***Louis Tomlinson***
Saturday, July 14th, 2012 – North London, England

Needless to say, I was surprised when I saw all of my band mates at Liam’s when I walked in. I hadn’t noticed their cars outside, too upset to have paid attention to my surroundings. I couldn’t help but wonder if they were all just talking about what a horrible person I was now that I’d managed to piss of Zayn and Harry in the same day – hell, the same hour. But Liam grabbed me before I could leave, and I immediately knew he felt the bandage on my wrist. So much for my long sleeve idea. I let Liam hug me while I tried to figure out what to do, and when joking didn’t work, I started to get defensive. I was pretty sure whatever was left of my heart fell out of my chest when Harry said there was no longer a “we”, though: this was real.

“Oh, please,” Zayn said after Harry and I had made it clear it never was or never would be “us versus them”. “Niall’s right, it always has been like that, and none of us ever said anything because it was never an issue until the two of you started dating.”

“Don’t speak for me,” Liam told Zayn. “I never said anything because it never seemed like that to me.”

“You’re joking, right?” Niall asked Liam.

“If it was such a big issue for the two of you, maybe you should’ve spoken up,” Liam said to Zayn and Niall.

“And started drama?” Niall challenged.

“And separated Harry and Louis from the group even more than they were already doing on their own?” Zayn asked.

“What?” Harry and I said at the same time.

“Do you guys really not see it?” Zayn asked us. Harry and I both shook our heads. “You’ve all but alienated yourselves from us! You only want to be around each other; the only times we see you is when we’re forced to, like at a concert.”

“That is not true!” Harry exclaimed, and I felt my eyes well up. “You guys are mine and Louis’s best friends too!”

“It’d be nice if you acted like it once in awhile,” Niall said, unable to look at us.

“Well, good thing we broke up then, huh?” I said, looking pointedly at Zayn.

“Glad you feel that way,” Harry said to me, but I couldn’t tell if he was being sarcastic or not.

“Enough!” Liam exclaimed. “Guys, come on, this is getting out of hand.”

“Well, maybe you should’ve listened to me instead of defending Louis for everything,” Harry told Liam. I could guess what he was referring to.

“I was listening!” Liam told Harry, and now Liam was getting upset, which meant it was all over – once Liam lost his cool, it was all downhill for the rest of us; he was the glue. “I was trying to get you to see Louis’s side so you guys could fix things!”

“Which was exactly what I was doing for you, Louis,” Zayn snapped at me.

“Did it ever occur to you that maybe Louis and I don’t want to fix things?” Harry said. Ouch.

“What?” Niall asked, softly, his eyes watering as well. My defensiveness was still there though, so I spoke up.

“Maybe we just wanted our friends to be there for us and listen instead of getting involved in our lives,” I said.

“Stop saying ‘we’!” Harry yelled at me, and now I could see the tears in his eyes as well.

“Like it or not, we’re all involved in each other’s lives,” Liam said, but his voice was angry. “It comes with the territory, especially when you start dating a band mate!”

“It’s none of your business what goes on between Louis and me!” Harry cried.

“Then why did you both come over here?!” Liam asked, exasperated.

“Maybe to find friends, or a shoulder to lean on!” I exclaimed.

“We’ve always been that for you, for both of you!” Zayn yelled. “And we still were today, only the two of you are both too thick headed to notice!”

“Oh, are we name calling now?” Harry said to Zayn.

“No!” Niall and Liam both exclaimed.

“If we’re so thick headed why are you the one who can’t just be there for me?” I asked Zayn. “You had to play devil’s advocate and side with Harry.”

“Are you forgetting I’m the only one out of all of us who’s in a stable relationship?” Zayn retorted.

“Screw you,” I said.

“Yeah, shut up,” Liam, who still hadn’t fully gotten over Danielle, said.

“I’m not the one cutting or pushing everyone who loves me away!” Zayn glared at me.

“You’re not exactly helping, either,” Niall told him. By this point, all five of us had tears streaming down our faces. Most of us were just pissed, but there was some hurt mixed in as well.

“Okay, we all need to calm down,” Liam said.

“Can it, Liam,” Harry said, obviously still upset that Liam had apparently been defending me.

“You know what?” Liam said. “Never mind. You guys want to ruin all of our relationships with each other, change the dynamic of the band, fine, I’m sick of being the responsible one all the time, it’s exhausting.”

“Who says there’s still a band?” Zayn asked. I knew him well enough to know he was just heated, but the words still stung.

“Our contract, for one,” Liam replied.

“I thought you were done being responsible,” Harry told Liam.

“Stop it, Harry!” Liam exclaimed. “Clearly this is an issue between you and me, there’s no need to drag everyone else into it.”

“What happened to always being involved in each other’s lives?” I asked Liam. I hadn’t meant to defend Harry; it was just a reflex.

“Just, go home, all of you,” Liam shook his head.

“Didn’t we learn in Anaheim not to leave angry?” Niall tried, clearly upset.

“Where the hell am I supposed to go?” Harry ignored Niall. My stomach sank.

“You can go to the house,” I told him, quietly.

“That’s the last place I want to be, Louis,” he retorted. “You know,” he turned to Liam, “I came here thinking you could help, but you just made it all worse.” Harry stormed out the front door. I wanted to go after him, but something told me not to.

Zayn glared at me for a second, then shook his head and marched out the door as well. I looked at Niall and Liam for a minute, then Niall burst into tears and ran out of the house. I shook my head and left as well, hearing the others’ cars speeding up the street. I got in my own car and headed to my house – it wasn’t like I had anywhere else to go; I had no family left, blood or otherwise.