The Side You Don't Hear (1D)

Chapter 5

Liam's POV

                Seeing Alice in so much apparent pain really hurt me for some reason.  I know she didn't want me to, but I just had to do something.  The only thing I could really think of doing was exactly what she had been trying to do: talk to Harry.  I jump up from the table, nearly knocking the waiter over the way she had, and left a rather large amount of money on the table as an apology for wasting their time and effort before running out the door to the car.  I tell the driver to go straight to Harry's posh new house on the outskirts of London and we are there within minutes.  I still had no idea what I was going to tell him, but hey, that seems to be today's plan of attack.

                I walked right inside without even knocking , although I wish I had once I saw Harry and his new girlfriend Payson fooling around on the couch.  She looked up at me and smiled, clearly not caring that she was only half dressed.  I looked down, slightly embarrassed and spoke, "Hi Payson. Um, Harry?  Can I have a word with you?  In the other room, preferably." Harry huffed and slid out from under Payson, replaced his strewn away shirt, and fluffed his hair before walking past me and up the stairs.  I followed until he was sitting down on his bed with the door closed behind us.

                "What's wrong, Liam?  You don't normally come storming in unless something important is going on." Harry asked showing concern, but clearly wanting to get back to his past activities.

                "It's about Alice and Clark," was all I said before he rolled his eyes and stood to leave the room.  He hated when anyone brought them up, as all he wanted to do was forget that part of his past. "I spoke with her today," I continued.  That stopped him in his tracks.  He slowly turned around and looked me in the eyes.  His face was full of confusion, knowing that doing that was strictly against the rules and could get me in loads of trouble.   The next thing I knew, Harry was in my face with uncharacteristic anger.

                "You stay away from them, you hear?  They are none of your business and they are not my problem." He growled in my face before turning on his heel and strolling back towards the door.  Not his problem?  They are completely his problem.  No one can get away with leaving their family like that, even Harry freaking Styles.  I boiled over with anger at his words and lashed out, scaring myself as well as Harry.  I ran right up to him, spun him around, and slammed his shoulders against the wall, holding him there.

                "They absolutely are your problem!  All Alice wants is for her son to meet his father!  You can choose not to want her and she can choose not to want you, but Clark is too young to decide whether he wants you in his life or not!  So until he makes that decision, you need to make your ass present in that child's life!" I yelled into his face.  He was clearly shocked, but he didn't argue with me on the matter.  He nodded and gently put his hands on my shoulders.  I then snapped out of it and released him, taking a step back.  "Sorry.." I muttered before practically running out of his house and back to my car.  What had gotten into me?

Harry's POV

                I can't believe Liam did that.  That kind of anger was so unlike him.  He must really care and mean what he told me to be that passionate about it.  But he spoke to Alice!  He knows that could have gotten him into a shitload of trouble with management if they found out.  Liam shouldn't have done that, but I'm not going to tell anyone.  His words were too true for that, and they really struck a chord within me.  Clark doesn't even know me, I've never even held him.  I owe this to him, even if I don't want to be his father.  Alice on the other hand, I want nothing to do with.  Why did I get myself into this mess?

                I shook my head in disbelief at what I was about to do and pulled my phone out of my pocket.  I typed a quick, straight to the point message to Alice, replaced my phone, and went back downstairs to my girlfriend.  Payson was lying on the couch flipping through channels on the TV without bothering to put her shirt back on.  I chuckled under my breath and went right back over to her, surprising her by jumping over the back of the couch.

                A few hours later, she and I were on our way to a fancy restaurant for dinner, seeing as Payson liked to make a scene no matter what she had to do.  She was decked out in the huge, sparkly Louboutin heels that she bought that morning with my credit card and a black dress that was almost too short.  She was showing way too much skin, even for me, so I put my jacket around her shoulders.  She as well as the paparazzi took it as me being a gentleman and keeping my girlfriend warm, but I was just trying to protect some of my own dignity. She stopped me to take way too many pictures after that, and I was getting hungry. 

                We eventually made it to our table hidden behind privacy curtains and I sighed in relief.  I was looking forward to a nice, peaceful dinner after my head had been overwhelmed with thoughts of Clark and Alice all day thanks to Liam's visit.  That wish was quickly put to rest as a stream of dumb stories I didn't care about came flowing out of Payson's mouth.  She talked about how nice shopping had been and how excited she was to go on vacation with me, something I didn't know we were going to do.  I tried to listen, but it was all painfully dull, resulting in me tuning her out by the time we received our appetizers. 

                She talked nonstop for the next hour, barely letting me get a word in.  I was thoroughly focused on my food when one word she said caught my ear. "....Clark...." was mixed into her annoying gibberish, causing me instantly pay attention.  "Oh, so now you decide to listen to me?"  Payson asked with loads of sarcasm.

                "What did you say about Clark?" I asked, ignoring her attitude.

                "Just that I went through your phone and saw that you were planning on meeting him tomorrow." she said, sassing me and moving her food around on her plate.  It really bugged me that she made me buy her expensive food when she barely ate two bites of it.

                "Oh, yeah." was all I said before looking back down at my own plate, not knowing what exactly I should say to her.  Had she really gone through my phone?  What a bitch.

                "And that you're not allowed to go," she stated very matter-of-factly, looking me right in the eye.  Was this girl serious?  She wanted to control my actions like that?  I know I was just dating her for publicity and the perks of a hot body, but she didn't seem to grasp that we weren't a normal couple.  I looked at her like the dumbass she was and she simply smiled and stood up, clearly ready to leave.  "Don't let me catch you trying to sneak to them either, because then I might just have to go crying to the press about how you dumped me for them."  She continued before simply walking away.

                She knew that doing that would only continue the rumors about me not being over Alice that I was so desperately trying to escape.  I didn't want to play the dumped loser being denied his child anymore, that was exactly why I agreed to be with Payson.  She was supposed to show that I was moving on with my life, but if she told the press that, then I'd be sent back to square one.  This bitch was playing with me, but I didn't know how to play back.  Had I finally met my scheming equal?