Beneath Your Perfect

“It’s Jade right?” I bit my lip and turned to look at the brown haired girl who approached me with a blonde haired girl close by her side. They both offered me warm smiles. I nodded at them still unsure.

“I’m Eleanor, Louis girlfriend.” The brown haired girl said to me.

“And I’m Perrie, Zayn’s girl.” The blonde continued. I eyed them both confused for a moment. Who were these girls and why were they introducing themselves by telling me they had boyfriends. I stood there for a moment before realisation hit. Louis and Zayn. As in Louis Tomlinson and Zayn Malik.

“Oh! Hi,” I said awkwardly not knowing what else to say.

“Are you excited to have Liam back?” Eleanor asked me kindly. I smiled at her softly and nodded not really knowing how to convey my so called excitement.

“I hate being away from Zayn so much. It must have been hard for you, I mean it was only a week, but this was your first time separated.” Perrie said to me. I looked between both of them for a moment to see them completely genuine. I realised that neither of them knew that my relationship with Liam was fake. I wondered if his band mates knew.

“Oh it was fairly hard, but we talked all the time and I have friends and family with me the whole time.” I lied smoothly. I hadn’t spoken to Liam all week until last night when he told me that they were getting on a plane back home and I needed to be at the airport the next day to pick him up. I had grumbled in acceptance before falling back asleep. Now I regretted accepting as Eleanor and Perrie continued to talk about how they cope without the boys.

I felt horrible lying to two lovely girls as they continued talking to me. I smiled and joined into their conversation but I couldn’t help the guilt that was settling in. These two girls had done nothing to deserve being lied too.

I sighed with relief as the announcement of their plane landing echoed throughout the terminal. Perrie and Eleanor shot me smiles obviously thinking my sigh of relief had something to do with seeing Liam. They both held onto my hands tightly as we all watched the gate the boys were come out of. I watched and waited as cameras flashed and fans crowded not far away. Finally the boys emerged and Eleanor and Perrie were instantly gone from my sides.

I watched Liam as he walked out glancing down at his phone. He glanced towards Zayn who had just been practically jumped on by Perrie. I thought it was really cute. Liam watched them for a moment before his eyes searched around. I bit my lip, a part of me hoping that maybe he was searching for me. His eyes finally found mine and I threw him a small smile before walking towards him. He met me halfway and I hesitated a second before wrapping my arms around his neck as he wrapped his own around my waist in a hug.

We stayed there for a moment as neither of us knew really what to say. As we pulled away I quickly placed a kiss against Liam’s check for added benefit. He glanced down at me shocked for a moment before quickly plastering on that fake smile of his. And for a moment, just a small moment I thought that smile was real. But then I inspected it better and noticed the same differences as last time, it never brightened up his eyes.

My hand reached up subconsciously and traced the outline of his smile. He widened his eyes at me but let me continue.

“You’re so good at that.” I said to him softly.

“Good at what?” he asked confused as I pulled my hand away.

“Fake smiling.” I said to him as I stepped out of his arms. His eyes darkened slightly before he turned and grabbed his luggage and stood next to me.

“Are you parked where I told you to?” he asked me gruffly. I nodded at him noticing that my little statement had made him go back to the hard cold Liam that I was used to.

“Security will lead us out.” He told me about to begin walking ahead.

“You should probably hold her hand mate.” His blonde band mate said walking up to us. I eyed him for a moment as Liam sighed and moved back to me, grabbing a hold of my hand.

“Niall,” His band mate said holding out his hand. I leant forward to shake his hand with the one that was not occupied with holding Liam’s.

“Jade.” I smiled at him genuinely.

“It’s good to meet you.” He said to me honestly. “We don’t really know much about you.”

“I don’t know much about her Niall.” Liam grumbled to his band mate. Niall glanced at him for a second and frowned before rolling his eyes at me. I glanced between them both wondering if Niall knew the truth about our relationship.

“Are you both coming out for dinner?” Niall asked like Liam hadn’t said anything.

“Sorry, we have plans.” Liam said moving away and forgetting about holding my hand. I glanced at Niall apologetically.

“I’m sorry.” I said softly, he waved me off.

“We’re all used to it by now. You certainly don’t need to apologise for him after everything you’re doing for him. He could definitely treat you better.”

“So you know about...” I trailed off unsure.

“That your relationship is fake? Yeah management told us but the boy’s girlfriends don’t know, so it would be best to act like a couple in front of them.” He told me. I nodded, already figuring that out by myself.

“Jade.” Liam’s voice called me. I rolled my eyes in his direction, Niall sighed in front of me.

“Sometimes I forget what the old Liam used to be like and I think that’s better because then I don’t miss what he used to be like as much.” He muttered to me before smiling softly and joining the other boys little group. They all stared at me for a moment as I awkwardly stared back before finally making my way over to Liam.

“Took you long enough,” He grumbled. I rolled my eyes and grabbed onto his hand annoyed. The last thing I wanted to do right now was to touch the spoilt brat in front of me.

We headed out into the crowds of people with the help of security. Liam ignored everyone who called his name and refused to sign anything that was thrust in his direction. I shook my head in disappointment and stared down at the ground until we reached my car. Liam threw his stuff in the back and climbed into the passenger seat not even glancing at his security. I sighed and thanked them all. They just nodded at me before I climbed into the car and started it. We both stayed silent as I slowly drove the car out of the airport through the cleared space before making it out onto the main road.

I glanced over at Liam as he looked out of the window the whole time.

“You could have signed a few things, I wouldn’t have minded.” I said to Liam softly, keeping my eyes on the road.

“I didn’t ignore them for you.” He mumbled to me. I sighed.

“Why don’t you sign things?” I asked hesitantly. He stayed silent for a while and I started to think he wasn’t going to reply.

“They don’t deserve it.” He said. I turned to glance at him for a moment before looking back at the road. I knew that was all I was getting from him at this point.

“Niall seems nice.” I stated. I saw him shrug.

“Yeah he is.” He said and that was all. I sighed and continued to follow his instructions to his flat. We arrived there and I helped Liam carry his bags back up to his place.

I followed him through the door and glanced around his flat. It was so bare. It was extremely clean to the point where it felt too clean but there was barely anything in the flat. He had the basic furniture like couches, kitchen appliances, bedroom furniture and so on. Everything that made living that much easier but personal items were scarce. There were no photos, no posters, nothing. There was a small collection of records in the corner as well as a few books but that was all that depicted that anyone lived here other than a robot.

My eyes found Liam’s as he walked out of one of the bedrooms in the three bedroom apartment.
“Did you want a drink?” He asked me softly. I shook my head.

“Well thanks for bringing me home.” He said half smiling at me. Once again it was a fake smile. I nodded at him and walked over to make myself comfortable on his couch.

“How long have you been living here?” I asked him curiously. He shrugged in response.

“I don’t know. A year maybe.” He said sitting down on one of the other couches. I widened my eyes in surprise. A year was more than enough time to decorate a flat, even with Liam’s busy schedule.

“Why are you scrutinising my apartment?” Liam asked me annoyed.

“Because it’s just so empty. I mean mines full and cluttered with books, photos and music. I have papers scattered everywhere as well as pens. And not to mention the amount of clothes and shoes that’s spread throughout my rooms. Where is all of your stuff?”

“I don’t need that stuff. It just ways you down.” He shrugged at me.

“Planning on running away then?” He stared at the ground for a moment before meeting my eyes, I saw the truth flash through them. He had thought about running away, probably a lot of times.

“We should probably start getting to know each other yeah?” He asked, changing the subject. I narrowed my eyes at him before sighing and settling myself into his chair.