All I Ever Wanted (Larry Stylinson)

Chapter 4

I managed to catch the last part of Frankie's performance, and he was good. There was no denying it. Even if he was nervous, it didn't show in his voice, and the second he stopped singing, he seemed much more confident than he did when he first stepped onto the stage. One of the reasons was probably because the crowd behind us was standing up and giving him a round of applause.

"Wow, what an amazing voice you've got there," Perrie complimented him, being the first one to speak up.

Frankie smiled at her. "Thank you."

I nodded. "I agree with Perrie. If I'm being honest, you remind me of myself when I was in the same position as you eight years ago. I was nervous too, but all you have to do is believe in yourself because I'm sure you're going to get far with that amazing voice."

The smile never left the boy's face. "That means so much coming from you, thank you."

With a nod, I flashed him a grin. Harry was the next one to speak up, and his deep voice yet again affected me in a way it shouldn't. "Both of my colleagues here are right. With a little boost of confidence, I'm sure you're going to make it far too. Great job," he complimented Frankie before turning to Nick.

"I'm not about to disagree either. It's a yes from me," Nick said.

"Yes," Harry continued.

"Yes," I smiled.

"You've got four yeses, Frankie," Perrie finished, making the crowd erupt in a new round of applause and cheers.

Frankie thanked us one more time before leaving the stage with a massive smile on his face. "Good start," Nick said with pursed lips.

"Definitely. I'm sure we'll see a lot more of him in the competition," Harry agreed, reaching out to grab the glass of water in front of him and taking a sip of it.

After that, everything went pretty smoothly. Neither of us picked up a fight with anyone. Instead, we actually agreed on most things. Of course, we didn't agree that a particular contestant should go through a few times, but it never led to anything huge. It wasn't like we could have the same opinion on everyone.

Harry and I didn't acknowledge each other once the entire day that we sat there, watching contestant after contestant perform on the stage, but I was pretty sure that was for the best. I was positive nice things wouldn't escape either of our mouths if we were to talk. Besides, no one seemed to have a problem that we weren't speaking to each other anyway, so the day probably went better than many people in the production had first thought.

The second we were told to leave the arena, we all got up from our seats and headed backstage after saying goodbye to the dispersing crowd. It turned out Patrick was waiting for us, seeing as we were greeted with a giant smile when we got there. "That went amazing. I can already tell this is going to be a great season," he said, giving each of us a pat on the shoulder.

We sat down on a couch nearby, and I ran a hand through my hair. "So, what's the plan now? Where are we heading next?" I asked, focusing on Patrick who was standing in front of us.

He was holding a bunch of papers which he started handing out to us. "This is the schedule. We're leaving for Cardiff in two days, so that is when the journey will actually begin. Before that, we have booked a table at an Italian restaurant tomorrow. It's for all of us to get to know each other better," he explained.

I swallowed as I looked down at the piece of paper in my hands.

London - 3rd of May

Cardiff - 5th of May

Birmingham - 8th of May

Liverpool - 9th of May

Manchester - 10th of May