Cut!

Take 26 - Stand Up - Part 2

A/N: Please comment as you read. It makes me happy. 

“Stand up,” Liam said. I obliged and watched as he walked over to me. He took my arm. “Your best weapons are your bones. They are hard as fuck and can do some serious damage. Your head, your hands, palms and fists. Your elbow, your knee and your feet. Those are your primary weapon.” He laughed. “Of course, a pen or keys—even a hairspray—could be beneficial too, but those aren’t a given. Your body is.”

I nodded along eagerly. This was gold.

“Alright,” Liam grabbed my wrist. “Try to get out of my hold.”

I tugged and pulled back. When it didn’t work, I tried to twist, but his hold just moved with him. “I’m sure there some ancient ninja move for this,” I muttered.

He laughed. “It’s very simple, actually. Bend your arm, pulling your fist close to your shoulder. As you do that, try to make your elbow touch your knee.”

Trying to the best of my ability, I wasn’t sure what he meant. It felt like we were doing some sort of weird performance art dance. “Why isn’t this working?” I groaned.

“Easy tiger,” he said. “It’s cool. Here, let me show you. Hold your arm out.”

I did as he asked, and watched as he moved my limbs. First, he made me pull my arm back, forcing his hand to touch my shoulder. Then he pushed down, and I could see his hand twist unnatural to follow my movements.

“Now you just fist pump the air,” he said. “It will force me to let go, or I’ll break my wrist.”

He demonstrated it, and as I slowly could see what he meant, I grinned. “This is so cool.”

“It only makes it cooler if it saves you from getting hurt,” he said. “I thought my girlfriend—Saphira—all of this too.”

“That’s really cool of you to do,” I said.

After teaching me how to properly karate-chop my way out of a choke hold, we sat down on the floor to stretch out.

“So…” Liam said. “You and Harry, huh?”

“Yeah.” A giggle escaped my lips. “I really like him.

“I’m glad.” He grinned. “He’s a good guy.”

“I think so too,” I said.

It didn’t matter that I sounded like a little schoolgirl right now. Liam only laughed at my silly smile, but not in a mocking way. He seemed genuinely happy for me.

“Were going to rehearse next, right?” I asked.

“Yup.” Liam leaned to the other side, trying to touch his toes. “I suggest you shower first, though.”

“Sounds like a good idea,” I said and rose from the ground. “I’ll catch you later.”

“Sure, see you,” he said.

I walked over to the door, but before I left the room, I looked back. “Hey, Liam?”

He looked up. “Yeah?”

“Thank you for helping me.” I smiled.

“No problem.” He returned the smile.

After that, I headed straight for the suite. A nice, long shower was going to work magic on me.

I didn’t see any of the guys when I stepped into the suite. They must already be at the studio, which honestly didn’t surprise me. Despite what Ludmilla had feared in the beginning, these guys took their work seriously. I suppose it made sense too. After all, you didn’t get to be the number one boy band in the world if you’re just goofing around.

I was extremely sore, but somehow, it felt okay. I didn’t mind it at all. It was the right kind of hurt—the one that told me I’d been using my body.

As I stepped under the water, my sore muscles instantly warmed up. It felt amazing, and I took extra care to pamper myself.

In addition to feeling great, the self-defense had also relieved a lot of these past days’ stress. It was odd; I hadn’t noticed it at the time, but now as I thought back, I wondered how I managed to keep myself upright. There was so much shit in the world and no one could take it for long—not even me.

I massaged the shampoo into my hair, making sure to give myself a very relaxing scalp massage in the meantime. It helped with the tension in my body, and I almost moaned in sheer pleasure when I gently massaged a knot.

Crap. I couldn’t stay in here all day. Despite how wonderful it felt, I still needed to go and rehearse. We needed to have everything ready for the concert.

I almost fell out to shower in my rush to get to the studio. Apparently, One Direction had stayed with this hotel for a reason. They had a perfect sound studio available for them.

My only annoyance was the fact they decided to place it at the other end of the hotel. I couldn’t see the point in it, and when I was panting heavily outside of the door to the studio, I wanted to send a harshly worded complaint to whoever thought of that.

As careful as possible, I opened the door and peeked inside. There they were all sitting in a circle while Liam played the guitar. The gentle tones of the acoustic song made my heart bleed, and whenever the voices hit a high note, I thought I might actually pass out.

I was so a fan girl.

Harry looked up and gestured for me to come inside. I obliged, careful not to smack the door or anything. I knew they weren’t recording, but somehow I’d find that incredibly rude. Finding a spot next to Harry, I sat down and listened.

When the song ended, I began to clap. It wasn’t until everyone looked at me that I realized how awkward that actually was.

“S-sorry,” I muttered.

“Don’t be,” Niall said. “We’re always glad to hear from a fan.” He winked.

I rolled stuck my tongue out at him, and he laughed. Looking around, I tried to find any music sheets but saw none. "What’s next then?” I asked.

Louis grinned. “Next, we get to hear if you’re as good as Zayn and Harry bragged about.”

A/N: Such a boring chapter to write, but woot! My sixth upload! That means, that in the last 14 hours, I wrote 6000 words. I kind of cheated, though. I ended up sleeping for a few hours, so technically, I failed. But, I'm still aiming for ten before this day is over. 

Give this a vote, maybe? Once again, some of you skipped a few parts, and while it makes me sad, I get it if you don't like a particular part. It would mean a lot if you did vote on everything, though. 

FOUR TO GO!