Elusive [Harry Styles]

18. Awkward Interviews

"Will you just cheer up, Louis" Liam grumbled as we took our seats on the jet. The time for us to head to LA for work had come around more quickly than I'd expected, and Louis was being beyond moody because of his latest Twitter feud with Zayn and Naughty Boy.

"I'm fine," he lied, sunken down in his seat with his arms crossed and a face like a slapped arse, scrolling on his phone to avoid eye contact. 

Louis and Naughty Boy had carried on with their banter after Naughty Boy had posted a picture with Zayn captioned "replace this" and Louis posted taking the mick out of the fact that he was boasting about being friends with Zayn, and of course about the choice of filter on the photo. However, what really pushed Louis over the edge was when Zayn got involved and publicly told Louis he was making 'bitchy comments' and had no life. It was safe to say Louis was fuming, especially as Zayn had removed all evidence that he was ever a part of the band from his social media hours prior. It did seem like he was trying to totally reinvent his image and it was a bit harsh on us, we'd lost a friend and he was pretending he'd never known us. 

Louis had definitely taken it the hardest; I wasn't too bothered in all honesty, if Zayn wanted to pretend we'd never been friends and act like he was better than One Direction then he can get on with it - we all knew the truth, especially the fans. I was more bothered about leaving Emily. Usually I couldn't wait to get away to LA and chill in the sun, but as much as I hated to admit it, this time was different. It was so unlike me to let a girl consume me like this - I knew the rules and I knew how to distance myself to avoid getting too attached and to avoid being too far into the spotlight, but she was the exception. I knew how soft I was being but I just couldn't help the way she made me feel. I was a fool for her, everyone knew it. No one had ever swayed me so much.

I was going to be spending two weeks in the States, and for four days in the middle of my stay Emily was flying out for a long weekend. I was really looking forward to showing her around one of my favourite places, taking her to all my most loved restaurants and smoothie spots, but most of all just relaxing by the pool in her company. There was less need for security when we were outside of the UK, but one thing that still made me nervous was the media attention she would inevitably receive. Now that they know who she is it was bound to become more intense, and although she is a strong girl I was worried how it would effect her and how it might make her feel about me; it was a totally different lifestyle and one that was difficult to adjust to, would she put up with it all for me? Was I worth that to her?

I was disturbed from my thoughts by our pilot announcing that we were about to take off and to put all devices in flight mode, make sure we had our seat belts on and everything in the right position. The weather was apparently beautiful in LA so that was something to look forward to, even if it had been warm in London for the past couple of weeks.

Tomorrow we were due to meet our good friend James Corden to film a skit for The Late Late Show which would be fun, but I wasn't looking forward to the interview - we were bound to be asked a few awkward questions about Zayn's departure and how we were handling being a foursome, and I was definitely going to have to chat to James beforehand to beg him not to bring up any of our relationship statuses. 

I ignored the butterflies in my stomach and put my earphones in; I was planning on getting some rest during the flight which should be easy considering no one was particularly talkative. I sat back in the cushioned leather seat and closed my eyes as I felt the lean of the plane as we left Heathrow and headed for the skies. 

Somehow I managed to sleep through the whole flight, and only woke up as we were around ten minutes away from landing in Los Angeles, with a prod from Liam. 

"How's he been?" I asked sleepily, rousing from my slumber and sitting up in my seat, preparing for landing. Of course I was gesturing towards Louis who was returning from the loo oblivious to our chat.