Try to Scream

I woke up back in my bunk. I didn’t know if I was dreaming or not, but when I went down for breakfast, Niall confronted me, “Anything you need to share?” He eyed me from the table, a nearly empty bowl of cereal in front of him.

“Nope. Why?” I started frying an egg.

Niall put his bowl in the little sink and started washing it. “Well, I woke up a couple hours after going to bed to Liam carrying you to your bunk and tucking you in. Last I knew you were both in your own bunks sleeping.” I felt like he was judging me. I flipped my egg and didn’t answer. I didn’t exactly know what to say, what was there to say? I wasn’t going to admit his friend cried on my shoulder last night, out of respect for Liam. It was his thing to share. Hell, I didn’t even know why he was crying. “Nothing is going on between you two…right?”

I turned to him after finishing my egg and sighed, “Yes, Liam and I are having an affair, Niall. We’ve been together secretly for 4 months now.” I rolled my eyes and sat down to eat. “Listen, Liam wasn’t having a good night, I don’t know why. You’ll have to talk to him. Last I knew,” I mocked him, slightly. “We fell asleep in the back lounge. I’m not a home wrecker, I don’t get in others business.” Niall rocked on his heels and nodded.

“Sorry.” He forced an awkward smile and hopped up the stairs.

I ate quietly for a bit. Cora came down and got a bowl of cereal. We talked a little, Liam soon joined us. His hair was a mess, he greeted us with an almost silent, “Mornin’.”

Cora and I replied with “Good morning.” only to receive a halfhearted smile. I was worried about him, something wasn’t right. Liam was always ready and cleaned up, always smiling. The crying alone told me something was wrong, but it was more than just homesickness. I looked at Cora and she excused herself.

I turned to Liam, who sat across from me. “What’s wrong?” His eyes fell to his toast. “Come on, Cora will keep everyone upstairs for a while, talk to me, Liam.”

“I hardly know you.” He said as he pushed the toast around. It wasn’t peas; he couldn’t move it around and make it look like he ate.

“You know me well enough to cry on me, I think I might be entitled to an explanation.” He sighed and went to stand up. “Liam Payne, don’t you walk away from me.” He looked at me confused. “I have a 13 year old sister, I know when something is up and someone needs to talk. You look like shit, no offence. I think you need to talk.”

Liam sat down and scratched his head, “I’m not your little sister. I am plenty old enough to handle this myself, thank you.”

“Don’t do this. You have a problem and obviously you haven’t talk to your best friends about it. I was drilled by Niall this morning for you carrying me to my bunk, thank you, by the way.” He nodded his head slightly. “Please, I am going to be with you for 3 months, I’m not going to sell your secrets or locks of hair, trust me, if I was, your boxers would be gone by now.” That got a little smile.

Liam sat there and debated for a couple minutes. “I think I’d rather talk to you all, one shot deal.” Everyone ran down the stairs in that instant. I gave Cora a dirty look; she was supposed to keep them busy. “So…it’s going to be everywhere soon, and you are better off hearing it from me….” Liam started; we sat there patiently as he tried to put words together. “Danielle and I aren’t together anymore.”

Everyone sat there silently waiting for the punch line of this joke. From everything I saw, everything I read; “Payzer” was the power couple of the group. They were the ones everyone knew was going to get married. “I’m sorry, mate. You okay?” Louis finally said. I wrapped my arms around his as he started rubbing the bridge of his nose.

When I found Liam last night, I never expected it was because of a break up. My mind went to, homesick, family problems. Anything but a break up. They were so happy, you could see it in every picture, you could see the pure love they had, and the smiles were always genuine. Everyone, including myself, based their perfect relationships off the two.

“If you could all keep it quiet for now, if asked, avoid the question. I’m not ready for all this.” Liam spoke quietly. When we all agreed, he stood and walked back up to the second floor and curled up in his bunk.

The rest of us sat downstairs and talked about it, we wondered how it happened, why. I wasn’t the only one around here who though “Payzer” was forever. After a while, we all went up and played video games. We switched controllers until we had arrived at the hotel in Augusta. We all quickly made our way up to the hotel rooms so we could shower.

I knew I wasn’t the only one who wanted and needed it. Tour buses were weird, I was afraid to use the shower. I always showered before and after leaving. I kept that to myself though. It’s bad enough I used the toilet, there. I wasn’t going to try and work the shower; I would embarrass myself somehow or break something.

After the shower, we all got dressed. Cora and I decided against going to another interview with the guys. We had yet to tell them, but Paul okayed our other choice. We decided, since I knew my way around Augusta, having family live only a half hour away, we were going to do some shopping. We had money of our own, but we’d had a card given to us by Paul that was part of my contest winnings. I could use it for souvenirs. And if I was like some other people, I’d max the thing out on anything and everything, but Cora and I agreed to use it for some lunch later on. It’s not like we didn't have enough to buy our own stuff.

Cora and I both went for dresses. Cora did a dark purple/red lace dress with tights and a cardigan. I, on the other hand, chose a cream dress with a blazer and tights. I added a scarf while Cora did a necklace and bracelets.

When we finished getting dressed and doing our hair, we met up with the guys in the lobby. “You guys look great. Ready to head out?” Zayn asked, stepping closer to Cora, but maintaining a safe distance. He and Cora were told to keep the relationship under wraps for a little while, it would seem send a bad message to the fans and press. Zayn hooks up with girl after knowing her for less than a week. I didn’t understand it, but rules were rules.

“Actually, we decided to go on a little shopping trip.” I hugged each of the boys.

“But what if they want to talk to you again?” Harry frowned.

“What, you can’t handle a little interview without me holding your hand?” The boys laughed and Harry stuck his tongue out. “Not everyone has to talk to me, you know? Besides, I need to pick up a couple lighter outfits for when we get to the warmer states. I didn’t bring as much as I should have.”

With that, Paul started pushing the boys toward the door. When they had finally managed to get in the van and head off. Cora and I pushed our way out the door. Cameras were going off and questions were being screamed in our ears as we walked through the crowd of girls. We smiled, not wanting to come off as too bitchy and struggled to get in the rental car. When I declined Paul’s offer to have someone go with us, I was expecting the boys’ fans to ignore us. But I was wrong. I’d have to take him up next time.