𝘾𝙍𝘼𝙎𝙃𝙄𝙉𝙂 𝙄𝙉𝙏𝙊 𝙔𝙊𝙐 ↣ 𝙊𝙉𝙀 𝘿𝙄𝙍𝙀𝘾𝙏𝙄𝙊𝙉

WALKING IN THE WIND

[ONE MONTH LATER. MARCH 19TH, 2015.]

"Come on, come on, we're late," I ushered. The boys mumbled apologies and rushed out of the tour bus.

I was playing the biggest stadium in Hong Kong, and I was supposed to be there five minutes ago to start getting ready.

We ran into the stadium and down to my locker room. As soon as the door shut, I started pulling my clothes off.

"Oh, you're going to-? We'll just turn around then," Liam said awkwardly. I stepped out of my joggers and wiggled into my jeans, before pulling a shirt on.

"Okay, you're good," I said. I looked at my reflection and then dug around in a bin to find a pair of shoes. I pulled on a pair of clunky platforms. "How's this?" I asked.

"Cute," Harry said. He said it distractedly, though.

"What's the deal? Why have you guys been so weird?" I asked exasperatedly. For the last few days, it seemed, the boys had been... off?

I tried my best to ignore it, assuming they were just tried and drained; the same as me.

"Nothing," Zayn said quickly, "you need to get on stage, you're late." He handed me my ear pieces and I put them in place. I grabbed my mic from Niall and took a deep breath.

"You're gonna kill it," Louis said.

"Always do," I quipped confidently.

"That's the spirit," Liam said, "go ahead, we'll be here when you get back."

"Okay. See you in a bit," I said.

I was walking out of the room when Zayn coughed.

"Wait," Zayn said, "give me a hug?"

"Yeah, of course," I said. I hugged him, and he held on tight.

"I love you so much, princess," he whispered, "never, ever forget that."

"Okay," I laughed, "what's gotten into you?"

"Nothing," Zayn said. He pressed a kiss onto my forehead, just like he often did. "go give a good show, okay? I love you."

"Okay, I love you too," I said. I pulled away, gave the boys a final wave, and then started running towards the stage.

-

An hour and a half later, I was bowing and thanking the fans for coming out. The boys didn't come on stage. I texted both Niall and Liam, but I got no answer.

I jogged down the steps and walked into the locker room again.

Niall, Louis, Liam and Harry were sitting on a couch.

They were all crying.

"Hey," I said. They looked up at me. Niall nodded his head for me to come closer. "Guys, what's wrong? What happened?"

"Sit," Niall said. He nodded his head to the bench next to the couch. I shook my head no.

"What happened?" I repeated. There was a long period of silence, before I realized that there were only four of them on the couch. "Where's Zayn?"

"He left," Liam choked out.

"What do you mean, left?"

"He left the tour. Left the band," Niall said. He wiped tears off of his cheeks and looked up at me. Our blue eyes met and I searched his face.

Niall was gutted.

Zayn wouldn't just leave, that doesn't make any sense. That doesn't sound like the Zayn I know, I thought.