A/N: Sorry, I’ve taken so long to update. School is over Wednesday so I will get more time to write. I haven’t edited yet, so excuse my mistakes.
Hope you enjoy:)
Chapter 14
"What do you mean sending an emergency helicopter would be illogical?" I could hear Liam ask from the seat behind us. It was surprising I heard anything over the yelling from down below, which had not let up for the past twenty minutes we have been stuck here.
"Well, a helicopter is a much better idea then going through that mob, Paul." Liam was looking frustrated, while I was feeling terrified. I had bad experiences with One Direction mobs, and the simple memory of the black clothes and chanting sent shivers down my spine. While the Ferris wheel was stuck, we were safe, but eventually we would have to get back to the ground, and Liam's helicopter idea was a sure failure.
"Have you see how many are down there?" Liam sighed. "No, I can't see you from here I'm a hundred feet in the air!"
It was almost amusing to watch the frustration cross Liam's face as he spat sarcastic comebacks to our tour manager. I was worried, too, but I had unfailing optimism that we would almost surely not be killed by the mob. Admittedly, I was still scared and shaking, but I knew to hope for the best.
"I apologize for my tone. That was uncalled for."
I giggled at Liam's regretful voice, and turned to find Harry giving me an odd look.
"Delia, what could possibly be funny in this situation?" He sounded tired and annoyed. "Please tell me."
I shrugged, trying to hide the smile developing on my face as I turned away. "Nothing is funny, Harry. This situation is just..."
"Just what?" He asked harshly, seeming a little aggravated by my barely suppressed giggles.
"Well, imagine the headlines tomorrow." I held up my hands like a reporter. "' One Direction trapped on Ferris wheel in terror of fans'. Sorry, but I find this the tiniest bit... ridiculous." Harry tried to bite back his smile, by holding his lower lip between his teeth, but eventually the laugh won out and spilled from his mouth.
The high-pitched cackle coming from the man beside me was so cute and hilarious that I joined in on the laughter and soon we were both laughing hysterically. I was pretty sure that nothing was actually funny, but we were laughing because it was the only way to release the tension and forget what the situation was. And it worked, too, until-
“Oi, what’s so funny?” Louis questioned, his head angled up and backwards to see us from his chair.
“Nothing… at all… Lou.” Harry said between deep breaths, trying to recover from laughing.
“How are you laughing about this?” asked Niall, cocking his head similar to Louis. “This isn’t something to smile about, you two.”
My grin never faltered before Louis said, “Well, Delia’s happy that her plan worked for the second time. Get One Direction into a crowded area then have them mobbed by fans for her own publicity. She succeeded once again. But two thumbs up for the creativity of the Ferris wheel, though.”
Felling anger pound through my veins, I wrenched the metal lap bar up and got to my feet, the chair swinging wildly from the motion. “You don’t know what you’re talking about, Louis.” I snarled loudly so he could hear.
“Oh, but don’t I?” Louis said, hitching an eyebrow as he smirked.
“No!” I almost shrieked. “But you won’t see past that will you?”
I was childish. I realize that, but even as I wrenched my arm back to throw it I had no second thoughts other than pegging him good. It was immature, wrong, ad totally out of character, but the look on his face as the stuffed cat hit him right on the side of the head was all worth it.
“You can throw a toy animal over ten feet while on a Ferris wheel, yet you can’t hit a balloon with a dart to save your life?” Harry said, but I was not listening to him as I smiled smugly at the shocked expression on Louis’ face.
“W-what?” Louis picked up the cat from his lap and examined its wide eyes and gaping maw. “How adorable.” He stated, before throwing it to the hundreds of people down below. They screamed and fought over the stuffed cat that was touched by three members of One Direction.
“Why did you do that?” I asked angrily.
He retorted, “Why did you hit me with it?” I will give him that. I should not have done it, but there really were a lot of things over the past few days that I should not have done, so why be sensible now?
Louis was now on his feet, and I was pretty sure Niall and Harry were terrified for their lives. The chairs rocked back and forth dangerously from our displaced weight, but I did not even care.
“Guys, sit down.” Niall tried to order, but he was not very good at being threatening. Perhaps, when he is angry, but I think he was just fearful now. “You can yell at each other later. When we are back in the hotel. For right now we need to stay focused on being a band.”
I glanced down at the ground, Niall’s last words echoing in my head. No one would have heard us yelling though over the hundreds of girls screams and for all they knew we were standing in our chairs to scream how much we loved each other. No one would be able to tell what was going on in.
“Oh please, Niall.” I was surprised at Louis’ tone, and I guessed he was rolling his eyes. “We are nowhere near a band with how we have been behaving lately.”
“Well we are going to be a dead band if you two don’t sit down.” Liam yelled and all of our eyes snapped to him. He was now on his feet, causing his own chair to tip, and Zayn to clutch his legs in fear. “We’ve had a nice night at the fair, everyone. Why should a fan riot and a broken Ferris wheel change that?”
Harry, not saying a word, grabbed my hand, causing my knees to give out and I dropped back onto the chair. Louis also returned to his seat, and Niall wrapped an arm around his shoulder to cool him down. I, however, got no comfort, because Harry let go of my hand as soon as I was safely secured by the lap bar and slid back into his position on the opposite end of the chair, not looking at me.
What a wonderful way to gain his trust, Delia… to yell at his best friend and throw the cat he won at you. I dropped my head in my hands and heard Liam ask if I was alright, but I did not reply. Eventually he gave up and I drowned in my thoughts of anger and regret. Something inside of me was saying that Louis was not as bad as he acted towards me, and that it was just a reaction to something I was provoking him with. I knew Niall was not fond of me by the way he avoided eye contact and the annoyed tone he got whenever speaking to me. And Zayn always seemed so sad and angsty when I was in the room, like I was causing him a great deal of pain he could not get over.
Louis was different. He was on a whole new level of hate, which brought out the hateful side of me, and vice versa. Something had to change, or we would keep on making these same mistakes… Oh great, now I have that song stuck in my head.
We jerked forward, and then the ride began to move again. The crowd below screamed louder as we neared the ground and I began to feel goose bumps rise on my skin and I had to bite my lip to keep from hyperventilating. How do these people do this everywhere they go? It was nerve-wracking
Niall and Louis’ chair pulled to a stop first and they exited while I forced a smile onto my face. I felt Harry’s warm breath on my neck as he whispered, “Stay close to us.” I nodded and gulped as our chair slid to a stop and I pushed out the metal bar to get up. As soon as I turned my attention to find the other two, all I could see were people and flashing lights. I stopped mid-step as several different bodies pressed in closer to me, screaming my name and questions that I could not even begin to decipher.
I felt warm hands on my waist and I was being pushed forward into a tall person’s back. Somewhere in my mind I was aware that Liam was leading me through the crowd and that I was walking on the heels of Harry who had at some point grabbed my hand. The other three were close by, and were helping us push through, but we were not getting far. My mind seemed to lose every emotion other than fear and I lost all touch with my senses and thoughts as I just knew that somehow we were still alive.
I heard Paul’s voice yelling over the crowd of screaming, and more bodies pressed in closer into our tight-knit cluster. Every single fan was trying to snap a picture or touch some part of One Direction, and although I was pretty sure they were reaching for Liam, I was getting touched too. It took twenty minutes of ducking our heads through the crowed, shuffling our feet, and following the directions of the many security guards that had arrived around us, but eventually we made it completely out of the fairgrounds.
“Run for the van!” Paul yelled and began to herd us towards the getaway vehicle. It was mistake for him to do that, though, because even as Liam was trying to hold onto me and run, I was slowly getting behind and getting caught up to by the mob chasing us. Once my band and security was completely out of view my brain finally turned back on. Girls who looked way too much like me surrounded me on both sides, but did not recognize me as the fair employees pushed us back to stay away from the band. My band.
I started to breathe hard, as people of all sizes squished me between them, forcing me move with them. It was loud, dark from the lack of fair lights where we stood, and so hot from the mingled bodies around me. I could not breathe, and could not do anything to try to escape but let loose quick panicky breaths of air.
“Where’s our Delia?” voices called over the screaming.
“Where is our girl?”
“Dels?”
“Delia, babe, where are you?”
“Where is our Delia?”
I wanted to cry in relief when familiar faces finally appeared. Liam and Zayn grabbed my hand and tugged me through the fray of fans and into the huddle of the rest of the band. They had actually come back for me, and had searched for me among the girls that must be hard to decipher from. I wanted to give them all a hug, even Louis because I had heard him calling for me, too. Liam gripped my hand hard this time and we took off for the van at a slower speed so my shorter legs could keep up.
Within seconds we had left the mob and the fair behind and were safe in the comfy black interior of our van. I slumped down against Liam in the seat, trying to get my heart rate back to a suitable speed. Paul started the engine just as fists began to bang against the van windows and faces appeared to try and sneak a peak of the band. We drove away quickly and I finally felt my fear subside.
“Thanks for coming back for me.” I said, my head resting on Liam’s comfortable shoulder. “I would have never escaped.”
Zayn grinned, but like always, it did not meet his eyes, “No worries, love. You are a member of our band and since you are the youngest and a girl it makes it our responsibility to protect.”
“I said we would help you, did I not?” Liam wiggled his shoulders and I smiled. “We aren’t going to leave our Delia behind when she needs us.”
Harry smirked, a gleam in his beautiful green eyes. “You are ours now, Delia.” My eyelids began to droop closed as I sleepy smile slipped onto my face.
“That sounds nice.” I muttered as I curled into Liam’s broad chest and drifted off into a much needed sleep.
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*Harry’s P.O.V.*
The dark circles beneath my eyes are clearly visible as I stare at my reflection in the bathroom mirror. Thankfully, Caroline’s concealer techniques have prevented the lads from noticing them, but without the make-up they are as clear as day. To me, my lack of sleep was obvious, from my tired eyes to my lack of attention to anything anymore, yet the other lads are completely unaware. I wanted it that way, though. If they knew that I had had trouble sleeping for a few months before I just gave up on trying completely two weeks ago and stayed up all night then they would try to get me help. Help involved medications for sleep apnea, and that was something I just could not deal with at the moment.
I thought I had been caught last week when I had shut the fridge door a bit too loudly. Liam had come bursting into the room, throwing on a jacket. I had hit the floor of the kitchen in seconds and hidden, but Liam never even looked my way. He simply grabbed up a room key and left the hotel suite without a word to anyone. I could never directly ask him why he left in the middle of the night or why he did not return for hours because then he would discover that I had not been sleeping for a little over two weeks now.
Having no sleep was very unhealthy and caused me to loose attention easily, but I could not lie in bed and move around restlessly until morning. So, I played video games and read through the night, and the boys never noticed that their best friend had only slept while in the van going to the concert and the airport. They had never, and hopefully would not ever, notice that I was slowly going mad with exhaustion.
I splashed water from the sink in my face. I heaved a deep breath and dropped my head, gripping the counter tightly, and slowly looked up into the face of a weary-eyed, pale, skinny-framed boy. A coward. I thought, hearing the words repeated in many different voices. There were so many names that I had been called, and from so many people. They each collided roughly in my brain, pushing for the attention so it could rip my heart in two again.
I bit back a scream as I let my fist pound into the bathroom counter over and over until it was stained dark red. Once I had cleaned up the mess, and wrapped enough toilet paper around my knuckles to stop the bleeding I left the bathroom and began to walk down the hall to the kitchen for a drink.
“No! No!” screamed a high-pitched voice from the room beside me. I could not remember who it belonged to so I pushed the door open to find a petite body shaking and flailing underneath the sheets.
“Please help me.” Delia’s terrified voice cried and I walked farther into the room, my heart breaking with every step. “Don’t hurt them, please!”
I pulled the covers of the bed down to find Delia’s beautiful face scrunched up in fear and tears falling from her closed eyelids. The poor thing must be having a terrible nightmare. I brought my hand up to my bare chest and fingered the bracelets around my wrist. If only she understood what she had done to me on the Ferris wheel earlier, as she had been playing with my bracelets. I wanted to tell her that they actually stood for my regrets and the shameful things I had done to myself. I had used these to cover them up, but still wore them to remind myself of when I had been cowardly enough to do such things.
I wore my regrets on my wrist every day for everyone to see, but this bright-eyed, smart mouthed girl from America was the first one to ever question me about it. She was the first one to ever ask me to stop hiding behind them. For her, I would try forget to forget my shameful past.
“Oh god, no!” she cried out and I gasped like her pain could actually hurt me. I wondered what I should do. If I woke her up then she would be weirded out by the fact that I had snuck into her rom late at night, and then begin to question why I was up in the first place. I could lie and say her screaming woke me up while all the others boys are just heavy sleepers, but she would see right through me.
I could not just let her go on like this, though. Her dainty hands rolled into a fist as she gripped the sheets and brought them to her chest. She let out a small whimper and more tears flowed down her cheeks. Without a single thought crossing my mind, I cupped her face and wiped away the tears with my thumb. Delia sighed and leaned into my touch so I took this as a good sign. I let my hand slip into her dark brown curls and ran my hand through them gently, pushing the hair off of her sweaty forehead.
A smile formed on her lips and she curled her knees up to her chest, finally relaxing in her sleep. I could not believe that it was me that was causing her nightmares to cease, simply because I was touching her. All that mattered was that I was helping her sleep, even when I could not. I gently moved onto the bed and sat right at the edge, careful not to stir her. He must have felt my presence because she moved closer for warmth until the top of her head was brushing my thigh.
I took a deep breath to calm the emotions roiling in my stomach from her closeness and focused on stroking her soft hair and watching the now peaceful expression on her face.
Zayn was right, just like usual. Delia was worth liking, no matter what she had done. She had not completely convinced me, but something in my heart was pushing me to just let myself fall. That was something I could not do though. Liking a girl and trusting my heart were two completely opposite things to me, a boy who had trouble fully loving someone. When I did, either I ended up hurting them, or they ended up hurting me.
For hours I sat in her bed, watching her eyelashes flutter and her soft breathes escape her parted lips. I did not fall sleep, for obvious reasons, but I did not leave her side either until the sun began to shine through the window. I did not want to be here when she woke up, so I ran back to my room to fake sleep for when Liam would come to wake me. The picture of Delia lying beside me never left my mind.
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*Delia’s P.O.V*
“What if they throw things at me?” I asked and watched Liam try to contain his laughter.
“Why would they throw things at you?” he asked, trying to look serious, but failing.
“I don’t know what goes through the minds of those hormone crazed fans.” I said. “I’ve never been one.” I threw my hands up in exasperation. “Why would anyone throw their bras on stage?”
Liam burst out laughing at that and I had to clamp my hand over his mouth to keep the noise down. We were in the corner of the stage, hidden behind the drum sets, while the others worked on their positions for the concert. They had not noticed we had decided to sneak back here for a break, and I was hoping we could keep it that way. It was mid-afternoon and ever since Liam had woken me up early this morning we had been here, practicing, rehearsing, and doing sound checks.
I had been talking with Liam all day as he instructed me on how to act during the concert and give me advice. He had realized how nervous I was as soon as I had stepped onto the stage and seen the sea of empty seats spread out before me, each one to be filled later. His calming tone, and good advice was working so far, but once it was time for the concert to begin it would be hard not to go into a panic attack again.
“Just watch out and you won’t get hit.” Liam instructed. “I doubt they will actually aim for you.”
I gave him a non-convinced frown, but he did not notice and stated the motto he had created for me, “Relax, let loose, have fun, and remember you have five idiots right on stage beside you to help.”
I grinned and reached out to run my hand over his short hair, laughing at the odd feeling. “Thanks, bro.” I said.
“So now I’m your brother?” Liam said in amusement. I nodded, and he added, “You could start calling me Bro-Liam as my new nickname, because it’s an element and everything.”
I eyed the goofily grinning man as I said, “Don’t you mean Berillium?’
He frowned, “Oh….right.”
“I just know that because I’ve memorized the entire element song. I can sing it at top speed just like Daniel Radcliffe.” I bragged. “You ever heard of it?” I said after seeing his confused expression.
“Nope.” He said, popping the ‘p’. “You’ll have to sing it for me later. Right now we should probably get back to rehearsals, sis.” He helped me to my feet and slung an arm over my shoulders as we walked back to center stage, where the other four members were running around like complete dorks.
“Thanks for the help, bro.” I said, right before he took off to join his friends, but he sent me a smile over his shoulder.
An hour later I was finally finished trying on the clothes that Lou and a team of designers had made for me. I had had to model each one for them, until they decided it was good enough for the concert, and I had to say that it was the most awkward thing I have ever done. They had decided that my first outfit would be a light blue plaid sundress with black, flower-patterned legging beneath it and knee high boots. The second outfit would be bright red jeans and a Rolling Stones tanktop that was open at the sides to reveal a striped blue shirt underneath. The last outfit I would wear for the night would be a varsity jacket and black shorts with hightops. Personally, I think they were trying to incorporate the other boys styles of clothing into my own.
I had just pulled my shirt back over my head when the door of my dressing room burst open to five loudly chattering boy band members.
“Don’t you knock?” I said, slightly bugged. They simply shrugged and fell onto the couches the stylists had occupied before they left me to change.
“We knock when we want to.” Louis said sassily as he stretched out his legs. “Now come, little girl, we are starving and Paul is waiting to take us out to eat.”
“Little girl?” I repeated and raised my eyebrows quizzically. “Did you really just-“
Louis interrupted me, “You are three years younger than me, smaller than me even if only by an inch, and I’m almost sure you are a girl. So, yes I did just call you little girl.”
“I’m going to need proof on that whole “girl” thing.” Zayn said suggestively and smirked.
I rolled my eyes as Niall burst out laughing and began to clap his hands in a retarded seal way. Grumbling about how immature they are, I started looking for my purse and phone. Once they are both in my hands I turned around and give the laughing group in front of me a strange look. How is it that I always miss out on the joke?
“You ready, Dels?” Liam asked after he recovers. I nodded and we all headed out to the back exit, and got into the van, in our usual spots. As I buckled my seatbelt, I barely glanced up and found Harry watching me with a weird look on his face. When he knew I had caught him staring he snapped his head to the window and pretended to be occupied with something outside. He had not really talked to me all day, but that did not bother me because what with all the rehearsing no one had time to talk to anyone, really, beside Liam and I when we snuck off. It was not like Harry was going to go out of his way to talk to me now just because we seemed to bond at the fair last night. It was just probably the excitement and fun that made him forget about his hatred for me.
We pulled up to a restaurant with an unfamiliar name, “Chef Lindon’s Kitchen.” It seemed small and rundown from the outside, but as soon as we stepped in the fresh aroma of basil and garlic hit my nose and I was pleased to be here. Not many customers sat around the cozy Italian themed interior, so we got a table for seven easily and no one seemed to notice or care who we were.
Our waiter had a great sense of humor, for as soon as he spotted us he grabbed up some children’s menus, crayons, and set them down with the instructions to color inside the lines.
“I want the purple one, Hazza.” Louis whined, holding his hand out for the crayon.
Harry glanced around the table, his forehead scrunched in confusion, before turning back to Louis, “Excuse me, what?”
“Give me it!” Louis almost screamed and lunged for the crayon, but Harry was fast and had grabbed it up before Louis could even blink. “Harry!”
“Yes, Loubear?” Harry asked, as he tossed the crayon to Niall, behind him. Niall stuck his tongue out playfully at Louis before starting to color on his menu.
The waiter arrived back to the table to find the men in the oddest of positions. Louis had tried to wrestle the crayon out of poor Niall’s hand, while Harry had tried to hold him back. Liam had sided with Louis in trying to get the crayon, so, needing to protect the little Irishman, Zayn jumped in front of Niall and started to push Liam away. Meanwhile, Paul and I were in fits of laughter, trying to receive air through the hysterics.
“The coloring sheets were a bad idea, weren’t they?” whispered the waiter as he leaned down between us. Paul and I could only nod at him as we watched the boy band in front of us fight for their lives over a silly crayon.
“Which one do you belong to?” the waiter asked me, pointing to the childish men across the table. Why did everyone always assume I was dating one of them? Could they not see that I was forced into a band with them by blackmail and had to spend time with them because I had no choice? I guess not.
“All of them.” I answered simply and sighed. The waiter gave me a strange expression but I just ignored it and ordered my lunch.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.” I said a little while after the food had arrived and the purple crayon had been snapped in half. “What did you do?”
“Well, the lady just kept screaming at us.” Niall explained. “And we tried to explain that we were One Direction and needed to get to the stage, but she had just watched us climb over the brick wall and assumed we were there for Taylor Swift or something.”
Harry groaned, “No one was there for her.”
I giggled a bit as Niall continued with the story. “So after arguing with the lady and getting cussed out, we headed around to the front to see if we could get in that way. Wrong idea, because immediately thirty girls spotted us and started chasing us down the street. We ended up having to run all the way down the block to lose them before climbing through the window.”
“The womens’ restroom, I might add.” Zayn said. “But we didn’t realize it before and it was the only one open.”
“Did you make it in time to perform?” I questioned.
Louis chuckles, “Just barely. We had seconds to spare, and my Haz here was totally out of breath for his solo.”
Harry frowned deeply, that familiar wrinkle appearing between his eyebrows. “I really messed it up. Our first song, too.”
Every single man around me seemed to sigh in sadness as they watched their friend stare down at his lap in frustration of the memory. “You did great, Harry.” Liam assured and patted his friends shoulder.
Harry shook his head, but did not say anything. Eventually the boys moved on to a new subject and began telling me yet another story, this time one from their X-Factor days. I pretended to be interested, but truly my attention was on Harry, and the way his hands were tightly clutched around the napkin in his lap. I knew he was angry at himself over something, but I did not know what to do.
Since he sat right across from me, I was able to reach my foot out and lightly tapped his ankle. He jerked at the contact, but then slowly looked up at me, a smile on his face. I noticed the dimples indented on his right cheek and almost swooned at the cuteness, but instead I just tapped his ankle once more and pulled my foot away. Harry no longer looked distraught and instead joined his friends in retelling the time they stole some segways from a tour group in Venice to explore the Italian city themselves.
I smiled as they spoke, and nodded along in amusement. The stories of what they have done really were hilarious because I could see them getting into all that trouble, but I was really just happy about how excited they were. They would talk over each other as they tried to add more details, and would keep getting louder and louder before bursting out into laughter at the memories. Not only were they finally all being friendly towards me, but they were acting like best friends again. And that was what had me smiling.
I stood beside Liam as we waited at the corner for our ride to pull up. Paul had told us that we would be riding back to the concert arena in a limo, and I was bouncing in the excitement of riding a limo for the first time. Literally.
“Dilly, please stop hopping up and down.” Liam begged. “You are embarrassing us.” I gave him an ‘are-you-serious’ look and pointed at the idiots behind him. Niall was on Zayn’s back and Harry was on Louis’ as they raced up and down the block. Liam laughed at his friends’ silliness for a moment, but then paused and looked down at me.
At the same time, we said, “When in the band, do as the boys do.” He grinned and turned around so I could hop on his back. I wrapped my legs around his waist and he grabbed my legs to keep me on as he took off for the other members.
“It isn’t fair.” Louis whined for the umpteenth time. “You only won because Delia is so light. Harry weighs a ton.”
“Hey, now.” Harry said, feigning hurt.
“If I’d had Delia on my back,” Louis continued. “Then I would have won.”
“You would have dropped me,” I argued, getting on the edge of the leather seats in the limo.
“Yea, so?”
I groaned in defeat and took another sip of the water in the nice glass the limo supplied. The limo was quite the disappointment, since I was hoping for a disco light ceiling and party music, but the nice black leather and chrome mini fridge would have to be enough. Honestly, I was lucky to be in anything than the ratty old mini -van that my mother drove me around in before I got my own car, which was simply a small, red Lincoln. These past two days alone I had been in two very high-class, unbelievably expensive modes of transportation, beginning with that private jet. Hotel suites, limos, private jets, fancy French restaurants. Was it possible to get used to this life?
“Oh, great.” Zayn muttered as we neared the arena. He removed a set of keys from his pocket and held up a tiny mirror attached to the chain, and began fixing his hair by the reflection as he said, “They’re already lined up.” I took a moment to watch as the man, who looked absolutely perfect, fretted over his hair. I always thought that Zayn would be more cocky than the others, because of his looks, but as he stared into the tiny mirror with squinted eyes and a tight lip, all I saw was insecurity. I guess he was not vain, after all, rather just obsessed with not looking good enough.
The limo stopped moving and I could already hear screaming. I was about to reach out for Liam’s hand when the door opened and he bent his large figure over before stepping out and disappearing from view. Zayn, shoving his keychain into his pocket in a rush, followed close behind. The screaming of fans from just a few feet away sent fear shooting up my spine, as I clutched the edge of my seat with a tight grip. I moved one foot forward, but it was shaky, and I immediately retreated backwards into the warm interior of the limo.
I had a right to fear what was ahead of me, after several bad experiences with crowds and screaming fans. Before, on the Ferris wheel, I had had no control of having to go through that mob, or suffer the anxiety of being lost for those agonizing minutes. Now, however, I had a choice. Face whatever was waiting for me when I got the courage to step out of the limousine, or remain in hiding, stay safe, but be a wimp. Neither option seemed worth considering.
“You getting out anytime day?” asked a thickly accented voice. I turned in surprise to see that Niall had not yet gotten out, for he had turned to grab a quick drink, and was now waiting on me to move.
“Uh...” was my astute reply, as it was the only thing capable of coming from my hay wired mind.
Niall nodded, and an understanding smile formed on his lips. “I’m a little nervous around the crowds, too. The fans are lovely, but I get a tad claustrophobic.”
“I…I’m just scared something bad will happen.” I looked away from his clear blue eyes. The clarity of the irises seemed to pronounce his honesty and compassion with no barriers, enough so that it was hard to be under their scrutiny for too long without spilling your every secret.
“Don’t be.” Niall said simply, his smile becoming disarming by the brightness and dazzle of it. No wonder half the female population swooned from this man. His sweet and childlike personality gave him a presence that was near intimidating, somehow. “Have we not protected you so far? Last night we found you in record time. Granted, we should have kept up with you in the first place, but this time is different. The fans won’t be chasing us, because security is holding them back.”
“I’ve seen what security is up against a mob, Niall.” I said, shaking my head. “Nothing.” The memories flashed through my mind, and I felt the panic arise once more. My breathing began to get heavy.
“I used to be terrified, too. It’s alright.” Niall whispered, and offered me his hand. “Why don’t we face them together, aye?” I looked up to meet his eyes, and found they were the second most beautiful color of eyes I had ever seen as they were full of kindness, but also a timid side that he did not even try to conceal. That was enough to make me rest my hand in his and let him lead me out of the limo.
Fans screamed as the last two members of One Direction joined the rest in the tiny space created by the security holding everyone back. Liam eyed me curiously, then his gaze trailed down to the secure grip Niall had around my shaking hand and he smiled. “Glad you decided to join us.”
Liam did not hesitate to begin forward, checking that I was following close behind. The rest of the band circled in close around m. In the words of Louis, ‘right in the middle, where I belong.’ Although I heard the fans, I was able to block out their screaming if I shut my eyes. I let Niall’s warm hand lead me in the direction I needed to move.
I only opened my eyes when I heard a laugh so beautiful and lovely that I almost tripped over my own feet at the sound. Immediately, I found myself searching for him, since he was no longer behind me. When I found Harry running along the line of fans, practically being pulled in as he tried to touch all of their hands, I could not help but let a smile as wide as his spread across my face.
“Wooo!” he yelled. “Who’s excited?” His adoring fans replied with piercing shrieks that almost burst my eardrums, but Harry merely did his trademark smirk. He waved cheekily to the girls who worshiped the ground he walked on and ran to the other side so the rest of the fans would not seem forgotten.
Before I knew it, all the boys were joining in their band mates antics and trying to show attention to as many fans as they could as we continued forward. Since my hand was squeezing Niall’s too tightly to let go he raised it with his to high-five the fans, but I do not think anyone cared. I felt that if I somehow lost physical contact with one of my band mates I would lose them, and that was something that would for sure send me into another panic attack.
A good thirty minutes later, we had made it safely inside due to Paul rushing up behind us, calling out our lack of time to “mess around”, since we had a concert to do if we were not aware. Stepping into the building, I felt my hand wrenched from Niall’s but when I turned to look for the reason I found myself face to face with the most beautiful color of eyes I had ever had the luck to gaze upon.
“Are you alright?” Harry asked, licking his lips with habitual worry.
“Yes.” I replied. I noticed how close we were, only a few inches of separation and also that the hallway we now stood in was empty spare ourselves. His height had him towering over me, and I only had a foot before my back would be against the wall. “Why would I not be?”
Harry’s mossy green eyes, speckled with light amber and streaks of teal, flickered over my face for the truth. Seeming to find it, he said, “I don’t believe you.”
“Alright,” I took a step a back out of the tense position he had placed me in, but found my back pressed against the hard surface behind me. “But I don’t believe you are being yourself with me and I specifically told you to stop hiding, Harry.”
He shrugged and moved closer, his lips acquiring that annoying smirk again. “I’m… trying.” He gulped between his words. “I’m showing you how naturally protective I am of what is important to me.” The butterflies started in my stomach once again as I felt his hand lightly tap mine in the least evident way, like it could have been accident, but I knew nothing Harry did was an accident. Those eyes he had were all too knowing, as though he were aware of every thought running through my mind, and had plans formed in his head too far for me to even begin to understand. And even behind that, were the intense emotions brought to the surface last night, just waiting to be fished out again.
“When did I become important to you?”
As soon as the question left my lips, Harry’s eyes widened and he seemed to realize how close we were. He stepped back and spun on his heel to leave me standing absolutely shell-shocked in the desolate hall. Right before he turned the corner to disappear from view I called out, “Wait!”
He stopped mid-stride and turned his head over his shoulder, “Yes, Delia?”
I gulped several times as I found my throat suddenly dry, before asking, “Are we friends now?” It was a stupid, somewhat childish question, but to me it meant the world.
Harry seemed to not take it as seriously as he grinned like a Cheshire cat. “We’ll see, love.” He winked and then he and his curly hair were gone.
Somehow, I managed to amble my way to the familiar hall where our dressing rooms were and found the door that was mine. Thankfully, I had gotten a separate one from the boys for the in between song stage changes, but it had been after much debate from the set managers that it was a waste of time and space. For some reason, I was hesitant to open the door, and slowly pushed the knob down. The creak of the hinges made me wince, like the noise could disturb something on the inside.
As soon as I stepped foot onto the soft carpeting and the door had shut closed behind me I knew something was off. It felt like something- or someone- had been here in this very spot and glanced around the room like I did now. Only, the chill up my spine told me that that presence did not belong here. Nothing looked out of place, not a chair moved, a mirror crooked, or anything in the large space unorganized. I was being paranoid, that must be it.
Not a second after I had decided to move from my spot a dark figure, seemingly nothing more than a shadow leapt out of the closet where my pre-prepared clothes were hung. The body, clad all in black clothes, raced past me, shoving my shoulder, and knocking me into the wall. My head hit the surface harshly and stars danced across my vision. My knees buckled and I slid down the wall, unable to see or feel anything other than shock and the pain on the back of my skull.
Everything grew dark for what felt like seconds, but what was surely minutes until my eyes popped open again and my breath hitched at the spinning room. The dark figure was gone, but the door was left ajar, proving that it was not my imagination. Shakily, I got to my feet, balancing myself with one hand on the wall. A cold fear gripped me as I glanced around the room, my mind almost incapable of accepting that someone, uninvited and unallowed, had hidden in my dressing room, waiting for me.
I shut the door as I tried to calm my beating heart. As I headed towards a chair to sit, I finally saw the words written on the mirror in red. At first my dramatic mind thought it was blood, but as I stepped towards it, I discovered it to only be red sharpie.
That, however, did nothing to lessen the threat behind the words:
You are just one more to add to the list, Ms. Stanford.
I gulped, my hands shaky and sweaty, as I peeled the photo taped up off the mirror. It was from only an hour earlier. I was clearly visible on Liam’s back, and the rest of the boys playing around behind us. All of our smiling faces were circled in the red ink.
“Delia? Are you decent?” Liam’s voice floated through the door as he knocked repeatedly. The photo fluttered from my disabled fingers, but I quickly recovered it to tear it to shreds and tossed it in the trash. “You have to come join our preshow huddle. It’s the rules.”
The boys could not know about these threats. They did not need the distraction. And I could not risk my family by not following managements’ orders.
“One second!” I called out as I grabbed a used shirt and wiped the words off the mirror. My heart refused to stop beating at its unhealthy rate and the pain in my head was now a dull throb as I rushed to remove the threat. Once all the evidence was gone I said, “Come in, Li.”
The preshow huddle that Liam had previously mentioned turned out to be the most organized catastrophe I had ever seen. Every single member of the crew, band, and even Five Seconds of Summer had been ordered to be a part of this “circle”. In all actuality, it was mainly just a crowd of people gathered to get a huge thank you and motivational speech from One Direction and anyone who had something to announce. Before lunch, I had gotten the chance to meet the band, including Josh, Sandy, and Dan, who were really cool and had invited me to hang out with them after the concert, which I had agreed to immediately. Also, I had been looking for the restroom when I had heard some very nice vocal warm-ups occurring in a side room. Knowing they were not familiar sounds, I peeked in and pleasantly discovered the band that would be traveling with us through the UK, and several other countries as the “kick-off”, as they referred to it with vigor. Michael had suggested that we get to know each other better, since we would be working closely now, and I gave them all my number so we could hang out one day.
Now, as we waited for the last few stage crew members to find their way here to the obligatory huddle, I chatted away with Luke and Ashton about our favorite bands as if I was not still shaken by a certain dressing room encounter.
“Mumford & Sons are so folky, though.” Luke began with a blank tone. He obviously had no taste in the UK band. “The Lumineers have such a more raw and rustic tone-“
“For a bunch of Americans.” added on Ashton with a wink.
“Hey, now.” I said, feigning insult. “Us Americans must not be doing so bad if I made it here with you talented people.”
“You’re such a suck-up.” said Luke immediately. “I guess that’s what you get from someone who says that Two Door Cinema Club have a nice texture and verse.”
Ashton sniggered as I stuck out my tongue childishly, “Coming from someone who says Imagine Dragons are going nowhere.”
“Whatever.” Luke rolled his eyes and was about to once again defend why his tastes were better than mine when Liam pulled a megaphone from nowhere and began to quiet the crowd.
Suddenly, I was being yanked forward, and I felt Ashton helping whoever had a firm grip on my wrist by pushing me. When I had been thoroughly knocked into much of the crew while being pulled to the center, and had mumbled several strings of apologies, I appeared in the clearing of the middle with Liam, Zayn, Niall, and Harry. Louis was the culprit of the yanking and I quickly detached my wrist from his grip and scowled under my breath.
“There was no reason for that.” I muttered as Liam began his speech.
“You need to be up here so we show a united front of support.” replied Louis without even looking down at me.
“You could have asked politely instead of all the pulling.”
“My way worked better.”
I bit back any more rude remarks and tried to focus on Liam’s words.
“We would be absolutely no where without all of your hard work. You are what make One Direction what we are now. When we all work as a team, we truly make magic happen. So let’s make some more tonight and show the world what we can do!” Everyone cheered at that, even me, though I had only heard the last few sentences. I followed suit as the people around put their hands on each others shoulders and made a make-shift circle.
There were ten seconds of absolute quiet, where I guessed those who were religious were allowed the time to pray for success. I bowed my head and asked a short prayer for safety before someone began to softly say “One Band.”
Others joined in, as it became a low chant, like almost a hum of voices. Slowly, it built as more voices were added and repeated, “One band. One band.” It sped up until it was fast and disorderly and was no longer a hum, but a loud tribal sounding chant.
Liam grabbed my hand and the six of us began jumping in the middle with excitement, adding our voices to the chant. Liam made eye contact with his band mates and they changed the words by screaming loudly, “One dream!” Everyone picked up on that phrase too and began stomping their feet.
As the sounds crescendo, others began to join in the jumping until the backstage area was shaking with energy and excitement. Right as the chant built up to the loudest volume possible, everyone screamed out, “One Direction!” and cheered before departing to their work stations with a positive buzz.
One hundred and eighty seconds. I could hear the excitement, the screaming, and chanting. I had heard it before, in a different arena miles away, but then I had been just one in the crowd of hundreds. Now I would be one in the band of six on the stage.
One hundred and fifty-four seconds. The floor where I stood below the stage, on a tiny platform that would rise once my countdown was over, shook from the force of fans in the audience. They were waiting for us, for me. One Direction. Somehow that was still a shock in my mind. No matter how much you try to convince yourself something was a nightmare, or that you did not want it, your heart can say everything your mind wants to deny. This was incredible.
Ninety nine seconds. Butterflies of panic flew in my stomach as fear coursed through my veins, but it felt less like an arriving panic attack and more just an adrenaline rush. I was scared, definitely, of messing up the lyrics, running the wrong way, or tripping into the audience, but I was trying to swallow that down.
Seventy-three seconds. I turned to Liam on my right, who was bouncing on his heels in preparation.
“Hey, Li?”
“Yea, Dels?” He responded, smiling. When he had come into my dressing room a couple of hours before, I had managed to stay as calm as possible so as to not reveal anything. I was pretty sure he was picking up on it when he had had to drag me out for the huddle. Lou had then taken em to get ready, demanding that no boy, including Liam, was allowed in my dressing room. After that, everything back stage was too hectic for anyone to realize I was clearly shaken over something. No one had even seemed to see a person dressed in black who did not belong. Maybe it had been my vivid imagination after all. Or maybe whoever it was was just really good at sneaking around…
“What if I mess up?” I looked away from his eyes and instead pretended to be distracted by the nicely cropped stubble on his chin.
He sighed as if I was some adorable child that had asked yet another question. “Then we will congratulate you on your first time. You won’t be alone, love. I mess up all the time, and the lads always have my back. We’ll have yours.”
Having no choice but to believe his words as the truth, I nodded and smiled, gripping the mic in my hand. The floor beneath my feet began to rise like an elevator and I moved into my directed position, with my feet shoulders’ width apart and my hands by my side. As we rose, I turned to Liam, but I was pretty sure that Zayn, beside me, could hear as I said, “What did it feel like the first time you performed with them?”
A misty-eyed smile appeared on Liam’s face as he said just loud enough for me to hear over the screaming, “It felt like perfection.”
Zayn tried to hide a grin as our heads rose above the stage floor and we finally appeared to the crowd before me. The lights were bright, but not so much so that I could not see how many people were watching me as the first riff for ‘Up All Night’ began. It was so fantastically loud. So heart-pumpingly, wild and exciting. I ran down the steps of the staircase on the stage in time with the other four boys as Liam took the lead with his solo. Once he was finished he turned around to wink at me, and Harry began to sing. I took Liam’s hand and he walked me to the front of the stage, the whole time practically hopping up and down with nervousness. For this song, Helene and Savan had wanted me to hold out several long, high notes for the chorus as background to the other boys. I was vocally prepared for the stretch from the warm-up, but it was only the third time I was singing live with One Direction, and I wanted the fans to think I fit in.
Harry’s raspy voice finished off the last verse of his solo, and I took a deep breath, filling my stomach like I had learned in training. I listened for the right beat and released, “Up all night!” In long, exaggerated notes so high up in the soprano range that I was surprised I hit it without shrieking. Somehow, during it I had lifted my other hand not holding the mic, and shut my eyes, and it must be obvious how passionate I was about getting it right.
It was only when I silenced for the next verse did I realize that the band had stopped playing and the screaming had died down to an absolute hush. As I lowered my mic and felt my cheeks heat up, I noticed all five of my band mates had gotten down on their knees around me like they were presenting me. Immediately, I understood that it had been their plan all along to let me sing out by myself.
Harry rose to his feet and began a slow clap for me. The other men joined him, smiling deviously at me in the process as I just glared. The clapping sped up as the whole arena joined in, and soon it turned into raucous applause and cheering and whistling.
“Ladies and gentleman,” Liam said, turning to the audience as he gripped my shoulders. “Delia Stanford!”
Screaming filled the air as hundreds of people began calling out my name and cheering for me. For me. One Direction’s fans actually seemed to be amazed by what I just did, that might be called something close to talent. Sure, I thought I was an alright singer, but what did it matter what I sounded like when these people were clapping for me.
For the next songs, I lost count how many, I was not just a girl forced by blackmail to be in the band to lift the fame and hype. Or a girl trying to convince the world I belonged here so I could write and my family could have money, and the band would not be called liars who just sought after money.
I was actually a part of the care-free, energetic, wild action on the stage of a One Direction concert. I was a member, and the smile never once left my face.
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*Liam’s P.O.V.*
“Niall stop eating and change.” I ordered the Mullingar boy who lounged on the couch, a sandwich in hand. Where did he even get the food in the first place? “They moved the twitter questions to right after the stage change and we will have to hurry to make it to the platform.”
“Whatever, LiLi.” Niall growled and shoved the rest of the sandwich in his mouth. “Wey don’ care wha we wear anway.” I simply crossed my arms in reply and glared down at him sternly. He tried to meet my glare head-on, but failed and jumped up to start dressing.
“Eh!” Zayn cried out, as he spastically slapped away Louis’ attempts at messing up his hair. “No touchy! No touchy!” Louis laughed at his disgruntled friend and settled with pinching his cheek instead before leaping away.
Harry was the only one who was taking our time limit seriously, which was a surprise. He usually lollygagged for as long as possible, by chatting up the stage crew, taking ridiculous photos for Instagram, or posting nonsensical tweets just to confuse the fandom for a while. He must be thinking about something hard if his mind was seemingly only focused on getting his hair perfect. The lad, though quite pensive, tried to only aim his attention on a couple of things at once. I knew better than to ask, though, because he would reveal his thoughts to us in time if we needed to know.
“You guys take so long.” I groaned. “Zayn, Harry, you look amazing, let’s go.” Zayn turned around from the mirror to send me a wink for the compliment, but then went right back to fixing the hair Lou had already styled.
“We’re popstars, Leeyum.” Zayn pointed out. “We are allowed to be a little vain.”
Niall, absentmindedly swinging his feet as he sat in his chair, began to sing, “Zayn is vain! Zayn is vain. Zayn is vain. It really annoys Liam Payne.”
Harry patted Niall’s back in appreciation, a large smile on his face. “Nice rhyme, Nialler.” As they shared a touching “Narry” moment, while also wasting time, I moaned and paced around the room. Lately, I had tried to stop being such a worry-wort, always nagging on the boys, and, though I felt I was finally get in touch with the “wild inner Liam” as Louis referred to it, it was difficult to withhold my fatherly instincts to hurry them along.
Louis suddenly appeared by my elbow, and I almost felt like patting his head adoringly from the height difference between us. “Want to have a little fun?” Louis asked suspiciously, wiggling his eyebrows.
“I have a girlfriend, Lou.” I said jokingly. “No thanks.”
He rolled his eyes and punched my shoulder, but then grabbed me by the arm ran us out of the room. For a little guy, he sure was fast, and I almost had trouble keeping up with him. I used to be the same height as Louis, but that had been X-factor days. Soon, we all found that we were growing, while poor Louis was remaining the same height. He had grown in other ways though, from the way his feminine features had become rougher and less delicate with age. His biceps and developing abs were something he never let me forget about, and he was definitely proud of his facial hair for some reason.
To be honest, he was a good looking guy, and to be even more truthful, his appearance was the only thing that seemed to change. His playful, joking ways, along with his snarky sass had remained unsurprisingly the same. Louis just refused to grow up.
“Where are we going?” I asked him, already on board with whatever he had planned. We were partners in crime, what could I say?
Louis did not answer, but instead stopped in front of a familiar door. I watched the devious twinkle in his eyes and could practically read the plan he had formed in his mind. Carefully, I twisted the knob on the door and peeked inside to check that Delia was dressed. When I saw her standing in the center of the room, distracted by something on her phone, I closed the door back. Louis managed to slip his hand inside and flick off the lights seconds before it shut.
“I hope she can take a joke…” I trailed off as an afterthought. From the time I had known Delia, she seemed like a girl who knew how to have fun, especially with the way she hopped around and bantered with us on stage. When Niall had done one of his signature jumps, Delia followed him around for several minutes trying to copy him by doing silly little leaps and spins. While he was unaware of her, the other lads and I were bursting with laughter. When Niall finally did turn around, Delia froze, smiled innocently, and casually walked away while whistling.
Also, during one of the songs, she and Zayn kept making faces at each other when they were not singing. She became so distracted that when it was time for us all to run to one side of the stage, she was left behind. I had run back to get her, and without warning, I threw her over my shoulder and kept singing. Instead of fighting me or demanding to be put down, she simply went along with it and high-fived everyone she passed.
I had thought it would be weird to have a new girl on stage with us, when we had gotten so used to fooling around just the five of us, but Delia picked up on the laid-back, but playful aura we tried to give off during our performance and had fit in perfectly. The crowd seemed to love her, too, which was very important. They screamed wildly whenever she sang, even though it was just during the chorus, but they really seemed to lover her. Just like the band, crew, security, stylists, and 5SOS seemed to. The girl had a way to make everyone fall for her charming smile and innocent eyes.
“Who cares if she can or not, “ said Louis, disrupting my thoughts. I smiled at him creepily as something occurred to me. Louis and Delia were a lot alike. The blue eyes and brown hair, with delicate facial features, along with their height and tiny bodies was similar. But also the way everyone automatically fell for them. It was something in the way they smiled and made you instantly comfortable, and then were able to joke around and make you laugh. They were also both very weird and stubborn, liking their own opinions, and were very proud, never wanting to be wrong or seem week, therefore never complaining when something was not going well.
That was, obviously, why they did not get along, but I was sure once they got over their stubborn ways they would be great friends, and a great team when it came to pranks. They would be force to be reckoned with, and already I feared it.
Louis pushed open the door, since we had allowed Delia to sit in the darkness for long enough. She would be good and nervous by now. Silent as the ninjas we were, we snuck into the room, creeping along on our toes until I could feel Delia’s presence just in front of us. I could not see Louis, but knew he was counting down too. 5…4…3…
What was that noise? Was that Delia’s breathing? Its sounded fast and rough, and closely resembled the way it was before her panic attack yesterday. That had scared me enough then; I don’t think I could handle seeing her like that again.
…2…1…
“Waaaah!” Louis and I screamed into her ears, and grabbing her from behind. We ran around the room with her between us, all the while laughing at the way she had shrieked in surprise. As I set her down, Louis switched on the lights, clutching his stomach with laughter as I was also doing. However, when I looked at Delia’s face, the laughing stopped immediately.
She was ghostly white, and her blue eyes were so wide they were about to pop out of her head. Her lips quivered and she was obviously shaking. Delia looked more than just a little frightened, she seemed scared for her life.
I had no time to try to comfort her or apologize, though, for in seconds Delia had wiped the expression off her face and was glaring at Louis. For a moment, I believed it had only been my imagination, but the way her voice cracked as she said, “Not funny,” proved it all.
When Louis had to hold up a finger to excuse his unstoppable laughter, Delia shook her head in annoyance and ran from the room, most likely heading to the stage that we should already be on. Louis and I shared one look, and through it I tried to share how worried I was. Although I had only been friends with Delia for a very short time, it was enough to know something was wrong. Louis, however, only shared through his eyes that he could not care less about what was up with her, as he was surely only focused on her reaction from being scared.
A few minutes later, Louis and I had made it back on stage finally, along with the other four. The screens around us were posted with the regular twitter image, and a question that we had picked out earlier. I did not know what they were, though, so it would be a surprise. Usually I was the one who picked out the majority, but when the ipads were brought to us earlier today, my phone had buzzed in my pocket. If it had been any other number, I would have declined the call and continued on talking with my friends, but it was not just any person, it was him. I had to answer to his calls, not for my own sake, but for his. I was in no danger for the time being, although it was possible, figuring where this would ultimately lead, but he was in trouble and I had to answer his calls.
Who knew what he would tell me each time he called?
It was always something new and something worse than the last piece of information.
My heart bled for the poor soul. And I was the only number he knew to call.
So when the first twitter question appeared on the screen, it was something original, and brought a smile to my face.
“Since the boys are a lot alike, and Delia is new, do you think she fits in and is similar to the rest of you?” I read, then said. “Ex, oh, ex, oh. Smiley face.” They for some reason found that we read those very funny.
Zayn and Niall whispered something in each other’s ears before the raven-haired boy raised the mic to his lips and said, “Savan told me she can’t dance, either.”
“Is that true?” Niall asked, while laughing.
Delia frowned and shook her head like a child, “It certainly is not true.” I smirked at her and she must have noticed the way I rolled my eyes because she squinted her bright blues. “Here, I’ll show all of you.”
She passed her microphone to me, and instantly the fans began to scream and cheer for her to dance.
“This ought to be good, “ Louis said to Harry, but everyone heard. Harry smiled and slung an arm around his best friends’ shoulder, but then I watched something that almost made my jaw drop. Louis squirmed away from Harry’s touch. He stepped right out from under his arm and moved a considerable distance away from the curly haired boy.
That would not go unnoticed… by anyone.
Larry shippers would scream that management was not “allowing them to date.”
While the other half of the fandom would say that the gay rumors were pushing Louis away from Harry. Except, neither was true, I knew. At first, Louis got very hurt about all the rumors, but eventually he learned to take them, although I had no idea what helped him to deal. So, Louis did not move because he did not want people to get the wrong idea, and Larry was not real as far as I knew. What was wrong with Lou, then? By the confusion in Harry’s eyes, he must not know either.
I turned my attention back to Delia, and began laughing at her. She actually was not bad at all, I must admit, as she swayed and twirled to the beat Josh was playing for her. It was the goofy smile on her face that was hilarious, and made me realize that she was just trying to put on a show. If there was ever a doubt that she belonged on stage, it should be eradicated now. The girl was made to be in the spotlight, and was born for entertainment.
“I think you and Zayn are at a tie for best dancers.” I said, and handed Delia back her microphone after watching her end the dance with a sorry attempt at a breakdance move. “But that isn’t saying much.”
She shoved my shoulder playfully and I called out the seating for the question. Once we had waved at the girl who had sent in the question, and asked her to quit crying because we loved her, the next twitter question appeared. It was a simple, but very fun one.
“Hey, sexy lady.” I sang as Josh, our excellent drummer, began playing it. “Oppa Gangnam Style.” I laughed as Niall and Louis began dancing around the stage, while Zayn and Harry just laughed. Delia was watching, but not joining in, so of course, I had to go up behind her and start switching my feet back and forth in that weird dance move. It looked like PSY was trying to create a move mimicking riding a horse. Either way, when Delia turned around, she burst out laughing and then began doing it with me.
“I knew there was a reason you were my friend.” I told her, without using the mic.
“Because I’m prettier than the rest of your friends.” She winked, but I only frowned.
“Have you seen Zayn?” I said, like she must be insane. Zayn was obviously beautiful. Yep, I ship Ziam.
Delia giggled as Niall began to sing all the words to the song, like he usually did. Since he could memorize our own songs in one hours’ time, it was no surprise he had memorized the most popular songs, despite that it was in another language.
The next question was on our favorite Halloween costume, and it was interesting to hear Delia admit that she once dressed like Shakira when she was little, but some kids in the neighborhood said she looked stupid and she had gone home crying. She was not distraught over it or anything, merely pointing it out like a humorous memory. What was cool was that it was the first time hearing anything about Delia’s past. All of the boys actually seemed to want to know. Although I knew her better than the other four, I still had not heard her really mention anything of her home. Maybe she really was homesick…
I decided then that we should try to get to know her even better and ask her more questions. The five of us had learned everything about each other over the years, but Delia was new, and we should know her if we were going to be spending who knew how many years together in the future. If her being in the band worked out, anyway, but if it did not, I really doubted there would be a One Direction after that.
I must have zoned out, because next thing I knew Harry was falling to the ground with a hand over his privates, and the crowd was screaming and laughing at the same time. I immediately went over to him and asked what had happened and if he was okay.
“The fans never fail to surprise me.” Was his only response through gritted teeth, and I noticed the large shoe in his hand. I could not believe I had missed Harry getting a shoe straight to the groin. Would it be too much to ask for him to reenact it.
After a few good stretches and walking it off, Harry recovered and we were moving onto the next questions. They were simple, and we answered them quickly, while still trying to be entertaining for everyone. It was the last question that appeared that made us all stop.
The suspended platform that would hold us above the audience during our next few songs had already arrived when the words, “What is the biggest lie you have told and gotten away with?” appeared on the screen.
I felt all the blood in my face drain until I was standing there pale, and blank. My band mates wore similar expressions, but if we did not cover them up soon we would all be in for it.
The lies I have told were rushing so quickly through my head, though. The ones standing out were the lies I told to the girl I love.
“The picture was fake, Danielle. I never went out to that club.”
“I don’t know who that girl is.”
“I’m not hiding anything, babe. I’m truly busy tonight with some friends.”
I had gotten away with them, but I feel the guilt of all the lies weighing me down. Why did I have to hide so much from my girlfriend and best friends? And why were my best friends hiding so much from me? Why did life have to be so screwed up?
Taking a deep breathe, I said, “Lying is bad.” I attempted a cheeky smile and a disapproving nod. “We don’t support bad behavior.”
Delia was the next one to be able to say anything after the shock of the question. “I don’t like to lie, so it isn’t a success to get away with it.”
I watched Niall’s head drop as he went and stood on the platform next to Louis. Zayn was nodding as he joined them. When I stepped up beside him, he said, “You know none of us picked that question, right, Li? We would never do that… you know, considering…” Considering all the lies we are most likely telling each other? Yes, I know.
“Who chose it then?” I asked him as Harry offered a hand to Delia and helped her step onto the platform next to him like a gentleman, giving her his charming smile.
Zayn shrugged, “The name is anonymous, and I know for sure that that seat number does not exist. I think someone might’ve hacked into the projection.”
“Just to catch us in a lie?” I raised an eyebrow in suspicion.
“Wouldn’t surprise me.” Zayn admitted and placed his microphone in the stand holder. “People probably want us to spill that we aren’t the best friends we make it out to be with Delia. Like those interviewers yesterday.”
Before I got the chance to answer, the riff for Last First Kiss began, and Zayn and I’s conversation was cut off.
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*Delia’s P.O.V.*
Ever felt like you were dreaming, and never wanted to wake up? Like something so surreal was happening and you did not want it to end, or to find it was just your imagination, but know that it is not?
Being on stage felt exactly like that, and I could not believe I had never dreamt about this before.
“That’s what makes you beautiful!” Harry sang with a last final punch. Liam grabbed me from where I stood, and pushed me into a group hug with the rest of the guys.
“Good job, everyone.” Louis said, as our heads were all brought together in a huddle. We were all breathing hard and wide smiles were on our faces, but that was enough to say how we were feeling at the moment. Suddenly, the boys stepped out, with their arms around each other, and were preparing to bow. They had placed me in the middle, but I slid out from beneath Liam and Niall’s arms and stepped behind them.
Liam gave me a concerned look and refused to bow, so I brought the mic up to my lips. “I only just joined One Direction, everyone, and I feel so lucky to have been accepted as the new member by these boys and all of you. I just don’t think I deserve to bow with them. They are the ones who truly deserve the applause. They’ve worked so hard to get where they are, and I can’t take that away from them by bowing like I’ve done anything, yet. Give it up, Glasgow, for the talented boys of One Direction!”
The crowd screamed louder than they had all night, even though it was the end of the concert, as the five men bowed in unison, their eyes never leaving mine.
After thanking every member of the band behind us for their great work with the instruments, the concert was officially over. I made a big show of being scared to jump through the opening in the stage to cushioned landing below. Knowing it would be a gif soon, I walked around the hole a few times, preparing myself for the landing and looking at Liam in absolute panic. He laughed at me, aware that I was just being goofing off, and right as he gave me his hand to help me ease down into it, Louis came up behind me and pushed me in. His hands, rough and strong, caused me to topple onto the landing mat and I felt my left ankle twist as it hit.
I bit back a cry of pain, and grabbed my ankle, straightening it out. Already it was starting to swell, and I wanted to kill Louis just about now, but I could not let him win. If it had been anyone else, they would have been doing it for fun and been less rough with it, but I knew Louis was trying to stop me from being “an attention seeker.”
I stood up, biting my lip to hold in the gasp from pain, and limped out from under the stage. I could not let Louis see what he had done, though, he would only be proud. So as Louis appeared and began walking towards me, I gave me a glare and marched off without leaning to heavy on my right. He could not see that I was in pain, so I acted like nothing was wrong, and walked regularly on my left foot like it was not screaming in agony. I could just apply a little ice to it later, and no one would have to know.
I managed to speed walk back to my dressing room, thanking everyone I passed for doing such a great job, before I finally let out a shaky sob. I sunk down into the couch and slipped off my converse to inspect the damage. It was already swelling and throbbing profusely, and it was unbearable to walk on, let alone fake like it was fine. I would do it, though, because Louis could not see what he had done. I would not allow him to be smug.
I pulled off my clothes, careful of moving my left foot in any way and changed into some comfortable sweats and a hoodie. I usually liked to dress nice, but every once in a while you just had to relax.
As I had just finished slipping my foot into a pair of comfortable boots, Lou Teasedale knocked on the door and walked in at the same time.
“You did so great, love!” she squealed and embraced me. “I knew you had to talent, but that was unbelievable. You looked great on stage.” She held me at arms’ length. “How did the clothes work as you jumped around? Were they too tight? Did you get too hot?”
“They were perfect.” I said. “And my hair didn’t even frizz, so good work with that too.” She smiled and we chatted for a while about future outfits for me to wear in public.
Liam stepped into the room just as I yawned mid-sentence. He snickered and cooed, “Aw, is the little Delily-Pad tired?”
“What did you call me?” I tried to say, but it was interrupted by another yawn.
“She is definitely tired.” Lou said, and patted my head maternally. “Her first concert took a lot out of her.”
“You’ll get used to it.” Harry said as he walked into my dressing room. These people really know nothing of knocking or privacy do they? I almost fainted of fear when Liam and Louis scared the wits out of me during the dress change. “We better get you back to the hotel before you fall asleep. I don’t think my back can handle carrying you to bed anymore.” After the words left his mouth, a bright blush fell into his cheeks. “Not that you’re heavy, or that I mind taking you to bed. Dang, I didn’t mean it like that!”
Liam and Lou burst out laughing at the flustered boy, but I for some reason was blushing too,and my heart had gone into over drive. Harry was just too adorable for words, even when he has a perverted mind.
I rose to my feet from the comfort of the couch, and winced internally. Hiding this sprained ankle would be hard. I steadily walked past the two boys in my dressing room, and headed for the back exit, where the van was parked, not making a sound. They followed, albeit suspicious of my actions.
When I made it to the door, I found Louis and Niall already next to Paul, looking out the door in worry. It was only when I was two feet away did I finally hear the screaming.
“Death to 1D!”
“Down is the direction!”
It was like my nightmare from last night had come to life. Only this time, I hoped the band would make it out of the crowd alive.
“I thought we hadn’t received any more threats.” Said Louis to Paul, sounding a little aggravated, although there was an underlying tremor. “This is several times worse than last time.”
Paul shook his head grimly, “Don’t overreact, boys. This happens to everyone. The Beatles were threatened all the time. And this is only the second time for you.”
“Second?” repeated Niall, his voice pitched high. “When was the first and why weren’t we told about it?”
Paul sighed, “Last year. By a Mr. X. You weren’t made aware because it was no big deal. We got the girl and her gun before she ever made it to you, Niall.” He visibly paled and groaned that he had just let that slip. Nice going, Paul, now why don’t you tell them that another man had almost succeeded at stabbing them in a mob?
“What?” Niall shrieked. “A gun?”
“It was nothing.” Paul said. “I even sent out a tweet to the fans saying I was protecting you. Just forget about it.”
“I don’t understand how that managed to slip beneath our notice.” Liam bit out. His nose was flared and I could tell he was angry at his bodyguard.
“We can talk about this later.” ordered Paul. “For now, let’s focus on getting you to the van. You really have nothing to worry about.” That’s not true, Paul. They are watching us, and they want to get rid of us. Can’t you just tell them that? I want to, but I can’t!
“Fine.” Louis agreed, but was definitely unhappy with his tour manager by the scowl on his face. “If you can’t manage to tell us the truth, do you think you can handle getting us out safely?”
“Yes,” Paul bit back to Louis’ sass. “I can.”
Only a few minutes later, I was halfway through the crowd, with no sign of an upending mob. Niall had a hold of my hand, with the reason that he was helping me not have a panic attack. Honestly, I could tell from his sweaty palm and shaking bottom lip that he was just as scared as I was, and holding my hand was to help himself. Liam walked behind me, ever so often placing a hand on my shoulder to move me forward, but I refused to be rushed. My ankle was killing me, and acting like nothing was wrong while navigating this crowd back to our van was causing me to go at an achingly slow speed.
The screaming was so familiar, like I had heard it before. The chanting had stopped, I realized, and there were no people in black to be seen, but that was not a good sign. They could be close, preparing to kill me the second I stepped out of line and closer to their blade. My breathing grew heavy, and darkness crept around the edge of my vision. I shuffled forward another step, and pain shot through my entire leg. The screaming filled my ears, while stars danced across my vision, my breathing coming in rapid, short puffs of air.
“Delia?” said a raspy voice near my ear.
I tried to take another step forward, but I could not see Niall in front of me, or feel the warm-bodies of fans around me. My lungs seemed to shut down at the same time as my brain. My hand slipped from Niall’s clammy one, and the world slipped away as a dark sky captured me.
A/N: I feel like my book is boring. I don’t know why. Maybe it’s because, unlike other fanfictions, no one is pregnant, has cancer, or got hit by a car. That must be it. I just want it to be close to realistic. If it is boring, though, guys PLEASE TELL ME!! I would really like feedback. On this chapter especially.
All the love in the world,
-Lisle