One Direction Preferences✔️

Soundtrack Series • FOUR • Clouds

Harry: The tracing of fingers on your arm wake you; you aren't used to that sensation. Your eyes slowly open and are met with Harry's gaze. Once he knows you are awake, he presses a kiss to your forehead and gets out of bed. "I ordered us breakfast, so don't worry." You nod and pull the covers back around you as he heads to the shower. It was a simple phone call that had gotten you to fly to him. He had told you he wanted to see you, and no matter how angry and upset you ever think you are at him, you cannot deny him time with you. Once you had arrived at the hotel last night, he had also made you a promise you weren't sure you could refuse. He wanted you here. And by wanted, he meant wanted to take you. He had made it clear that if he had you, he wouldn't have a need to go back to his ex. That's when the confusion set in, though. You were under the impression that she was already back and moved in, that they had been on the road and everything was back to the way it used to be. Apparently that wasn't the case. She wasn't here with him, was she? No, you were. You had also questioned his definition of 'have you', because he already had you. He insisted though, that he needed more than friendship in order to stay away. That's when he had kissed you. It wasn't the first time you and Harry had kissed. He had started up rumors a while back with his playful kissing antics. This time though, there was a significant purpose behind it. He wanted you to feel the same way. So you gave in. And now you lay in the bed, left alone to remember everything you had given in to. It wasn't that you regretted anything. Well, maybe you regretted things just a little bit. How could you not? Harry is your best friend; you aren't meant to just up and have sex with your best friend. But you had, and now you're questioning your next move. You slowly bring the covers back away from your face. The unfamiliar bedroom was the first thing to throw you off, followed by the obscure language written on the cover of the room service menu. You weren't entirely sure where in the world you had even flown to in order to see him. A knock at the door startles you, but then you remember Harry had ordered breakfast. You hadn't bothered to put any clothes on last night, yet another reminder of what you had given in to. You reach over and grab his tshirt that was laying at the bottom of the bed, it covered you enough. You slipped on the pair of underwear you had laying by your side of the bed and walked to the door. "Morning," the smiling man on the other side greets with an accent to match the obscure language on the menu. "Good morning," you return, wiping your face as you yawn. "You don't sound very British," he hints, trying to joke with you. "He's in the shower," you assure, not really up for jokes. "You weren't here when I delivered breakfast yesterday," he acknowledges. You wish he would stop, mainly because you wanted him to leave, but also because he was very difficult to understand. "Yeah, I know," you counter, handing him the receipt after signing and tipping. "Thank you. Have a nice day," he tells you as he backs out of the room, the large smile still on his face. You nod as enthusiastically as possible, which isn't much, and once the door is closed you open up the dishes to see what Harry had ordered. "You just missed, possibly, the creepiest room service guy, ever," you say once Harry emerges from the shower. "Well if it's the one I got yesterday, then no, I didn't miss him. He stayed in here for nearly ten minutes yesterday asking me questions about my shoes." You laugh, recognizing that sounds exactly like something the man would do. "Did I do a good job?" You look over all of the options in front of you that he had provided you with and smile. "Yes, a very good job." He leans down to kiss you, and you kiss him back. You aren't sure what you're doing right now. This isn't usually how you spend your time with him. But if you being here, like this, keeps him out of drama, then here you will stay.
Liam: Everything had turned weird. Your mind was consumed with thoughts of the last week or so, nothing in your head seeming to make sense. Liam had blatantly ignored you by not coming home on his break like he had said he would. That hurt. You had spent two entire days questioning the state of your relationship with him. Why would he ignore you? Why would he lie to you? Was it lying, or had something come up that he just hadn't been able to tell you about? You weren't sure, but not a lot was making sense at the moment. And then there was the phone call. You weren't expecting it at all. After not hearing from him after he hadn't returned home, the last thing you were expecting was a call from the road. It just seemed very off. You had been skeptical about taking the call. He had been acting so strange. You wondered what his mind had dreamed up this time. However, he had asked for Mark's number. This put you on a whole different level of skeptical. You had a million questions for him, but not a single one came out. He had invested so much time into hating Mark, why on earth would he want to have his number? You had given it to him though, and sure enough he had called Mark. Liam said he was going to give him a chance, but you weren't sure how true that statement actually was. You knew Liam better than that. Mark said Liam had told him not to tell you what they had talked about, that was annoying. You wanted to know every word. You knew what Liam was capable of, especially when he felt as strongly about Mark as he did. But things between them were calm. This absolutely made you want to know what was said. The moment Mark got off the phone; you began to knock on the door. He had kept his voice quiet, knowing you were right outside. He just laughed you off and moved on, telling you he couldn't say anything. It was not how you planned out how their first conversation would go. They hadn't even met yet but the tension between them, mainly caused by Liam, had been ever present. Mark wasn't aware of most of it, you had kept that part away from him quite well. You could see that there was a change, though, when he stepped out of that room. You were so happy to see that the tension was subsiding, even if it was only one sided. You had thought from day one that Mark and Liam would get on really well, it just took Liam a little time to warm up to the idea. It's killing you to not know what they talked about. You are sure Liam has something up his sleeve. There's got to be something he is hiding, something he absolutely does not want you to know about. Maybe Mark is in on it now? How bad could that be then? "You can stop trying to think so hard," Mark says, finally bringing you from your thoughts. You were starting to get lost and he could tell. You look up from the soup you had been unknowingly staring at to see him smiling at you. "What?" "You're thinking about that conversation Liam and I had the other night, and you might as well stop." It was like having another Liam around. He and Mark are always able to read you so quickly and so clearly. You aren't sure why you're so easy to read. "I can't help it! I just want to know!" Your frustrations only bring a laugh from him as he walks over to the breakfast bar, his arm snaking around you. "You have absolutely nothing to worry about," he reassures before pressing a kiss to your cheek.
Niall: You hadn't been able to focus on any more work after ending the conversation with him. You had asked to take the rest of the day off, and Kati granted your request, recognizing that you were noticeably upset. You promised to talk with her about it at another time. You had to get home. Once back at your apartment you had gone straight for the wine. You weren't sure how your relationship had come to this. He had just told you that visiting him was not going to be a good idea. Why? How? How could that be at all possible? He had given you an explanation. Not a very good one, as far as you were concerned, but an explanation nonetheless. One you had nodded your head to, but ultimately not accepted. You had spent the last four years dealing with him visiting you for short periods of time, only to leave just as quickly as he had arrived. You were certain you had felt the same feeling he had described, except ten times worse. Could you handle it better than him? Was that the issue? Had you built up a tolerance to only seeing him for short amounts of time? If that was the case for you, then why wasn't it the same for him? The two of you had been in the exact same situation for the last four years. What difference did it make which one of you was doing the visiting? Your head was consumed with emotions and the tears were flowing when you reached the cooler. You had the mind to drink everything you saw, but you took only one bottle out. Removing the cork and pouring a glass, you stood in the kitchen to cry. You weren't sure what his suggestion meant, you still don't. You hadn't spoken to him since. Granted he was thousands of miles away, across several time zones, but when had that ever stopped him? This is not how you were expecting your New York life to be. You knew it would be complicated, but when is life not? You now sit in bed, having not been to work in two days. Kati had called several times, only with concern for your wellbeing. You had told her you would get back to work as soon as possible, but that you needed time to clear your head. Work was definitely not the place for that. You had mulled around the apartment in every possible way. You mindlessly watched television, scrolled through endless pages of useless social media. Nothing was helping. You had been in search of something, anything to help you out these last two days, and nothing was coming to your rescue. What have you gotten yourself into? You are certain Niall isn't in Australia acting like this. You're certain he has a smile on his face as he soaks up the sun. You hadn't seen your smile in over a week. It just isn't fair. He's the one that told you he can't handle the visits, and here you are the one feeling the blow. You reach for your phone. It had been staring you down this entire time. Or more like ever since you ended the video chat back at the office a few days ago. It was begging you to call him. To get more answers from him. You hadn't wanted to call him though. You were certain he had said all he was going to say on the subject and you were just going to have to accept it all. You didn't accept it, though, and that's the reason you felt the urge to call him. You pick up the phone and unlock it. You stare at the home screen, a picture of you and him out the last time he visited. You didn't want it to end. You were sure there was another way to get around what he was feeling. You go to your recent calls and select his name, putting the call on speaker and pushing the phone to the side. With every ring you get more anxious. It wasn't late at night in Australia, so you shouldn't be waking him up. Voicemail. You push your phone off of the bed in frustration, the loud smack on the hardwood floor, ending the call for you.
Louis: The name alone tells you something is up. "Hello?" You answer cautiously, sitting down on the bed, knowing you would need to. "Hey, how are you?" The calm in his voice was not telling of the situation, you were certain. Why else would he be calling you? "I'm alright, I guess." You were certain he could sense your suspicions. "Okay, good. So I have a question for you." You knew there had to be something. Liam was yet to call you now that they were on tour, but of course it hadn't taken long. "Okay?" "How do you feel about coming down here?" Oh. "I'm in the middle of classes. I can't just fly down there." You hear him sigh over the line, this isn't good. "He needs you, (Y/N)." "What do you mean?" He's got your attention. Now you're worried. "All he does is sits on the bus all day. He goes from the bus to the stage and then back to the bus. And then the same thing happens the next night." "Maybe he just doesn't want to go out yet." "(Y/N), we've had like two days off already, and he's spent them in his bunk. The entire day, just on the bus. There isn't even that much food on the bus to last him that long." You sigh as you look over at all of the homework you had sitting on the desk across from you. "Listen, I know you're in school, so I will completely understand if you can't come. We've all been trying our best to get him out and enjoying himself, but it just isn't happening. No one knows what else to do, but bring you here." You were their last resort. "Yeah, okay. Where do I need to fly into?" "I've already got you a flight booked, just get to the airport when you can." "What?" "Yeah, I was really betting on you saying 'yes'." "Okay well I will pack and text you when I get there. Are you going to tell him I'm coming?" "What do you think I should do?" "I think you should tell him, maybe it will cheer him up sooner and you all can get him to get out of the bus." "Yeah, okay. That sounds like a good idea. I'll tell him now. Thanks for this. I think this is exactly what he needs." You hope he's right. You end the call immediately bring out your duffle bag from under the bed you had had been sitting on. You check the forecast for Australia and begin to pack accordingly. It wasn't easy, packing for summer in a closet full of winter, but you manage. You send emails to your professors, telling them you had a family emergency and had to fly out of the country. It was basically true. Liam had called you all a family, and you took this last resort to mean an emergency. You call a cab to take you to the airport and wait in the lobby of the apartment complex for it to arrive. You're sitting on the arm of the couch when your phone rings. You don't even get a greeting in before you are bombarded with his first question. "Are you seriously flying down here?" You laugh at his urgency. "Well not at the moment, no. I'm sitting in the lobby waiting on a cab to take me to the airport. That's when I will be flying down there. But as of right now, no." "So I guess Liam told you that I haven't been acting right, lately." "Well I don't know if he said it like that, but he did mention that you weren't acting your usual self. And you know they only want to help you out." "So he called you." "Yeah, I guess so. I was kind of the backup plan of the backup plan so to speak." "Well I'm glad they called you. I really do miss you." Maybe it is you. Maybe he does just really enjoy being around you. Maybe your relationship is that important to him. You feel guilty now for questioning his emotions. You had sent him off thinking all of the sadness was something alternative to you, that you couldn't truly be the one to fix it. He was proving you wrong.
Zayn: You can't prolong this anymore. He will be leaving for tour soon and the last thing you want is for him to go off thinking everything between you is fine. He had returned, and in the worst way. Everything about him was wrong. The last month or so of bliss was all a joke. It meant nothing. His anger was back, and you were feeling it full force. You couldn't count the number of things he had smashed last night. It was a warzone. You had cried so much you weren't even able to leave the driveway. You just sat in the car questioning everything that had brought you to that moment. You had stayed in there all night, only coming inside when the sun began to peak through the trees once more. You couldn't live like this. You stand in the entrance to the house, closing the door behind you to keep the cold air out. You look around at the mess that was still lying around the open floor. Glass was everywhere. Vases, plates, his Mac. He had even pulled down his stack of vinyl's. It looked like a tornado had been through your house, twice. The problem was it had. The tornado's name was Zayn, and it had a strong influence of alcohol as it stormed through your house at a very late hour last night. You need to find him. You need to talk to him. If talking is even possible. Surely he was sober enough to hold a conversation. You carefully walk through the house. Avoiding stepping too harshly on the glass that cracked under your shoes. You didn't dare call out for him, knowing he has never liked that. He always shouted out something about not being an animal and for you to never treat him like that. He could have fooled you sometimes. You make your way up the stairs, knowing the studio is the first logical place to look. You open the door slowly. It's like another room in another house. Not even the tone of the room matches the house you had stepped into. He wasn't in here though, so you close the door back. You check the bedroom, but once again it is empty. You walk back down the stairs to the office, the only other place he could be; the place you spent most of your own time in, a place he rarely ever even looked at. The door is cracked and he is given away immediately. You slowly push the door open to see him sitting at the desk. His stare is haunting; sadistic almost. "We need to talk," you begin, knowing that if you didn't initiate this conversation it was never going to happen. "Go ahead and tell me you're leaving me. Go ahead and fucking do it, I dare you. Because you're immediately going to regret it. You're going to wish you stayed. You're going to want me around." You can't talk to him like this. His anger is possessing him. You have to though. You can't keep living this life. "I'm not doing this because I don't love you. I will always love you." "It's not about love! It's never been about love," he counters. You aren't exactly sure what he means by that, but you want this conversation over with so you continue with what you had already planned to say. "I can't live like this. Not with you acting through anger. I am more than willing to find you someone to talk to for help -" "I don't need help," he interrupts. You close your eyes, this wasn't going to get anywhere if you didn't just say it. "Zayn, we can't be in a relationship anymore." The words hurt you physically. Never had you thought you would ever be saying anything like that to him, not after your relationship had started off as blissful as it did. But things had changed. He had changed. His true colors had shown bright these last couple of months and no matter how much you love him and no matter how much you want things will get back to the way they were, you can't live this life.