Fireproof // 1d+5h

Chapter 8

Sydney, Australia
LIAM'S P.O.V

I stood motionless as one of the stage guys attatched the microphone onto me. It was the first night of the tour and I didn't want the fans to see me down. I need to put a brave and happy front for them.

"...if what we had was real,
How could you be fine?
Cos I'm not fine at all."

I heard Calum sing to Michael's guitar strumming. Those lyrics were like knives, cutting on to my skin, the pain throbbing excessively. The thought of Sophia was prominent in my head, her voice ringing in my ears. How could she be fine while I'm here feeling like I'm drowning in a pool of my own tears.

*FLASHBACK TO A COUPLE OF DAYS AGO*

My hands were literally trembling as I got my keys out to unlock my apartment, only to find out it's already open. Sophia was there. I gave her a spare key so she could get in and out of here anytime. The door creaked open as I took off my shoes and jacket. My mind became blurry for a second as Ally and Dinah's words echoed in my mind.

"Sophia?" I called out as the sound of water running came from my bathroom. Oh. She must be taking a shower. I went to my bedroom to see her torquise bag on the bedside table and the clothes that she picked out for today lay neatly on the bed. Sighing sadly, I plopped myself on my bed and picked up a pillow and screamed in it due to frustration.

Buzz.

A sound came from the bedside table. It was Sophia's phone. Out of curiosity, I rolled over to the side and sent a quick glance at it.

Jakey : just now : Babeee I miss youuuu
Jakey : just now : Come over?

Just at that moment, Sophia walked inside as I pretended to be randomly rolling on the bed.
"Hey babe." She said, smiling at me. Wait. Let me correct that, fake smiling at me. I gave her one back as she began dressing up. I put my face in the pillow once more, confused, annoyed, torn. I heard Sophia pick her phone from the table and quickly threw it inside her bag.

Once she was done, I sat up and looked at her with intensity.
"What's wrong?" She asked, an innocent look surfacing her face. God. I wanna wipe that sinless look right off her face.

"So... you and Jake, huh?" I said, not knowing how to start. I saw her gape at me, putting two and two together.

"You saw the text, didn't you?"

"How could you, Soph?"

"It's not what it looks like, Li." Lies. "He's nothing to me."

"Yeah, whatever." I remarked, picking her bag and throwing it all the way to the front door. Yes, yes. I know that was harsh but what was I supposed to do?! "What about last night, huh?"

That didn't need further explanation as I saw her jaw tensed. She sulked out of my room and grabbed her bag. That's right. Please, leave. Opening the door, she turned her head at me and said: "I never cared about you, anyways." Before slamming the door close.
*FLASHBACK ENDS*

Oh god. I feel like crap.

The crowd went wild to 5 Seconds of Summer. Fifth Harmony had already finished performing like 20 minutes ago but because of the tight schedule, they didn't stick around for long. Unfortunately, my meet-up plans with Dinah didn't go as planned because it turns out that several fans were already in the stadium so I ended up distracting myself while Dinah didn'r show up because of a meet&greet. Fiddling with my fingers, I saw Niall and Harry walk towards me.

"Feeling better, mate?" A stage-ready Harry asked, propping himself down on one side of me while Niall sat on my other side. There was no point in lying about being 'fine' so I just shrugged and looked away, ignoring their concerned faces. "Don't worry about me, I'll be okay."
Whoop. There comes out the lies.

The three of us directed our attention to the stage where Ashton was giving a speech about how great it is to be back on tour with us and having the chance to meet the fans and everything. The boys set up to play their last song, She Looks so Perfect. Zayn and Louis shortly arrived as the five of us huddled up for our usual before-the-show pep talk.

The lights went out as the crowd roared.
"This is it guys." Ushered Louis as the tour video began playing.

"Liam! Liam!" A familiar voice called. My head snapped towards the voice as Dinah came rushing towards me.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry I couldn't meet you earlier" she started "and then we planned to meet before the show but you had an interview and then my band couldn't stop after we finished performing because we-"

"Hey. It's fine." I interrupted her babbling before Dinah came up and gave me one of her infamously comforting hugs. My senses gave in and hugged her back, tears beginning to collect themselves in my eyes. No, not again.

"Hey, hey. Don't cry, Payno." Dinah whispered softly "You're gonna get through this. That bitch never deserved you anyways." I couldn't help but smile with amusement at the way Dinah discribed Sophia.

"Thank you."

"Anytime. Now go out there and... and... do your thang!"

Dinah's words of encouragement brought a smile to my face as I looked backstage, stealing a final glance of her. There she stood in her sapphire-blue concert outfit with a wide smile on her face. I gave her a thumbs up before rushing on stage to join the boys, Clouds playing in the background.

***
Just a short chapter for now because I want to fill you guys in on what poor Li is going through in this story.  Tbh im really sad that sophiam broke up irl bc they were so cute together cri

Hope you enjoyed that! See ya!