The Girl With The Red Lipstick

Chapter 35

Chapter Thirty Five ✔


Hailey's P.O.V

“-I see, so because of that..” I wagged my fingers, as if summing up the story he had just told me. “-you’re now identifying yourself to a burning flame on a stick of wax?”

He nodded enthusiastically like a child, a wide smile on his face as he brushed off my heavy sarcasm. I shook my head, laughing. What an odd boy he was, calling himself a candle. 

I shook my head, still grinning and he looked down at his empty plate with his cheeks pink in embarrassment. I watched as a waitress sauntered over to us with a pizza, I stared at it hungrily, my amusement with Ed forgotten.

“Thank you love” he murmured to her, her eyes widened as she caught on to his British accent, and I shot her a sympathetic smile. She stuttered a quick, low ‘you're welcome’ before walking away in a dazed like state. I watched her sadly, because I related to her much.

British accents are pure, unadulterated sex.

It should be illegal.

When I was younger, I used to get mad at my mother for having me away from Tate because whenever we’d meet I’d sense a little twang of the accent in his voice and it always bothered me that I couldn’t get one. I sighed, it was either British or Irish. I had a stage where I wanted an Italian one.

But that was because of a boy in my class, and I had the biggest crush on him.

Ah, Italiano.

Ed spoke, and I slowly averted my gaze to him as images of Franco de Giuliani faded from my mind. “You should think about singing more, you know? Like start a YouTube channel or something? You’d be surprised where it could lead you” he was saying, pulling a cheesy pizza slice from the tray.

I raised my eyebrows at his random suggestion, getting a piece for myself.  He caught sight of my expression and added, “-I mean, with a voice like yours, you'd go far”

I smiled as I bit into my slice, heaven on earth the food here was.

I nodded, “Thernk yer mearns ar lert cerming frem yeo” 

Oh God, swallow your food and stop speaking like you're a pirate.

I held up one finger, trying to swallow thickly. He was staring at me with an incredulous expression, then he started to laugh- a loud, hearty, musical laugh. It almost made me want to keep on my pirate ways. 

Almost.

“You're such a lady” he snorted, throwing his head back as his laugh echoed through my ears. I frowned, and mumbled with a pout, face still flushing. “I am a lady” I defended.

No I wasn’t. I wiped the side of my mouth with a napkin quickly and hastily picked up my soda, taking a long sip, trying to ignore the candle laughing in front of me. He raised his hands in surrender, “Okay, I’m sorry, that was just.. oh wow”

I rolled my eyes, picking up the slice again only to take a small bite.

“Don't hold yourself back now” he taunted, “-you were doing so well”

“Shut up candle” I mumbled, still extremely embarrassed.

He grinned, and I smiled in response. “Alright, but I honestly think you should consider it babe” 

He just called me babe.

I nodded, talking the time to take another big bite as he distracted himself by talking and gesturing wildly. “I mean, performing with you was amazing- I actually wouldn't mind doing it again”

Oh lord.

I can't even explain how that made me feel, beyond incredible. I wiped my mouth again and nodded, keep your cool. He picked up another slice, obviously not noticing me having a spaz attack from excitement. “-yeah and fans were tweeting me asking about you” he shook his head, “-damn the internet”

I had been sipping my soda again, and snorted at his words.

He just shook his head, ignoring me as I recollected myself.

“So when I see Harry tomorrow, care to join?”

Poof. And it’s gone.

Fantastic.

**

About two hours later, I was home. 

We had lunch at the pizza place, walked down the street to the ice cream parlor- continued on to the park, which kind of reminded me of that night back in London. Which kind of dampened the moment, he noticed and asked me what was wrong. 

I didn't want to lie.

I told him Harry had asked me out, he didn't seem surprised. He just went all.. how do I word this, all Ed Sheeran on me- telling me to do what makes me happy instead of what others want, that Harry was a wonderful lad and he hopes I have an amazing time despite everything I’ve heard from the media and otherwise portraying him as a womanizer and stuff.

It was nice, to have someone care.

Unusual, but nice.


Harry's P.O.V

“You didn't" I said breathily, already half laughing.

Louis smiled at me from where he was sat on the floor, unpacking his suitcase. Well, this time Liam had urged him to at least ‘try and have everything in order so you don’t have to dig through it’ so.. Louis was throwing all of his clothes out into various messy piles.

It was a nice change.

I rolled my eyes, “Why Lou? Why?”

He brought his finger to his lips, the other cradling a plastic bird.

Kevin. Kevin, the freaking plastic pigeon. If you don’t know who Kevin the pigeon is you need to get on Wikipedia or get out of this fandom, right now. I don't have words for my best friend right now.

“ Well I’m going to need a new friend while Mr Hazzabear is cavorting around Los Angeles now wont I little bird” he murmured in a sickly sweet voice as he tapped the silly thing on the head before settling him down on the already messy bed to face me.

I raised my eyebrows, and Louis laughed as Kevin toppled over and fell onto the floor. “I’m just kidding Harry, that didn’t happen- I’m tired” he sighed.

He didn't bother to pick him up, knowing I would just make fun of him. 

I nodded, “Yeah, I think you're jet lagged, like really bad” 

He nodded and sleepily wiped his hand over his excited eyes. “Yeah, I’ll catch sleep when I can” he muttered, kicking ‘Kevin’ who skidded over the floor stopping at Liam’s feet.

Liam glanced down, slightly surprised yet ignored it. He clapped his hands together, walking into the room as Niall and Zayn trailed tiredly behind him. “Well, guess what?” he said.

We all shrugged, mumbling incoherently.

“We’re going to be on X-Factor”

“What?” I said stupidly, not understanding him.

He nodded, “Simon just called”

“Whoa, really?” Niall breathed, his eyes glinting in excitement.  I didn’t know if he was excited for X-Factor in general or because Demi was a judge. “Yup” he confirmed.

“We haven't performed in front of Simon since we were on X-Factor ourselves” Zayn said quietly, looking like he was going through nostalgia. I gulped audibly, if this was true- I hope we would make him proud. “When?” Lou questioned, shuffling over to subtly pick up Kevin.

“Well we have awards in three days” I said, shrugging. Liam glanced at us all for a second, worry in his eyes as he caught sight of our withdrawn sleep deprived faces. “It’s tomorrow”

Zayn sighed, rubbing his face in angst. “What are we performing?”

Niall shrugged, “Little things?”

We all agreed in unison, and Louis gasped audibly, I turned to see Niall grabbing Kevin from him cooing about how it’s been too long. I rolled my eyes, thinking that even as tired as they were their immaturity was indeed forever. Liam continued talking, ignoring them both.

“We have time to prepare don't worry” he consoled.

 I glanced down at my phone, checking the time. I took a second and wondered if Hailey and Kiara were into the X-Factor, and I slowly mused inviting them to come. That’d be subtly simple wouldn’t it?

I nodded, it sounded like a plan. We spent the rest of the day rehearsing, literally. No food breaks aside from a quick settling in meal, no actual breaks unless for bathroom. Niall didn't like those rules very much, and would grumpily state so whenever he’d stomp off to the bathroom.

Well none of us approved, but we knew we had to be ready. We were going to be singing one of the best songs we’ve ever produced on X-Factor, back to our roots. I won't lie, I was nervous. 

“So, Harry?” I looked over to Liam, who was leaning against the wall with a guitar in his hands- trying to play a song absentmindedly, but we all knew he hadn't a guitar skill in his entire body. I laughed, waiting for him to find his words as I watched Niall walk over to the window of the hotel we were in, shoving Kevin against the glass pane. I had no idea why. 

“-have you told Niall about Hailey yet?” he said finally, looking up at me.

I groaned, running my hand through my curls. “Not you too Liam” 

He dropped the guitar on the sofa, and crossed his arms- glaring at me with a stern expression. Oh here we go. “Not you too Liam” he chided mockingly. I scrunched my face in distaste and he continued, ignoring my obvious discomfort.

“- you need to tell Niall, or do something. It isn’t right mate”

I swore, shaking my head. “You don’t think I don’t know that?” I spat.

It wasn’t that I didn’t want to tell Niall, it was more like I wouldn’t. I could imagine the look on his face and I just didn’t want to live it. I was a wimp, and I knew it. I didn’t know to go through with it, even though the dilemma was brought to me by my own accord.

I just didn’t want to lose him.

But I nodded at Liam anyway. I would do it, tomorrow.

I would.


Zayn's P.O.V

I stretched my arms behind my head, yawning.

I was so tired, feeling zombified. Rehearsals were mad, it had been a couple of hours since then, and now I had had free time. So I had found myself in the room the girls were staying in. And no, by girls’ I am not making fun of the boy band I’m in. I meant Little Mix.

I was sat on their couch, feeling undoubtedly like a couch potato.

“So do you get to take people to X-Factor?” Jade was asking, scratching her head in confusion. I stared at my girlfriends band mate in fascination as her purple hair fell from the bun it had been loosely tied in. I didn’t know how she did that, just being eccentric and dying the whole thing.

It was just so bold.. And completely random.

I liked it..

“- Zayn?” she prompted, looking at me in confusion. 

I shook my head, a light grin on my face. “No, I don't think so. Sorry love”

She frowned and Jesy wrapped her arm around her consolingly. I rolled my eyes at their dramatics just as Leigh Anne walked in humming under her breath with a puppy tucked under her arm. I watched him wide eyed as he struggled to come free.

Poor Hatchi.

Perrie nestled her head against my chest, and I smiled- wrapping my arm tighter around her to pull her closer to me. She's been a bit distant since we got here, she was all fidgety on the flight over so I was quite happy with just this. I didn't know if it was the plane itself, but whenever I’d catch her looking at me she'd get this nervous glint in her eyes and just.. look away. 

Although, I could be just imagining these things. 
“Excited for tomorrow then?” the curly haired Leigh questioned me, I met her gaze and nodded slowly. Of course I was, but I was still mildly freaked. From the corner of my eyes I caught Jade having what looked like a silent debate with Perrie, her lips moving far too quick for me to catch on. I frowned as she noticed I had grown quiet and stopped talking, looking away.

I sighed, wondering when all the secrets were going to stop.

It was quiet for a moment as they exchanged wary glances. I smiled as the fluffy puppy found its way onto my lap and I ran my fingers leisurely through its fur as I broke the silence. “So what do you guys have planned since we'll be busy tomorrow? Shopping? Sight-seeing? Rehearsals?”

Jesy answered, “Well actually, we were going to-”

Perrie froze against me and shot Jesy a look and she fell silent. I said nothing, glancing down at her questioningly as she lifted her head meeting my eyes. “I'll be here, waiting for you” I nodded, shooting her a small smile as I pressed my lips against her forehead chastely.

I couldn't help but feel like these girls knew something I didn't.

I'd find out though, eventually.


Kiara's P.O.V

I frowned at my laptop screen.

Stupid Twitter. Making me get feels for five stupid boys, God forbid if I decided to go on Tumblr. I sighed, okay maybe I lied- it was feels directed at one person in particular.                                   

@ZaynMalik1D: just found my number one fan in the US! <3 x 

And attached, was a picture of a brown fluffy puppy, and you could see his outstretched hands beside it. The puppy was adorable, but he wasn’t. He wasn’t adorable at all. Okay, I’m lying. I had been thinking about the boy way too much, like way more than I used to (which was a lot). Like the more I think about how Tate kissed Perrie, the more I worry about Zayn. I wonder if he knew, but his tweet looked happy. 

Okay I know very well a tweet can be deceiving.

Management. But I kept thinking, no way he knows.

I lifted my gaze from the puppy to his hands, where you see his tattoo weaving splattered patterns on his skin. I'll never understand the boys and their keen interest in the oddest assortment of tattoos but it's their bodies, and whatever they wanted to do with them was their business. 

I sighed, closing the window.

Stupid Twitter.

I slammed the laptop screen shut and heaved myself off of my chair and dived into my bed feeling tired. One Direction was in America, woo hoo I thought sarcastically. I didn’t know if I was happy about this, but the chances of seeing them were minimal I had to continuously remind myself.
 
And that should be a good thing, right?

Less confrontation and less emotional strings that could possibly tear me apart and have me spill secrets to Zayn that could maybe destroy his relationship. No biggie. My phone beeped from under my pillow and I fished it out, the bright light shining into my half shut eyes.

Hay Bear

Guess what? Harry called, him and the boys are performing on X Factor tomorrow- we're invited! I can't believe we're going to see Emblem 3 live!!! night xx  

First of all, don’t judge me on the Hay Bear front. I found fan fiction and thought that was such a freakishly adorable nick name and my best friend’s name starts with H so meh. Can I seriously not catch a break though? I thought as I reread the message.  I mean I just found out they were here like five minutes ago.

I sighed into my pillow. The only reason Hailey was excited was because she absolutely adores the three boys which were Emblem 3, they're one of the groups for the X Factor this year and she was absolutely in love with them as I were with One Direction- which was a lot.

This was definitely going to be interesting. When we got home three weeks ago from London, I confronted Hailey about Harry and the text from Liam, and she begrudgingly admitted that he had asked her out but then went on how she wasn't sure about him. And I was surprised, and for the first time in being in the fandom and having known them I felt myself doubting them. I mean I was a fully fledged directioner, and because of that I was obliged to know the details of the lives that made One Direction.

And everyone knew Harry was a bit of a ladies’ man.

Actually no. He was the definition of a ladies’ man, according to media. I wasn’t stupid, I knew you could never really believe what you read in the newspapers and magazines, and Twitter.. and Tumblr.. and Facebook. Okay, for his sake I’m just going to stop myself there- you get what I mean.

It'll be interesting to see how he reacts to seeing a girl react to three boys the way he usually expects them to act around him- going to be a bit funny. At least I had that to look forward too.

I replied quickly and closed my eyes, feeling sleep take over.

I was looking forward to X-Factor, but I wasn’t looking forward to seeing the one person I had spent every night thinking about. Especially when I knew something I didn't think he did.

I knew his girlfriend cheated on him with my best friends’ brother.


Liam's P.O.V

I rubbed my eyes, trying to keep them open.

Louis and Harry had gone to bed about an hour ago, it had been a dreary long day. We had to sit in a room for several hours and just sing two songs on repeat, I mean.. they were own songs and we loved them but come on.

Live While We're Young and Little Things.

It was good promotion for us, and our two upcoming albums- so we couldn’t complain much. My favorite song so far that we had ever produced was in fact Little Things, it reminded me of Danielle and it was just so different from our usual sound. It was more focused on insecurities and flaws, and how everyone’s perfect in their own way. 

Not to mention it was written by Ed Sheeran when he was just seventeen.

I loved it.

I yawned and glanced over at Niall, who was leaning against the front of the sofa I was sitting on- crossed legged, a massive bowl of chips in his lap. He was still wide awake, I have no idea how. He was watching a movie, I lost track of what it was. It blurred past my thoughts, and I was too tired to pay attention.

“Liam?” he said suddenly. He smiled up at me, and I instinctively reached over and fluffed his hair, he shook me off and continued, “-mate, I’m seeing Demi tomorrow”

I nodded and added, “-And Hailey”

His eyes widened comically and he stared at me his mouth hanging open, “Holy shit you're right” he jumped up, spilling half of the chips onto the floor before brushing off his clothes. “-I need to get my beauty sleep, craic! Night!”

I chuckled, standing up myself.

“Goodnight Niall” He made his way to his room for our stay and I picked up the chips and crumbs off the floor, I hated crumbs. I hummed under my breath as I walked over to the kitchen, tossing the bowl into the sink. You'd think I’d be tired of this song after everything today.

'-slip out of my mouth, but if I do - it's you, it’s you they add up too. I'm in love with you and all these little things’

I flicked the light switch off and murmured to the dark room, a smile on my face.

“Good night Dani”