Chapter One, Part 1: The New Career Path by TyeSays

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(Author's Note: If you've seen my username before and have been waiting for a sequel to one of those stories, I'm sorry but... they're not gonna happen. The computer I had all those stories saved on unfortunately crashed, and I lost -everything-. So unless I plan on rewriting the first chapters, there's not gonna be a second one for any. Sorry!
Now onto this story! I'm planning on turning this into a series of some kind, where a type of celebrity suddenly finds themselves in a hairy situation they cant escape. For this story in particular I'm using Liam Payne, a former member of the now disbanded One Direction. If you wanna know how I picture all the celebs in their stories, follow me on tumblr at TheCelebrityBarber)

It's been a little under a year since Liam released his debut album, giving the world a string of dance songs meant to inspire dance and party. He'd put his heart and soul into each track, tweaking them till he felt they were perfect. Unfortunately though, what he viewed as perfection, the rest of the world viewed as grade-A trash. Every review labeled the debut as crude, rude, sexist, or just plain boring to listen too.

And it devastated him.

Once the reviews stopped pouring in, Liam decided that the lifestyle of a serious artist just wasn't for him. He'd done nothing but work hard to please the fans, and it blew up in his face.

So after two weeks of failing album sales and painful reviews, Liam announced on Instagram that he was leaving Republic Records and creating his own independent studio for down-on-their-luck artist like himself. "You'll be able to do whatever you want," he explained, "rap, sing, dance, whatever! And there'll be no bickering writers or demanding producers telling you what's up; instead it'll just be me and a couple close mates that'll help you reach your goal. Trust me, it'll be great!"

Not a single soul signed up.

After three weeks of silence, Liam posted on Instagram again; this time stating he was done with music all together. "I don't think it's for me, personally," he explained, "It's just too much work to constantly try and please everyone, and if I keep trying too, I'll most likely end up killing myself. So I'm done. Instead I'm just gonna focus on what makes me happy, and not worry about what everyone else thinks," he finished.

0-O-0-O-o

"But you're definitely gonna make it though, right?"
"Of course," Liam replied with a smile, "No amount of snow or traffic could keep me away from your delicious fruit cake."
"Good! Cause I'd hate to have to kill you dead if you didn't..."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Liam's smile softens, "I'll see you in a half hour, OK? Try not to start carving the turkey till I get there."
"No promises. Love you, sweetie."
"Love you too, Mum," He hangs up the receiver and, after zipping his jacket up to his chin, steps out of the payphone back into the cool December air. He can't help but shiver as little flacks of snow land on his nose and cheeks, turning them candy apple red within seconds. "Gotta love winter," Liam grumbles miserably before hurrying across the empty street to his idling car. He quickly slides into the drivers seat and, after slamming the door to his Ford Angila behind him, cranks the heater up full blast.
A tidal wave of relief washes over him as the hot air starts to graze his skin and ruffle his hair..

Wait, his hair!

He quickly sits up and looks in the review mirror. "F*cking A, man..."

He looks like a complete disaster! All those hours he spent straightening his hair that morning? Wasted. In the small amount of time it took him to get to and fro the payphone, the wind had successfully turned his hair into a giant mass of knotted curls.
"That's just f*cking great," sighing, Liam reaches into the backseat of his Ford Angila and quickly grabs hold of his emergency hairbrush. He then proceeds to go town on his hair, brushing out every last knot and tangle he can find. It always amazed him that, no matter how many times a day he brushed his hair, he always managed to find at least three knots every time.

After ten minutes of painstaking brushing, Liam risks a look at the review mirror. "Hm, not bad. Might be better than before, actually..." he says with a chuckle, turning his head this-way-and-that to see just how good it looked. A smile spreads across his face as he admires his mane. It's thick, it's wavy, and it's the color of warm hot chocolate. It'd honestly be the perfect head of hair... if it weren't for the fact that it's currently nine inches too long and still growing. He had decided to grow it back when he quit music, and no one has been able to change his mind about it; no matter how hard or how often they try.

After fretting over a few stray hairs for a couple extra minutes, Liam buckles himself up and continues on his way. With Christmas being only two weeks away, he thought it'd be a nice surprise if he dropped in and said hello to his family. Maybe he'll even stay and spend the weekend, though he knew deep-down that the odds of that happening were slim-to-none; especially if his father's home...
"Not gonna think about that. Nope. Not now," he mumbles as he speeds along the backroads of Wolverhampton, "Today's gonna be a good day," he reassures himself, "A great day, even."

O-o-O-o-O

Over the next five minutes, Liam went over every possible scenario he could think of on how this visit could go, and e managed to narrow it down to two likely outcomes:

A.) It could either be an amazing visit, where everyone's happy to see everyone, and no one's disappointed in him for leaving the music industry for the life of a social influencer. They'd all welcome him home with welcome arms, tell him he's done the right thing by following new dream, and they'd all have a great weekend together.

Or 2.) it could be the complete and polar opposite, where everyone's still openly disappointed and judgmental of his new career path. They'd try and pretend to approve, but it'd be obvious from their fake smiles and forced laughter what they really thought. And what they really thought was that new lifestyle was one better suited for a kid of sixteen, not a man of twenty-seven.

He pulls onto his parent's street.

"Oh, f*ck me..." an overwhelming sense of thread fills Liam's chest when he sees his ex-girlfriend's Volkswagen Beetle sitting in his parents driveway, tucked neatly between his father's Jeep and his mother's Sudan. The last time he'd seen her was the day his album released, and that... well that's a memory he'd much rather not focus on. So let's just say she tried to sympathize, and he mistook her words for mockery. It'd been a nasty incident that resulted in her throwing her engagement ring in his face before storming off. "Well...this shouldn't be awkward at all..."

He pulls up into the driveway behind his father and, after taking a few deep breathes, parks his Ford and steps out onto the driveway. He quickly smooths down his hair and tucks it behind his ears, though he knows it's pointless to try and make it look presentable. He could have it professionally styled, and still his family would hate it and prefer his older style.
"C'mon Payno, you've got this," he mumbles, "Just stand your ground and mind your manners, and everything will go great..." he lets out a shuddering breath, "Hopefully..." He then proceeds up the front porch steps and rings the bell...

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