Liam ran a hand through his light brown hair as he gazed out of his hotel room window.

There were dozens of fans littering the Los Angeles streets outside, and he was sure they were in the lobby as well. As usual they always hung around after the shows, hoping and wishing for a glimpse of the band.

He didn’t usually go down to greet them. Instead he usually opted to stay in his room. Though Liam loved being on stage, he found that the post-show bliss didn’t last long, and he often wound up feeling overwrought and a little depressed.

When he was up on stage, he felt free and alive. However, afterwards he simply found himself feeling lost and alone more often than not.

Especially now that they were touring the states so much. It wasn’t so bad when he was at home and things were familiar, but the US was so foreign to him. It seemed more like an endless string of hotels and concert venues rather than a country. He didn’t feel like he could be himself as the group was kept on such a tight leash whenever there.

Perhaps it was just that he was feeling homesick, but Liam wasn’t so sure. It hadn’t been this way when they were down in Australia – they’d had a little more freedom. Things were a little more relaxed. Now that they were back in the US, all eyes were kept on them 24/7.

Needless to say, he didn’t like it one bit.

He sighed and laid down on his bed, absentmindedly flipping through TV channels. There was nothing much on, and it only served as a distraction from his clouded thoughts.

Ten minutes into yet another lacklustre episode of Family Guy, there was a knock at his hotel room door. When Liam answered it, he was face to face with a familiar Irish blonde with crooked teeth.

Well, his teeth were actually no longer crooked and Liam had to admit he sort of missed that about him.

“What’s crackin’ buddy?” he grinned, stepping into the hotel room. His hands were in his pockets and he was wearing his usual red hat and sunglasses combination. Why he was doing so while they were inside the hotel, Liam had no clue.

“Nothing, just watching TV,” Liam said with a sigh.

“TV?” Niall laughed a little. “That’s boring. Let’s go out and do something then.”

Liam gave him a look. “Are you mad?” he asked. “There’s loads of fans outside, and besides, we’re not even supposed to go out.”

But Niall just shrugged Liam’s concerns off. “So? We’ll go out the back way. Put on a hat and sunglasses and they’ll never know it’s us.”

Liam continued to raise his eyebrow. “They’d hear our voices and know.”

“Nah, what’re you talkin’ about, bro?” Niall laughed in a horrible American accent. “Come on, aren’t you up for a little adventure?”

Liam sighed. He looked over at the TV and then back at the grinning boy who stood before him. It was clear what the obvious choice in this situation was.

“All right,” Liam finally gave in.

Niall did a little jump and punched the air in triumph. He put his arm around his friend as they walked back to his hotel room to get dressed in their disguises. “Yeah buddy!” he laughed. “This is going to be great!”

Liam couldn’t help but smile as he glanced over at Niall. “Just make sure you change out of that hat, or the fans will definitely know it’s you.”

Ten minutes later, Niall (who had swapped hats) and Liam were standing at the edge of the hotel hallway. Niall grinned as he pushed open the door to the emergency stairwell. He glanced back at Liam before darting down the stairs.

Liam wondered where Niall got his energy from as he followed after him. Niall was practically flying down the flights of stairs, two steps at a time and often jumping when he hit the landings. For this reason, he and Liam had to stop once they reached the bottom to catch their breath a little.

Niall held his hand to his chest as he looked up at Liam and laughed. His giggles were infectious and Liam also found himself doing more laughing than composing himself.

Eventually they did calm down and Niall gave Liam very much the same look he had when they were entering the stairwell. This, however, would prove to be much more of an undertaking, as there were probably fans just around the corner.

They donned themselves with their hats, sunglasses and Niall even zipped his hoodie up over his head so no one would catch sight of his bleached blonde hair. “Ready?” he asked, once again speaking in a false American accent.

“Ready,” Liam confirmed, speaking in a slightly better accent.

Niall opened the door and the two of them stepped out of the stairwell as nonchalantly as possible. The door slammed behind them and inwardly, Liam gulped. This was it, there was no turning back.

They kept their hands in their pockets as they walked down the boulevard. Not daring to look in the direction of the pack of girls, they kept their focus forward.

“Where are we going?” Liam whispered as they walked with seemingly no purpose other than to escape the hotel.

“I’ve got a plan,” Niall said as his lips turned up into a smile. “Just follow my lead.”

The two of them walked and walked for what seemed like hours. They kept their heads down but soon they were far enough away from the hotel that they were able to remove their sunglasses and chat freely without having to mask their voices with false accents. It was Hollywood, after all. There were celebrities everywhere.

Finally, they came to a clearing that overlooked the city housed within a large chain-link fence. And just behind that fence was the backside of the most familiar sign in the state, possibly the country.

“This was your big plan?” Liam asked in disbelief as he gaped at Niall.

Niall shook his head, but still had a big grin plastered on his face. “No,” he said as he began to climb the fence. “This is.”

“Nialler,” Liam said, tugging at his shirt. “What are you doing?”

“Climbing the fence,” Niall said as though it were obvious while glancing down at Liam. “Are you in?”

Liam shook his head as he watched the blonde continue to climb, and eventually hop the fence. It was ridiculous, irrational and stupid, but Liam had to admit he was having fun. So, he grabbed hold of the cold metal and just as Niall had, climbed up and over the fence.

“Oh my God,” Niall laughed once Liam joined him on the other side. “Can you believe this? Look at this,” he said, taking a few steps forward and reaching his arm out to touch one of the letters. “My hand is actually on the Hollywood sign.”

Liam laughed a little and copied Niall’s movements. He too placed his hand on top of the giant ‘O’ but soon slid his hand over so it was slightly on top of Niall’s.

Liam’s heart pounded in his chest as he looked over at him. His blue eyes looked almost crystal in the glow of the moonlight. Niall blinked a couple times, but didn’t say anything. Liam, on the other hand, took a deep breath and intertwined his fingers with those of the boy he admired so much.

Niall glanced over and took notice of this, but when he looked back up at Liam, he didn’t look startled or afraid. He wore a soft expression, and those beautiful blue eyes of his were clearer than ever.

The two boys inched closer to each other, and the only noises that could be heard were their shallow, nervous breaths. Liam closed his eyes and leaned downwards slightly, licking his lips and then pressing them against Niall’s.

Niall responded to the kiss effortlessly, softly pursing his lips and sighing happily.

It didn’t last long and in reality it was only a couple of seconds, but time seemed to stop for a short moment. When the two of them pulled away, they smiled at each other.

“Well Nialler,” Liam said with a wink, turning back towards the fence. “I suppose we’d best be getting back,” he finished as he began to climb up the metal links.

Niall just watched him for a moment, but quickly followed. “Yeah,” he said softly. “Let’s get going.”