It's Better To Not Know Better (Ziam)

Not A Very Difficult Concept To Grasp

**It took me forever, but I had writer's block, then my dad turned Internet off for a week, then I had writer's block again, I started something but scrapped it, started again, heavy editing, TA-DA! Hope you like it!**

Unloading the bus again, the boys followed the gentlemen of management into the hotel. Liam and Louis had not been shaving for the past few days, leaving their chins in a thick layer of stubble, and Harry had once again lost weight. The fans knew about Zayn now, everyone knew this, and Liam wasn't too happy about it, because a lot of the fingers were starting to point back at him. Sharp bunch, they were.

The boys were shown to two separate suites, the pairing decided being Lou and Harry, and Niall and Liam. Louis originally wanted to be put in with Liam, however, he talked a bit with Harry and decided that maybe it was best that Niall and Liam stay together.

Something was going on with Niall, and nobody liked it. He was getting angrier. At what, no one knew, but it didn't sit well with the others. Liam noticed how distant Niall was at night, too. How he would move to the edge of the bed and toss around all night, whereas he used to cuddle up with Liam, perfectly sound. Liam was hoping it wasn't permanent.

Louis was starting to return to his normal self, although it was obvious he still wasn't complete. He found new reasons to be happy, which Liam decided was inevitable anyway. You can't keep Louis down. But even though he was acting cheery, the words of the night in the car still stuck to the back of Liam's mind. And as Liam had learned, Louis is remarkably good at acting like himself.

Meanwhile, Harry was still ahead of Louis in the leader race. Sure, sometimes Lou could light up the room with his attitude, but Harry's insistent optimism was starting to pick up. He and Louis were glad about something, and Liam couldn't tell what. Although he still wasn't buying the words that Harry said about Zayn coming back, he still couldn't fight the feeling that maybe Harry's outlook came from more than just a gut feeling.

He and Niall were now in seperate rooms, which unnerved him. He was starting to fall apart again, he needed Niall more than Niall needed him. And he usually would've expected Niall to know that, but something about the situation now told him no. Niall wouldn't just leave Liam when apparent talk said that Liam was the worst. Hell, it wasn't even apparent anymore. The boys were each trying to move on in their own ways. Liam was just the slowest.

Liam had a lot of theories about what was going on with Niall, but his thoughts were interrupted when the other two came into the suite. Niall heard, and soon joined them all in the main room, sitting on the floor.

"So, we need to talk about Zayn," Louis started.

"Because we've been avoiding that subject?" Liam asked sarcastically.

"No... seriously, is what we've been ignoring," Harry snapped. "And no matter what, you are not leaving this spot until it's over. We're getting it all in one go."

Liam smirked mockingly, stood up, and took a seat in the armchair, leaving the others on the floor. "Continue." He leaned forward on his elbows, crossing his legs in front of him.

Louis sighed. "We've been keeping some things from you, Liam."

"Do I have to sit here, or..." Niall looked from Liam to Harry and Lou. Without breaking eye contact with Liam, Louis shook his head. Niall stood up and left out the door without another word.

Once the door closed again, Liam raised his eyebrows at the others. "So?"

Harry Bit hiss lip, and Louis hissed through his teeth. "You're the reason Zayn left."

Liam made a face. "You thought I didn't already know that?"

"Not the same as you've been thinking, though. You don't understand--Zayn may have been mad at you. But he doesn't hate you," Lou insisted. He looked at Harry, who then cleared his throat.