12 Baby Animals Distracting Liam Payne During One Direction's "Teen Vogue" Cover Shoot

An exclusive investigation into why he's not focused on the camera.

Here's One Direction's new cover of Teen Vogue. Isn't it lovely?

Courtesy of Teen Vogue

But while Zayn, Harry, Louis and Niall are all staring right at the camera and deep into their fans' souls (I feel Zayn's gaze, like always), Liam seems distracted. HE'S LOOKING ELSEWHERE.

Courtesy of Teen Vogue

Don't worry, Liam doesn't actually have Cyclops-style X-Men powers (that we know of). These "beams" are just to illustrate where he's actually looking.

Has an attractive Teen Vogue fashion assistant caught his eye?

Via niallharibos.tumblr.com

Nope. And that's probably for the best, because they'd only get hate tweets by fervent One Direction fangirls if they had.

Is he just looking for a nicer pair of shoes? He did get stuck with the beat-up high tops, after all.

Via lilcraiic.tumblr.com

Wrong again — Liam keeps it casual in the footwear stakes.

Sources confirm to BuzzFeed Fashion what actually caught Liam's attention: a veritable menagerie of cute baby animals.

Via thirlwall-styles.tumblr.com

Seriously, it's all true. Here they all are:

This puppy who is SO CUTE AND TINY he can fit in a teacup.

Via carrbar.tumblr.com

(Of course there would be teacups on set during the photoshoot, because One Direction are BRITISH.)

Says Liam:

Via carrbar.tumblr.com

And this fluffy puppy who's technically sitting in Liam's seat but, really, who's going to say anything?

Via imgur.com

Says Liam, again:

Via carrbar.tumblr.com

This is not Liam's seat, because it's far too small, but these teacup piglets are nuzzling each other and that's that.

Richard Austin / Rex / Rex USA

Says Liam:

Via carrbar.tumblr.com

This clever bunny hid in a box of hairspray or something, just so they could get on set and swoon.

Via data.whicdn.com

Don't worry — that expression looks sad but really it's just being overwhelmed at seeing the band, all of them, in the flesh. You'd get wide-eyed and weepy too, so don't pretend otherwise.

And OMG this baby panda just popped up out of nowhere too!

Via data.whicdn.com

When you're this adorable you can sneak past the band's security detail. #truestory

While this cunning little pug puppy didn't take any chances, and bribed his way in. That's fandom for you, fandom done right.

Via Facebook: thepugponcho

Also, he's looking suspicious because Louis isn't wearing any socks.

Says Liam:

Via carrbar.tumblr.com

(This time he's pointing at all three of them, so nobody feels left out.)

This little puppy who can't believe Harry's hair looks this perfect in person. It's too much to take in.

Via cdn.cutestpaw.com

Says Liam: "Don't cry, because...

Via carrbar.tumblr.com

Rinse and repeat this GIF after every photo, basically. All these baby animals are perfect.

This shocked baby pelican who just saw something happen and now she's totally shipping Larry Stylinson.

Via Flickr: pointybeard

YOU CAN SEE IT IN THEIR EYES.

This positively giddy baby slow loris who totally also just saw some twee faux-flirting.

Via zooborns.com

She can't wait to tweet about it!!!!!

This little anteater who still thinks he's dreaming.

Via brightstrangethings.com

(Liam is also wondering if he could use the striped blanket as some sort of jaunty scarf.)

These aren't real llamas but they're still cute and I would be distracted by them, so there we go.

Via img.inkashandcrafts.com

Also there's five, one for every member of the band. That has to mean something!

And most importantly, this baby hedgehog who's sashaying out of the Teen Vogue fashion closet in this season's must-have hat.

Via buzzfeed.com

Because that's how you catch Liam Payne's attention, ok? A big, flouncy hat.

In conclusion, Liam after seeing all of these baby animals:

Via thebookparasite.tumblr.com

He's spent.

Bonus: some behind-the-scenes photos from the Teen Vogue shoot. Just imagine how much MORE fun this would be with puppies and pelicans scampering around too.

That sort of thing should definitely play out on their next cover shoot. (After all, it worked out so very well for Wonderland.)

Except, oh wait, British GQ just took serious, close-up shots without a single, sparkly kitten in sight.

It's babysteps for the GQ reader then: first the boybands and then the cute pets.