𝑾𝑯𝑬𝑵 𝑰𝑻 𝑨𝑳𝑳 𝑺𝑻𝑨𝑹𝑻𝑬𝑫 | 𝑛𝑖𝑎𝑙𝑙 ℎ𝑜𝑟𝑎𝑛

•Chapter 100•

'Welcome to One Love Manchester. Manchester is a special place for me because of good and bad reasons. This is where I did my first audition for the x Factor and where I met one of my best friends. However, this is also the place where innocent people got shot during my show and where I got shot in my shoulder.' I wipe away a tear that escaped my eye. 'We're here today to raise as much money as possible for the victims and their loved ones. So thank you for coming here today or watching at home and thank you in advance to all the artists that have agreed to come here today.'

I smile to the crowd, while they start to cheer. 'All artists will perform ten to fifteen minutes. Give a huge applause for our first guest here tonight. It's Katy Perry!'

***

'You have no idea just how happy I am to see these lot together again.' I say, and smile bright to the audience. 'They are my best friends, and they went their separate ways a while ago. However, for tonight they have decided to join forces again to raise as much money as possible. You all know them, and you all love them. Here they are again, Niall Horan, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson and Liam Payne! It's One Direction!'

The boys run past me to the front of the stage while Drag me down starts to play. The arena goes absolutely nuts, while Harry starts to sing.

When they start to sing History, I get tears in my eyes. I smile to them, while remembering all the fun, happy, sad, dramatic and so on memories with them. They truly are my best friends, and I couldn't have asked for better ones honestly.

'I'm ready.' I hear someone say behind me. When I turn around, I see Zayn with a huge grin on his face. 'Missed me?'

'It's no One Direction without you, is it?' I reply, and embrace in him a hug. 'That's why I also said your name years ago.'

He hugs back shortly, before pulling back when he hears Liam announce that Night changes will be the next song. The melody starts and Zayn sings in the microphone. I can hear from that the fans are going absolutely mental, when Zayn steps onto the stage and walks to the other boys.

All of a sudden, Perrie stands next to me. 'I forgot how much I loved to hear him sing.'

I look at her, doubting whether what I'm thinking is or isn't going on. 'I thought you hated his guts.' I respond.

'I did, but,' she starts and looks at me. 'We talked and it's clear to me now that Zayn lost his way back then.'

'So you and him are back together?' I ask, curiosity overtaking my voice.

'Oh no no, not yet, but we will eventually.' she says, while a big smile appears on her face.

***

'What happened here a few weeks ago will forever stay with me and probably with a lot of you as well. You might've seen the news and know who the shooter was. She had been stalking me for five years, causing a car crash, following me around the world, threatening my husband to break up with me, hurting my mother and eventually a shooting during one of my shows, and for what? She did it, because I exposed my cheating boyfriend.'

'We can all sleep in peace, knowing that this person is behind bars and not likely to ever get released again. What she did is unforgivable, and I'm sincerely apologising from the bottom of my heart.'

'This last song is very special to me and hopefully to all of you as well. It's a song that reminds me to never ever give up, even when things get tough. It's a song that I wrote for the victims and their loved ones. This is Fight Song.'

During the song, I notice that I have trouble singing. A big lump is stuck in my throat and tears keep forming in my eyes. A small part of me is afraid that a shooting will happen again.

While I'm singing, the crowds joins in. I hold my microphone towards the crowd and my jaw drops in shock of how many people are singing along. Tears roll down my cheeks and I hold my other hand over my mouth. 'This is my fight song. Take back my life song. Prove I'm alright song.'

I aim the microphone back to me, before continuing to sing. 'My power's turned on. Starting right now I'll be strong. I'll play my fight song. And I don't really care if nobody else believes. 'Cause I've still got a lot of fight left in me.'

The music slows down again, the audience silences itself, and the spotlight is fixated on me. 'Know I've still got a lot of fight left in me.'

The crowd starts to cheer loud, while I try to make myself decent again. The boys and girls walks onto the stage to me and Niall embraces me in a hug. I look at every single one of them while hugging back. Once we break the hug, I look at the audience with a big smile and say together with the others. 'Thank you so much for joining us on this incredible journey.'

**The end of When It All Started**