Masquerade (Liam Payne)

Chapter 17 ~ Liam

Chapter 17 ~ Liam

After Manchester we go back to London for a few more shows and then a break before leaving the country to visit the others in Europe. Since the infructuous date with Tammy the other day and she leaving without saying goodbye —even Sky came to say goodbye to each one of us—, I haven’t called her or anything. I’ve wanted to, but every time I want to call her, I tell myself that I have to give her space and I have to figure some things out myself.

I know I fancy her, I know I’m pursuing something with her. I have no idea if that’s going to work or not, but I have to try. But Tammy is a real piece of work. I’m not sure what I can do to get closer to her, I try to think but nothing comes to my mind. How can I make her trust me so she can open up to me? How can I make her see that she is not as bad as she thinks she is?

It’s frustrating and I guess I should just give up. Phebs is right and maybe there’s someone better suited for me out there, but would that person intrigue me as Tammy does? Would that person attract me with such a strong force as Tammy does? I can’t stop thinking how different things would be if Tammy trusted me, even a little bit.

During the ride back to London I’m not the only one who seems lost in thoughts, Louis is acting weird and he hasn’t said a thing since we came here, ready to go.

“You okay, Lou?” I ask him because it’s good to focus on something else besides Tammy. “You’ve been zoning out all this time.”

“Yeah, I’m okay,” he answers absentmindedly but I keep staring at him. He’s been acting weird the whole day, and so has Kay. I wonder if something happened between them yesterday.

Paul told us about the burning pile of Starbucks cups when I came back from my yet again failed date and after Harry had paid his bet. We tried to talk to Louis yesterday, but he didn’t allow us to. Paul said he left him with Kay and he didn’t know what happened after but that he said he was ready to call a mental institution. He was really worried. I guess everyone is worried about Louis and how he is taking everything. It’s been a long time since he broke up with Eleanor and he doesn’t seem to be doing better.

“You and Kay are a couple of weirdoes. No one says anything!” I say because we tried asking Kay as well, but it didn’t work either.

Louis jumps at the mention of her name and that catches my attention because that only means this has to do with her. Really, what happened? He is lost in his thoughts again and I frown at him, getting mad that I don’t understand what’s going on.

“And there you go again, zoning out. Mate, get a grip,” I complain.

“I’m sorry,” he says softly, no bitterness in his voice this time. Just a simple apology. “I just have a lot in my head right now.”

I stay in silence, mesmerised by the way those words leave his lips. For the last couple of months he’s been always touchy about us saying things to him, always shouting at us to leave him alone, that he is fine. He hasn’t really apologised —except when he told Harry, Niall and Zayn those things— to any of us in that way… no since before he broke up with Eleanor.

“You sound like the old you… almost.” I trail off, impressed for this little change in his voice.

“I—” he tries, but nothing really comes out of his mouth yet. “I’ll go take a nap. I don’t feel quite well after all,” he finally manages to say and I nod, not pushing him further this time and by when he leaves, a little smile plays on my lips.

I don’t know what happened, what Kay did this time, but it changed something in Louis. I don’t know how she is attacking his armour, but I think she is making progress and I hope she succeeds because we’re all counting on her to help Louis.