Man of the Night (Lilo/Larry)

Chapter 1

"Has Liam been doing okay lately? I would ask him myself, but he would not tell me like he would tell you" Simon questioned as he entered the recording studio. Harry and Niall simply nodded in response. There was no reason for him not to be okay. They had time off from media, they were not touring, he was back on with Dani and more importantly they were focusing on actual music, something Liam loved. What was unusual was Simon popping in the recording studio while they were laying down background vocals. He always waited to hear the demo track or to work on final mixing if he even made an appearance in the studio.

As Harry entered in the mic room, Niall's thick Irish accent filled the room "Liam is Liam, why do you ask?"

"He's been hitting the gym hard lately. Now, we both know he is not old enough for a midlife crisis nor was he out of shape in the first place."

"Maybe the mate is just bored. I know I could use something to do lately." Niall coiled back realizing he just said that aloud to his workaholic boss.

Simon laughed it off, "Be careful what you ask for," before turning his attention to the lad singing behind the booth. He genuinely cared for the boys and the money they brought was not a down side to their relationship.

If Liam was thinking of leaving everything could change. If he was leading down a Britney Spears or Lindsey Lohan path someone had to intervene before it destroys the whole group’s image. One Direction could withstand a blew or two when it came to their image but drugs and psychotic break downs would leave parents quite wiry. When parents begin to question their child's idol, they stop driving them to concerts or paying for merchandise. Which is a big problem for everyone involved, not just Simon. He had to get to the bottom of this before TMZ or Perze Hilton get wind of some "scandalous" leaked pictures and videos. And he better do it fast.

The following hour was spent working on vocals for the new tracks. Niall and Harry did not even notice how Simon had left minutes after his conversation. He had a habit of doing that, for being such a cranky old man he sure could move swiftly. The rest of the recording session remained uneventful, giving Niall time to ponder the thought of what was going on with Liam. Liam was fine or at least he thought that before it was mentioned. But then there was the thought of how Simon was not the type to worry over nothing.

During the evening the boys decided to meet up for dinner in Zayn's apartment. When Liam showed up nearly twenty minutes late, instead of arriving properly five minutes early Niall began to let what Simon said get to him even more. Niall was so deep in thought he only noticed Harry waving his hand in front of his face after the sixth time.

"What?" Niall snapped. When Louis pulled his head back and shot Niall a ghetto glare, Niall realized he said that a little too loud and fast. 'Leave it to Louis's sassiness to point out your faults' Niall thought to himself.

His thoughts were yet again interrupted but this time by Zayn. "Hey Liam, did you rent Sinister or do we need to find something on Netflix?"

"Got it right here" Liam smiled patting the empty seat beside him. "Or not, well I did rent it but I must have left it in the car. Do you mind walking down with me to grab it, Zayn?"

Zayn nodded, "I need a smoke anyways." He sighed as he slid his arms into his greaser jacket and grabbed his cigarettes from the counter before following Liam out the door. He carefully waited until the door behind him close before asking Liam how work went.

Zayn had known about Liam’s secret job for some time now. In fact he had helped Liam cover from management, the other boys and really the whole world for a few months. When he first found out Liam had been sneaking back into the hotel after his shift, this was of course after he snuck out after the One Direction concert in the first place. Liam had thought he was in the clear as he entered the side door of the band’s hotel, just before dawn broke. Liam had played it very well to this point, he was sure no one would find out about his indiscretions. What he did not take into consideration was Perrie calling Zayn and breaking up with him yet again, for the latest video TMZ leaked of him supposedly cheating. Leaving Zayn stressed out and in need of a smoke. That is when he saw Liam going back into the hotel when he should have been asleep; not only because they had all had a long day but also because they were all under strict instruction to remain in their rooms. Liam was not Zayn, he actually followed the rules and showed respect for authority at all times. Sneaking out was defiantly defying what he stood for, leading Zayn to confront Liam in the stairwell. Liam stuttered on his words. How ashamed and embarrassed Liam looked made it very obvious Liam had not been out for a simple jog or pop run. Between the smell of cigars, boos, cigarettes and sweat and the early hour it was not hard to realize Liam had been at a bar of some short. But Zayn decided to leave his assumption unspoken until he investigated more. He expected Liam to be cheating on Dani, what other reason would he be doing a bar at three am and lying about it? What Zayn did not expect was what he found when he followed Liam the next time they played a gig in London.

"Great. Actually, that's what I wanted to talk about." Liam opened the door toward the stairs, letting Zayn head down the stairs first.

"If you are trying to recruit me you should think twice. I mean I would hate to see you hurt your little pride when I become the clients’ favorite." Zayn playfully threatened as he finally reached the bottom step and headed toward the Emergency Exit.

"Vanity is bitch, Zayn. Be careful before it starts sucking too hard."

“So man, what did you want to talk about? Do I need to cover tonight or what?” Zayn said lighting his cigarette.

“Not tonight, I plan on watching Sinister and sneaking a box of film in your apartment for one of the lads to find in the middle of the night. It is tomorrow I am worried about, one of my favorites is flying back home from vaca in Thailand.”

Zayn lifted an eyebrow, “And the problem besides you talking like a Kardashion, is?”

“Paul has someone tagging me. I would hate to hear Simon when he gets that report.”

Liam and Zayn continued their conversation and smoke while working out a plan to help Liam lose whoever was sent to follow him when he was out and about. The plan was surprisingly simple, Liam would just switch into Zayn’s car and Zayn would drive Liam’s to Perrie’s. The tag would not realize they had switched at the in the garage until Zayn got to Perrie’s. If Paul or anyone asked about why they switched, they would have to admit they were following Liam and well that would blow the whole point of them trying to be secretive about it.

Once they finished with the details of their plan they headed back upstairs, Blu-ray in hand. Louis’s voice filled the whole apartment. “Do you ever just have this fear of ice cream trucks? Like one day you’re just going to walk up and be like a double chocolate scope with sprinkles and then BAM!” Louis yelled the last part, startling Niall and Harry. “Then just this guy like pulls you in and you are trapped in a frozen playground. But there are all these poor helpless kids and you have to get them out somehow.”

“I vote leave ‘em and climb back out the window, find someone with a camera and then rescue the kids. Think of the headlines! ‘One Direction saves children from freezing to death and makes scientific history by finding a wormhole to a froze playground!” Harry chimed in with a confident grin.

“No, hold up mate. Is the ice cream stored in the frozen playground? If there is why would they want rescuing, much less why would you want to leave?” Niall looked truly complexed.

“Let me finish! Then you eventually help them get out. But it turns out there pint size demons. What do you do now?” Louis finished.

Liam’s fatherly side came out as he shook his head. “Louis have you been watching Charmed again?”

Not the best start but it is hard to only hint to things and not actually say it yet, plus I wanted to include everyone in the first chapter. Normally a chapter will focus on a character or two, not seven. ;)

Oh and if you haven't seen Sinister (you should, it's awesome!) but it's a scary movie and the box of film relates to the story (so Liam would be pranking the person who finds it) and Charmed is an off the air American show and Louis described an episode ;)