Liam
"Liam? Are you ready?"
Forcing his eyes open as one of the interns gently shook him awake, Liam let out a sound that could possibly have been a yes, but sounded more like an incomprehensible groan, ignoring Louis as he mimicked him and sitting upright, struggling for a minute to remember where he was.
The hustle and bustle going on around him helped him to remember, and the mug of tea Louis handed to him, made in one of the promotional mugs they were always given on morning talk shows reminded him that he was five minutes away from being live on Good Morning Britain. He wasn't supposed to have fallen asleep, but they'd been there since four, going through questions Liam was allowed to be asked and to answer so it wasn't that unusual he'd ended up falling asleep in the lull between wardrobe and going on.
He headed over to join Zayn and Harry, grimacing a little as the make-up artist pulled him to one side and applied make up to the faint mark along his collar bone, pulling at his shirt collar until another intern came along and attached his microphone before allowing him to sit with the rest of his band mates on the sofa, all of them dropping into their usual order without needing to coordinate themselves. It was habit, after so many years, for them all to sit in a certain order, no matter which sofa it was or which talk show.
Liam ended up sitting closest to where the host would be, with Louis sat next to him, then Harry and Zayn. Someone took his mug of tea away from him, and then he was on autopilot, greeting the host with a grin and an awkward, sat down handshake before they were made to listen to the usual spiel. This time, the person interviewing them was a woman, chatty and far too wide awake for this time in the morning, Susannah something or other.
She seemed to spend the first five minutes flirting with Harry, though everyone knew already that that would get you nowhere. Louis couldn't help but smirk all the way through that, something Liam would originally have given him shit for but, over the years, he'd gotten to know enough of Louis' frustration to let it slide. Zayn didn't, though, and reached around to elbow Louis not so subtly when Harry began to smirk too.
She eventually got around to asking them questions; asking Zayn first about his art and any possible new solo material before turning to the rest of them; asking the same questions. Louis answered with a laugh and shake of his head; letting Harry bring up their joint projects. "Lou and I...after tour, so not for a while, we're releasing an EP, of just the two of us. It's titled that, I think. At the moment, anyway."
"You and...Lou. That sounds fascinating. I'm sure your fans will love it." Susannah's smile faded a little then and she gave an almost imperceptible shake of her head when Louis opened his mouth to speak. That didn't stop him, though, and Louis gave Harry a grin as he said, "It's going to be great; working together."
It was eventually Liam's turn, and he gave a shrug, smiling a little. "Apart from tour and whatever me and the boys put forward next, not much. I've been busy, with other things, other people, you know?"
That seemed to be all the prompting Susannah needed to get onto the topic she'd been especially briefed to ask Liam about, turning so she was facing him with a wolffish smile on her face, adjusting the hem of her skirt as she asked, "I'm sure you have been. You've had a very busy Christmas, haven't you? We were all so sorry to hear about you and Sophia. And the timing...ouch."
Shrugging a little, as if to say 'what can you do?', Liam sat up straighter, remembering to look suitably upset for a moment before he answered. "It was tough, yeah. But, after so many years together, you just know if something's not working anymore. We're both better off for this, though."
"Rumour has it you're much better off." Susannah gave Liam a knowing smile, and Liam forced himself to smile along with her, leaning into Louis' side, and relaxing slightly, not necessarily for his sake but for Niall's, given the fact that Niall had promised to find the time to watch the interview if he got the chance. And it wasn't like that wasn't true.
"I...might be. Not that I'd put it that way."
"Of course not. But we are all we dying to know who the lucky girl is. I don't suppose...?" Susannah gave Liam a grin, already well aware and briefed about what he was supposed to say, anticipating his response as she leant forward, looking between Liam and the rest of the boys and holding her breath a little.
"I can't say much. They're incredible, though, he's...he's- He's sunshine. I've...been in the dark for a while, things haven't always been great, that was maybe part of the reason Soph and I just stopped working, but he makes all of it...better, I guess." Liam couldn't help but grin as he spoke, an actual, genuine grin, the kind he hadn't worn in an interview for years, well aware of the smiles on the boys faces and their nodding as he looked over at Susannah, waiting for her to say her line, her part of the script all ready agreed on by his management.
"He? Well that's...that's great. He makes you happy and we are all dying to know more. This isn't the first time you've alluded to...this aspect of your sexuality though, is it? Your fans have been actively watching your social media and...if it's not too personal, you've followed someone very interesting recently, haven't you?" Susannah paused for a moment, waiting for Liam to nod before she straightened her skirt and continued. "We here at Good Morning Britain cannot help but wonder if this Niall Horan, who you followed over a week ago, is that new someone."
"Wouldn't you like to know." Liam's smile betrayed him and he was well aware of the looks he was being given, waiting for the residual chatter in the studio to die down before he did as he was supposed to and veered the conversation back to the reason they were actually on Good Morning Britain. "But you can know that our tour is coming up soon and our fist gig, in two weeks, takes place in this very city, and we cannot wait to see you guys for the beginning of the Made In The Aftermath tour. See what I did there? Smooth, right?"
Liam and the other boys shared smirks and relaxed against the sofa, waiting for Susannah to be done with her over the top fake laughter, the majority of the interview out of the way.
******
Completely unlike almost every interview he'd done for the first seven years of his career, Liam actually enjoyed the Good Morning Britain interview. He enjoyed the subsequent interviews as well. The early morning Radio One interview left him grinning, finding the questions regarding the rainbow alterations to his Instagram profile and twitter account and the mysterious trip he made to an unknown, overly small music shop in Brixton far easier too answer than any questions regarding Sophia he'd ever been forced to answer.
In fact, he was happier this time around, preparing for the latest tour, than he'd ever been, even though the fact he'd be leaving weighed heavily on him. He hadn't yet found a way to tell Chloe he'd be leaving, something Niall hadn't helped with either. Whenever he thought of a away to broach the topic with the seven-year-old, something made it feel impossible for him to say it. He'd hoped that Chloe had listened enough and understood enough to figure it out for herself, but that hope seemed far fetched and seemed to let him off the hook too easily.
In every interview he did, it was easier to be himself, to answer honestly and enjoy it that it had ever been. The questions about Niall continued, though he wasn't actually at liberty to confirm it was Niall by interview, he was supposed to hold out and eventually confirm that over social media, yet it seemed to be a truth everyone already knew. All he had to do was act coy enough so that the mainstream press would leave Niall alone enough to let him keep some semblance of privacy and minimise the risk of exposing Chloe.
It didn't stop him from talking about Niall though. Never by name, but always in the same way. Always using phrases that left people talking and left him wanting more opportunities, more chances to talk about Niall and more chances to be himself. The whole experience made him wish he'd listened to Louis and Harry sooner, made him wish he'd spent less years listening to his management teams, old and new, and had been able to say what he'd wanted.
"He's...he's what makes me happy Happier than I thought possible."
"It's...it's not really been long, but I...I- I feel like he's what I've been waiting for."
"It's like that Adele song. He's someone I knew from my past and...it'- Maybe it's not exactly like that, but the feelings are the same."
"So he's a guy. So what. So I'm not as straight as people have assumed. So I'm not dating the next girl who comes along, that's not what matters. It's that he's him."
"The L-word could apply here, yeah."
____________________________________
Happy update.
This week we're celebrating the end of the world.
Current world news aside; I'm out of chocolate, I have so much work I haven't done, my parents are only communicating through me (by email), and I spent my last five pound note on a stack of books from a charity shop I don't have time to read.
It's a good week to be me.
(Everyone else who's in deeper shit than me, you get twice the amount of cake. And maybe extra tequila.)
But that's enough of my shit. Let's focus on Niall and Liam's instead. Not that they have much shit. Yet.
Actually, Niall and Liam don't have shit.
But there's always Chloe and Liam.
Watch this space.
I don't know anymore.
Thoughts on the chapter?