Liam Payne 'worries girlfriend'

Liam Payne's girlfriend Sophia Smith is reportedly worried about their relationship.

The pair have been dating for eight months, but Liam's increasingly distant behaviour is said to have been a source of concern for Sophia.

Liam, along with his One Direction bandmates, kicked off the start of the Where We Are Tour last week in Colombia.

The boys, including Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Zayn Malik and Louis Tomlinson, will now be on the road until October.

"Sophia's worried that Liam's growing more distant from her. He sometimes struggles to cope with the fame. It's as if he's taking it out on her," a source revealed to British magazine Heat.

"She wants to be the person who helps him through the good and bad times, but he keeps her at a distance. Then he posts cryptic tweets like 'nobody really knows me' at 4am."

Liam, 20, has got into trouble from various Twitter posts in recent months. In January he uploaded a photo of himself balancing on the ledge of a 34-storey building in London. After fans berated him for the dangerous act, he issued an apology. He was also slammed when he tweeted his support of homophobic Duck Dynasty star Willie Robertson earlier this year.

Now girlfriend Sophia is reportedly afraid that their relationship is coming to an end.

"He seems to avoid the subject of their future together, and she's really anxious. If she quizzes him, he can get defensive. He has tried to reassure her by saying everything is fine, but she's told friends that she's not sure it will even last until the summer," the source added.