I feel something caressing my back, but I'm too asleep to react to the touch. Then someone pecks my cheek. I giggle and open my eyes, looking at the blond boy who is lying on his tummy and looking at me.
"Hi" he smiles
"Hey" I smile back.
My smile quickly disappears when I look out the window.
"Niall... What time is it?"
"It may be half past four?" he answers
"What?"
"I can't sleep!" he says turning around on the bed; "Freaking jet-lag!"
I burst out laughing.
"You arrived here a week ago, Niall!"
"Don't laugh at me" he pouts, "I can't sleep"
"And what do you want me to do?"
"Don't know" he says shrugging his shoulders, "I haven't brought me guitar so I can't play to entertain myself"
"Let's make a deal" I chuckle, "you can't wake me up again unless the dawn has broken or you have a guitar to play"
"Deal" he agrees with a grin; "But what do we do now?"
"What do you want to do?"
"Cuddle, maybe?" he shyly asks looking away.
The request sends a chill down my spine and brings a silly smile to my face.
"Sure" I say opening my arms and letting him bury his face on my neck.
"Hm" he groans some minutes later.
"What?"
"Big spoon" he grins.
I chuckle and turn around, leaning my head on his chest.
"Thanks" he mumbles as his strong arms surround the upper part of my body.
We eventually fall asleep again and the alarm clock wakes us up some hours later.
"Up, Niall!" I say poking him, "St. Louis' Stadium is waiting for you!"
"No..." he slurs burying his face on the pillow.
"Up!" I say shaking him and laughing.
We have breakfast and meet the boys in the lobby.
Some fans gather outside screaming the boys' names.
"Is everyone here?" Sam asks looking around.
"Yeah"
"Let's go then" he says opening the hotel door.
I feel some fingers intertwining with mine. I look down to see Niall's bitten-nails fingers on the back of my hand. I look up at him and smile, gently squeezing his hand.
Liam and Paddy start walking through the crowd, followed by Basil, Niall and I and Harry and Dave behind us.
Fans try to reach out for us and I turn to Niall to see him looking down at his phone while we walk.
"Niall, what are you doing?"
"Nothing, just..."
"Niall, put the phone down, you're going to drop it"
"No, I'm not" he answers as he takes me by the waist helping me enter the van.
I bump into Liam who wasn't seated where he should have been.
"Ouch" I say taking my hand to my head
"I'm sorry" Liam mumbles moving to his seat without even looking at me.
"You okay, Liam?" I whisper to him.
"Yeah" he answers looking away.
I look at Niall but he hasn't noticed since he's talking to Harry.
We arrive to the stadium and the boys immediately leave to do the soundcheck. I walk with Lottie to the sides to sit around the stage and watch them rehearse.
"Powerless, and I don't care, it's obvious. I just can't get enough of you. The pedal's down, my eyes are closed... No control..."
"..."
"Payno!"
The shout takes me back to reality. I shake my head and look to the stage, where Liam takes the mic to his mouth and carries on singing.
"Wake up, Payno!" Louis says to him; "It's the second time that happens! You'll see your girlfriend again in two weeks!"
Liam's voice breaks.
Sophia and his parents left late at night yesterday and apparently he isn't dealing with it really well.
I ask Sam for permission and he lets me stand next to the stage during the concert. He also gives me a camera so I take pictures of the boys for future interests.
"I've seen you and Harry playing with the camera, so I guess you'll know how to use it"
"Sure" I answer smiling at him, happy that he has decided to give me another chance.
So I watch the concert through a lens and it brings me a new perspective. As soon as the boys realize I'm photographing them, they start doing silly faces, annoying each other, coming to it...
Not Liam, though. It looks like he's not really enjoying the concert.
"Are you feeling okay?" I ask him during the break when they change their clothes.
"Yeah" he answers with the same tone he did this morning, not looking at me.
"You don't look..."
"I'm fine, Victoria, really" he cuts me tying his shoes and rushing back to the stage.
Luckily, this time I'm not the only one who has realized about how weird Liam's acting and Zayn also questions him when we head back to the hotel.
"Could we go out tonight?" Niall asks as we enter the lobby.
"Thank you, Niall!" Louis exclaims, "I thought no one would suggest it! Let's go party"
"I can't go" I start getting near Niall and giving him a sad smile.
"No way, you're coming with us" he says shaking his head.
"Niall, I'm not..."
"As long as you don't drink, you're allowed to come with us. And if you want a drink, we could always buy for ya" he cuts smiling cheekily, "Let's take a quick shower and go have some fun" he says.
"Yeah, but don't take that shower together!" Zayn teases laughing and entering his bedroom.
An hour later we're in one of the city's clubs dancing and having fun.
"Would you like another drink?" I ask as we dance to the beat of a remix.
"Yeah!" Niall screams over the music.
The rest of the boys nod and give me thumbs up.
"Not you, Payno!" Louis laughs, "You've already had three drinks and we only had one! It's bad for your magic kidney!"
It's true. Liam has left the dance floor a couple of times to go to the bar.
"Leave my kidney alone!" Liam shouts back laughing; "Bring the drinks, Vic"
"Okay, I can't carry six glasses" I say turning to Niall.
"I was going to the loo" he answers excusing himself through the crowd.
"What a coincidence" I sarcastically answer, looking at the rest of the guys
"I'll go with you" Liam offers walking me to the bar.
It's incredibly crowded. I'd say there are more people in the bar than on the dance floor. A boy approaches me, smiling.
"What is a place like this doing around a girl like you?"
I raise an eyebrow and then turn my back on him.
"Hey baby, you know I'm talking to you" he insists.
"Back off" Liam says looking at him.
"Whoa, 'back off'" the guy mocks him in an overdone British accent; "I didn't know she was your girl, bro"
"She's not" Liam answers.
"Then what is the problem with buying her a drink?" he asks getting closer to me; "What would you like, baby?"
"First of all, I'd like you to stop calling me 'baby'" I answer.
"Why? Don't you like it, baby?"
"Didn't you hear her, mate? Just shut up, okay?" Liam snaps at him.
"Don't tell me what to do, I just want to buy this stunning chick a drink. Fuck off, will you? Go find yourself some other girl" the boy finishes taking me by the waist.
That's enough for Liam; he pushes him away with too much strength. The boy trips and pushes over a couple of people before falling to the ground.
"What's your fucking problem?" he says standing up.
"I'll tell you what's my problem: that is not how you treat a girl, and definitely not my friend!"
"It's not my problem if she friend-zoned you, you faggot, just let the rest of us taste her"
I see Liam's jaw tensing and his fists clenching. I stand in front of him, gently pushing his chest.
"Easy, Liam" I say, "he's not worth it"
"Of course I'm worth it, baby"
That's the straw that breaks the camel's back.
Liam's fist hits the boys face without him being able to see it coming. Not him, nor me.
"Liam!" I shout when I realize what he's done.
The club security interferes in no time at all. He escorts us outside and forbids us entering for the rest of the night.
Once outside, Liam's face goes from anger to grief.
"I'm sorry" he mutters, tears running to his eyes; "I am so, so sorry" he says coming to me and hugging me.
The hug takes me by surprise. That's not how Liam would react at all. I hug him back and wait until he calms down.
"You're lucky he didn't recognize you, you know?"
He nods looking at me and drying his nose with his finger. I hand him a tissue and give him a worried look.
"Why did you do that, Liam? That was not you. You wouldn't react like that"
He looks down.
"Sophia broke up with me" he whispers, barely audible.