A/N: Hey people, so this chapter got deleted (Dont look at me, I am not responsible for what I accidentally do!) so here is my attempt at rewriting what was amazing to me the first time. I hope I don't disappoint:( Anyways, I worked hard on this chapter despite its difficulty, and I hope for anyone out there not sure about liking 1D, that I am convincing you.
Still dedicated to 1Dluveee for her great suggestions...that I LOVE!!!
I need three votes and three comments on this chapter before continuing:)
Vote if you love the TMH tour!
Chapter 7:
As soon as I stepped into the building I was compltely lost. I had been hoping for a "One Direction this way" sign to point me in the right direction, but who was I to have good luck? A long hallway stretched before me, every few feet a doorway that led down a new hallway, with even more doors. For a second I had wanted to wait on the boys to lead me where I needed to go, but I hated feeling dependent on them, so being hopelessly stubborn, I had marched off down the hallway boldly, thinking it would be easy enough to find my way. I was totally wrong, because five right turns and three lefts later, I was trapped in a seemingly endless maze of hallways, and had not seen a single person who could possibly help me. I knew I was late to whatever I was supposed to be doing, and knew that One Direction and the vocal coach were probably very angry at me by this time. I felt so stupid for taking off like that through a huge and unfamiliar place, but I was never one to think things out, and always made rash desicions, like singing to a mob, for instance.
Just as I was beginning to grow desperate, I turned down another hallway and spotted a familiar boy. Louis, his back to me, stood only a few feet away, looking up and down the hallways stretchig out on either side of him. He wore a cream colored sweater, and red skinny jeans, grey TOMs on his feet. His brown hair was styled down into fringe today, unlike the quiff it had been in at the concert, and it made him look less sophisticated and more cute, more attractive. Yes, he was attractive, as they all were, but I was good at hiding what I was thinking when it came to things like this. They would never know I thought them beautiful.
"Louis!" I cried, ecstatic to see someone, anyone, who could lead me out of this labyrinth. He whirled on me as I ran up to him, a smirk on his lips until they fell upon me, and it was replaced with a disdainful grimace.
"Where have you been?" he snapped.
"I-I was lost." I stuttered out at his temper, taking a step back.
"Oh, nevermind." he said, and grabbed my wrist, tugging me along behind him roughly. "We have been looking for you all over. Now we are especially late, all because you decided to pull your little diva act.' He turned to look down at me suddenly, making me walk right into him in the process. "Never do that again, by the way. You may think you are in control, but you have another thing in coming."
I gaped at him, my face burning with anger. "Little diva act? I just answered a question!"
He scowled menacingly. "Yes, diva act. We all know you were just wanting attention, trying to steal the show again. Let us talk from now on, alright, love?" He never let me reply, not that it would have been clever since I was still majorly confused, but he dragged me along behind him down the hallway and led me into a side room I had not noticed. It was large, complete with a lounge area in the corner, a table covered in papers and headphones, two recording booths, one on each side of the room, and an entire overload of technology, electronics, and sound boards used for the recordings. Liam and Harry were chatting with two other men in the corner, looking very serious, as Zayn and Niall sat on a pair of stools in a soundbooth a single mic between them.
"And I wanted to mention my solo, too.'' I heard Liam say. "In Moments last night, I felt a little behind and want to get it perfect."
"We can work on that..." trailed off one of the strangers, who I guessed were the vocal trainers.
"Also," Harry added. "Josh did a stunning job on drums last night, could we like make sure that gets brought out a little more so people can hear?"
The men nodded in agreement, liking the boys' contribution. Louis the took this chance to interrupt. "Found her." and he gave me a slight shove forward. All eyes turned to me, including those in the booth, and I felt fear incase me, like all the pressure in the room was suddenly dropped on me.
"Sorry, I was-" I tried to apologize, knowing that it probably did look like a "little diva act" from their perspective, but one of the men shrugged it off.
"Nevermind that, just great to have you here." This man was tall and broad, with a gleaming bald head and friendly smile. His accent was thick and undefinable. "I'm David Lerwick, by the way. I'll be helping out with your vocal training today."
"Good, I'll need all the help I can get." I shook his outstretched hand and grinned politely.
"No doubt," muttered a voice from somewhere in the room. It was the same voice that had been mumbling ever since I met One Direction, but I still could not decipher who the low-spoken insults belonged to. As soon as I found out, however, that boy would be dead.
The other trainer next to David seemed not to hear it, or did not care because he just stuck out his own hand and greeted, "I'll be helping, too. My name's Savan Kotecha." This man was dark skinned, and wore a green beanie over his black hair. He had a scruffy beard growing along his jaw and the laugh lines around his eyes and mouth gave him youth. "Nice to meet you."
"I'm Delia Stanford." I introduced myself to both men, meeting their eyes as I said, "Nice to meet you, too."
David began laughing and slapped Louis' shoulder with a harsh whack, "She's just like you, lads. Feels the need to introduce herself to everyone, even when we already know who she is."
Louis just smirked like he cared as I blushed a bright red and said shyly, "Sorry, it's a habit."
"A good one." pointed out Savan, and met my eyes intensely with his dark ones. "No matter what, don't stop.'' I never understood until much later, when everthing was out of control, how valuable that piece of advice was to me and any celebrity starting out. Never forget that you started out with no one knowing your name, and never leave behind the person that had to make themsleves seen, or you will lose yourself completely. It took me a while after this to truly understand, though.
"Well," David clapped his hands together officially. "We would love to hear you sing, dearie, but we are still waiting on one more person. Louis, would you mind-''
Louis interrupted him by yelling loudly, "No worries, Superman will save the day!" With his hands raised and a broad grin on his face, looking quite childish, he took off down the hallway. So that was the real Louis when he was not spending all his time glaring at me? If it was, he seemed cool and playful, not rude and hateful like he acted towards me. I could still hear him yelling, "SUPAHMAN!" all the way from in here.
David turned to the rest of the boys in the room, "Why we wait on the hero to return, boys, why don't we warm-up real quick?" Liam and Harry joined the other two boys in the sound booth and they immediately all began stretching like they were about to run a mile then sing.
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*Liam’s P.O.V.*
“I have an announcement to tell the world today… “ Here it comes. The announcement that will shake the One Direction world for good. I did not want it to come, no matter how the boys joked about me being under her spell. I did not want her to be the new member any more than they did. I always felt responsible for keeping the band together, getting us places on time, and saying the right things during interviews. I took care of the band, and that was how it always had been. However, I refused to take care of Delia, too, even if she would let me. I did not want this job anymore if it meant having to mediate the arguments that were sure to go on between everyone. Delia could deal with it on her own, because I would not watch after her too.
“What’s this about?” My best mate, Marius, questioned from the stool beside me. We sat in a bar downtown called the Funky Buddha, and had walked here after having lunch with my family who had flown up here for the day. It had been great to see my mum and everyone for a while, but I was glad I would not be with them when the announcement would be made.
I turned to Maz with a glare, “If you shut up and listen you will know.” I finished the sentence with a grin and pointed my beer bottle in the direction of the screen above the bar where we sat.
“Yea, Maz,” agreed Andy, placing a hand on my shoulder. “Just listen to Liam’s mancrush.”
Without even glancing at him, I swung out a fist and punched his shoulder so hard that he lost his balance on the barstool and fell off. He scowled but I merely kept my attention on the screen above.
“You all have seen the rumors going around about a mystery girl who sang with One Direction after their first concert of the Take Me Home tour. And I would just like to clear a few things up.”
Of course, the whole world has seen that publicity stunt, Richard, but you cannot tell them that was what it was. I turned to Andy to shush him because he had started talking again. I needed to hear the lie Richard Griffiths was about to say so I would not be behind. I had to know what lies to go along with during the interview tomorrow after all. I felt my heart squeeze tightly at the thought. Lies was what One Direction had come to.
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*Louis’ P.O.V.*
Eleanor turned her gorgeous brown eyes to me and asked curiously, “Lou, what’s this?” I knew she was referring to the broadcast playing on the tv screen in the corner of the diner, where all eyes were aimed.
“Just watch, love.” I said to my girlfriend. She reached out with her small hand and took mine, squeezing it with a tiny smile, before turning back to the tv with curiosity. I smiled for a moment, watching the girl I loved in utter admiration. She truly was the sweetest, most beautiful person I had ever met. I could not help but stare at her sometimes, amazed by how someone like her could be mine, yet here she was. If I was not already lucky enough to be in a band with my bestmates, it was a miracle that I was brought Eleanor, too. Her brown eyes looked up at the screen in the corner with deep concern and confusion so I turned my attention there also.
I watched in disgust as the head of Modest! Management spoke to a crowd of press standing around him, holding mics and cameras to catch his every word. “It has recently come to my attention that One Direction has lost a bit of their…spark, if I may say. I have been wondering lately what I could do to put their fame back in the spotlight, and then Delia appeared like a vision in a dream. Friday night she came from the crowd with her dazzling personality and unparalleled charm and she was the perfect fit for my band.”
“We are not your band.” I growled under my breath, and took a large swig of my beer before slamming it back down on the table. Eleanor looked at me without a word and just squeezed my hand soothingly, stroking my knuckle with her thumb. She always knew the perfect way to calm me down, and to comfort me…just like someone else used to do. No, Louis, don’t do that to yourself right now….
My mum lay hand on my shoulder from behind me and asked sweetly, “What is he talking about, Lou-dear?”
I shook my head without meeting her eyes, and waved my hand in the direction everyone was already looking. “You’ll find out soon enough.” She looked doubtful and even a little angry, but I knew this was too difficult to explain myself, and I really did not feel like talking about Delia. The lads and I had luckily worked with David all morning so I had avoided her, but even thinking about the way she medaled her way in here pissed me off.
I glanced over my shoulder quickly to see that even my little sisters had stopped their giggling to watch. I doubt the younger two truly understood, but they did know it had something to do with their older brother and his crazy friends. Anyone with a brain could get that something big was happening.
I must have begun to shake with anger, because I felt Eleanor’s soft skin caress my knuckle. It was the perfect way to soothe me and I relaxed instantly. She always knew how to comfort me, just like someone else used to…. No, Louis. Don’t do that to yourself, now.
“As soon as I met Delia I knew I wanted her. Immediately, everyone fell in love with her, because that is just the way she is and I am sure the rest of the world will love her like we do.”
No, I will never love her. I vowed this inside of my head, because I never wanted to let myself fall into her trap. She was not worth my love, and nothing she could do would make up for her creating that little mob at the concert to get in the band. I would make sure that I never let myself be tricked by her, and would try to keep my best mates from doing so either. I did try so hard to stop him for falling for her, I really did. Even I cannot stand in the way of what is meant to happen, though, however painful it ends up to be…
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*Zayn’s P.O.V*
It was amusing that Liam and I chose the same bar to come to after being with family. I could see his shoulders tense as the broadcast started playing on the screen above his head. I had a perfect view from where I sat in the booth only a few tables away. Liam was laughing and smiling with his friends he had not seen in a while and I did not want to disrupt him. I honestly did not want to be alone, though. All morning I had tried to act normal, but everyone could tell something was up. Everyone knew I was hiding something. How could I tell them, though? It would enrage them, hurt them, and sadden them. And although that was how I felt right now, sitting alone with a half-used cigarette between two loose fingers, I did not want to be the reason for their stress.
If I did tell them my secret, then they would probably be in this shadowed by darkness booth, where even the waitresses forget to come, trying to help me figure a way out of this together. There was no way out, though, I knew, no matter what. Delia singing today was only more proof of that. What was done was done.
So that is why I sit alone, watching Liam stare up at the screen intently, smoking the last bit of this joint, and trying to figure out when my life became so complicated. I wanted to run away from all of this, including the band, but that would just cause more unnecessary pain.
Pain my heart could not take.
I did not want to be sitting all alone in this corner, with not a single friend to talk to, since I could not even tell my family, but that was how it had to be. I was alone. What was done was done.
Through my self-pity I could hear Richard Griffiths saying, “So I talked with her manager and signed her over to Modest!, where we can give her the career she deserves, but one things still felt wrong. She just looked so good with One Direction, and they seemed to really… sparkle as a sixsome. She fit like the final piece to a puzzle. So I asked myself: Why should I seperate them when they looked so great and were so friendly towards one another afterwards? Why should I break them up so early?"
I took a deep, shaky breath, hearing my heart rattle inside of my chest like it had finally disconnected from my body. I needed to just accept this and move on, really. The lads were getting worried and they really needed to be focused on the tour and getting along with Delia, right now. After this I would return to being the funny, sometimes shy Zayn that I was supposed to be for the sake of everyone else. I just had to go along with this life while I could because everything I had, my friends, my career, my future could be gone in a second.
Yes, I especially had discovered how easily things could be lost.