Masquerade (Liam Payne)

Chapter 8 ~ Tammy

Chapter 8 ~ Tammy

The place where these guys are playing is massive. Not a simple theatre like the ones we use, this is a ginormous arena and I can’t believe they are sold out. Yes, Liam made sure to tell us that when exclamations of awe escaped from our lips as we made our way to the stage with out instruments hanging from our shoulders.

“And we always are sold out,” Louis adds and I roll my eyes. That’s showing off.

I mentally laugh. I would do the same, probably I will do the same when we are as, or even bigger than them. So that’s why I smile at him and he only glares at me. From the five boys, he is the one who hates us the most. And he is the one I like the most. He is bitter, he has this don’t-fuck-with-me aura that I just find refreshing. And the fact that he hates us so openly is great, too. It almost makes me want to change his mind.

Almost.

“How are the kids?” Liam asks when we’re on stage and I’m opening the case of my baby. It’s Thursday and the last time he went to the charity was on Sunday for a little while before he had to leave to keep going with the tour.

I see the kids in my mind, every single one of them, with their stories, their broken smiles, their shaky dreams and the longing looks. They are so happy every time I go there –which is almost every day, even if it’s only for half an hour. So my smile is honest and unstoppable when I think of them. “They are fine. They could be better, but they are doing great. They are so brave and strong and they ask for you. Some of them call you Noob, too,” I chuckle and he smiles. Damn it, calling him a noob doesn’t offend him anymore. Still, I won’t call him Liam out loud.

“I miss them. If you see them before I do, tell them that, will you?” He asks and I remain silent for a minute, examining him.

He really likes the kids and he is good with them. He makes them laugh, he gives them encouraging speeches and he helps them. He brings them stuff to make their lives a bit easier, but overall, he brings them happiness and I respect that. Very much. That’s the reason I don’t call him a lesbian anymore and why I appreciate that puppy look, because with that look he wins many kids, he makes them trust him immediately. The kids see the goodness in him, something that it’s not that easy with me so I can’t offend him so easily now. Still, I don’t make it easy for him, but I think he is learning that already.

“Will do. When do you think you can go see them again?” I ask as the rest of the people around us keep doing their things, getting ready. The band that plays with One Direction is there too, watching us carefully. I feel their eyes on us.

“I hope I can go this weekend. We’ll be home for the weekend and we have until Tuesday. But those days I wanna see my family.”

“I only asked you about the charity,” I tell him with a serious expression. He tends to tell me more than what I want to know. It’s a very bad habit of him. He needs to learn that people don’t really care about him or his life, only about the things he can give to them. Naïve young boy.

“Anyways. Are you going this weekend, too?”

“Most likely,” is my answer. “I go every chance I get.”

He doesn’t say anything, he only smiles with that puppy look in his eyes and for a moment I feel I should punch him in the stomach just so he smiles like a man instead of like a Labrador. Honestly, if you put a puppy Labrador next to him and someone asked you to spot the eight differences, you would be lost.

“Tammy, stop flirting with Liam and come here,” Emma calls me and I tense. I don’t understand why Emma and Leanne find mocking me with Liam so funny. There’s no way in hell we could end up together, I mean, I’m not a zoophile.