That Girl Band (Liam Payne)

Part 9

Liam jumped down. "Okay, we don't have a show today. Can we hang out?"

I looked at my phone. I didn't have a text from Benny. I didn't have a text from Nancy or Benny's assistant. "Yes, I think."

"Great!" Liam grabbed my hand and dragged me down the street. "Let's have fun." He found a metro stop, the Greenline, I asked him where we were going and he shrugged. "We can get off when we see something fun." Liam started looking up maps on his phone and pulled me off the Greenline and onto the Redline.

"How do you know how to do this?" I asked. I was terrified. He explained to me how to use the maps. It wasn't much different from using the tube in London and he'd done that, millions of times. He pulled me off the Redline, up some stairs and down the road. Up head I could see the National Zoo. "Oh, my God, Liam! They have PANDAS!" I found myself doing a little happy dance. Liam laughed and grabbed my hand, pulling me up to the entrance. He paid the fee and went right into the gift shop. He bought two baseball hats, covered with Pandas. Mine was purple. His was cream. Both of them had the bears embroidered on them with the words "National Zoo Washington DC" on the bill. He told me to put it on, hoping to avoid being seen.

Liam carried the map and took us down the Asian Trail, which led right to the Panda overlook. We stood, looking down, watching the Pandas roll around and play. They ate bamboo. Only the two males were outside. If we wanted to see the baby panda, we needed to go to the panda house. Liam took my hand and we walked up the path, stopping to see the American Bison (Okay, Buffalo. Only zoos call them American Bison!), and into the panda house. You had to wait for the mother to let you see the baby. After about ten minutes, the mother starting walking, the baby following her. I took picture after picture, posting them on my facebook and twitter. I made Liam lean in and we took a selfie with the baby panda in the background. "Do not tweet that! At least, not until we are gone." He leaned down and kissed me, right along my hairline. I felt a shiver run up my spine. He was being so sweet and fun today. No grumpy Liam. No grabby hands Liam. Maybe this was the real Liam? This was how he was the first time we rode the bus together. This is who I wanted him to be. I leaned my head against his shoulder and he kissed my head again. I really, really loved it when he did that.

Liam walked us out of the panda house and into a the restaurant across the way, The Panda Grill. "You hungry? It's passed lunch and I didn't eat much breakfast. I'm starving and I smell pizza." Liam asked. I nodded and we found a place to sit. Liam left me and went to buy some food.

I watched a teenage girl stare as Liam walked. She turned and looked at me, her eyes wide. "Is that? I mean...Is it?" She leaned in close and whispered, "Liam?" I looked up at her, unable to keep the smile off my face. "It is, isn't it! Do you think he'll take a picture with me? I'm going to the concert tomorrow! We decided to make a vacation out of it." She nodded her head at a family nearby.

Liam was walking back, his tray covered with pizza, chicken tenders, fries and pop. He set it down and looked up at the girl. "Hello?"

She did jump and scream.

"Shhhh....!" Liam said. "Please, don't scream." Liam pleaded. She nodded. "Do you want a picture?" She nodded. I took her phone and snapped a photo for here. She hugged him and I took another picture. Liam tapped his cheek and she leaned in to kiss him. I took a picture of that, too. She thanked him a hundred times, promising to not tweet the photo until tomorrow. Then he sat down and looked at me. "Eat!" I laughed and grabbed a chicken tender, eating it quickly. Liam grabbed a slice of pizza. Together we ate an order of chicken tenders, two orders of fries and three pieces of pizza. Liam groaned when he was done. "I didn't need that last slice of pizza. We need to walk."

We headed out, down the path, spending time watching the elephants spray each other, and the apes eat bugs off eat other. We passed the lions and tiger, heading into the kid's farm. We were NOT allowed to play on the playground or touch the animals. A very angry park employee told us that we had to be eight or younger. Liam tried to pull the "I'm a celebrity" card to no avail. She didn't know One Direction. We hurried out, laughing. It took hours, but we finally made it to the flamingos, near the front of the park. I dropped onto a bench, exhausted. "I cannot walk another step." I said. Liam sat next to me and I fell onto his shoulder. People started to stare at us and Liam grabbed my hand.

"Uh, I think we've been spotted." He pulled out his phone and used his thumb to open the twitter app. "Oh, crap. Liam's at the zoo is trending. We need to go." He pulled on my hand.

"But I'm tired! And I want a stuffed panda!" I whined. Liam sighed. He grabbed my legs, pulling them around his waist. I flung my arms around his neck and he carried me across to the gift shop. He set me down in front of the stuffed animals and looked at his phone.

"Shit! I'm in trouble. The gate is flooded with fans. Paddy is coming in. He brought a car. I'm going to get yelled at for going out without him." Liam looked up at me. "Pick one, let's go."

"I can't pick. I want this one." I pointed to a huge panda. "And this one." I pointed to a medium sized elephant. "Or that one." I pointed to a buffalo." He was the biggest. I could see Paddy walking over. I stood there, staring. "Or maybe I want a tee-shirt?"

"Liam." Paddy said. I could tell by his voice that he was angry. "We need to get you out of here. Why did you sneak off? This is my job! I'm supposed to keep you safe!"

Liam sighed. "If you come, I'm outed, right away. People would follow me around all day. I just wanted to be alone with Beth, okay?"

"No! It's not okay! This is a situation! The police are out there!" Paddy was getting angry.

I grabbed the buffalo. "I'm ready." I said. Then I turned back and grabbed the panda. "Okay, now." Liam grabbed my hand and pulled. "Wait!" I grabbed the elephant. I nodded. "Okay. I'm good."

Liam looked at me. "You sure?" he asked. I looked back, staring at a lion. Liam grabbed the lion and a random monkey. Then he looked at me. I beamed up at him. He turned one more time and grabbed a lizard. "For me." He nodded and walked us up to the counter. The sales girl rang us up and asked for a picture with Liam. I hugged all of my new friends to my chest. Liam looked at me, laughing. "Well, someone looks happy." I grinned up at him and smiled.

Paddy pulled us up to main gate, forcing his way through. "Grab my hand and keep your head down. Don't stop walking." he said.

"I don't have a free hand." I giggled. He grabbed the elephants trunk and pulled me along. Hopping in a waiting SUV, we were taken back to the stadium. Paddy took Liam away and I took all of my animals to "Beth's" bunk, except the lizard and the panda. I put the panda in my real bunk and took the lizard to Liam's bus. I knocked on the door and it opened.

"Liam's still getting reamed." Lou said.

"Oh, well, this is his. Put it in his bunk?"

Lou nodded and I walked away. I headed inside to find our dressing room and a hot shower. I felt grubby. When I opened the door, Benny, Max and Nancy all started to yell. I covered my ears and walked into the bathroom. Max wasn't having it. She followed me in. "You are all over twitter. Our fans aren't stupid. Someone is going to figure out it's you. Plus, we wanted to record. Shower, Cinderella, cause it's midnight and the ball is over."