*Hazel’s POV*

I didn’t know how long it would be before I would see Pandora again, so the hug between us was pretty long. “You make sure to call me if you ever need anything, you hear?” She pulled me back to place each hand on my shoulders. “I don’t care about the time difference. Alright?”

I nodded. Everything was ready and set to go. Liam paid for my ticket, first class at that, and now we were waiting for the announcement to board on. Pandora gave me one last look before she studied each of the guys, “I’m mainly speaking to Liam here, but you guys better keep a good eye on her. If I get a call in the middle of the night hearing that one of you made her cry, somebody’s ass is gonna get kicked. You hear?”

She pointed at each of the guys. I heard a small chuckle. “You don’t have to worry about anything, Panda.” Niall said, coming over and pulling her to a hug. They hugged for a moment, and I could hear the sound of Niall’s voice as he whispered to her, but it was so low I couldn’t decipher the words he was saying.

The intercom came on then, saying our plane was ready to leave. Pandora and I exchanged one last brief hug. I saw Liam had my carry-on in one hand. I tried to take it from him, but he just smiled as I felt Louis put an arm over my shoulder as we started walking.

I know I’ve ridden on a plane before, but that was a long time ago. I don’t really remember much though, only that the ride was extremely long and uncomfortable. Plus, I remember crying then too. I wasn’t for sure why, maybe it was because I was just a kid and was scared of riding on the plane. No, that couldn’t be it. I remember being sad, but I wasn’t sure what I was sad about.
It didn’t take as long as I thought it would to get into the plane. We still had about half an hour before take-up, and sometime during then I heard Niall sigh. “Lads, this isn’t good…”

Harry drew his head in and Niall whispered into his ear, showing him his phone. Harry brought a hand up, a few of his fingers covering his lip, thinking. Louis stood up from where he sat next to Zayn and walked over. Niall was hushed as he spoke. I caught onto a few words, but nothing to understand what was going on. I saw Louis’ face go distorted. “You gonna call management?” I heard him ask Harry.

Harry nodded. He stood up and move. A flight attendant started talking to him and nodded after a brief explanation from Harry. “Be quick.” I heard her say.

Louis took his seat beside Zayn again, head leaned to his ear to talk to him. Liam was sitting next to me, eyebrows drawn up as he looked over at Niall. Niall and him made eye contact. “I’ll… be right back.” Liam said quietly beside me as he stood up and moved to Harry’s seat. Niall briefly explained what was going on, showing him his phone and all. I just sat there, confused and curious. I saw Liam look over toward me during Niall’s little talk. We made eye contact before Niall showed him something else on his phone.

Harry came back from wherever he was and Liam stood up. Harry leaned in, telling him something. Liam nodded and I could hear the sound of his voice, though I could not decipher what was said. “Excuse me, could you please take your seats? We’re about to take off.” I heard a flight attendant say to the boys. They nodded and Harry clapped Liam on the shoulder as he left to come back and sit next to me.

“Is everything alright?” I asked him.

He opened his mouth as if to say anything. I noticed him looking over toward Niall and Harry. They were both whispering to each other, as if planning something. Liam looked back over at me, offered a smile, and patted my hand that was resting on my leg. “Don’t worry about it. Everything is… fine.”

I gave him a stare. “Liam, don’t say everything is fine whenever I just witnessed the five of you carry on a private conversation for the past ten minutes. It doesn’t look ‘fine’ to me.”

Liam sighed some. He rested his elbow on the arm and leaned toward me. “Niall was just on Twitter.” Yeah, I knew about his obsession on that app. You’d never fail to see him on his phone, tweeting about something. “Apparently some fans just found out we were on our back to London…”

I let my mouth drop open some. “Oh…”

I got it now. I knew what he was trying to say. There was going to be a crowd of fans at the airport. I could already see the image in my head. An intercom came on then, announcing it was time for departure. I barely listened as I instinctively put on my seat belt, seeing Liam doing the same. Fans. I knew how popular these boys were. There would be hundreds, possibly thousands of fans waiting for them to depart the plane, but they were going to be in for a surprise. They would see me.

Liam and I were silent as the plane took off. Once we were in the air, I knew this was going to be a long ride. “Liam… what are they going to think when they see me with you guys?” I asked.
I felt his hand cover my own. “Nobody knows who you are exactly. After the, uh, accident, Niall made a small mention about you. There were stories, but your name or face was never published. Your mother made sure of that.”

Raw pain shot through my heart some at the mentioning of my mother, but I was otherwise happy to know she kept my figure a secret. Either way, I wasn’t stupid. I knew how quick fans were to catch on. They knew what questions to ask in order to find out about their suspicions. I was sure Liam knew of this also, because he continued on. “Harry called management, asking them to do something about this, but they can’t. This left him no choice but to tell them about you. They weren’t happy, but they agreed to send in a separate car for you to ride in.”

I nodded, glad to hear that their company was willing to help out. “I’ll be riding with you.” Liam added. “You’ll be staying at my place, so the car will take us straight there.”

What if the fans saw? It would be bad enough if I got caught with all five guys. I could already see the rumors. If fans connecting me to the recent story of a girl hitting hit by their van, causing the boys to have a two month break on their tour. If I was with them, fans could possibly see me, being a just a fan at the time, as a girl that was pulling the guilt plug to be with them. But by being separate of the others, and being caught with Liam. Fans probably won’t see me as the girl that got hit as quickly, but they would start other rumors. I almost laughed a little at the thought. They would see us as a couple, as close as we were, it would be easy to misunderstand. The thought of this brought me back to the day at the funeral, where the man mistook us as a couple. Sure, right now it may be funny, but I knew it would turn into something serious if it really happened.

“Liam…” I started.

“I know.” He replied. “I’m going to be in disguise and the other boys are going to keep the fans distracted as long as they can so we can get our stuff and get out of the airport. I’ll make sure nothing happens to you.”

I closed my eyes as I rested back against the seat. His words calmed me a little. At least I wouldn’t be alone. These guys go through so much because of me and I was a little guilty. I hated how these guys can do so much for me and I only give so little in return.

I guess you can say I made a small vow then. I would try to do better. I would be a better friend. I’ll start giving more to them than I could take in return. I would allow their help sometimes, but now, I needed to act on my own. I had to start thinking for myself. I had to learn how to rely on myself, not just others. I had such great friends, and I wanted to be the girl they could come to when they needed a friend.

I could still fee Liam’s hand in my own. Feeling as if I sat a goal for myself, I gave him a little squeeze. He looked over at me, wondering what it was for. “Thanks, Li.”

I often heard the guys use this nickname for Liam. I was usually the one that didn’t say it, but I saw a slight look of emotion come over his face. “You okay?” I asked.

He nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

He didn’t seem to want to elaborate, and I didn’t force him to. He was lost into his own thoughts now as he relaxed against his seat.

The plane ride would be long and I knew the biggest thing I had to look forward to would be the jet lag. I leaned back on the chair, looking out the window offered. I closed my eyes, hopefully a nap would take over, or even sleep, but with the whole concept of fans to see and look forward to, my worry was keeping me awake. I hoped nothing bad would happen, but even I couldn’t stop the fate that was to come.