Unseen

Chapter 10

"No changes. No edits. Nothing."

Zayn, Harry, Niall and Louis were back at their management headquarters giving their meeting another go. Liam had followed along too. Zayn, although extremely eager to cave in Richard's face, listened to what he had to say and decided it best to just agree.

"Just release it how we were going to." Louis said, agreeing with Richard. He nodded in response.

"Yup, that's the plan. The last thing I want to do is upset you guys," Richard replied. Zayn scoffed to himself.

"Okay, so I will go announce now that this will be out next month. From there we plan a tour, yes?" Richard asked, seeking the boys agreement. They all nodded.

"Great. I will see you later." Richard said as he stood and gestured the boys out.

"I really need food right now." Louis said as they walked out the building's main front doors, but they were met with cameras and paparazzi from every angle.

"How the fuck did they know we were here today?" Niall half shouted above the noise to make himself heard by the other boys. They all shrugged and made their way forward, battling the pushes of hundreds of people eager to get one decent picture of them. Liam walked behind Zayn, his hand against his back as they worked their way forward. Liam was going to try and protect him as much as possible.

There were often shouts of abuse from random paparazzi, but the boys had learnt to ignore them and continue forward. One shout from the crowd of people though made Zayn snap.

"The group is better now the fat one's dead!" Liam felt like he had been stung, the words stabbing him like an arrow to the heart. Zayn quickly turned to the side to see a middle aged man holding a camera, sneering at him, desperate for them to turn in his direction to snap a half decent picture. Well he get what he wanted, Zayn thought to himself, as he stormed forward to the pap.

"Zayn come back!" Harry shouted as he realised he'd strayed from the boys, but Zayn wasn't going to be stopped. Liam tried to pull Zayn back but failed when his hands want straight through him. He cursed and tried shouting instead.

"He's not worth it Zayn!" Liam's efforts did nothing and he watched, powerless. Had this occurred 6 months ago Liam would've clenched his jaw and continued forward, and Zayn would've done the same. But it was different now. Liam wasn't there to ignore the shouts and encourage Zayn to just walk on ahead. Liam looked with desperation in his eyes as he watched Zayn storm towards the pap. Zayn grabbed the camera around the pap's neck and pulled him forward, the man's face painted with shock and fear.

"Don't you fucking dare say that about my husband!" Zayn spat at him before shoving him back to the floor. The pap's camera smashed, leaving behind any chance of a decent photo. Suddenly Harry's hands were on Zayn's arms and dragging him backwards away from the crowd.

"Why did you do that?" Harry asked when they were safely at their cars.

"He insulted Liam!" Zayn protested.

"It doesn't give you the right to beat the guy up!" Louis replied. Zayn just laughed.

"I hardly beat him up! I just wanted to teach him a lesson if he was going round saying shit like that. Did you not hear what he said?" Zayn said, his words dripping with pain.

"I heard him...." Niall whispered.

"See, and did you think it was okay to let him get away with it?" Zayn asked him, desperate for someone to side with him.

"Well, no. It was disgusting what he said... but Zayn, you do realise what you've done, right?" Niall replied. Zayn's face fell as he realised the consequences of his actions.

"Shit." Zayn muttered, leaning against his car and closing his eyes. Louis walked over to him and patted him on the shoulder.

"It'll be okay mate. Let's just get out of here. I'm still starving." Zayn laughed slightly before getting into his car and following the others in their cars.

Liam sat in the passenger seat of Zayn's car. He remembers the time Zayn had gotten absolutely pissed and Liam ended up driving him home in his car. Zayn sat in the passenger seat as he drunk babbled about how much he loved Liam and how much he wanted to beat up some random guy at the club. He became so feisty when drunk, but anything to do with Liam and he was all soft and mushy.

"He was talking shit Liam, talking shit." Zayn rambled as Liam chuckled, sat in the drivers seat.

"Oh really..." Liam replied, smiling to himself.

"Yeah, he said... he said One Direction were shit! If only you had let me have him." Zayn muttered, his words slurred from his drunken state. Liam laughed, and rolled his eyes.

"I didn't want you getting hurt Zayn." Liam whispered...

And now he had let him get carried away. Liam's face was one of guilt and he felt bad for not stopping Zayn. There was nothing he could do, he knew that too well, but that didn't stop the heavy feeling in his stomach that Liam possessed.

Zayn punched the steering wheel as he drove along, his jaw tight. He suddenly regretted his actions and only could imagine what the media was going to do to him.

Zayn Malik attacks pap!

Zayn Malik gone crazy!

Zayn Malik: breakdown?

The problem was with that last headline he imagined was that Zayn had been thinking that very thing over for himself for months. Was this a breakdown? He'd shut himself out from his closest friends for months and when he does come out, he beats up random people. Things were so different 6 months back, too much has changed and it's driven Zayn over the edge. He gripped the steering wheel tighter as he processed everything in his mind, battling with himself on whether he was in fact delusional or not. At the end of the day all he needed was Liam, but that was never going to happen.

"Don't grip too tight, you'll hurt your hands," Liam whispered as he watched helplessly the frustration build up in Zayn, "I know you're angry but it'll blow over. We all make mistakes..." Liam's advice fell to the floor and made no impact on Zayn whatsoever. Liam sighed, upset at the fact there was doing he could do to comfort Zayn. He was watching his world fall apart in front of him, and there was nothing to do but continue to watch with powerless eyes.