"Connor! Connor, wait!" I grab his arm to stop him from heading towards the stage.
Connor stops walking. "What do you want, Tori?" He sighs.
"Look, I know that you hate that I took Joey back. He cheated on me and I gave him a second chance. Everyone deserves a second chance. I-"
"Everyone deserves a second chance?" Connor stares down at me. "What about Liam or Megan? They did something that wasn't half as bad as what Joey did. Yet, you haven't forgave them."
"Since when did you start defending them?" I ask, taken aback.
"They aren't bad people. Liam explained to me what really happened. He only broke up with you to make you happy. Joey cheated on you. He did that for himself." Connor steps around me. "Joey doesn't care about you."
"You don't know him." I defend my boyfriend.
Connor crosses his arms. "Neither do you."
"Yes, I do. We've been dating for a few weeks now." I glare up at him.
"Really? Then where is he now?" Connor smirks.
I frown at him. "He had to do some errands."
"If by errands he meant going off with another girl." Connor shakes his head.
"I came here to try and become friends with you again. It seems that you don't want that. Joey isn't a bad person. He made a mistake. You can't tell me that you've never made a mistake before." I snap.
"He cheated on another girl for you. Joey tells you he broke up with that girl that he has been dating for six months for you. I'm sorry, but you are stupid if you believe that bullshit." Connor raises his voice at me.
I flinch at his words. "Good luck tonight." I mumble before walking away from him.
Connor calls me stupid because I believe that Joey really likes me. Joey told me that he was sorry for cheating on me with another girl. It was impossible not to believe him. He was so sincere. Connor is just jealous because I am finally happy. He should be happy that I'm no longer depressed like I used to be.
I collide into something hard and stumble backwards. Two arms circle around my waist, saving me from falling on my back. I shake my head to clear my thoughts before looking up.
Zayn is staring down at me with concern in his eyes. "You alright, Tori?"
"Fine." I step out of his arms.
"Really? 'Cause you sound upset." Zayn puts his hands in his pockets.
"I'm fine." I repeat.
"Are you upset that your boyfriend isn't here?" Zayn jokes.
"Let me guess you think he is out with another girl?" I snap. Zayn frowns. "I'm sorry, Zayn. I didn't mean to snap at you." I apologize.
Zayn pulls me into his arms. "Do you want to talk about it?"
I relax into Zayn's arms. Why do all of these guys give great hugs? "Connor and I got into it again. I don't know why everyone hates Joey so much. He made a mistake."
"We all just care about you. No one wants to see you get hurt." Zayn leads me to their dressing room.
The room is completely empty, giving me the perfect chance to talk to Zayn. Elena is my best friend, but she doesn't always have the best advice. I used to always go to Zayn for advice. He always knew the right thing to say.
Zayn pulls me down on the couch next to him. "Let it all out."
"Are you sure?" I question him. "I have quite a bit bottled up."
Zayn nods. "I won't tell anyone."
"Promise?"
"I promise." Zayn says in a serious tone.
I hold up my pinky. "Pinky swear?"
Zayn chuckles, but locks pinkies with me. "I pinky swear."
I take a deep breath. "Okay. The first thing is I'm tired of everyone ignoring Joey. I know everyone makes mistakes and I forgave him. Can't everyone do the same? I like Joey and everyone is making things really awkward. I couldn't even kiss him without Elena 'accidentally' spilling her drink all over his lap." I put quotations around the word accidentally.
"Louis has been glaring at him this entire time. Connor won't speak to me. Niall and Harry are like my protective older brothers I never had. I'm not even sure how Liam feels about all of this. Everything is so awkward between us." I rant.
"Joey has been so sweet this entire week. I know he can tell that everyone hates him. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that out." I place my face in my hands. "Zayn, I don't know what to do."
Zayn rubs my back, comfortingly. "What do you want more than anything?"
To be dating Liam again.
To have everything be the way it was before.
To not be fighting with my best friend.
None of that will ever happen. No matter how much I want it to. I guess the second thing I want the most would be to have everyone approve of Joey. That they would at least try to make an effort.
"I'm not sure." I lean back on the couch, closing my eyes.
"You still love Liam." Zayn states.
My eyes pop open. How does he know that? Only Louis and Connor knows. Unless they told Zayn.
"What?" I laugh. "I'm-I'm not in love with Liam. I have a boyfriend."
Zayn gives me a look. "Are you only dating Joey to help get over your feelings for Liam?"
What the heck?! How does Zayn know all of this? I didn't tell anyone about that. What he said isn't completely true anyways. I'm dating Joey because I like him. Is he helping me get over Liam? Yes, but that's not the real reason.
"No." I avoid looking at him. "Why would I-"
My cell phone cuts me off by blaring my ringtone. I grab it from my pocket and look to see who texted me. Joey's name pops on my screen. I click on the text message. I read it quickly and feel a frown form on my face.
"What's wrong?" Zayn asks me.
"Joey can't make it tonight. He says he caught a cold and is staying back at the hotel. He doesn't want to get anyone sick." I explain, sadly.
"You'll get to see him tomorrow." Zayn reminds me.
I set my phone on the table. "He leaves tomorrow."
•
"That was an amazing first concert!" Drake exclaims as we all head back to the buses.
Drake and Connor opened up for One Direction. The audience absolutely loved them. They couldn't stop smiling when they got off the stage. Elena did most of the work. I just watched from backstage. I'm glad I said yes to coming along. Drake and Connor belong on stage.
"Let's go out to celebrate!" Elena suggests, linking her arm with mine.
"Let's go to Nando's!" Niall shouts.
"There's no Nando's here, Niall." I glance at him over my shoulder.
Niall sticks out his bottom lip. "But I want chicken."
"Let's find a restaurant that has chicken then." Drake pulls Elena away from.
I lost my walking buddy. If Joey was here then I would be walking with him, but he is sick. He seemed fine the day before. It must be a twenty four hour bug. I hope I don't catch it.
"Are we walking there?" I ask out loud.
"Downtown is right around the corner. It's a five minute walk." Louis starts skipping down the sidewalk.
I run up to him and loop my arm through his. "We're off to see the wizard!"
"The wonderful wizard of chicken!" Louis finishes off.
We continue skipping down the sidewalk. The streets are empty except for a few couples walking around. It's also ten at night. Most people are at home or partying on a Saturday. After walking for ten minutes, we find a whole bunch of restaurants lined up together. I run ahead of everyone looking for a place that we can eat at.
The first restaurant is a Mexican place. I continue walking and spot a restaurant that looks like a good place to eat. I look in the window to see how busy it is. There is only a few people in there. The boys shouldn't get recognized.
I start to spin around to call everyone over, but stop when I see Joey in the restaurant. What is he doing in there? He doesn't look sick. I stand outside the restaurant watching him take a bite of his food. A girl walks over to his table and sits down.
Charlotte.
Joey leans over the table and kisses her. My eyes fill up with tears. I can't believe it. He's cheating on me. He's not really sick. Joey was lying. It's like dating Taylor all over again.
"Did you find a place to eat?" Niall jogs up to me. "Tori?"
"I'm so stupid." I whisper, my eyes still locked on Joey.
"What are you talking about?" Niall looks inside the restaurant. "Is that-"
"Yeah." A tear slides down my cheek.
"Why are you guys staring into the restaurant?" Harry walks over to us.
Everyone stops next to us. Niall is glaring at Joey through the glass. I can't believe he is cheating on me. I guess he never broke up with her. Connor was right. I was so stupid to believe him. I even thought he was sick.
"Oh my god." Elena gasps.
I turn to look at her. She is staring at Joey and Charlotte in the restaurant. Everyone else follows her gaze. I stare at Joey. Charlotte is laughing at something Joey said. I wonder if she knows? Charlotte glances up from the table and looks out at the window. She sees all of us standing out her.
Joey's eyes widen when he sees me standing outside the restaurant. He stands up quickly and runs toward the door. I push away from everyone and start walking back to our buses. I don't want to talk to him. I am so stupid. Once a cheater, always a cheater.
"Tori!" Joey yells from behind.
"I knew it!" Connor shouts at Joey. "You don't care for Tori at all!"
"That's not true!" Joey argues with him. "I care for Tori!"
I spin around to face him. "You're cheating on me with another girl! If you really cared for me then you wouldn't be cheating on me! I actually thought that you liked me!"
Joey tries to come closer to me, but Connor pushes him back. "I do like you!"
Charlotte runs out of the restaurant. She stands behind everyone. I shake my head slightly. She frowns at me, but stays still. Louis, Liam, and Connor look extremely pissed off. I don't understand why Liam is so mad.
"What about Charlotte? Do you like her to? Is that why you are dating both of us?" I wipe a tear away.
"I care about both of you. I didn't want either of you to get hurt." Joey tells me.
"What?" Charlotte gasps.
Joey spins around to see Charlotte walking up to him. She slaps him as hard as she can. Joey's head moves to the side. He completely deserved that. Joey deserves a lot more than to be just slapped.
"You know, everyone was telling me that you couldn't be trusted. I ignored them. I told them that I really liked you and you wouldn't cheat on me again. Because of you, Connor and I have been ignoring each other all week. I should have believed them over you. You're just a liar and a complete douche bag. I can't believe I trusted you." I tell him. "Have a nice life, Joey."
"Tori, please?" Joey begs.
"Just leave me alone." I bite my lip, trying to keep myself from crying. "Go ahead and go eat. I'm going to head back."
"I'm sorry." Joey apologizes.
"It's too late. You ruined everything." I shake my head at him.
I glance at how everyone is reacting to this situation happening in front of them. Elena is leaning against Drake. Louis looks like he could punch Joey. Harry and Zayn are glaring at Joey. Niall keeps sneaking glances at Charlotte. Liam keeps clenching his fist.
Liam lunges forward and punches Joey. Joey stumbles backwards. Zayn grabs Liam and pulls him away. Did Liam just punch Joey? Why would he do that? Joey rubs his face where Joey punched him.
"Okay. I deserved that." Joey mutters.
Liam turns to me. Why would he punch Joey? I understand everyone is upset, but I never expected Liam to punch him. I thought Connor would have done that. Does Liam still care about me? No, that's crazy. Right?
••••••
Author's Note:
They broke up! Yay! Poor Tori, though. :(
Anyways, I got my senior pictures done today. I feel so old, even though I am only seventeen. I don't want to graduate.
I'm sorry for making you wait so long! I feel terrible.
Question..What do you think will happen the next chapter? Who will comfort Tori?
Okay, comment! Tell me what you think!