Everything in Between

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Chapter Twenty-Seven

One week passed with Liam and Zayn barely saying all of three words to each other, and as Louis aforementioned, tonight was our last hope. Our only chance, really. It was the promo party for the upcoming 2013 tour and the location for where all the grand scheming was going to take place. Not that there was much of any grand scheming; our plan hadn't gotten much farther than somehow getting the two to agree to being within the same five foot radius.

I was at Zayn's getting ready and from there we would be picked up by a limo taking us to the private event that would host no more than 150 guests. There were no promises that paparazzi could be held back from the premises but there was always the reassuring hope that there would be a bare minimum, allowing Lou and I to hopefully slip in some time together.

He had been quiet for most of the evening and as I began to fix his tie, he found the courage, or what I thought was courage, to speak.

"You look really beautiful tonight, Cassidy."

I straightened up the one side and gave him a small smile. "Thank you, Zayn. You look rather handsome, too." My voice was a little more timid than I wanted it to be but I guess having too much on my mind let the true emotions show. "Are you going to be okay tonight?"

"Don't worry about me, Cassidy. Things will be just fine."

But his words did little to reassure me once we were seated in the car with the others. The air was tense and no one was daring to say a word. Not even Harry was trying to break the silence with an idiotic joke. He didn't even know what was going on, which did make me feel a little bad - him being the only one to not know, and yet he still knew that things weren't okay between them.

~

"Stop being so nervous. It's becoming a little obvious."

"I can't help it. He won't even talk to me, let alone look at me."

"You need to tell him, Liam."

"And how do you think that's going to go down? He thinks that I hate him," he shook his head and groaned again and I know how frustrated he was feeling. Zayn had the same emotions.

"Then convince him otherwise! It's up to you to fix this."

Liam kept a steady gaze down towards his shoes. His hand came up to ruffle through his hair but stopped shortly when he realized he'd just mess it all up. Letting out a sigh, he said, "What if you talked to him first? Like, get him warmed up to me and try to convince him that I in fact don't hate him. Then bring him over to me and I'll tell him."

As ridiculous as he was being, it wasn't that bad of an idea. "Alright, fine. I'll see you in a bit."

As Liam walked away, I went in the opposite direction to where Zayn was leaning against the back wall, swishing the drink he was holding around in his hand.

"Come on, Pretty Boy, dance with me."

"Not in the mood, Cassidy. Go find Louis," his tone sour, "Or Liam for all I care."

"I'm not settling for anything less. You're supposed to be my fake boyfriend, remember?"

I maintained a hard, steady gaze, and didn't dare back down underneath the one he was giving back towards me. Eventually he caved, but not before rolling his eyes in annoyance.

"One dance, that's all I owe you."

I gently pulled away his drink and placed both of my hands in his. "Let's go."

As we swayed in the middle of the dance floor, I wasn't too sure how this conversation was going to go. Caring and understanding usually resulted in one huge blow up between us.