write. The last couple of days had been easy to write but today was a lot harder. Today I couldn’t keep the conundrum of Liam Payne out of my head. Sighing I stood up and moved to the kitchen to get a drink.

Today was one of those days where I need my notebook.

My phone buzzed from my pocket. I put it on speaker as I searched through my fridge.

“I have to attend a party tonight and you have to come with.” Liam’s voice came through the phone. I rolled my eyes at it before replying.

“Ask me nicely Liam.” There was a pause on the other end where he most likely rolled his own eyes.

“Will you please come to the party with me tonight?” He asked surprisingly soft.

“Will there be alcohol there?” I asked after finding the juice I had been searching for in the fridge.

“Yes of course, it’s a party.”

“I’ll go on one condition. You don’t drink.”

“What! How’s that fair? I-” I quickly cut him off.

“It’s fair because the night before last you drank until you passed out then I helped to get your hungover ass out of bed so I think you’ve drunk enough for now. So tonight you can pick me up and drive and I can drink.” I said happily, smiling down at the phone.

“I’ll be there at 8.” Liam’s expressionless voice wandered through the phone before the dial tone went through. I smiled triumphantly before texting Aria and Sarah for help. I had no idea what to wear tonight.

“The popstar’s here!” I heard Aria’s voice shout through my flat. I smirked at Sarah before glancing into the mirror making sure my dress was sitting right.

“You look great, now we better get out there before Aria angers Liam.” Sarah said leading the way out of my bedroom.

“Too late.” I muttered to her in reply after seeing the glare Liam was sending Aria. Not that Aria was minding anyway. I couldn’t help the blush that spread across my cheeks as Liam’s eyes met mine. He looked really handsome in the black suit he was wearing with a white button down tucked in.

“Hi,” I said softly to him, smiling at him.

“Are you ready to go?” He asked me gruffly. I rolled my eyes and nodded.

“The appropriate phrase is you look beautiful.” Aria said glaring at him. He turned to glare back at her.

“Okay let’s go!” I said quickly, placing a kiss on Sarah’s cheek and then Aria’s before quickly guiding Liam out the door.

“You’re friends are rude.” Liam said the moment the door was shot. I scoffed at him.

“Only as rude as you are.” I muttered to him before leading the way down the stairs.

There was silence between us until we reached the car.

“You do look nice by the way.” Liam said staring down at the ground as he opened the door for me. My face coloured instantly.

“Thanks.” I replied before quickly climbing into his car. He shut the door behind me before jogging around the front to climb in the driver’s side.

The car ride stayed silent the rest of the way as I bit my lip and tried to calm my racing heart. I was about to go to a party that was probably full of celebrities. I had no idea what type of party it was or even where it was. Liam really doesn’t explain much at all.

“Uh Liam whose party is this?” I asked him as we arrived at a massive house filled with people. He merely shrugged at me before grabbing my hand and dragging me through the paparazzi hanging around the front. Flashes were aimed at us instantly before we entered the estate and security quickly blocked the paparazzi from following.

I glanced back as Liam tugged me along, more flashed blinded my eyes. I stumbled slightly from trying to stay in line with Liam’s fast pace. I quickly turned around and pulled on his hand making him slow down a bit more before we walked up the steps to the front porch.

A few people said hi to Liam the moment we entered the house, they were lucky to receive a small wave or a nod of his head.

“Do you like anyone here?” I muttered to him. He shot me an annoyed look before manoeuvring his way around the house easily. I could tell he was trying to avoid people as much as possible.

“There you guys are!” A voice said from behind us. I turned my head instantly to see Perrie standing there with another girl I was unfamiliar with. “The boys have been looking for both of you.”

I smiled at the girl as she pulled me into a hug.

“I’m Jade.” Her friend said reaching forward to pull me into a hug. I laughed and hugged her back.

“I’m Jade too.”

“Come on, the others are this way.” Perrie said grabbing onto my hand and pulling us back the way we came. Liam lightened his hold on my hand but I instantly tightened my hold on his. There was no way he was ditching me in a place like this.

“You found them!” Louis loud voice boomed next to me ear making me jump slightly. Perrie stopped and I glanced around to see all of One Direction and dates plus other unfamiliar people.

“You look stunning Jade!” Eleanor exclaimed from next to Louis and pulled me into a hug. It surprised me how friendly these people were yet Liam could still find a reason to hate them. Or at least be rude to them.

I tugged on Liam’s hand and pulled him tightly to my side, Eleanor and Perrie and probably every other stranger here was unaware of our fake relationship. I guess it was time to start acting. Liam must have got the hint as he let go of my hand and used that arm to wrap it around my waist.

I could feel everyone’s eyes on us as goose bumps crawled up my skin. They were making it uncomfortable.

-

I assured myself I wouldn’t drink a lot tonight. I promised myself that I wouldn’t get drunk, but after the uncomfortable atmosphere at the start of the night, I needed to down a lot more drinks to last it through.

That would probably be why I was currently dancing crazily with Eleanor as we both giggled and stumbled into the people around us.

“I’m thirsty.” Eleanor yelled to me over the music.

“More SHOTS!” I screamed back earning a chorus of yells as people around me cheered us on. Giggling I grabbed Eleanor’s hand and we both stumbled into the kitchen. Before we could get to our drinks, two people blocked our way.

“Woah there, don’t you think you girls have had enough?” Louis said grabbing a hold of his girlfriend’s waist to steady her. I eyed them for a moment before my eyes switched to Niall’s.

“Where’s Liam?” I slurred out to him. He pointed towards the door connected to the kitchen and rolled his eyes.

I slowly stumbled my way towards the door, using people and kitchen appliances to help me along the way. I made it to the door and stepped out into the cool fresh air.

I spotted Liam immediately, as he was the only person sitting out here alone.

I made my way towards him and fell down on my ass next to him as our legs dangled over the edge of the porch.

“What are you doing out here? You’re missing all the fun!”

“You’re drunk.” Liam stated without looking at me.

“Great observation Sherlock! You are alone and boring.” I teased him. He didn’t smile.

“Then go back inside and hang with your new best friends.” He retorted bitterly. I frowned and stared at him.

“I’m only here because of you.” I grumbled at him, turning to face my eyes forwards as his head turned to the side to look at me.

“Don’t give me that bull. You’re here because of you as well. You’re here because you can get famous for this and get more publicity for your books.” Liam said to me. I shook my head. That wasn’t true. I wasn’t here with him to get famous. But I was using him to write a story. His story, kind of.

“Why do you hate your friends?” I mumbled to him. He sighed and his chocolate brown eyes met mine. I couldn’t help but swoon slightly. However this didn’t distract me from seeing the sadness hidden away in them.

“I don’t hate them.”

“Then what do you hate Liam? Because something’s made you become hostile and rude, and if it wasn’t them then who was it?” I received no reply. “Was it Danielle?”

Liam’s eyes instantly snapped to mine and I could see the anger flare up.

“You don’t know her!” He growled at me. “You don’t get to speak about her like that. It wasn’t her fault, what happened.”

“What happened?” I asked softly, ignoring the hostility coming from him.

“We should get you home.” He responded, standing up and pulling my up with him. I didn’t fight him as he guided me through the house. I was getting tired anyway.

I called out goodbye’s quickly to the friends I made as Liam quickly pulled me through the house and back into the safety of the car. I curled up in the seat and dozed off lightly.

I woke up to the feeling of moving. Opening my eyes slightly I was met with a chest covered in a black blazer. I raised my head so my eyes now met Liam’s chin. He was carrying me up the stairs to my flat. I wrapped my arms around his neck, panicked that he would drop me.

“I’ve got you.” He cooed to me softly as my grip tightened drastically. He placed me on my feet gently when we reached my door, with one arm wrapped steadily around me he used the other to unlock the door and guide us in.

I stumbled with him, tiredly rubbing my eyes. Liam easily led me to my room and helped me climb into bed. He even pulled my heels off. He turned to leave.

“Liam,” I said softly making him pause and turn back to look at me. “What hurt you?”

“Just leave it.” He sighed shaking his head at me.

“I can’t. You’re so broken and I don’t know why. What happened with Danielle?” I sat up in bed and tried to get out so I could stand near him. He sighed before walking me over and pushing me down onto the bed. He placed the covers tightly around me before taking a seat on the edge of the bed.

“The fans happened, the media happened. The famous lifestyle happened to us okay.” He muttered bitterly. I frowned and reached out touch his cheek softly, he glanced down at me in surprise.

“I won’t leave you, I promise.” I drunkenly said, as my eyeslids began to grow heavy. I watched as Liam cracked a small smile. And maybe it was my drunken state blurring my vision slightly but this one look real and true.

“Goodnight Jade.” He said softly. I watched as he bit his lip before leaning forward and pressing a quick kiss to my forehead. Before I could register what happened he had already left the room.

I smiled softly to myself and reached up to touch the tingles before falling asleep.