I Cannot Hide This Even Though I Try ~ A COMPLETED One Direction Fanfic

9 - Double Trouble

"Sometimes Niall forgets that we only met at the X Factor boot camp," Liam lies, but his reddened face is a dead giveaway.

"Yeah, and I'm best friends with the Queen, may she live forever," Rayne scoffs, rolling her eyes.

Morgan gives Li and I a knowing look, then just laughs and shakes her head. "Liam going to school in Mullingar sounds like the start of an AU fanfic," she jokes.

"What's an AU fanfic?" I question, hoping to change the topic.

"Oh, the 'AU' stands for 'Alternate Universe' and 'fanfic' is short for 'fanfiction', just so you know," Rayne explains. "But seriously, could you imagine that? 'Liam Payne is forced to moved to Ireland just before his second last year of school where he meets none other than Niall Horan. They become best friends, but then Liam is moved away again and they lose contact until they suddenly bump into each other on the set of the X Factor.'"

Liam and I exchange glances, eyes widening.

"All that's missing is some kind of cliché romance between you two," Morgan continues for her friend.

Liam quickly clears his throat, shooting me one last look that seems scared. "That would be funny," he plays along. "Unfortunately our lives aren't really that interesting."

"Exactly. Besides, Liam wasn't cool enough to go to school with me," I joke, winking.

As soon as the waitress comes into view again, Liam calls for the check. We all continue talking as we wait for the bill, Morgan and Rayne insisting that they can pay for their meals, Liam rejecting their every offer.

"I brought everyone here, I'm paying," Liam states, no room left for argument.

"Thank you, Mr. Payne," Rayne finally gives in.

"Thanks for dinner," Morgan follows momentarily.

"Thanks, LiLi!" I finish with a laugh.

"You're all very welcome," Liam states. "Now then, where to first?"

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*Louis' POV*

"How was your chat with Nialler?" Harry asks as I walk through the door to our flat.

It has been a few hours since I visited Niall in his flat because my family is in town and they took me out for dinner. I slide my feet out of my shoes and walks towards my curly-haired boyfriend. "I forgot to ask him what's been going on between him and Liam, but I did talk to him about standing up to management," I tell him.

Harry closes the distance between us and wraps his arms around my waist, smiling down at me. "Well, my bet is still that they're miffed about the whole deal with management that was pushed back again," he says. "My guess is that standing up to management will help fix whatever the problem is for them right now."

I slowly nod in agreement. "Yeah, but the problem is that he won't do it," I murmur into Harry's shoulder.

The taller boy pulls back and frowns at me. "What do you mean he won't do it?"

"I mean he yelled at me when I suggested it and told me it would just cause even more problems," I explain, rolling my eyes

"Oh." Harry pulls me to his chest again and plants a kiss on my forehead.

"He did seem like he might change his mind if we work on convincing him that he's not alone in this," I add.

Harry hugs me even tighter and say, "That's wonderful news, Boobear."

I talked with Harry earlier about how difficult it was for me to keep my mouth shut during the interview and he confessed that he had been having trouble, too. "I can't wait," I mumble.

"Me either."

I let go of my boyfriend and pull away, entwining our fingers instead. I pull him with me over to the sofa in the livingroom and turn on the television, flipping through the channels until suddenly a photo of Liam, Niall and two random girls fills the screen.

"One Direction's Liam Payne and Niall Horan were spotted leaving Nando's this evening with two mystery girls in tow. Niall Horan announced on live television this morning that he had been harbouring feelings for someone, but would not give names. Payne was recently caught leaving his private vacation with long-time girlfriend, Danielle Peazer, supposedly after the pair got in a fight. Payne claims that they are still happy with each other, but what really happened to the couple of two years? Could Liam be trying to move on by going on a double date with Niall and his mystery lover?"

Haz and I watch as more pictures are shown of our two friends walking through London with a redhead and a brunette, no longer focusing on the reporter's words. After a short while, the photos of Niall and Liam stop appearing and the news changes to something about some popular television show that I hear about all the time (and still don't know its name).

Harry takes the clicker from the coffee table and turns off the telly before turning to face me. "Do you have any clue what just happened?" he asks, his features showing nothing but confusion.

I shock both of us by replying with a simple, "Yes."

"Care to explain?"

I grimace while thinking it through, then begin: "Liam was seen leaving his trip to Florida with Danielle a couple of days before it was supposed to end, plus he seemed upset and/or angry at the airport. Li mentioned before that he made some friends on the flight back to London, then earlier today he told us that he was going to give them a tour of the city. The media is obviously trying to make more of it than it really is, so they're taking advantage of the fact that Liam offered to show these new, female friends around town. The only thing I don't understand is why Niall was with them."

Harry gives me a cheeky grin before filling in the blanks. "Liam told me earlier that he was planning to introduce us all to these friends of his before we leave for Switzerland in two days," he informs me. "He also tried calling me earlier, but I ignored it because I was in the tub and didn't know who was calling. I figured if it was really that important, he would have called back."

"He tried calling me, too, but my phone was off during supper. My guess is that he was going to invite us on his little tour or something," I state, concluding our combined thoughts. "Now the only question is: what the hell was Li thinking? I mean, he's always so... So... Careful!"

Harry nods slowly, a look of deep concentration upon his face. After what seems like forever, he finally speaks: "Something tells me we're due for another meeting with management…"