Poppy's PoV

The newspaper articles were bad.

Calum's relationship in broken pieces
5SOS Calum has a jet black heart
5SOS wedding called off
Will Poppy stay or become disconnected?

I sighed as I threw the papers on the table, the insides spilling out across the surface. I stared down at the print once more. Why did my life have to be aired out for everyone to see? When a normal relationship is rocky, only a few people know the story but when it's a celebrity, every newspaper decides it needs to put its opinion in.
Calum and I were trying to sort things out but it was hard, especially when everything we did was in the limelight. She knew that though, she knew that enough to be able to set this whole thing up. I was sure of it, but somehow I had to prove it.

I couldn't lie. It hurt. Seeing those photos of her with him were like knives stabbing me in the heart, chest and lungs. I felt like I was deflating, like the energy was being slowly let out of me like a punctured tyre.

"Pops?" I glanced up from the breakfast table where I'd been sat for the last hour alone. Before me stood Sierra, dressed in a black vest top and baggy grey sweatpants. I wondered how she'd have known I'd be down here. I offered her a sombre smile as she took in the papers before her.

"She's trying to fight me for him." I stated blankly, Sierra taking a seat opposite me, grabbing my hands in hers as she tried to cheer me up.

"I know, babe." She soothed. "Calum's beside himself up there, he nearly mowed our door down looking for you." I wanted to feel guilty, after all I hadn't slept in the room with him last night, but I couldn't. I just felt numb. Part of me wondered if I was a clown, making out this was her being clever and trying to turn people against me when in fact he did actually get caught. Maybe he did want to be with her and a pap caught hem in the act? I was too scared to find out that answer.
After he'd gone to get drinks and hadn't come back, a few of us searched for him on different areas of the club. Luckily for me, I hadn't seen it but Ashton came back and told me what he had found. He'd caught them kissing and yanked Naomi away in an instant, noting the pap hidden in the corner. Ashton marched Calum away, scolding him the entire time. Calum was furious with himself and said he needed air and that's when Ash filled me in. I left straight away and hired out my own room for the night, not wanting to deal with Calum or Naomi that night. Now, the morning after, I was slapped in the face with the paps photos. Photos of him and her. They looked cosy, comfortable. It killed me. "You need to talk to him." I shot her a glare. I loved Sierra but a mediator wasn't what I needed right now. I was having a shit time, my fiancé was plastered over every gossip paper with another woman, articles were saying our wedding was off. I just needed time.

"I need space." I reiterated, pouring myself another coffee. Not wanting to seem rude, I offered her one but she shook her head.

"Can I at least let him know I found you?" She asked carefully, pulling her phone out of my pocket and waving it in front of herself. I nodded. She quickly sent a text. Within a moment, her phone buzzed four times in quick succession. I could see Calum's name. My heart lurched.

"I don't want to see him right now." I said. "Please." Her eyes locked with mine and took in the sadness. I could see she was debating with herself but eventually she nodded, quickly responding to tell him not to come down.

"What happened to confident, sexy Poppy? The one who wasn't letting this bitch win?" Sierra quizzed, hyping me up. I let out a sad huff of laughter.

"Calum refused her before, a couple of times. I thought I was on his mind more, directing him the right way. This time he went through with it, his thoughts of me clearly not affecting his actions. She's got her hooks into him and I'm not sure I can win. I'm not with him 24/7, making sure I can steer him away. I've given him everything he wants but his desire for her trumps all of that. I don't know what to do." Suddenly, without realising, I'd laid all my thoughts and feelings out for her, regretting it slightly as I thought about how awkward this must be for her. Sure, we got on, but she'd known Calum a long time and probably had a good friendship with him.

"Give it time. Give yourself time to think it all through and work out what you think is best. We've got tour dates constantly for a while, you're going to be busy working and the media won't be as focussed on it. If you want to do something, that's fine but if you want to leave it, that's also fine. Just don't rush out there with guns blazing at the paps because they'll just eat it up and say you're taking the breakup hard or that you're in need of counselling or something. It'll be turned onto you." Sierra spoke with understanding, almost as if she'd felt something like this previously. It helped me a lot. I offered her my first proper smile of the morning as I thanked her, clasping her hands in mine.

"Thank you Si." I answered. "You're the best." She let out a laugh.

"I know, just don't tell Luke." She playfully winked. "Now, I don't know about you, but I'm all for showing the paps that they're wrong. Let's head upstairs, get dressed into our finest stuff and head out as a group. I'm not saying you need to be all over Calum, but if you're at least talking, the gossip won't be believed by our fans. They're very dedicated. We can work on a plan to get Naomi back later." She let out a mischievous giggle. I nodded in agreement, although slightly reluctantly, as Sierra pulled me to my feet and yanked me up to the lift where we headed back to the rooms and, for the first time since it'd happened - to Calum.