Author's Note: I posted this already on the 1dff website last night and was debating whether or not to post it on here but what the heck, might as well... Enjoy!

They say smoking kills.

I for one think there are much more interesting ways to die.

For example, your bungee cord snapping as you jump off the Brooklyn bridge, you can feel yourself fly for a split second before you realize your crashing to your death and soon the cold waters beneath you, consume your body entirely and then you're dead.

Or maybe crashing your race car against a wall as you turn a sharp left in the biggest illegal street race in all of the Bronx, you were able to feel yourself racing against the wind just before you lose control and crash, your car immediately bursting into flames and your life slowly slips away.

But no one nags you about bungee jumping, or illegal street racing.

Yet, I can't seem to light up a cigarette without being reprimanded.

So as I brought the skinny cigarette to my lips, taking a long drag and slowly blowing the smoke out, I tried to block out my brother's incisive ranting about how smoking causes cancer and so on and so forth.

"... Your teeth turn yellow, your breath smells bad and you'll have to talk through a hole in your neck for the rest of your life!"

I rolled my eyes ignoring him completely, taking another drag from my cigarette and opening up the sun roof, feeling the wind blow through the window as we sped down the highway and the hot sun warm my tender skin "We just came back from the most horrendous family reunion to date Finn!" I hollered "Let me have a smoke in peace!"

Caldwell family reunions never turn out well.

At least for me, River Caldwell, they don't.

Seeing as I'm the black sheep of the family; rebellious, the wild card and most definitely the laziest, family reunions are just a time for the Caldwell family to make fun and pick out what I have done wrong in my life.

Starting with my pink hair and ending with my expulsion from Julliard.

Why I got expelled from Julliard is a story for another time amigos, but let's just say I tend to ruin things that mean a lot to me.

I always seem to find myself in trouble, situations where telling the difference between right and wrong is hard.

I don't mind though, to me getting into trouble is a part of nature.

And like a true nature's child we were born to be wild.

But my brother Finn was going completely against nature by being the stuck up stick in the mud he's always been.

The goodie- too- shoes of the family, Finn Caldwell managed to become a big time record producer at the mere age of 22 and now being 25, an absolute prodigy owning about half a dozen recording studios nationwide and managing to sign some of the biggest names in the music industry (Including the Black FREAKING Keys), my family does nothing but compare me to him.

"Riv, Why aren't you more like your brother?" My mother always scolds "He's worked so hard and look at where he is now!"

"You should be more like Finny," My Father nags "He's a smart business man and we're all very proud of him."

So between the scolding and nagging my parents thought it was in my best interest to move in with my dear brother Finny and learn from his example.

If only my 'rents knew how bad of an influence Finn actually was.

Finn, like any typical 25 year old experiencing life in New York, has a dirty gambling habit, a mild addiction to medically prescribed narcotics and a bad case of stupid.

And not to mention he gets his kicks from racing brand new sports cars up and down abandoned side streets, just about everywhere in New York.

Our parents would send him to exile for anyone of the previously mentioned, and for a child of the wealthy and elite that means losing your trust fund. Something I had managed to do a couple of years ago after I dropped out of high school.

You see, Finn's and mine's parents are a New York cliché. They live in an expensive pent house overlooking central park, spend ridiculous amounts of money on things they don't need, pretend to care about their children's needs and invest even more money in etiquette classes and social dances for their snot nosed, snooty kids, all the while mommy's having an affair with the pool boy and daddy is fucking the maid.

So it's very apparent these parents care about their image and they just cringe at the thought of their child being on the cover of US weekly with a joint in one hand and a slag on the other. It would majorly ruin their reputation and thus, my brother has agreed that for my silence he will invite me to any social event where his clients and famous best friends are attending.

It's a good deal, really.

I keep Finn's skeletons in his closet, while he introduces me to the drummer of The Black Keys.

Everybody wins.

"Are you even listening to me?" Finn snarled and I snapped my attention away from the car window that had me consumed in my recent thoughts.

"Huh?"

Finn rolled his crystal blue and cleared his throat "I said," he snarled sarcastically "I have a very important client meeting tonight and if you're going to come I need you to be on your best behaviour."

Finn talked to me like a little kid sometimes and it absolutely drove me insane, so I took in a slow drag of my cigarette and blew the smoke in his face, watching him squint his eyes and begin to cough away from the smoke "Who's this super important client you're trying to pursue?

"One Direction." Finn answered nonchalantly, swerving to the right side of the road, exiting the highway and my shoulder bumped against the car door, almost causing me to drop my cigarette.

"That super annoy British boy band?" I asked "Don't they have a recording contract with that X factor Judge?"

Finn grunted incomprehensibly and shrugged his shoulders "They want to expand their horizons in America and want to join a record label here." Tipping his head Finn smiled and said "Why not me?"

I smiled wearily and took another drag from my cigarette, looking out the window and seeing the bright lights of the welcoming city. So, I unbuckled my seat belt, stood up and stuck my head out through the sunroof, ignoring Finn's desperate cries to try and get me to sit down.

The cold air brushed my hair back as the car raced down Central Avenue, I could see central park getting closer and closer, smiling at the thought that I was finally home.

New York.

My home sweet home.

I screamed loudly and shook my hair out in the wind "Faster Finny!" I shouted "We're not going nearly fast enough."

I could hear Finn chuckle from inside the car and began to rev the engine, flying past the cars in front of us and headed home.

And in that very moment.

Wind in hair and smoke in lungs, life felt like an adventure, waiting to be explored.

"You're not wearing that are you?"

"Yes..." I looked down at the bright red dress I was wearing, it had a large zipper going straight down the middle and hugged every curve in my body perfectly "What's wrong with it?"

Archer crinkled his nose and gave me a once over "You're having dinner at BUTTER not bumping uglys at a club." He stated simply falling back against the head board of my bed and hugging one of the many embellished pillows on it.

I laughed deciding he was right and unzipped my dress, letting it drop on the floor and walking over to my closet "Okay Mr. Know -It- All, what do you suggest?"

Archer ran a hand through his long black hair and began to tap on his chin "Wear that sexy little white number you wore on New Year's."

I walked into my closet and searched through the endless racks on either sides of the walk in closet walls, finally spotting it on the far right wall of my closet and slipping into it. The dress was white, strapless and sparkly; it reached just over my knees and belted around my mid section.

It was truly the perfect ensemble for tonight and looked positively stunning.

I stepped out of the closet and spun on the spot in front of Archers face, hearing him coo and whistle his approval.

I laughed loudly and jumped on the bed next to him, the amazing thing about Archer was that he always knew the right thing to wear or say during any single occasion.

Archer is one of the most amazing people I have ever met; he's the son of a two Manhattan famous artist, lives in a luxurious studio apartment while he attends film school at NYU and let's not forget to mention he's as queer as a three dollar bill.

What? Did you think I'd undress in front of anybody?

"So, remember that one time I covered for you with Finn when you and Jack snuck out to see that horrible indie band at Le Roux?" Archer blurted out suddenly, leaning towards me and looking me dead in the eyes.

"Yes..." I said suspiciously, remembering the night where Jack (my friend/ not so friendly casual hook up) snuck into a small local club to watch some band called the writers and ended up getting kicked out half way through the show because Jack got too wasted and threw a bagel at the stage and nailing the lead singer right in the eye. "What are you getting at Arch?"

"Convince Finn to let me go to BUTTER."

"No way!"

"Come on please!"

"No"

"Yes"

"Finn will never go for it!" I yelped laughing at Archer as he pouted dramatically "Why do you even want to go?"

"Riv, just bat you pretty blue eyes at Finn, say pretty please and he'll say yes." Archer deadpanned, "You know my little infatuation with Louis Tomlinson and his sweet ass, I have to go!"

I shook my head laughing "First of all Finn is really stressed out over signing One Direction, he doesn't even want me to go let alone you!" I laughed, knowing that if Archer went that Louis kid would definitely end up with a new stalker and Archer with a restraining order "Second of all I'm pretty sure Louis doesn't play for your team Arch."

Archer groaned getting up from the bed and walking over in front of me, grabbing my hands and pulling me up from the bed "Go talk to Finn or the next time you and Jack need to find a place to fuck it'll have to be on a street ally." With that Archer gave me a push towards my bedroom door and patted my bum "And honey, no man who is that fabulous and has an ass that fine can be straight."

I laughed as I stumbled out the door and hooked a right towards Finn's room taking a deep breath and knocking on his door.

Convincing him to allow Archer to come was going to be a task all in its self.

But I can be pretty persuasive.

Me and my pretty blue eyes.

30 minutes later, I had managed to convince Finn to let Archer come with us.

It wasn't easy mind you; there was yelling (Finn), tears (mine), threats (also mine) and even blood was shed (most definitely Finn's). But at the end of the day I was able to persuade my dear brother into allowing Archer to come with just one condition.

Archer had to behave himself.

A hard task, but not completely impossible.

When I told Archer the news he just about jumped out the window! I've never seen him smile so widely, he was ecstatic and rushed right home to get dressed.

2 hours later here we are, in a black stretch hummer limo driving through Manhattan traffic at night on our way to one of the best restaurants in all of New York. Normally the drive wouldn't take more than an hour from hour apartment to the restaurant but tonight the traffic to BUTTER was insane and Finn told me that someone tipped off the paps that One Direction was meeting with us, so half of the freaking country decided to drive to BUTTER and attempt to catch a glimpse of the famous British Boy Band Finny was desperate to sign.

I groaned, letting my head fall back against the seat and I ran my hands through my freshly curled hair "Are we there yet?"

"No." Finn responded with a glare.

"How about now?"

"No!"

"Um... and now?"

"Shut up River."

"I'm hungry!" I whined.

"I don't care."

"You're mean."

"You're a brat." Finn snarled.

"CAN YOU TWO STOP ARGUING WE'RE ALMOST THERE NOW SHUT UP!" Archer screamed and Finn and I immediately shut our mouths.

Archer was right, we were almost there, after about 40 illegal driving violations and almost running over a parking valet the limo parked itself outside of the restaurant and we prepared ourselves to go inside.

Finn straightened his bow tie and passed a comb through his hair, Archer popped a tic tac in his mouth and pop the collar of his vintage suit jacket, as for me? I reapplied some lipstick and tossed my hair a bit before throwing the door open and stepping out.

All I saw were flashing lights.

Cameras were flashing, reporters were yelling and girls were screaming.

The whole entrance of the restaurant was roped off, security guards the size of club bouncers stood in front of the ropes pushing people back and trying to calm the crazy crowd that had begun to gather.

I was used to going to celebrity events, handling the paparazzi and dealing with hard headed reporters, but this? This was crazy.

I was pushed and pulled inside the restaurant; teenage girls screamed at the top of their lungs and made a grab at me every time I got near the ropes.

The second I got into the restaurant a huge wave of relief hit me and it was at that moment that I realized I was holding my breath. I waited for Finn and Archer to make their way inside and as soon as they did the hostess from the BUTTER, a pretty blonde girl with killer legs directed us to our private table at the back of the restaurant.

We walked towards our table and I hooked arms with Archer as Finn walked ahead looking professional and ready for business.

The restaurant was dimly lit and the section we were walking towards, much like the front of the restaurant, was roped off with curious staff peeping in around the ropes at the 5 boys sitting at the table.

I didn't really understand what the big deal was.

I've listened to their music, it's subpar.

I've looked at their faces, nothing special.

But yet people can't seem to get enough of them.

(Maybe it was the accents? I know that's what does me in.)

Looking at them now, as we began to get closer, all I could see was a group of teenage boys playing with napkins and sticking forks up their noses.

What's the fascination?

Finn was nervous.

By the way he meticulously straightened the silver wear and kept downing glasses of wine I could tell my brother was flipping his shit.

He was one glass of wine away from jumping across the table and strangling Archer to death.

After we all politely introduced ourselves to One Direction (not that introductions were needed everyone in the goddamn world knows who One Direction is) and took our seats everything just started to go downhill for my poor brother Finny.

Now that wasn't really his fault, Archer had taken it upon himself to sit right in between Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson. If breaking up the oh so famous bro-mance (Larry Stylinson if my Google search served me right) wasn't bad enough, Archer thought it appropriate to shamelessly flirt with Louis.

Louis gave polite smiles and awkward side glances to his band mates who just laughed and grinned, occasionally waved and went on about their business, leaving poor Louis to fend for himself and defend himself from the big bad Archer.

I laughed as Arch placed his hand on Louis bicep, said something completely foul and gave it a squeeze. Louis squirmed; laughed, nodded and turned to face the Irish fellow named Niall.

All of that wouldn't be so bad if this meeting with One Direction wasn't going so horribly.

None of the boys were being cooperative or engaging in any conversation, no matter how hard Finn tried to start some up.

Harry was texting on his phone and shaking his curly locks at the leggy waitress. Zayn was pouting and picking at a piece of bread, while Niall was stuffing his face with spring rolls.

But the worst of them all was Liam.

No more than 5 seconds after I sat down beside the puppy dog eyed Liam Payne he had decided to whine on and on about how his girl friend and him just broke up and how depressed he was and blah, blah, blah.

I couldn't handle one more story about how he loved her curly hair and how he'd miss how she smiled in the mornings.

After talking with Liam for the whole time we ate our appetizers I had decided I didn't like him.I didn't like him one bit. In fact I'm pretty sure I just about hated Liam right now.

I needed to get drunk and fast.

Giving Liam a curt smile I stood up from my seat and headed towards the bar just outside our private section in the restaurant. As I was walking away Finn grabbed my arm and pulled me towards him "Where are you going?" he asked whispering in my ear as he forced a fake smile on his lips and looked at the boy band members who couldn't give less of a crap about being here.

I nodded towards the bar and yanked my hand away from his grasp, ruffling my brother's hair lightly and continuing to walk towards the bar.

The bartender was chatting up our leggy blonde waitress. She threw her back in laughter after he said something that wasn't remotely funny and then she looked over at our table and surprise, surprise Harry was sending a wink her way. I rolled my eyes and snagged a bottle of Bacardi from over the counter, luck for me the bartender was distracted by the blonde floozies legs and she was distracted by a pair of emerald green eyes, so there was no need for anyone to check IDs and I needn't pay for a half full bottle of booze.

I tucked the bottle between the fold of my dress and searched for an exit somewhere leading to the back of the restaurant and hopefully far away from the screaming crowd that was just outside.

I found a red large door off to the side a bright sign positioned on top of it reading "Emergency Exit". I walked towards it and propped the door opening, peaking my head outside to make sure nobody was outside. Lucky for me the door led to a closed off ally, I picked up a rock from the ground and placed it between the door and wall, so I could make sure the door wouldn't close and lock me outside.

Taking one last look at my table before I walked outside I realized everything was just as I left it. Everyone was consumed in their own thing and my brothers' plans to sign One Direction seemed to be going to shit.

There was only one thing out of place and that was Liam.

He was staring right at me, his large brown eyes focusing on me with wonder and his eyebrows slightly crinkled. I smiled, twisted the cap off of the bottle of Bacardi and toasted it upwards towards him, then brought the bottle towards my lips and took a long hard gulp, walking out the door and into the ally.

I slumped down against the cold brick wall and brought the bottle to my lips again, taking another gulp.

The only thing missing was a nice pack of smokes.

But you can't always get what you want.

The red emergency exit door flung wide open and the light from the restaurant illuminated the dark ally. I looked up from my place on the floor against the cold brick wall and saw a familiar pair of puppy dog brown eyes. "Liam!" I gleamed, taking another swig of Bacardi "What brings you out here?" my voice sounded a lot more annoyed then I wanted it too but in my defense my head was buzzing with a pre-drunk high I was just dying to give into.

After drinking most of what was left in the bottle in a whole two minutes I was feeling a bit nostalgic and seeing whiney Liam come through the door was ruining my buzz.

"I wanted to see if you were alright." He responded sounding sincere and his accent gave me a slight chill.

"I'm dandy!"

Liam chuckled and stuck his hands into the deep pockets of his black dress pants. It was at that moment, the light from inside the restaurant illuminating his face perfectly, that I realized how handsome Liam Payne really was. He was wearing a fitted black blazer to match his pants and a pale blue dress shirt under it, the first few buttons of it were undone and you could see the tan on his chiselled chest. Although his hair was cut short and his deep chocolate brown eyes made most people want to burst into tears I couldn't get over how sad his face looked but how caring his heart was.

"Are you sure you're okay?" I asked shyly "You are drinking a bottle of Bacardi by yourself in an ally."

It was my turn to laugh "I was bored" I admitted with a shrug "but shouldn't you be the one drinking? I mean you are the one nursing a broken heart."

I saw a flash of pain shoot through Liam's face and I instantly wanted to gobble my words back up, regretting I said them immediately.

"You're right." he said and surprisingly slumped down on the ally wall beside me, snatched the booze right out of my hands and took several large long gulps. Then he gagged, gasped a bit while liquor sputtered from his mouth "That's wretched!" he added, screwing up his face as the cold drink burned down his throat.

I laughed again "You'll get used to it."

And then it was quite.

Neither of us said a single thing for several minutes, we just passed the bottle between us, taking swigs of it every once in a while and occasionally making eye contact. But the silence wasn't awkward, it wasn't cold or annoying.

It's hard to explain but in a way the silence was comforting.

It felt like the sot wings of a bird wrapping you up in it and calming you down, bringing you closer together.

And it was because of the feeling this silence brought that I dared ask this question "So, why did you and your girlfriend break up?"

He looked at me, his eyes wide and his face shocked by this simple question, but he relaxed, took another swig from the bottle and answered "She couldn't handle fans."

"That's it?" I asked slowly "That's the only reason you broke up?"

"Yes." He answered, his eyes shifting and refusing to meet my own.

I bit my lip and tried to fend off the gut wrenching feeling that he was lying to me "They must be some diehard fans."

Liam chuckled "They are."

It was silent again and I sipped on the bottle again.

I don't know whether it was my spinning head or the fact that Liam's eyes seemed to bore a hole deep down in my heart but I felt obligated to help the poor lad out.

Maybe it was both.

But at that very moment I decided to help Liam Payne get over his broken heart, and what's the best way to get over a break up?

Beer, parties and sex.

And Liam could have the lot if I had anything to do with it.

I got up from the floor and stood right in front of Liam, looking him straight in the eyes as I said "Alright dude, let's stop this pity party and mend your heartache." With that I outstretched my hand and waited for any sign from Liam that he approved.

With a tilt of the head and a confused stare Liam took my hand and stood up as well. "What do you have in mind?" he asked.

I shrugged and began to lead him back towards the restaurant "Have you ever been given a tour of the New York underground?"

Liam shook his head slowly and I smiled.

"Well darling, this will be a summer to remember," I chuckled playfully "but there's just one condition."

Liam arched his perfectly plush eyebrows and asked "and what might that be?"

"Make sure my brother signs you guys and we have a done deal my friend."

As we walked back into the restaurant I looked at our table and saw and wonderfully surprising sight. There was laughter and chatting, my brother was placing down business cards and dropping names of previously signed bands. Finn was working his magic and I couldn't have been more proud.

Liam nudged my shoulder and pointed at the cheerful sight "I don't think you'll need my help with that."

I laughed and hung my arm around his shoulder "Right you are amigo."

And so Liam Payne and I trotted back to our table in cheerful bliss, something I would have thought impossible seeing how the night started out.

In a span of two hours I had gone from utterly hating Liam's guts to finding out he was actually a pretty cool dude, and as I sat down in my seat next to him and saw all the smiling faces as Louis told a joke about a guy named Terrance I swear the moment was perfect.