Can You Manage? (1D Fanfic)

Chapter 8

Liam unlocked the door of his flat and let me in. I rolled my luggage through the door and looked around. I could not believe this would ever happen to me.

Liam plopped on the couch and turned on the tv. I was still walking through the door in astonishment.

"Come in, Hayley," he said "I don't bite."

I giggled nervously. I walked in and set my bags down by the door. Then I shut it. I shut Liam Payne' s door! Ok, now I was overreacting. I tentatively walked in, taking in my surroundings. I heard Liam yell at the tv across the room. I walked over to see what the commotion was.

"Argh! Stupid defender let that girl go by!"

As I walked closer, I realized that Liam was watching the women's soccer. It usually isn't televised, but this was a national game. Two US teams were trying to win the spot in the Olympics. I'm not a huge fan of soccer, but my older sister played for a living. Well, she did work at a mall, but she was a huge soccer star, which is why I wasn't surprised when I saw my sister on tv.

"YES!" Liam cried, jumping up and cheering.

"What?" I asked.

"Evans, number fifteen, just scored!" he cried, pointing to the tv. "It's ironic, because you two have the same last name and look pretty similar. It would be funny if you were sisters."

I giggled. "That is pretty funny." The tv did a close up on her.

Liam glanced at the tv, then back at me with a confused look on his face. "wait..." he said.

"Shelby Evans? The girl who just scored? You've got it right, we're sisters."

Liam's jaw dropped. "You're kidding, right?"

"No, why?" I asked.

"Lou is mad over Shelby! She is his favorite futbol star!"

"Really?" I asked, wondering how anyone could be obsessed with my sister. She wasn't a model, or anywhere close. She died her hair blonde, and lives with her crazy boyfriend. Of course, I wouldn't say anything to Liam or Louis.

"Yeah, Lou has a thing for girls who play futbol."

"What about Eleanor?"

"She's different," Liam said. "She's a special person to him."

"Ah," I said, not knowing when this conversation would go. "so um, what's the plan for tomorrow?"

"We're flying out to Whales tomorrow to continue our tour, and you are going to get your first lesson in management."

"Wow, that sounds like a truckload." I said. Liam gave me a confused look. "That sounds like a lot." I clarified. It slipped my mind that British slang was different than American slang.

Liam nodded. "I know, but it'll feel natural after a few weeks."

"Do you ever get tired?"

"Of course! But it's not like we can stop doing what we do."

"How do you deal with it?" I asked, a bit nervously.

"We just have each other's company to deal." Liam said as he shrugged. "It's a hard life to get used to. Living like a celebrity isn't all fun and games. It's loads of hard work. For many, you're always in the air or on a stage. Sometimes you just want to lie down and rest, but you CAN'T. You've got rehearsal after rehearsal, and interviews and photo shoots. You can't just say no, and this is all within a week."

"What about the perks?" I asked tentatively.

Liam sighed really loud. "Well, if you call one day of break a perk, then there's something."

I gave him a wide-eyed stare.

"Well we do have many things done for us, and we all have quite a bit of savings, but even without being a celebrity, money and no work doesn't necessarily mean happiness."

I nodded.

"Sometimes we get really homesick. We can't just call home whenever we want, especially if there's a huge time difference. We also can't just go out. Fans will come at us, always. They're like ninjas..." Liam trailed off. We sat in silence on the couch.

"So, what's the point, then?" I asked. "Why have this job of you just don't like it?"

"Don't get me wrong, I do like this job-"

"You like never sleeping, and an over-busy schedule?" I asked, confused.

"-performing to benefit others." Liam added "But the point is that all five of us make something huge. I don't know what, but apparently it's huge among you teenage girls, and whatever that is, it makes millions of people happy."

I pondered that. If I had the power of all of 1D to make people happy, I would be eternally happy myself.

I smiled at Liam. "You're a good person, Liam. I hope you know that."

"Course I do." He said in his British accent. "With people like you saying so, I have no choice but to believe it."

I gasped. "Liam Payne is cocky?!" I asked in astonishment.

Liam smirked. "Allright, allright. Let's go meet the lads for some lunch."