~Liam's POV~
I step out of the car to be immediately bombarded by flashing lights and screams. I squint my eyes, trying to see in front of me, and someone puts their hand on my shoulder, guiding me in the general direction of the door. I'm wearing a snapback to try and hide the bandages, but I quickly realize how useless it is when someone knocks it off of my head. It's actually incredible how fast the paparazzi go silent and ow quickly the hat ends up back on my head and I'm forced even more quickly to the door. When we finally get inside I blink a few times until my vision comes back into focus. So Harry was the one helping me get to the door. That's useful information.
"You okay, Liam?" Niall asks, standing in front of me. I nod, looking around then reaching up and adjusting the snapback on my head since Harry just kinda shoved it on to cover the bandages.
"I'm... fine. It's just the... paparazzi we should... worry about. That... picture will be all over the... internet in... seconds, probably." I say, sighing when I finish because of my speech problem. I'm the one who has it and I still don't understand how it works, it just happens and it bugs me. Harry gives me a quick one-armed hug in reassurance then we all walk down the hallways, each of us getting pulled into separate dressing rooms.
I've been placed with Lou, probably because management thought that I'd be most comfortable talking around her than any of the other stylists. Well, I'm really not comfortable around anyone, so that's not helping. I sit in silence the entire time, letting Lou do her thing. The only time either of us speaks is when Lou tells me to move or do something for her. When I'm finished, I stand and hug Lou quickly, smiling.
"Good luck, Liam." Lou says, smiling as well.
"Thanks... Lou. I'm going to... need it." I say, walking out of the dressing room. I meet up with Louis, Harry, and Niall, and we all wait together for Zayn to come out. When he does, Louis teases him about how long his hair takes for a bit, then we all walk towards the stage, where a couple tech guys clip microphones to each of us and explain where to go and when and how. When they walk away we all continue to stand backstage and wait for Emma, that's what they said her name was, I think, to announce us.
"And the moment you've all been waiting for, here is One Direction!" Emma yells, and Harry walks out on stage, followed closely by Louis, then Zayn. Then it's my turn. I take a deep breath to calm my nerves a bit and walk out onto the small stage, soon finding myself sitting on an empty couch next to Niall, who was the last one out. Zayn, Louis, and Harry are on a separate couch, and the interviewer is on a chair facing all of us, as usual.
We all look at Emma, but her gaze is mainly focused on my, which I expected. "So, it's great to have you all here, especially Liam. How have you been doing the past couple of weeks?" She asks, turning the entire audiences focus on me. I gulp, looking at my friends, but there's nothing they can do. Why did you have to start with a question that only I can answer?
"I've been... better." I begin, swallowing nervously. Maybe my little 'problem' will be put down as nervousness for now? "It's not... fun getting... shot, but I'm... doing well." I say uncomfortably. Luckily Emma just nods, excusing my slow speech, although she'll surely bring it up later. Niall pats my back a bit, and I give him a small smile, still focusing on Emma.
"I know all of you have been having a couple interesting weeks. This picture has been all over the internet for the past few days, showing Louis and Liam looking out of a hospital window." Emma says, and we all turn to the screen behind us to see the pap's picture of Louis and I. "One thing that's very clear is the bandage Liam is wearing in the picture. I recall the story being that you were shot in the head, Liam?" She asks, again directing the question at me. Instead of answering, I just nod, trying to avoid embarrassing myself. Emma seems to be fine with my silent answer, but I know she's adding that to her suspicions. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that something's wrong with me. "Where did the bullet hit? Anywhere dangerous?" She asks, and I smile a bit. This is a question someone else can answer.
"We were told that the bullet fractured his skull and damaged a small part of his brain, but nothing major. No memory loss or anything like that." Zayn says, smiling, and Emma nods.
"That's good. Did anything happen, though? And how bad is the damage to your skull, Liam?" She asks, trying to direct the questions at me, and I can see her getting annoyed when Harry answers.
"As long as he doesn't get any more concussions for a while, he should be okay. He went through a couple surgeries, hence the bandages around his head, and he should be fine." Harry says, looking at me. I guess now is when we're telling everyone about my newly-developed speech problem.
"There is... one thing, though." I say, drawing anyone who wasn't already looking at me to me. Emma nods, leaning forward a bit, and I frown. "I have a... bit of a... speech problem, now." I finally get out, looking at my bandmates and hoping that one of them will take over. Louis catches my look and smiles, clearing his throat so people know to listen to him.
"We're not exactly sure how it works yet, but Liam's brain is like not properly connected to his mouth or something. I don't know, it's complicated. It's like, he knows what he wants to say but sometimes he doesn't know what words to use, if that makes sense. He has to stop and think about what he needs to say, causing random pauses when he talks." Louis explains, and I smile at him gratefully. His explanation made no sense, but what's wrong with me doesn't really make much sense, either. Emma nods, smiling at me.
"Does it effect your singing? Or have you tested that yet?" She asks nicely. I have to say, Emma is one of the better interviewers, she's not really that pushy.
"He can still sing without pausing, it's just things that are random, so like he doesn't know what he's going to say until he says it. Since the songs have specific words Liam has them memorized so he doesn't have to think about what to say, well, sing." Zay explains, and Emma nods.
"That's great, Liam. Well good luck on everything, and I have one last question before you go." She pauses and we all nod, waiting for the question. "When are you starting your tour back up?" She asks, and we all exchange glances.
"We have no idea, actually. We'll probably give Liam a but more time to recover then start back up again. We haven't sung together in what, six months now?" Harry asks, looking at all of us.
"Yeah, six... months. It's been really... crazy." I say, smiling.
"We'll have to schedule a tour as soon as possible then." Louis adds, grinning at Emma.
"I'm sure everyone will be looking forward to it. I'm afraid that's all the time we have, I'm Emma, and this has been One Direction!" Emma says, and the cameras shut off. 'Good luck on everything, you five." She says as we stand.
"Thank you." I reply, the sentence simple enough that I don't pause at all.
"Bye!" We all chorus, leaving the studio. When we get outside, there are paparazzi and fans everywhere, shouting tons of questions that are mainly directed at me. I adjust my snapback and smile, waving to the various cameras and fans. When we get into the car I lean back in my seat, pulling the hat off my head and putting it on the seat next to me. My head is all sweaty but there isn't much I can do about it, so I just ruffle my hair a bit where it isn't covered. Niall is sitting next to me, and he watches me attempt to make the bandage more comfortable on my head. Eventually I give up, sighing.
"Don't worry, at least you get it off tomorrow." Zayn comments from behind me. I turn to face him, Harry, and Louis, they're all sitting in the row behind Niall and I.
"Yeah. My hair will look... ridiculous, though. Being... pressed down like that isn't... very good." I say, smiling.
"I can't help but wonder, when will we have a tour again? I mean our last one ended before we met Amy, and that was six months ago. I can't believe how long it's been, I mean we met Amy in August and now it's almost February." Louis says, looking at his phone screen. Harry nods thoughtfully, then breaks out into a grin.
"We missed Christmas, you know. Even though it's the end of January want to have a mini Christmas together?" He asks, looking at all of us.
"That's a... great idea, Hazza." I say, smiling when Harry pouts at the old nickname. "We can all get... gifts for each other and... have a little... party. No... tree, though." I add, looking at all my friends.
"Merry Christmas!" Louis exclaims suddenly.
"Merry Christmas!" Niall and Harry say.
"Merry Christmas even though I don't celebrate it!" Zayn says, laughing.
"Merry Christmas!" I reply, and we spend the rest of the ride laughing together.
And I couldn't be happier.