A/N: So I found this video of One Direction answering questions, it's on the side. And I loved it so enjoy, and please pay special attention to a very special question, you'll know what I mean;) Please comment your suggestions or just anything you want to say:)
Vote if their first moments together on X-Factor were absolutely inspiring.
Chapter 6:
*Niall's P.O.V*
We gathered in the living area once we were sure Delia had gone to sleep. Her lights had never gone out so I had gone to check on her and she was passed out on the bed, still in her clothes. She had looked so sweet and innocent that for a second I had forgotten she had tricked her way into the band. That was unforgivable, and unforgettable. So I had just turned the lights off and let her sleep in the seemingly very uncomfortable position.
Louis plopped down beside me on the couch, a soda in hand, and stretched his legs out over Liam and I. "Ello, love." He said, and patted my cheek. I liked it when any of the boys gave me special attention, it reminded that we were all friends with each other, not just as a group, and I smiled widely at him.
"Hey, Lou."
Zayn sat in one of the bean bag chairs, sipping on his drink, and Harry sat in the other, his bare body covered only by a blanket. I needed to remember not to sit in that chair. It never bothered me before that Harry enjoyed being naked, it was his business, and he could do as he pleased. Since we first met he had been doing it and I think it represented just how comfortable we all were with each other. But now we had a girl staying with us, and though I did not really care if she felt comfortable, I think Harry should at least remember to cover up for her sake.
I was about to voice my opinion when Liam spoke up, "So, what do you think of Delia?"
There was a mutual groan all around at the sound of her name. Zayn dragged his hands over his face before saying, "She has such a bad atitude. Did you see how she looked at us when she saw us? Like she was sizing us up or something." Zayn rubbed his eyes sleepily, as it was very late at night, but we all needed a private moment to discuss this.
"She was way too confident." Louis added. "She knows she weasled her way into the band, and is pretty darn smug about it." We all shook our heads. When we had sang with her, no one had really gotten a chance to see her at all, and when she was walking towards us, at first her head had been hung, and she looked timid and nervous. Then her head had snapped up, looking surprisingly proud of what she had achieved. Richard had taken her in his arms like she was his new pet he adored, and that was when we all knew that she was just as devious as we had thought. No good, trustworthy person would come up with a plan for us to get attacked so they could save us and join the band.
"I don't like how she pretended not to know our names." I said. "That was just sorta rude."
Harry shook his head, "Well, it was sorta rude for us to lie like that. We were just doing it to get on her nerves."
There was silence as the guilt settled over us. Harry was right of course, Liam and I had just wanted to upset her, but when she had played along with it I had truly believed she did not know our names, and I was disappointed.
"We should not have let ourselves get played like that." said Louis, stroking a hand through my blonde hair, his face contorted into an uncharacteristic frown. Sadness was not a good look for him. "If she was smart enough to know about our band, decide she wanted to be a part of it, and found a way to be in it, then she can remember our names."
"Absolute evil." muttered Harry under his breath. He had been muttering a lot since we met her.
Liam removed the arm he had wrapped around my shoulder and stared at the ground, mumbling. "She didn't seem all that bad to me."
"What?" We all exclaimed as once, our eyes bugging at the traitor.
Liam just shrugged. "All I know is that she seemed nice when I showed her to her room. Just polite, I guess."
Lou jumped off of me and over the back of the couch, examining Liam's neck and head with wide, frightened eyes. "What're you doing, Louis?" exclaimed Liam, trying to push the boy away.
"Trying to find the mind control device she must have attached to you." He ran his long fingers through his hair, jerking his head side to side before leaping around to face him. Louis' hand met Liam's cheek with a painful crack and he yelled, "Come back to us, Liam!"
Liam jumped to his feet, pushing Louis to the ground roughly. "Don't you dare.." he hissed threateningly. For a second I thought Liam had finally had enough of Louis' antics and from where Louis sat on the floor it looked like he was about to fight back, but suddenly both boys broke out into huge grins and I audibly sighed with relief. Liam offered his hand down to Louis and helped him up, then brought him down into his lap, letting the boy stretch out on both of us again. If anyone else besides us had seen that, or the way we looked so peaceful like this, might have thought something was up. I, however, never wondered about our relationship. There was no questioning our sexuality, despite the fact that half the world did. I was secure in my masculinity, as were the other boys, and that was that. End of story.
Liam sighed, the end coming out in a chuckle. "I just can't be mean to anyone, girls especially. I don't know if I can be rude to Delia, even after what she has done."
"Yea," Harry curled up under his blanket, his hair falling in his green eyes, as he admitted. "We kinda suck at being mean."
Although we all laughed about that statement there was no denying it. I, for one, liked being nice to people, not only because I wanted people to like me, but because you should just be good to others. It was the right thing to do. Over the years I had realized the other boys sucked at it, too. We could be mean if we needed to, like if we were angry or upset, but it took work. Besides, if we were ever bent out of shape about something we usually calmed each other down, knowing anger was not necessary.
"Well if she's gonna be that way towards us, I am sure as heck not going to hold back on her." Zayn said, scratching his chest sleepily. ''I guess we will have to see, though. It is her decision. One wrong word and me and her are in for it. She is already annoying me, and she's just asleep."
"She's quite good at grating on my nerves." Louis said with a twinge of respect. It was an accomplishment to annoy the Sassmaster, really. Maybe I would tell her tomorrow, and we could laugh and be friends. Why couldn't we? Oh yeah, because she is trying to take over our careers, and everything we worked for.
Harry yawned, and flipped his hair to the side, looking up at us with sleepy eyes. "Remember in that one interview a while back? One of the questions was how we would feel about a girl member in the band. What about now? Do we really think that?"
No one replied. We had discussed it later, when we had gotten back home, about the whole "girl member" idea. Louis had said it might be fun, and everyone had agreed that if the girl was cute and had a good sense of humor then it would be fine, as long as she did not interfere with our bromance time. Would it be fun, now? Could it be, now that we know who the girl is?
After a long pause I said, "We don't even know her. We should try to. Maybe we will find she ain't half bad."
Liam patted my head and smiled, "Nice idea, Nialler. I knew you were good for something." He tugged on my hair playfully as he said, "Now if you would please get off my bed, I would like to have some shut eye before Rosie comes to cook our breakfast."
Louis and I laughed as we hopped off the very uncomfortable couch, allowing Liam the attempt at trying to sleep on it. I whacked Liam's back and grinned, "Good luck, lad. Try not to slip off." The couch was made up of smooth leather and it was easy to just slide right off. This Delia girl did not know what sacrifices we were already making for her, and more were to come.
"I'll bring you some blankets, mate." Harry said kindly and looked down at his own body before peeling off the blanket around him and throwing it at Liam. His naked body flew off down the hall, brown curls bouncing around his head.
"You better cover that up before you get in the bed." demanded Zayn, as he followed the younger boy to their bedroom.
Harry leaned out of the doorway, "Don't act like you don't think I'm sexy, Zayny-poo." He winked.
If only Harry knew he would be making the biggest sacrifice out of all of us.
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*Delia's P.O.V*
I woke to the sound of my phone buzzing annoyingly in pocket. I cracked my eyes open to an unfamiliar room and groaned when the memories came flooding back to me. The concert, Modest Management, the boys... it felt like a physical pain.
I swiped my phone to answer with a glance at the time and caller. "It's 6 am." I said grumpily as a greeting.
Tori sounded like she had swallowed a coffee machine whole, "Delia, finally you answered me! What is going on?"
"It's 6 am." I repeated and sat up, realizing I was wearing the same clothes from yesterday. I must have been really exhausted to knock out that quick. I put Tori on speaker and began to peel off my clothes and throw them in the corner, ruining Liam's perfect room. I dug through my suitcase until I found a pair of bright purple jeans and a long, grey Hollister shirt.
I changed as Tori continued her rant. "Yea, it's six in the bloody morning, Delia. I know because I have been trying to call you all night, but someone would not answer their phone! I knew you had a little bit of a wild side when I first met you, but disappearing at a concert after singing with One Direction? That is too much! Please tell me what is going on so I can stop with the heart palpatations and decide whether I should still be your friends from all the trouble you have been."
"I'm sorry." I apologized, staring at the picture of Tori on my cell. I wished she were here with me now, so I could talk to her face to face. Instead I would have to try to explain everything to a stupid mobile device, which in no way could help my situation. "I-I am so so s-sorry." I stuttered and sank to the ground, placing my hands in my face and trying to hold back the tears forming in my eyes.
"Del," Tori said softly, realizing my distress. "Tell me everything."
I began from the second I saw the man, dressed in black, knife in hand, near the boys being mobbed by fangirls and ended with Liam telling me goodnight. I spared no details, including management and One Direction's rudeness. Only when I was done did I realize that I was full-on sobbing into the phone like a child.
"I-I d-don't know w-what to d-do." I cried, wiping the tears away as they fell fast. My breathing was hard and quick as everything finally hit me. That I had been forced to join a band I disliked, only to find they hated me, and then I would have to write a book about them that would start my career out in a way I would have never wanted. Who was I kidding? I could never have the career in writing that I wanted. Although I was sure I was not as famous as management led me to believe, I knew that once it was announced I was the new member of One Direction I would only be famous for that, and no one would ever care that I wrote anything.
"Calm down, Delia." Tori said, sounding worried. "It's gonna be alright."
"No, it won't be, Tori." I wailed. I was not even attempting to swallow my crying now. I doubted anyone in the house was up now, and I could not make myself care if they knew. "They hate me. I need someone to help me, because I have never done this before, you know?"
There was silence on the line and I guessed that Tori was nodding her head, then said, "Yea, I understand." once she realized I could not see her. "I just don't get how they are being mean to you. They have always seemed so nice."
I grinned a wet smile, "Yea, because you really get to know someone through YouTube videos."
"Still," she said. "It doesn't make sense that they would be so against you. I need to ask the tumblr fandom what they think."
"Not yet!" I said quickly, panicked. "You aren't supposed to know I don't think. Mr. Griffiths hasn't announced it publicly yet. After that you can talk to your crazy fandom all you want." I began biting my nails, already nervous about what others would think about this. The ultimate reaction that I had seen had not been good. "Could you tell me what they say though?" My voice still shook, but I think I was done crying, now that I had probably emptied my tear ducts.
"Of course I can." she promised sweetly. "And Delia?"
"Yes?"
"You are beautiful, a talented singer, and everyone you meet loves you. You are going to be fine, so forget what those stupid boys think." I laughed that she has called her main obsession the people she adored, stupid. It showed how much she really cared.
"Thank you." I said and sniffled, wiping away my last tear. "I love you, Tor."
"And I love you, you famous girl!" I laughed and we hung up a few seconds later, promising to call later that night to discuss the days events. She also swore that if I had any questions about the band, like their hobbies or background information, to just text her and she said she would know. That meant a lot, considering I knew near nothing about One Direction.
Once I was off the phone with my friend I went to the bathroom and took a cautious look in the mirror. My hair had kept its natural curl during the night, but I put it in a ponytail anyway. My eyes were the problem. They were red-rimmed and bloodshot from crying. I pulled out my makeup and dotted foundation around the area, and then wore heavy mascara to take away from the fact that my blue eyes were a dull color, as they got when I was depressed. I applied blush to give my pale face color, and though was disappointed with the all together look of my face, I decided this was as good as I was going to get.
It was nearly eight now, because I had stayed on the phone for a long while, so it was almost time for breakfast. I had heard movement out in the hall a few minutes before, so the boys must be up. I crept out into the hall, phone clenched in my hand like a weapon, and walked to the living room nervously. I was more terrified of seeing the band then I should be. There was no one in the living room but I saw a woman working with fast movements around the kitchen, grabbing pans and adding seasoning to a fryer as she cooked more food than six people could eat. I moved onto one of the stools behind the counter I and watched her work, not wanting to interrupt.
When she turned around from the stove she jumped, startled. "Why hello, dear! You must be Delia."
"I am." I said, smiling.
"Well, I am Ms. Rosalie, you can call me Rose, Rosie, Mrs. R, they like to change it up. I cook for the boys when they eat in, and I clean the suite when you are gone. So if you need anything, please tell me."
"It's nice to meet you, Ms. Rosie," I offered my hand but she tugged me into a hug, and I was pressed securely against her roundish body. She was well-sized, and had grey streaks in her long black hair, pulled back in a braid. Her cheeks were rosy like her name, and she gave me a cheerful smile. "Do you need any help with making breakfast?" I asked when she let me go.
"Oh no, no. Relax. I am almost done with everything. Niall can eat so much, he is like a bottomless pit. Are pancakes, eggs, and bangers fine with you, dearie?"
"Oh yea," I assured. " I'm not picky and it smells delicious."
"Thank you, sweet." Ms. Rosie patted my cheek fondly. She seemed like a nice, motherly figure and I liked her already.
I shifted uncomfortably on the stool as I wondered if I should speak up about what was bothering me. "Could I ask you something?"
The woman turned casually back to the stove and shook the sausage frying in the pan. "Anything."
I fidgeted with my hands, not sure how to address the situation without insulting anyone. "So, you know the boys well then?"
She bounced as she giggled, "They are like my sons." She began to stack the thin pancakes onto a platter, unaware of the question that I was about to ask.
"Well, I'm gonna be around them a lot on tour and everything. I'll be sharing a hotel suite with them, and you know, it's five boys and one girl in a hotel at night. And I just..." I trailed off before releasing my words in a single breath. "I wanted to know if there is any reason to be worried." I shoved my hands to my face to cover up my reddened cheeks. I could not believe I just said that aloud, but I needed to get it out, especially since I could not very well ask the boys if they were planning anything.
Ms. Rosie froze, and a sympathetic smile crept across her face as she turned to look at me. "Your afraid that they will let their hormones get the better of them? That they could overpower you easily and take advantage of you?"
A small whimpering sound escaped my lips when I tried to say yes. She had just spoken the exact words that had terrified me since last night. It was not something that I should be ashamed of thinking, since it would be on the mind of every girl in my position, but I could not meet the woman's eyes.
She wrapped an arm around my shoulders and hummed softly, "I love those boys like my own, only because they have earned my love. They are very sweet gentlemen, and would do nothing to hurt you. I swear on my life that they will do everything they can to make you feel safe with them."
I wanted to start crying again, because this woman, who I had just met, was being so kind to me, and I was just worried about myself. She was sure those boys would not hurt me, so, being my naïve self, I believed her. I had no idea how much pain they would cause me in the future.
I checked under my eyes to make sure no tears had fallen. I removed my hands and smiled gratefully up at the woman, though it was weak. "Thank you so much, Ms. Rosie. You're right. I shouldn't be worried." She squeezed my shoulders and continued to fix the breakfast, while I fell into deep thought, thinking over her words and ridding myself of that particular worry.
When I looked back up all the plates had been prepared and I took no hesitation to stand and grab the heavier plates from her and follow her into the dining room. All five boys sat around the round table, an empty chair for me between Liam and Harry. They all, except Zayn, looked lively and awake, as they argued playfully about who snored louder and if it was sharp or flat. It was actually quite humorous, but I refused to smile as I set the plates on the table. Niall jumped on the food immediately and began to fill his plate. Besides his chewing, the room was silent now, as I took my seat.
"Good morning." said Liam, smiling. I heard a noise like shuffling feet underneath the table, and Liam exclaimed, "Ouch!" He shot a glare at the smirking boy beside him, but Louis was just pleased with himself.
"Oh, it's a great morning." I said sarcastically cheerful. I waited for Ms. Rosie to leave the room before adding, "It would be better if I were not sharing it with you, but I guess I'll have to take what I can get."
"Well, you won't be getting any of this food!" declared Niall with his mouth completely full, and food spitting out onto the table. "Not until you deserve it, anyway." Louis patted his arm affectionately, appreciating his rudeness and Zayn, sitting across from me, smiled also.
"And when will that be, Niall?" I asked sharply. "When my singing is as bad as yours?" I batted my eyes innocently, like I was curious. All eyes, except for Harry's, whose head was aimed down, flew to mine, faces cold and angry. Niall's face was red as he swallowed the colossal amount of food in his mouth, and gaped at me.
"Excuse me?" Zayn said before Niall could get a word out. "But who gave you the right to speak to him like that? Niall is ten times the singer you are." In my mind I was agreeing with him, I was telling him how right he was about his adorable Irish friend, but his tone annoyed me, and I snapped back.
"But he has the right to speak to me like that? Why are you like this?" I gripped my chair, trying to deal with the mixed emotions inside me. Half were telling me to shut up, that I was digging my own grave, while the other half told me that I hated these jerks so much.
Zayn laughed mockingly, putting his elbows on the table and leaning forward. Chuckling, he said, "You don't know a thing about us, so don't act like you do."
I smirked and kept my eyes narrowed in on the raven-haired boy, hoping I could put enough hatred into the glare to burn a hole straight through his olive skin. "Like I would even want to." I rolled my eyes. "Get over yourselves." It was not like they knew a thing about me, anyway, yet still they hated me. I at least knew they were rude, airheaded jerks who made split-second judgements about people.
"You first." Louis threatened, smirking deviously.
I slammed my hands down on the table, causing the juice to shake and almost spill. "Shouldn't you being serving hooch at a gay bar somewhere, Louis?" Out of the corner of my eye I saw Harry choke on his food, but I was still focused on Louis, as he slowly rose to his feet and I did the same.
"I know I've done some bad things in my life," he said, looking thoughtful. "But I am sure I have done nothing to deserve a pain in the arse like you." Zayn smirked, as Liam just stared down at his food sullenly. Harry still had not said a word, or even glanced my way, but at least he was not staring openly like Niall, food hanging from his gaping trap. They were all waiting on my reply, but I was speechless, overflowing with anger at all of them.
When Ms. Rosie reentered the room, holding a pitcher of juice, she looked onto the scene in shock. Louis and I were sharing an intense showdown, as we both stared at each other relentlessly, hate rolling off in waves.
"Delia, dear, what's wrong?" the sweet lady questioned.
"N-nothing." I lied. My voice shook, proving how upset I was. It was then that Louis gave me an odd look, cocking his head as he looked at my eyes, really looked at them for the first time. I watched as surprise appeared on his face, and I knew he could tell I had recently been crying. He tried to hide he had seen it by sitting back down, but we had both been caught.
I turned to leave the dining room, shoving my chair up against the table, causing Liam to jump.
"Was there a problem with breakfast?" asked Ms. Rosie innocently.
I lay a hand on her arm and smiled, "No the food was wonderful. It was the company I had a problem with." I sent one last glare to the boys and stormed from the room, and never stopped stomping until I reached my bedroom and threw myself down onto it.
I slammed my hands against my face, expecting tears, but nothing came. I had been right when I said that when I was angry every other emotion was pushed aside. All I felt right now was hatred and unquenchable anger. Nothing I did was right, ever. Even singing out to the crowd to save One Direction's life ended up being a mistake.
When I got like this there was only one thing I could do to calm myself. I jumped to the corner where I had set all my stuff and pulled out my laptop, hurriedly turning it on. As soon as I opened up the chapter I had been working on Mr. Griffiths face appeared in my mind, commanding me that I would have to write a bio on One Direction. I coulld it "The Wrong Direction". I knew neither would work, but it lifted my spirits since i would not be able to work on my book right now. I pulled up a new document, and tapped my chin, trying to think of what the book would be specifically about. I knew nothing about One Direction, especially not enough to write a book about them. Before I could even begin to write seriously about them I would need more info on them. I could call Tori later tonight and hear what she has to say, but then an interesting idea came to mind.
I typed in each name as an individual column, hoping I was spelling the names right. Since I would be around them a lot I would be able to get some interesting facts about them if I paid attention. When I picked up on certain things I could type it underneath their name and once I had enough I would practically know everything I needed to write a book.
There was a hesitant knock on the door, and before I even considered it I said, "Come in."
Liam entered, a shy smile on his face as he said, "Hi, I just needed to get some clothes to wear."
I nodded with a slightly annoyed smile. Although he had not been the one yelling at me during breakfast he had done nothing to prevent it. "Yea, sure, go ahead."
Liam was only dressed in a white v-neck and pajama pants. I had not noticed that he was the only one during breakfast not wearing normal clothes. I felt bad that he was not able to change because I had gone to breakfast so late. Liam began to dig through the dresser drawers, pulling out a plaid button-down and denim jeans.
"I'm gonna change in this bathroom if that's alright. Zayn won't come out of the other." He asked unsure. I understand why he was a little nervous, since I had just been very rude in the dining room, but Liam was not doing anything to bother me and I could tell he was the nicest out of the group.
"Of course." I said sweetly, giving him a wide smile so he knows I was not going to yell at him.
"Thanks." He went in to the bathroom, but did not completely shut the door. I could not see him, but could hear him as he said, "So what are you doing?"
"I- uh, I'm writing." I admitted timidly. I did not want to tell him what I was writing, because if they knew I was doing a book on them, they may suggest what they wanted in it, and I never liked when others pushed ideas on me.
Liam stuck his head around the door, brow furrowed, "You write?" He seemed shocked, and I almost giggled. Did he think that all I could do was sing? Sure, singing was alright sometimes, but it was nothing like the thrill I felt when finding the perfect words.
"Yea." I shrugged. "Sometimes. I've even had a book published." I kept my eyes locked on the laptop screen as Liam exited the bathroom, buttoning his shirt all the way to his chin.
"I didn't know that." Liam said, leaning against the wall across from me.
I snorted unattractively. "Let's not pretend you know anything about me."
"Well, I'd like to if you would be polite." He crossed his arms over his chest as his voice lost its kindness. "But you won't let us get to know you."
I slammed my laptop shut and jerked forward off the bed. "It isn't like any of you have tried that hard. I've known you for like, what, twelve hours and y'all have already decided you don't like me. That ain't fair." I bit the inside of my lip when I let that country slang slip out. I never used grammar like that unless I was frustrated.
Liam seemed not to care about the word as he responded, "You have to admit that you have not been all that like able, Delia."
I threw my arms in the air in exasperation and huffed. "I'm sorry I am not pleasant when someone kicks someone for telling me good morning. Sorry, I was offended."
"I have been around my mates for a while." said Liam through gritted teeth, but he looked less frustrated than just defensive. "If you don't provoke them, they won't bite, I promise." The way he said it, like it was so plainly clear and simple. I wanted to strangle the boy for trying to stick up for his friends who had only hated me since the second we saw each other. There was no hiding it at all.
"I have not done anything to provoke them or you in the first place." I almost yelled, feeling like I would rather rip my hair out then try to explain how I felt about this situation.
It was Liam's turn to snort, and he smirked down at me, "We both know that's a lie, love." He turned and left the room, slamming the door behind him loudly, leaving me angry and confused. What had I done? Was it that I joined the band, and they just did not want another member? I understood that. I would not either, but that was no excuse for what they had said. So what was...?
I had no time to think, because that next second the bedroom door opened, revealing a slightly disheveled Liam. "Come on. The van is here to take us to the studio." He did not wait on me to reply, but retreated down the hallway quickly, expecting me to follow.
Before I did, I reopened my lap top and quickly typed under Liam's name:
1. Even when irritated, has manners and tries to be polite.
It was sad when the boy who had just told me off, was the nicest out of them all. With a sigh, I shut the laptop and chased after Liam, who had been waiting just outside the door and had not even left me.
Liam led me to the living room, where only Niall sat. I guessed the rest of the boys had already gone down. "Ready?" asked the Irish boy with a heavy accent. Niall had a cap over his hair, and wore a t-shirt and black jeans, sneakers on his feet. He leaped to the front door, waiting impatiently for Liam and I.
Liam mumbled an answer and grabbed the room key off the kitchen counter and shoved it in his pocket. Niall glanced at me slyly, but realizing I had seen him looked quickly away. I followed Niall out into the hallway, only my phone to take with me, and Liam turned to lock the door, but then the blonde pushed Liam aside and ran back into the suite, yelling, "One second, mate!"
Liam groaned and leaned against the door frame. He gave me a tiny smile, lips pressed tightly together. "Sorry."
I knew that he did not just mean for his friend. He was trying to apologize for our argument that had only happened seconds ago, yet he already felt guilty. I did too for that matter. He seemed nice, and I thought we could be friends if we did not yell at each other.
"I am too." I admitted, giving him a genuine smile.
"Whatcha sowy about?" asked Niall from the doorway, his mouth full. Did we not just eat? He had a new food creation in his hand: sausage wrapped in pancakes.
"Sorry you can't go anywhere without food." Liam grabbed the smaller boy by the scruff of the neck and dragged him out of the room so he could lock the door. Niall turned to me and gave me a weird look before turning and skipping down the hallway. Liam laughed and we walked down the hall behind the playful boy in a comfortable silence.
Eventually, Niall joined us, and walked beside me, but this quiet was awkward and I could feel his dislike of me. I understood that, of course, I should not have said his singing was bad when it was clearly a lie. I really am a horrible person.
"Niall?"
"What?" He asked sharply, avoiding my eyes. Liam gave him a look I did not understand, but it made Niall sigh and ask more kindly, "Yes?"
"I'm sorry about this morning." I mumbled to the ground, watching my small steps compared to their larger ones.
Niall watched me curiously, wondering if I was sincere. I looked up to meet his eyes and showed him how truly sorry I was. He had not even snapped back at me. Instead Zayn had spoken up in his friends defense, like a brother might do for a younger sibling. Niall removed his hat and ran his hand through his hair, thinking hard about something. "No, I'm sorry, too." He seemed almost indesicive about it, but once he slowly spoke his apology, he sighed and slumped his shoulders with relief.
"You know what?" Niall said, perking up. "I'll just have to prove you wrong!"
"What?" I said, laughing at the excitement of the cute Irish boy.
"C'mon, Liam, give me a beat."
Liam glanced up and down the hallway, then held his had to his mouth and began beatboxing quite well.
Niall did not even hesitate to start rapping Fresh Prince of Bel-Air loudly, his accent sounding strangely American. I laughed, not able to hold it back, even as a man stepped out of his room to glare at us. It only made me laugh harder.
"So sorry." Niall apologized as we passed and the man just huffed, backing into his room again.
"You are a good singer." I admitte, when he was done with all the lyrics that he must have memorized. "Although, Im not sure how that was supposed to show off your voice at all."
"Then maybe we can all show you at the studio. And you can try to sing too even?" He winked at Liam, and he began to splutter into laughter as they seemed to share a private joke. Did they not believe I could sing? Well, that made three of us.
"I can sing." I said defensively, crossing my arms over my chest, pouting just a bit.
"I guess we will see won't we." Liam said, smirking over my head at his friend.
"You already heard me last night. I'm good." I retorted, obviously very doubtful. I was not all that confident about how great my singing was, but I never back down from an argument.
"I couldn't hear you at all." Niall admitted, shrugging. "Must have been too loud for me to."
"Well, you will hear me later then I guess." I grinned unsurely, hoping I would not totally suck and make a fool of myself, which is most likely what would happen.
"I guess we will see then." We reached the elevator and got in, Liam pressing the down button. Niall put an arm around us friends waist and whispered something in his ear.
"I do like this song." Liam said loud enough to hear, referring to the cheesy elevator music."Would you like to dance?"
"Yes!" Niall said and grabbed Liam's hand with his and laid the other one on his shoulder. They began to twirl in circles, the most serious look on their faces as they did. I giggled so hard that to stop I had to press my forehead up against the elevator wall to quit, but still they never stopped dancing. Liam pressed Niall's head on his chest and sighed loudly, giving me a strange look that must have said, "I'm enjoying this."
Just then the door opened and a full crowd of people, waiting for the elevator, stood staring at the scene inside. Niall and Liam froze, matching scared expressions on their face, adn then they slowly pulled away from each other. Unable to stop laughing, I pushed through them and whispered to the people, "I don't know them, please help, Im scarred." The crowd laughed nervously as the boys exited, standing far apart now, and caught up to me, already joking about the whole thing.
As we were walking out of the hotel I was thinking about how nice it would have been to be friends with these boys. If we were not forced together in a band of course, like if we had just gone to school together, I could definitely see myself being friends with Liam and Niall. Although we would probably argue a lot, but I liked how free and comfortable they were, with a great sense of humor. They were might sort of people.
As soon as I stepped outside the door of the hotel, not even really paying attention, I came face to face with Zayn. "Why did it take you so long to get down?" he asked angrily. "We need to be at the studio in five minutes."
"It isn't like I was late on purpose," I said, pushing the dark-haired boy, dressed in a leather jacket, and heading towards the black van that Louis was waiting beside.
"I don't really believe that." Zayn huffed, climbing into the back seat of the van, where Harry already sat. Harry wore a green beanie over his brown curls, pulling the hair out of his face. It gave light to the extreme green in his large eyes as he stared with concentration out the van window.
"Delia? Delia?"
"What-?" I said lamely, turning to face Liam, who was giving me a knowing look. I then realized I had been staring at Harry, like flat-out staring. When I looked back he was whispering something into Zayn's ear, both with devious gins on their faces.
My cheesk burned and I turned to Liam. "What did you want?"
"For you to get in the van." Liam said, motioning to the passenger seat door he was holding open for me. "We are kinda late."
"Oh right." I slid into the black van quickly and Liam shut the door, climbing into the back next to Louis, where even thought the boys looked squeezed together, they looked very comfy. I on the other hand, felt entirely out of place in the passenger seat.
The driver next to me was a large, tough looking man, with hard eyes and a tight set mouth. I thought him familiar, but could not remember where from. When he saw me looking at him, he gave me a friendly smile.
"Hi, I'm Paul." He said. "I'm head of security, and tour manager."
Of course! His accent was undeniable. It was the man who was screaming at the crazy fans to back off last night and had been getting pulled under the mob along with the ones he was supposed to protect. Did he see the man with the knife, last night? Wow, last night felt like such a long time ago...
"Oh hi, nice to meet you." I said, as pleasantly as possible as I tried to forget the visions of people all in black flooding my mind. "I'm Delia."
He chuckles. "Yes, I know." He cranks up the car and leaves the hotel, heading towards the studio. I am actually really nervous about meeting the vocal trainer and everything. I have had singing lessons before, but never considered myself good. I hope he did not expect much from me, since practicing in a studio was way out of my comfort zone and I had no one here to calm my frayed nerves.
One Direction chatted the entire ride, but it was whispered so I could not hear. I imagined they did not want me to join in on conversations so I sat quietly in the front seat, watching the city of London fly past. I had never been to England before although it had always been a dream of mine, so now I took this chance to see as much of it as I could. There were tall, graffitied buildings on either side of the road, and trees lined the sidewalk. It was a cold January morning, so the only people walking beside us were dressed in several layers. I was glad I had remembered to grab a jacket and scarf before heading out, as the brisk wind was taking its toll on the city chill. I began to compare the differences of my small, country town in Alabama to this huge city, and found them to be countless. I knew that the USA and the UK, were often said to be very similar, but there was nothing here that looked close to my town at all and I was excited to find even more differences. I had traveled to several countries in Europe before, so I was not very culturally deprived, but I still loved the experience of new surroundings.
After a long moment of awkward silence, Paul spoke up, "So have you gotten to know each other yet?"
For a long moment there was only silence, and I thought no one would reply, but eventually Liam said, "Well we only just met each other yesterday." That was such a diplomatic answer. It did not say whether we were getting along, and definitely did not reveal that we had made no notion to get to know each other, whatsoever.
I heard a muttered, "Not that we'd want to get to know her." Someone else chuckled, and I wished I could tell who it was so I could turn and glare at them, but that would only upset them more I knew.
"Yea." I agreed with Liam. "I'm sure once we have the time to hang out, we will become best friends." I heard sarcastic agreements from behind me, and was at least happy they understood my snide comment.
We turned a block corner, and a group of several girls appeared, gathered on the sidewalk in front of a building. It seemed to be only eight or nine girls, and I thought I saw one man with a camera, but that was all who were loyal enough to stand out in the cold at One Direction's studio.
"I'll go around back." Paul said, beginning to turn the wheel, but one of the boys jumped forward and grabbed the back of his seat.
"No,'' said Harry in his slow, raspy voice. "Let us out here."
Paul shook his head, "Harry, you don't know what could happen. You shouldn't put yourself in..."
"I want to talk to our girls." Harry demanded intensely and did not wait for a reply as he opened the van door and stepped out onto the street, followed by the rest of his band without a second of hesitation. In my head I typed this under Harry's name on my computer:
1. Dedicated to his fans, and loves to see them.
Paul, groaning like this was not the first time Harry had disobeyed him, shut off the van engine and wrenched the door open to go after the ones he was supposed to guard. I bet it was hard to keep up with them sometimes. Through the van I could hear the screaming, and could see the girls moving in for pictures with them. I wondered whether I should get out or not, considering the fans were not here for me, and that I was not even officially a member until the head of management announced it.
My door opened wide, and my questions were immediately answered, "Come on." Liam commanded. I stepped out, hugging my arms as I adjusted to the cold, and I expected every eye to turn to the girl who had just stepped out of 1D's van, but no paid attention to me. Harry, Louis, and Zayn were slwoly making their way through the fans, making sure to snap several photos with each.
"Marry me, Louis?" asked one girl.
"Alright." The boy agreed, and wrapped an arm around her waist for a photo, the girl practically melting in his arms.
Niall stepped up on the other side of me, and we walked through the girls behind the other boys, slowly, as everyone wanted to get a picture with Liam and Niall, too. I tried to back up out of the photos, but failed miserably and probably bombed all of them. Once we reached the door, Harry turned to face his adoring fans one last time, waving happily at them. The man I had seen with the camera stepped forward, aiming the device at us. "Is that the mystery girl, Liam, or is she just another fan?"
He was talking about me, of course, since it was obvious I was with them, standing directly between Liam and Niall. I expected them to think I was just another fan, since that was all I looked like. then a thought brougth a smile to my lips. One day, later on, when I was able to find this funny, I would be able to look back and say that when crowded my fans taking pictures, everyone thought the sixth member was just another fan, as I was in the background of several photos. I hoped that I could laugh about all of this in the future, and maybe I would even have firneds in the band who would laugh with me about it. However, that was being too hopeful, because out of the corner of my eye I saw Zayn frown indisgust of the question, and I remembered them telling Richard Griffiths they could never be friends with a girl like me.
Well, I did not want to be friends with them. I hated this stupid boy band, and everything about it. The music, the fandom, the tours, everything.
I stepped forward and smiled falsely, "I am definitely not a fan." I said, and pushed through the door into the studio behind me, leaving everyone in shock.
I still wish that I could have seen the looks on the boys' faces when I said that, because that was the first time they all thought, "Maybe we don't know her like we thought we did." That was the first moment they actually considered that was not who they expected and even thought about trying to figure out who I actually was.
It was also the first step in changing one of the member's of One Direction forever.
A/N: I had planned on making this chapter longer, so I did not have all wanted, but I thought it was good to end on that note. Curious, aren't you?
Please tell me what you think! Do you think they hate her too much, or not enough? Is it just terrible, and I need to stop? Am I killing you with all these cliffhangers? Is it confusing? PLEASE TELL ME!!
Anyways, sorry about that, but I hope you are enjoying this so far whether you like 1D or not.
Stay true to you, loves
-Lisle