Chapter 4
The second we walked onto the stage, the crowd erupted in applause and loud cheers. We all acknowledged them with a raise of a hand before sitting down in our seats at the judges' table. We each had a glass of water placed in front of us along with a notebook and pen so that we could write down stuff if we wanted to.
The best part about the audition was that it wasn't live. It was always prerecorded. So, if we were to mess things up sometime during this journey, it would have to be now. I was pretty sure Patrick would be more than happy if we didn't mess things up anytime, though.
"Hello, and welcome to this year's edition of the X Factor!" Dermot called out through the arena. He was now standing on the stage, wearing a navy blue suit with a microphone in front of his mouth. "If you didn't already know, this year's judges are Nick Grimshaw, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson and Perrie Edwards."
We all took turns to look up and smile towards the camera at the mention of our names.
"Alright, let's kick this off with our first contestant." With that said, he walked off the stage and behind the scenes where the first contestant was most likely waiting with their family to go on stage.
The first person who showed up was a teenage guy - most likely not older than eighteen - with long brown locks and brown eyes. The sight made my heart twist in my chest because it reminded me so much of myself. Not that our features were particularly alike, but I was the same age as him when I auditioned for the X Factor back in 2010, and I was definitely just as nervous as he seemed to be.
Feeling a lot of empathy for the boy, I decided to speak up, "Hi there, what's your name?" I asked gently, smiling at the boy.
He met my gaze, the corners of his lips twitching. "I'm Frankie," he replied, and you could see how much his hand was shaking due to the hard grip he had on the microphone.
"What a lovely name. Where are you from?" I continued, trying my best to make him ease up.
He inhaled a large breath before opening his mouth. "I'm from Oxford."
I tilted my head to the side. "That's not very far from here. So, what are you going to sing for us today?" I questioned, supporting my head with a hand under my chin while my elbow was on the table.
"Uhm, I'm going to sing Grenade by Bruno Mars."
The muscles in my body instantly tensed. That was one of the first songs we had sung together in the band, during the X Factor live tour, and I remembered how Harry and I hadn't been able to look away from each other whenever we sang it.
Swallowing, I plastered a smile on my lips. "Alright, good luck."
The second Frankie started singing, I tried focusing on his voice and singing capability, but I couldn't. All I could think about was memories of myself standing on that same stage eight years ago and when the band was formed. I thought of the way I hadn't even hesitated to throw myself into Harry's arms without barely knowing him when they told us we had gone through to the judges' houses. We had only talked twice before that, but I felt a connection between us when I first laid eyes on him. Therefore, it only felt right to jump into his arms because if we were going to be in the same band, it meant that I would be spending more time with him.
These were memories that would live with me forever no matter what, and I wondered if they were crossing Harry's mind now too and if they meant something to him. Probably not.
Even though I hadn't been following him over the years, I knew that he had been in at least one relationship after we were together, so I was pretty sure I didn't matter to him anymore. He had been with other people after me that were probably more important to him. This fact probably shouldn't hurt, but it did.
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
Leeds - 12th of May
Newcastle - 14th of May
Glasgow - 16th of May
Dublin - 18th of May
"Do you have any questions?" Patrick asked, and I could see Harry furrowing his brows as he stared at his paper.
"So, we're going to be finished with the audition tour in two weeks? When are we going back to do Bootcamp?" He asked.
The older man smiled gently at the curly-haired guy. "On the 30th of May. After that, judges' houses are supposed to be sometime between the 10th of June and 30th of June, and the live shows will begin on the 1st of September. There will be more information about that later on."
Harry gave him a nod before looking back at the paper in his hands. Meanwhile, Patrick clapped his hands together. "Alright then. You are now allowed to go wherever you want. It's been a long day, hasn't it?"
We all hummed in reply before getting up from the couch to walk back to the dressing room since our outdoor clothing was there. Everyone was quiet, no one so much as saying a word. It wasn't until we entered the room that Perrie broke the silence, "I don't know about you, guys, but I think today was a lot of fun," she said, her gaze flickering between all three of us.
Harry was shrugging on the black coat he'd been holding in his hands when he first arrived this noon while Nick didn't have a jacket with him. He must have only come with us because the rest of us were going here.
"I agree," I replied, looking back at her. "I hope the other cities are going to deliver just as well as London, and I don't doubt they will."
She flashed me a smile while nodding. Nick pursed his lips and straightened his collar. "I bet it's going to be an amazing journey," he agreed, catching me by surprise. I thought he would mock me just like he always did.
Harry only hummed as he fumbled with the end of his coat sleeve. Perrie acknowledged this and pulled her eyebrows together. "Aren't you excited about the show, Harry?" She asked.
He looked up at her quickly before turning his gaze to me. It only lasted for a second until he was focusing on her again. "Of course I am," he frowned. "Why wouldn't I be?"
Perrie rolled her eyes. "Your body language is kind of saying the opposite. Besides, you didn't really answer the question."
He narrowed his eyes at her. "So I have to answer a question for you to believe that I'm excited?" He snapped.
She looked a bit offended by his reply, and I couldn't blame her. This was not the same Harry I had always known. The Harry I knew would never snap at anyone like that, at least not without apologizing dearly afterward.
Perrie opened her mouth to reply, but nothing escaped her lips, so I decided to step in without really knowing what I was doing. "Lay off her. She didn't say anything wrong," I muttered, my face in a scowl.
Harry snapped his head to me, and if looks could kill, I would be dead. "Don't you fucking say a word to me, alright?"
I didn't know if I was supposed to be shocked by his reply or if I should be angry, but my body settled for something in between. I could feel my hands clench into fists at my sides, but at the same time, I couldn't form a word.
"Alright, I think that's enough for today. See you tomorrow at the restaurant," Nick said, grabbing hold of Harry's bicep before pulling him towards the exits.
They were gone before I had even time to blink, and I could only stare at the door they had just walked out through. Perrie was silent beside me, staring at the door too. Eventually, she was the one who broke the silence, "You didn't have to do that, Louis," she sighed.
I pulled my eyebrows together, turning to meet her gaze. "What? He was being an ass to you. One of us had to do something," I objected.
She pursed her lips. "But maybe it shouldn't have been you. I don't know what happened between you guys, but it's obvious that you don't get along, so maybe you should try to stay away from each other the best you can. I mean, if that's the only way for you to be civil," she shrugged, biting her bottom lip.
I ran my hands over my face, squeezing my eyes shut before opening them again. "Yes, I know, but I couldn't just watch him talk to you like that. I could never do that to someone I care about."
She tilted her head to the side, a small smile playing on her lips. "Thank you, Louis. And I'm not saying I'm not happy you stood up for me, but if that's the way he reacts to you talking to him, then maybe you should avoid it, at least for a little while."
I shook my head, a humorless laugh escaping my lips. "That won't be a problem. I'd rather avoid talking to him anyway."
Perrie was quiet for a while then, just looking at me in a way saying she was thinking about something. "I'm honestly a bit surprised by what he did. The way he snapped at me like that, I mean. It's not like him to do that. I've always seen him as someone who treats people like an angel," she mumbled thoughtfully.
I looked down at the floor while running a hand through my feathery hair. "He does. I mean, at least he always used to. The tone he was using with you surprised me as well," I frowned.
She nodded, smiling faintly at me. Neither of us said anything else about the topic. If she had an idea what the reason behind his actions was, she didn't tell me about it. Instead, we left the building once I had shrugged on my Adidas jacket and Perrie her coat.
Once we were outside in the gloomy weather, we started walking towards the parking lot. But before we could reach it, we heard voices chanting our names from afar. Both my and Perrie's eyes widened in realization, and we exchanged a look before turning in the direction of the sound. A few girls were heading towards us with exciting smiles on their faces.
"Louis, Perrie!"
They caught up with us within a few seconds, handing us pieces of paper and pens and asking us if we could sign them. "How are you feeling about being judges of the X Factor this year?" One of them wondered while we signed their papers.
"It feels great. We're all very excited about it," Perrie replied, flashing the girl a smile.
Another one with brown hair and chocolate brown eyes turned to me, her eyes lightening up. "I love you so much, Louis, and the other boys too," she gushed. "You're such an amazing human being."
"Thank you, love," I smiled, leaning in to give her a hug.
She let out a loud gasp, reaching up to cover her mouth with her hand. "Oh my God," she breathed, trying to control her breathing.
Another girl with long, black hair took a step forward. "How is it to work with Harry again? Are you still close?" She asked, looking at me with hope in her eyes.
I could feel myself swallowing, and I tried my best to form a genuine smile. "Uh, yeah. It's been a while since we last saw each other, so it's really nice," I lied.
I hated lying, and I was pretty sure I was shit at it too. The thing was, Harry had always been even worse at it, so I had always been the one to reply to every question about us in interviews in the past. Both of us had been scolded numerous times for not being good enough at lying, but we got a little better over the years. Being media-trained for ten years taught you a few things at least. For example, how to dodge a question you didn't want to answer.
The girl seemed satisfied with my answer, judging from the way a huge smile made its way to her lips. "I'm so happy that you're both doing this. I can't wait for the show to start," she said in awe.
My lips twitched at her words. "I can't wait either," I told her honestly, being thankful that I didn't have to lie about everything I told her.
Once they had all gotten a signed piece of paper and exchanged a few words with me and Perrie, they left us. Perrie turned to me with raised eyebrows the second they were out of sight and tilted her head to the side. "So you're suddenly enjoying the fact that you're working with Harry again, huh?" She joked with a glint of amusement in her eyes.
I rolled my eyes, shaking my head. "I couldn't exactly tell her the truth. She would have been devastated," I grimaced.
"Yeah, I know. You did what you had to do," she said, flashing me a small smile.
After that, we headed to our separate cars that were coincidentally parked very close to each other. "See you tomorrow at the restaurant, yeah?" I questioned, looking over at her with my hand on the door handle of my Audi.
She nodded. "Of course. It was nice catching up with you today. I bet this is going to be an amazing few months despite the circumstances."
"Yeah," I mumbled, staring at the roof of my car. "I hope so."
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Another chapter! It's not very long, but the next one is a favorite of mine x
Again, I'm so happy that so many of you seem to like this story so far. Thank you for reading, see you soon <3
Pauline .xx