Sophia's POV:
"CONNIE!!!!" I squealed, attacking him in a hug.

For the first time in weeks, I felt pure happiness seeing my friend. Connor was like the neutral ground for me. Between The Wanted, One Direction, and every drama in between: He was always on my team. Whatever made me happy was what he wanted. I can't even imagine getting through all of this without him. What if I hadn't seen him at the club that day? What if my mom hadn't insisted I talked to him? God works in mysterious ways. I had my Connor back and that was currently the only thing I had going for me.

"SORI!!!! How're ya babe?" He asked, grinning.

"I'm just peachy. Welcome to the US!" I said, smiling smugly.

He grinned and rolled his big brown eyes, "Uh oh. I know that face. What happened?"

I looked around for a moment before deciding this wasn't the place to do it, "We'll talk about it at the hotel."

He nodded and I took one of his bags, taking him to the car.

---

Niall's POV:
I picked up my phone to try and call Serena again. I hadn't spoken to her other than texting in over a week and it was worrying me. I knew she was probably busy. She was all alone in London and I was all the way in LA, about to go on a date with another girl. I felt horrible. I didn't want to do it but management insisted I go, for charity. Would that be why she was ignoring me? If she didn't want me to go all she had to do was tell me and I wouldn't. I was really trying to make this work with us.

"Hey?" She said, sounding confused.

Why was she confused? Isn't it normal for your BOYFRIEND to call you?

"Hi beautiful. I miss you." I said sweetly, hoping her reaction would change.

She laughed nervously, "I miss you too Ni. I um.. I'm kind of in the middle of something. Can I call you later. Say, 7 your time?"

I groaned, "Baby I have that charity thing tonight. I'll call you when I get in?"

She scoffed, "Alright Niall. Bye."

I couldn't stop thinking about what I did. I had to have done something to upset her. So I figured I'd call Nathan, he was keeping an eye on her for me and Soph. It rang a few times before he answered.

"Hey mate!"

Finally, a friendly voice, "Hey Nathan. Sorry to call at such a weird time. Um are you busy?"

I heard a distinctive laugh in the background, a girls laugh.

"Nah man of course not. Hold on lemme just go outside."

I heard shuffling before he spoke again, "What's up?"

I cleared my throat, "How's Serena doing? I've been trying to talk to her but she seems.. distant. I know you've all been spending time with her so I figured I'd ask you if she seemed off."

He hummed into the phone, "Nope she seemed alright to me. Want me to talk to her for you?"

"No! It's alright. She's probably just busy." I said, trying to convince myself.

"Yeah.. you're probably right. Hey I gotta go. Tell my girl I said hello and let's get together when you're back in London."

I sighed and rubbed my forehead, "Yeah I will. She's gonna need you I'm assuming."

"Wait.. what? Why what happened?" He asked, sounding worried.

Shit. I probably shouldn't have said anything.

"She's being fired. At least I think. Some picture surfaced of her and Zayn leaving a club together and now she's been exiled by our tour manager. She screamed at Louis for being an arse in the meeting and left to get Connor."

"Shit." He mumbled, "Well tell Louis I'm not above flying transatlantic to kick his Doncaster ass and tell Sophie to call me if she needs me. And keep an eye on Archibald for us. I still don't trust him."

I laughed, "Me either. I'll let all three of them know. Thanks again Nathan."

"Anytime mate!"

Everything felt like it was falling apart. My friends were being torn to pick a side. For a long time I thought I was on Louis'. I mean he had Sophia first and they were happy together. But lately, he's been really different. Sophia's been partying more than ever. Which is alright, I mean she's traveling the world and she's 21 years old. But Louis is so obsessed with everything she says and does, it's not healthy. I worried about him.

---

Harry's POV:
I got out of the shower and wrapped my towel around my waist before walking into the hotel room to see Brielle hovered over the computer. She was in deep deep thought, biting her lip and resting her chin on her fist, glaring into the screen. I walked over to her and rested my chin on her shoulder, leaving a gentle kiss on her neck.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

Without breaking her gaze from the screen she sighed, "I'm going over the stats for the team. The boys will be playing the Nationals this week while I'm there and I need to know everything. I've barely been paying attention this season and it's gonna kick my ass."

I chuckled, "Brielle, you know all about baseball. What could you possibly miss?"

She scoffed playfully, "I know the GAME, yes. But the teams this season? Not so much. I'm going to be in a room with people who've always seen me as Tom Werners little girl. The 'tomboy child who loved baseball just like her dad'. They all knew I'd be a perfect fit to take over, but when I left for beauty school, I lost the enthusiasm. I need to show them that I'm serious about this."

She spun around on the chair and put her hands around my neck, pulling me into her. I removed the space between us and attached my lips to hers, tasting cigarettes and bubblegum. All I could think about was how totally different we were. She loved baseball and bro time. I loved music and fashion even. It was all sorts of backwards, but it worked for us.

"You're going to be fine babe. If they have any sense, they'll see that you're the most determined, smart, strong, sassy, baseball loving woman they've ever met. You're not just perfect for the job, but you're the only one for it. If they love you half as much as I do, they won't complain a bit."

The second the words left my mouth, and I saw the shocked look on her face, I realized what I had said. I said the L-word. The word I wasn't supposed to say yet.

She stuttered before turning back around to the computer, "You have to put your suit on. I'm leaving in an hour for boston and I still have to spray tan you."

I cursed under my breath before mumbling, "Okay."

What did I just do?

Notes