CHAPTER SIX – photographs

Sydney's POV

"Shit," I heard Louis say as I was sobbing into his chest. He couldn't be more then five foot nine, but at that moment he seemed like a giant. I looked up just in time to see the flash of a camera go off, then another one. I was too distracted and confused to let go of him. He reminded me of my best friend, someone I could tell anything to and not worry about him judging me. I didn't know him very long at all, and yet I told him my biggest secret. I trusted him, and that was a very hard concept for me to grasp. I knew that he would be there for me, and not just try to have sex with me, as many other guys would do.

He quickly grabbed my hand and started running towards my house.

"What are you doing?" I asked as he started to pull the hood up on his jacket.

"You would think that in a town like this the paparazzi wouldn't be out at midnight looking for us." He replied in an aggravated tone.

"Oh," was the only response I could manage to get out. I didn't even know paparazzi existed in our town, nothing ever happened here.

When we managed to make it to the house Louis was out of breath so I decided to make a joke of it. "I told you that you run like a girl," I said, giving him a hit in the shoulder.

"Oh yeah?" He said, playing along. "I would have won if you didn't trip me."

"I did not trip you, you got in my way." I smirked as he came after me, picking me up and throwing me over his shoulder. I decided not to give him the satisfaction of a reaction so I just laid there like a sack of potatoes.

"So, how was your evening?" I asked Theresa as she just stared at me.

"Umm, good." She replied, skeptical. "Can I go home now?"

I nodded and got Louis to put me back down.

"I guess we're calling it a night," Zayn spoke as he stood up. They all nodded along.

"Wait, we need phone numbers," Liam said, pulling out his phone. We all swapped numbers as I reached for my car keys.

As I grabbed them Niall came up and swooped me into a hug. I was confused, but I went along with it. He was strong, yet comfortable. It didn't hurt that he smelled delectable, either.

"Goodbye, beautiful," he said as he broke off the hug. He walked away but looked back and winked at me. I think I died.

Niall's POV

I watched as Sydney went to grab for her car keys to take Theresa home. She was wide open; this was time for my attack. I swung in and embraced her. However, I overshot her height a little and almost squashed her head into me. This was fixed as she stood on her toes to reach. She was so tiny; it was like hugging a doll.

"Goodnight, beautiful," I said as I reluctantly broke away from her. Her face beamed at me, smiling with perfect white teeth. I turned to walk away and be mysterious, but I had to catch one last glance of her. I turned my head and winked, and I could swear I saw her knees wobble a little bit.

We all hopped back into the car and headed towards our hotel.

"Hey," Zayn said. "They have school tomorrow, right? Why don't we go surprise them?"

"That sounds smashing!" Harry replied. "I've missed school oh so much, except that I haven't."

"No, it sounds fun. We can stir up all kinds of trouble," I said, thinking about the opportunity to get and see Sydney again. "Plus, it's our last day here before we go to Chicago, and there's not exactly anything else to do in this town."

The boys agreed as we looked out the windows and saw nothing but corn fields for miles.

Sydney's POV

I got into the car and turned it on as Theresa climbed in.

"So what really happened on your little adventure," she asked. This girl knew me too well.

"Nothing, really. They asked me my opinion on everything, Harry fell of a swing, Louis found my cuts so I told him the story, and someone took a picture of us, the end."

"Wait, someone took a picture of you guys?"

"Yeah, just some paparazzi or something, it's not a big deal because they'll just explain it as some friends and then come out with the news of the tour."

Theresa stayed silent. It was only a five minute drive to her home so it wasn't very long before I was pulling into her driveway. She started to pull her bags out of the back seat when she spoke, "You know Sydney, they all already love you. And well, you have to pick one."

She shut the door without giving me a chance to respond. What did she mean? I was just friends with all of them, or intended to be. Except for Niall, but that would never happen, I'm just me.

I started to choke up as I drove away, I really was a terrible person.

Louis' POV

I was awoken by the sound of my phone ringing, though it was only five in the morning. Looking at it I realized it was Eleanor and that she didn't understand the concept of a time difference.

"Hello?" I answered grumpily.

"Louis, who's the girl?" She prompted.

"What girl?"

"Oh, I don't know, the one you were embracing last night."

"Huh?" I asked, legitimately confused.

She was quiet for a moment before I got a photo sent to my phone. Looking at it, it was the cover of a magazine. The caption read, 'One Direction's Louis Tomlinson Getting Cozy'. Below was a short description, 'The British heart throb has been spotted doing a little more then greeting a fan late last night. He seems to be getting comfortable with someone who is clearly not Eleanor Calder.'

I looked at the photo is disbelief. It was me hugging Syd as she cried, and people were going to say I was cheating on Eleanor?

"So," she said, "What do you have to say for yourself?"

"Well, that's Syd, one of the girls we're touring with. She was upset and I was comforting her. She's a friend and nothing more."

"But she's not even pretty."

"What would her being pretty have to do with anything?"

"I just thought you would have better taste then that."

"You know what, this isn't the first time you've tried doing this do me, and I'm tired of it. We're done, goodbye."

I hung up the phone and threw it to the other side of the room; I could hear it ringing again. I ignored it and rolled over, trying to go back to sleep.