Liam 

Waves crash over me as I paddle my way back to shore. The air has gotten heavy, the clouds dark, and the crests are breaking. The harder I kick, the further back the tide pulls me. I lick my lips and the taste of salt gags me. I begin to cough but my mouth fills with water. I try to stick my head above the ocean, but I choke. I'm pulled under and I struggle to breathe, gasping, my arms flail and I thrust my self towards the surface. 

Crash! 

My body makes contact with the hard surface and I open my eyes to find myself on the floor of an unfamiliar room. I cough and blood splatters across the wood stained tiles in front of me.  I whipe my mouth and blood covers my hand. 

"Shit." I say to no body in particular.  

My mouth is dry and my left side aches. I lay my head back on the floor and try to calm myself down from the rush of my nightmare.  

"What the fuck was that?" Louis says, bursting into the room. He looks around until he spots me on the floor. "Shit!" 

"For once I'd like to wake up to something other than your bitching." I mumble. 

"For once I'd like to not have to take care of your drunken mistakes." He retorts. "You look like shit, let's get you cleaned up."  

Louis offers me a hand, helping me to my feet. The moment I stand up, blood begins pouring from my nose and I feel light headed. I grip Louis's arm to regain my balance. I want to respond, and remind him that he didn't have to take care of me yesterday, that I was good yesterday, but, then I remember 

"Where's Sydney?" I ask. 

"Yeah, just another thing that you fucked up." 

My heart beat speeds up as a begin to panic. What is he talking about? What happened with Sydney, I brought her here, she was happy, I was happy, and.... and that fucking bitch Brittney. Why did I let her get to me? Why did I listen to her speak at all, I should have walked away. I should have never let Niall take Syd.  

"Where is she?" I ask again. 

"Niall took her home." 

"Fuck!" Hero Horan strikes again. I can't fucking compete with him. He's always there. I remember watching her dance. She had no rhythm but she was having the time of her life. Niall twirled her across the dinning room and I thought to myself how great it would be to have a girl that my brothers liked.  

And then I pushed the thought away with another shot. Britt was right, I would only end up hurting her. 

Or at least that’s what I thought at the time, but she wasn't. I could make it work, I don't know how, but I will.  

"I need to go see her!" 

"No you need to shower. And you need to quit drinking." 

I roll my eyes and turn to find the bathroom. I'm not in the mood to listen to him preach to me. I swear I'm surrounded by hypocrites.  

"Liam, I know." 

"You know what?" I say with a heavy sigh, turning back towards him. My heads pounding and I'm not in the mood for his cryptic fucking statements, I just want to find Sydney and fix everything.  

"I know why you're bleeding, and why you're in pain right now. You need to quit drinking." 

"You don't know shit!" I say, turning back to grab my cell phone before I realize I still don't have a new one. "Shit!" I say again, kicking the bedframe.  

"I know a lot more than you think I do." 

"I don't give a fuck what you think you know!" I scream back at him, "Can you let me use your phone?" 

"If you're trying to call Sydney, you can use her friends phone. They left her here." 

"Brittney? Fuck that bitch!" 

"Apparently you already have!"  

I swear I want to fucking bitch slap his mouthy ass face. I clench my fists at my side and turn around, looking for anyway out of the room that doesn't involve walking past him. I see a door behind me that looks like it could be a bathroom and start towards it.  

"Don't forget, Sophia and Eleanor are friends Liam."  

I slam the door shut and turn the light on, my face really is a fucking mess.

I step out of the shower and find a towel on the rack above the toilet. I quick rub it over my hair and then wrap it around my waist before exiting the bathroom. The bloody sheets and mess on the floor has already been cleaned. I step out of the bedroom and venture down the hallway in the hopes of locating Harry - I need some clean clothes to wear.  

Voices come from a cracked open door and a I peak my head inside to find Louis, Harry, and the blonde chick talking.  

"I still don't believe you guys." she says as I push the door open. 

"Ah! Liam! Please take this girl home now." Louis says, with no hint in his voice of the argument we had earlier.  

I look at them both, letting them know I had no intention in speaking to either of them, and then turned to Harry. 

"Do you have some clothes I can borrow?" 

"Yeah, right this way." He says, leaving the room.  

I follow him down the hallway and admire the pieces he has hanging on the wall. Harry has always had a mature appreciation for classic artwork. We step into a large bedroom and he opens antique oak wardrobe to reveal his contrasting taste in clothes.  

"Do you have anything that isn't gonna hug my nuts?" I ask him, only half joking.  

He turns around and opens a drawer under his bed, tossing me a pair of white swim trunks. 

"Thanks." I say, shaking my head. "SO what was all that about? I thought Louis and the blonde chick were getting along?" 

"She's not a 'chick' Liam, she's a lady." He responds, "And she things we're in love." 

"Pft!" I spit, "One of those!"  

"Yeah. So what are you going to do to fix things with Sydney?" 

"How upset was she?" I ask, my voice lowered, showing all humility. 

"It's hard to tell, she had been drinking and probably over reacted, but, she was upset enough to leave." 

I've seriously only known this chick, lady, girl, for two days. Three days if you count the night we played pool.  

"Harry I don't know what to do?" 

"Respecting her would be a good place to start. She's a woman, and women are beautiful fragile beings." 

I shake my head, "You've been spending too much time with Johnny. Is there someone here who can give me a ride back the hotel?" 

"Julian is in the piano room, you can ask him." 

I changed into his swim trunks and tossed on one of his black t-shirts, then went downstairs to where I remember seeing a piano last night. An intricate chorus of mourning comes from the strings inside the grand instrument and I enter the windowed room to find Julian entranced in his creation. I wait for him to stop, not wanting to interrupt his moment of solace, I wait for it to come to a close. As his fingers slow and the last few chords are played, I speak up. 

"Hey Bro, uhh.." 

"You need a ride? I've heard, just give me a minute." 

"That was amazing man, I wish I could.." 

"You still could, just keep practicing. Your good. You gonna go get the girl?" 

I was confused for a moment, but by the direction his eyes were looking, I figured he was referring to Brittney.  

"No, I would really prefer her to not come with." 

He looks at me for a moment before responding. 

"Okay. Let's go then." 

I can hear the judgment in his voice, but am grateful that he doesn't decide to give me a lecture. Between Louis and Harry I'm really not in the mood for anyone else's input. Has my life gone a bit haywire? Yes, but it's not out of control. I can fix this, and I will.  

Julian drums his fingers on the steering wheel to the beat of his own music playing through the speakers. I stare out the window and take in the city. This particular area is beautiful, but I know we will drive through some more run down parts before we reach the freeway and I can't help but wonder what the appeal of Los Angeles is? It's hot, it's full of smog, and the traffic is awful. Enough about the city though, I'm going back to the hotel to apologize to Sydney and I need to focus on what I'm going to say. Should I go straight to her room, or should I go to mine to change first? And what do I tell her? I'm sorry I didn't give you enough attention? I'm sorry your bitch friend scared me with her reality check? Why am I even doing this? Shouldn't I just let it go? I'm leaving tomorrow. I have no way of staying in contact with her once I go without risking personal information. If I don't know her well enough to trust her, why am I even trying to make this work? 

We pull up next to the hotel and the nerves in my head suddenly start to effect my stomach.  

"Dude, I don't know what I'm doing." I say to Julian as he parks the car.  

"You're going to apologize. What comes after is up to you, but you at least owe her an apology." 

I nod my head and get out of the car, trying to ignore the pounding in my chest that reminds me that I am out of my comfort zone on this one. Am I even ready to care about someone again? It's a little too late for that though, I obviously already care otherwise I wouldn't be trying.  

I head through the doors of the lobby and straight towards the lift. I press the button and wait patiently. Looking around the lobby my eyes fall on the bar, and the two stools we sat at just two nights ago when I was hoping for another quick hookup. What was it about her that made me want more? 

Ding! 

The lift doors open and I step inside. The memory of being pressed against the wall haunts me and I shiver, trying to shake it off. That chick jumped at the chance to have me, she used me as much as I used her.  

I think that's what did it. Every girl I've slept with over the past few months have been using me. It meant no more to them than it did me. They were a momentary distraction from my pain, a cruel attempt at retaliation, and me? I was their chance at an interview, a story for their girl friends, an entry in their mental scrap book: "My Night With Liam Payne".  

Sydney though, she cared more about her self respect than a fleeting thrill. No one would have judged her for it, she said no because she cares about herself, which you don't very often. 

The lift comes to a stop and I step into the corridor. Blood pulses through my veins with each step I take towards her hotel room door. I round the corner and nearly knock over a girl. 

"Here I'm sorry babe..." I say reaching out to steady her. "Sydney....!" 

But she takes one look at me, brushes her hands on her pants, looks down to the floor and heads straight to the doors I just exited from. I stand in shock as she walks away from me.  I don't know what sort of outcome I was expecting, but it wasn't that. Do I follow her? Do I give up?  

"Liam!"  

I jump at the sound of my name and a firm hand on my shoulder. I turn to see Niall behind me. He beckons me to follow him back to our room and I do so without speaking. I'm still not sure how I feel towards him at the moment.  

He shuts the door behind us and I look around to see that all of our bags are packed and ready to be taken down to the bus.  

"Dude you need to fix things with her!"  

"I know, that's what I came here to do, but she wouldn't even look at me." 

"She's embarrassed." 

"Embarrassed?" 

He shakes his head "Just appologize. She was pretty shocked to find that you took her to a party only to end up with your hands all over another girl." 

"I know man, I fucked up, but that friend of hers started saying shit an..." 

"Her friend?" 

"Yeah, her and Louis had been talking and then when you took off with Sydney, her friend went off on me, accusing me of being selfish and saying I was going to hurt her when I left, and I was pissed off at Lou for telling her shit, and I just..." 

"You decided to hurt her a little sooner? Get it over with now." 

"NO!" Fuck!" I say pressing my fists to my forehead. "I just wasn't thinking. I wanted to forget, I wanted to not care." 

"And now?" he asks.  

"I care! Okay. I don't know why, but I fucking care!" 

"You realize how weird it is to care about someone you've met for 2 days, right?" 

I laugh, "Maybe I can finally sympathize with the fans." 

He laughs with me.  

"It doesn't make sense man, but, I understand." 

"So what do I do?" 

"Go apologize! Leave out the part about her friend, she doesn't need to know that. But let her know you started to realize that you'd be leaving soon and got scared of hurting her. Let her know you were drunk, heck, tell her you were jealous that she was with me. Whatever you do, flatter her. She'll give you another chance though, I'm sure of it." 

"Okay, okay! I've got this! But, she just left..." 

"She went down to breakfast, I told her I'd meet her there, but, you go instead." 

Syndey 

@SydiamPayne is this you??? It looks like you! 

@SydiamPayne what a fucking whore, she probably sucked off a guard to get that! 

Sighted, @SydiamPayne leaving Rose Bowl Stadium with @Real_Liam_Payne and @NiallOfficial 

Liam met @SydiamPayne at the hotel the bar the night b4, she must have made an impression because he brought her on stage 2night. 

Why did @Harry_Styles say she's cute NIALL if it was @Real_Liam_Payne who brought her on stage? 

@SydiamPayne gggiiiiiirrrlll you are SO lucky!!! Did he kiss you? 

@SydiamPayne Tell us everything! 

@SydiamPayne Can you confirm 10"? 

And on and on they went. I had 648 twitter notifications by the time I finally turned my phone back on. I feel so different than I did just a few days ago. Twitter and my phone were my life line, my connection not just to my boys, but to the sisters I made through our shared obsession. Now I feel guilty for not wanting to share anything. How do I encompass the excitement, nerves, elation and disappointment all in just 140 characters? I save a couple of the better pictures of Liam and I, send a quick tweet: 

So much to share with you guys and not enough room to type it all. Laters X.x 

I turn my phone off and go back to pushing the now cold eggs around my plate. Niall was supposed to meet me down here, but, I don't mind the solitude. Check out is at 11am so I have just under 2 hours to finish my food and go back to pack up my room.  

I don't want to pack my room. I don't want this to be over. I wish the party never happened. This weekend has been near perfect except that small blip, and I wish I could just erase it, forget the memory. But the dull ache in my chest wont let it go.  

"Sydney?" I hear Liam's perfect accent say as his towering body casts a shadow over me.  

I take a deep breath and try to ignore the flutters in my heart. I'm mad at him, remember!  

"Yes?" I say in an annoyed voice, refusing to look up at him. 

"I've come to apologize for last night." He says stiffly.  

I say nothing, waiting for him to continue.  

"You took off with Niall and... and well, I brought you there you know? With me." He sighs. "Listen I fucked up okay, I know I did. I didn't mean to hurt you, and, I'd really like to make it up to you if you'd let me." 

I can't look at him If I look at him I'll smile, and he can't know that I am enjoying this. He can't know how weak I am to his, gorgeous face, and his sexy voice.  

"What did you have in mind?" I ask coolly, watching intently as my fork pushes the eggs across my plate.  

"Well, I still need a new phone, and I don't really have a car here.." 

"So you want me to be your chauffere? Seriously?" I ask, finally looking up at him in disbelief.  

"I thought once I had my phone, you could take me to all your favorite places. We can take pictures!" 

He said we.  

I hope he means me and him, in the same picture. 

We. 

I sigh and finally let myself smile as him. 

"Alright, I need to check out though, and I'll need to stop at my house at some point to drop off all my bags. " 

"Perfect!" He says, jumping up in excitement. "I'll help you!" 

//Hey Guys I just want to say thank you for the reads! 2K was exciting to hit! I just ask that if you have a Wattpad account, to please vote, and please share with your friends/followers on Twitter! I put a lot of time into this and love sharing it with others, getting your thoughts, feedback, and predictions is the best part of publishing each chapter! This chapter dedication goes to Britt since she gave me the most amazing news ever, and cause she's in the hospital and could use some chearing up! Thanks again guys, I look forward to hearing all your thoughts! <3 x.X//