Liam Payne allegedly pleaded with his girlfriend, Kate Cassidy, to stay with him in Argentina before she fled the country and he tragically died.
“Liam didn’t want Kate to leave Argentina,” a friend of the influencer told The Post Friday. “He wanted her to stay. She says he begged her to stay.”
The pal, who asked to remain anonymous, shared the the couple’s exchange was “actually a little more heated than you’d think,” but did not elaborate further.
Cassidy shared on TikTok Monday that she “was so ready to leave” Argentina. She told her followers that she and Payne had planned to be there for only five days, but the trip ended up lasting two weeks.
“Honestly, I love South America, but I hate staying in one place for too long,” she said at the time.
Despite the explanation, her friend told The Post that Payne “didn’t know why” Cassidy would leave him.
“She wanted to be home with her dog,” the source explained. “He didn’t like that at all. He was really moody about it.”
The couple had flown to Argentina to support Payne’s former One Direction bandmate Niall Horan, who had a concert there on Oct. 2. The singer also used that opportunity to make up with his longtime friend.
In a since-deleted video on Snapchat, Payne teased Cassidy over her leaving their vacation early.
“So it’s going to be a nice day, and then, you’re going home. Ha ha, loser, weirdo,” the “What Makes You Beautiful” singer said in the social media clip.
Cassidy’s friend added that the influencer had gotten antsy because Payne had given her “no indication of when he’d be ready to leave” and so she “took things into her own hands and got herself a ticket” home.
“He was really unhappy about that,” the pal claimed. “He made sure she knew that.”
Despite the alleged tiff over her flying back home to Florida, the friend said Payne and Cassidy — who started dating two years ago and lived together — “weren’t having trouble.”
However, new information about what Payne was reportedly up to in the hours before he died have left Cassidy with some unanswered questions, per her pal.
“She has to wrap her mind around it,” the friend said in response to reports that the pop star was partying with prostitutes in his hotel room before his death.
Earlier on Friday, Cassidy released a statement, saying she is at “a complete loss” over Payne’s death.
“Nothing about the past few days have felt real. I ask and pray that you’ll give me the grace and space to navigate this in private,” she wrote via Instagram.
In a message to the “Night Changes” singer, she wrote, “Liam, my angel. You are everything. I want you to know I loved you unconditionally and completely. I will continue to love you for the rest of my life.”
Payne died on Wednesday after falling from the third-story balcony of his room at the CasaSur Palermo Hotel in Buenos Aires. He was 31 years old.
Leading up to his fatal fall, fellow hotel guests had reported seeing the “Story of My Life” singer “acting erratic,” including smashing his laptop in the lobby after receiving an email that seemingly “upset” him.
The hotel manager was overheard in a 911 call, released this week, stating that a male guest appeared “high and drunk” and had been destroying his room. The staffer feared for the man’s life.
When police arrived, though, Payne had sadly already fallen to his death. Investigators then discovered drug paraphernalia and alcohol scattered all over his trashed hotel suite.
Authorities noted in their autopsy report that Payne suffered a fractured skull and attributed his cause of death to multiple traumas, internal and external bleeding from the injuries he sustained.
The National Criminal and Correctional Prosecutor’s Office also said in the report, however, that they do not suspect foul play. The death is still under investigation.
Payne is survived by his 7-year-old son, Bear, whom he shared with ex Cheryl Cole.
