Louis' departure.
The flight to America was going to be brutal. And he had to work that very day, didn't even get time to rest and get used to the different times. No, Mr Lloyd had told him that on the phone, no one got down time except a few hours each day. And even that "down time" was really the characters walking around and taking pictures. Yeah, he was going to work at Disneyland. Who would have thought a 20 year old from Doncaster would travel all the way to America just to get a lame job. He didn't either. His mum still thought it was a horrible idea. But he wanted to sing. And there was really no other way. The chances of him being noticed in America were much higher. They had more aspiring singers, but less actually talented singers. It barely made sense, but it was what kept him strong when his sisters cried or his step dad yelled.
He had planned on going skating with one of his sister at the Dome the day before his flight took off. Though soon he was starting to change his mind, after she took an extra half hour to get ready.
"Lottie, it's my last day and you said you wanted to go skating at the Dome. Hurry up or we just won't go." Louis stood at the front door, his skates slung over one shoulder, arms crossed and a very annoyed expression on his face.
"I couldn't find my hat." Lottie frowned, carrying her skates in a bag.
"Well let's go now I'll give you my hat if you get cold." Louis pushed the door open and walked towards his step dad's car. When they got to the Dome, he laced up quickly and then helped his sister with her skates.
They skated for a while and Lottie finally got up the nerve to ask him why he was going so far away.
"I mean, aren't there plenty of jobs here? Or you could at least stay in England." she refused to look at him.
"But .. I want to be a singer, you know that, and if I go to America I will have a much better chance than here." Louis sighed. He had already explained it to their mum and wondered why she hadn't explained it to Lottie.
"But couldn't you go on the X Factor or sommat like that? And stay close?"
"No, Lottie. I tried the X Factor already, Simon hated me, I'm not trying there again. I know I can sing, and I also know he's an idiot but I have a job lined up in America now. I'll miss you guys but I have to chase my dreams."
After that Lottie refused to speak to her older brother, so they skated in silence for another half hour, then left the Dome. When they got home, Lottie went up to her room and slammed the door shut. Sighing, Louis went to his room and packed. His flight left at 8 a.m and he hadn't touched his suitcases since booking the flight.

-...-..-...-...-...-...-..NEXT DAY..-...-...-...-...-..-...-

Louis sat in the airport at 6 30 a.m, having recently checked in, surrounded by his mum, step dad, dad and sisters. His mum and the twins were sobbing, everyone else trying to hold it all in. Lou himself was bent over his knees, trying to hide his tears.

Zayn's departure.
Zayn's older sister, Doniya, wasn't talking to him. She'd been giving him the cold shoulder for two weeks solid, ever since he announced he was off to America. She had asked, with a scowl on her face, what could be better in America than having his family close here in Bradford, and he had answered, quietly, that he wanted to sing. And play football, professionally. No one in Bradford had any intention of hiring him, they had been turning him away for two years. He had told his parents, Trisha and Yasser, and his sisters that Disney Land was happy to hire him, and that's where he was going to work to save money up to go to an American uni. He had the grades to get in, but not the grades to get a full scholarship. Meaning, he'd have to dish a fair bit of money in order to go. Money he didn't have. So he looked online and found that Disney Land was hiring.
So now it was the day before he left, and he had decided to say his goodbyes a little early and go to stay in a hotel in London before he got on the plane to America. He stood with his other two sisters, Waliyha and Safaa outside of Doniya's door. His younger sisters just clung to him as he banged on his elder sibling's door, trying to get her to come out and say goodbye to him. Or at least hug him.
"Doniya, please." Zayn was crying now, silently, but he let his voice waver in his plead for his older sister. His first friend. "I just want to say goodbye, see your face, hug you, something. Doniya, I'm going to miss everyone but you especially. I might break if I don't get a goodbye, but I'll have to go anyways. Please don't break me." his voice cracked and he took a deep, steadying breath. "I'm leaving in an hour... if you don't come out before I take off, I love you okay? And I'll miss you.. And just know I'm going to text and tweet you all the time, even if you don't reply." he sniffled and closed his eyes, contemplating just bursting into her room. But instead, he led his little sisters to their sitting room where his parents sat.
His mother had a tissue pressed to her nose, and when she saw her two young girls clinging to their brother s if their lives depended on it, she broke out into all new sobs. Yaser tried to comfort her but it didn't work very well, he just ended up with a lot of snot on his shirt.
Zayn counted down the minutes while he and his family tried for idle chatter. He had to leave in fifteen minutes, and Doniya still had not come down from her room.
"I... I think I'm gonna leave a bit early. Doniya's obviously not coming down, and I've sat here for the past two days saying goodbye to you lot." Zayn picked up the small bag he'd take as his carry on, on the plane and made his way towards the door when he heard running feet on the stairs.
"Don't leave yet Zayn!" Doniya ran down the stairs and attacked her brother in a tight hug. "I'm so sorry! I should have been spending time with you, but I was being a selfish b itch. I thought if I shut myself up in my room, you wouldn't leave. But I heard mam sobbing and knew you were serious about it all."
"Doniya, shh. I've got 10 minutes now. Let's sit bak down and we can talk. " Zayn patted her back, but she didn't let go of him so they just stood in the doorway.
"Zayn, you'd better get going. Call when you get to London, though." Doniya let go of Zayn finally as Yaser came up and clapped his hand on his son's shoulder.
Zayn nodded and gave everyone one last hug, then he was gone out the door and into his rental car.
He made it to the hotel in London in time to have a few hours' sleep before he had to go to the airport.
At the airport at 7 am, Zayn noticed a twenty year old brown haired boy surrounded by his family. Apparently he wasn't the only young guy to be leaving home today. The last thing Zayn noticed about the guy was that he seemed to have 6 year old sisters. It made him think of his own sisters, and after he had made his way through security, he let the silent tears stream down his face again.

Louis made his way onto the plane as quickly as he could. On the plane he found his seat and put his bag in the compartment before sliding into the window seat. After a couple others moved along to find their seats, a dark haired boy stopped by Louis' row. He checked the number again quickly before taking the seat beside Lou without a word.
Lou took this as his cue to start the conversation. "Hi! I'm Louis Tomlinson," he stuck his hand out and the dark haired boy looked at it for a moment before taking it and shaking it.
"Zayn Malik." he nodded curtly and fished a pair of headphones and an iPod out of his pocket.
Once the plane was in the air, Zayn turned to Louis again. "Want to listen? You be DJ, Tommo." he smiled and handed Louis the iPod, sticking a headphone in.
Lou scrolled through the songs before deciding "Paradise" by Coldplay would be a good song to listen to. He placed the iPod in his lap and leaned his head back. Both he and Zayn fell asleep before the song ended, leaning on each other.
Throughout the flight, the two would wake up but still be half asleep, adjust themselves or cuddle deeper into the other, the comfort of another human feeling very nice. The music on Zayn's iPod ranged from Chris Brown to Michael Jackson, and after about four hours in the air, it died completely. Neither boy seemed to notice this fact, Zayn even ended up removing the bud from his ear at one point because it was uncomfortable while laying his head on top of Louis'.
When they landed in Orlando, many passengers had fallen asleep so flight attendants went around waking everyone up, welcoming them to America. When the skinny blonde air steward got to Zayn and Louis, he aww'd quietly then shook Zayn gently awake.
"Welcome to America! Mind waking up your boyfriend for me? Thanks," he walked away before Zayn could reply.
Zayn sighed, no matter where he went people tended to think he was g ay. Did he really look it? He'd had quite a few girlfriends back in Bradford, and no one assumed anything was different about him back there. Was it cause he had model looks and dressed nicely? Whatever it was, he didn't need to think it over now. He gently shook Louis awake.
Louis grinned when he woke next to Zayn. What a pleasant surprise, even if it was on a plane. Most guys ran if Louis tried to cuddle, even his best friends back in Doncaster that he'd grown up with. Everyone assumed he was g ay, even though he had dated girls throughout high school.
Louis stretched, ending up with his arm around Zayn's shoulders.
"Where are you headed?" Zayn asked, trying not to think too much about the fact a guy he'd just met was being so close and comfortable around him.
"I've got a job lined up." Louis paused, thinking whether to tell this guy who looked so mature and well brought up that he'd be working at Disneyland. "At.. um, at Disneyland. I guess they're having a strike or something and need replacements."
Zayn grinned wide, which made Louis think he was making fun of him. "Yeah, I'm lined up to work there too! Gotta work today, 'n all. Totally not cool of the guy, but he said no one got more than two 15 minute breaks." the younger boy just rolled his eyes.
Louis laughed nervously. "I got to work today too, want to get a cab together?"
"Sounds like a plan."