Double Act - Chapter 26
Authors Note: Oooh! I'm up here today! Okay, before you start reading you should know that I don't watch X Factor that much, so this is my version of how it would work, not the real life thing. That's all! Hope you enjoy! Continue...
~~ Louis' P.O.V ~~
"Explain it again?" I moaned, resting my head in my hands.
Joey sighed, rolling his eyes impatiently. "Louis, were you even listening the first 5 times?" he asked, his voice tired and filled with annoyance. "You should know this anyway, it's basically the same as 2010 rules,"
"But I can't remember that!"
"C'mon, Louis! I got other things to worry about that teaching a young popstar the rules of the show he's judging!"
It was my turn to sigh. "Sorry Joe, mate, this headache is deflecting any information that tries to enter my brain,"
"It's probably because you're thinking about Lara,"
"Yea- wait, huh?" I cried, scowling furiously.
"I said that it's probably because the live shows are tomorrow," he said carefully, a frown set upon his face. I smiled a little, realising that his face looked unnatural without his signiture disaproving frown.
"Oh, right, sorry," I mumbled, scratching my neck awkwardly. "Er, so explain it one last time?"
Joey sighed. "Fine, last time though, Lou," he warned threateningly, pinching the bridge of his nose in an attempt to remain calm. "Okay. So there will be 10 weeks of Live shows, where the acts will perform. At the beginning, only 1 act will leave per week, decided by the voting... you already know this," he said vaguely.
I nodded, and he continued. "In week 10, we'll have 3 acts left, and 2 will leave, depending on the public's vote, and only our winner will remain,"
I nodded firmly. "Got it," I confirmed. "Thanks, Joey,"
"Any time," he smiles. "Well, between the hours of 9 and 6," he added in an attempt at a joke before leaving the room. My phone began to hum, muffled from my pocket. I pulled it out and laughed at the ringtone Harry had set for himself.
"Want you to make me feel like I'm the only girl in the world,
Like I'm the only one that you'll ever lo-"
I interupted Rihanna to answer the call. "Hey Harry. Since when did you change your ringtone?"
My ears were met with laughter. "Yesterday. Hey, I was gonna change it to something much worse, but Liam caught me," he chuckled. "So how'd your meeting with JoeJoe go?" he asked, a small echo of Niall in the background of 'hey, that rhymes!".
I shrugged. "Nice guy, awful jokes,"
"Oh god, didn't mention carrots did he?"
I laughed. "No, no, don't worry. He'd be dead by now," I added, only half joking.
"So how's that Lara situation going?" Harry asked, having annoyed me enough to tell my bandmates of the text message I had recieved from her.
"About as well as Niall stuck on a desert island with no food,"
"So.. pretty crap?"
"Oh yeah," I laughed sourly. "That girl knows how to hold a grudge,"
"Any idea what you did?"
"Not a bloody clue,"
"Asked her sister?"
"Her sister would faint,"
"Fangirl, eh?
"When you texted her back she screamed so loud I heard her from 10 rooms away,"
"Oh, that bad huh?"
I sighed, and nodded. "Yeah, that bad,"
"So what are you going to do?" Harry asked, helpful as always.
I sighed, and slumped down in a chair. "I don't know, Harry," I told him truthfully, gazing out of the window at the streets of London, a million thoughts running through my brain but none of them staying long enough to make any sense at all.
"I just don't know,"
~~ Lara's P.O.V ~~
Liv and I sat in silence in a small room at opposite ends of the sofa. I jumped at the sound of my ringtone, and pulled my phone out to find Sexy and I Know It playing. Louis' ringtone. Decline.
Liv looked up from her phone. "Why didn't you answer that?"
"Answer what?" I asked innocently, only to be interrupted again by the same song.
Liv frowned. "Isn't that Louis' ringtone?"
I shrugged. "Maybe, not really sure," I said casually, wishing that he'd stop phoning. But, of course...
"When I walk in the room, this is what I see..."
I stabbed at the decline key with my finger and sighed furiously. Liv smirked, and turned to face me, her legs crossed on the sofa. "Okay, what the hell happened?"
"What the hell are you-"
"You know what the hell I'm talking about," she said, her patience probably wearing thin of me avoiding the question for almost a week now. "One second, you're practically dating Louis Tomlinson, the next, you hate the very thought of him?"
"Okay, I was not 'practically dating' him. He was just friendly,"
Liv's eyes widened. "What did he do?"
"I don't know what y-"
"Lara," she warned. "When you say a boy was friendly, they've done something wrong. What has he done?" she asked again, the over-protective side of my sister showing through. The fact that this was probably the first time she's shown any care towards me made me a little angry.
"Why do you suddenly care so much?" I snapped, tears threatening to spill down my cheeks. "Before, you didn't give a monkey's ass about me, so why do you care now? Is it because Louis Tomlinson is involved?" I demanded, scrambling off of the sofa. "It is, isn't it?"
She stood up slowly, keeping her distance for the time being. "You really like him, don't you?"
"No!" I snapped, crossing my arms. "He's an arsehole that belongs in hell!"
She smirked. "What did he do, Lara?"
I sniffled, giving in. I let my sister wrap a protective arm around me before letting out a sigh and looking her in the eyes. She smiled warmly, taking me by surprise and making me feel closer to her.
I sucked in a breath. "He didn't care, Liv. All he wants is to win X Factor. He doesn't care about me, about my problems, about my life," I blurted out. "He.. he..." and it was then that I burst in to tears.
I'm not really sure why. Maybe it was all of the pressure from the competition, maybe the fact that I let someone in again and they hurt me just like the previous times, maybe even because of James, but I couldn't hold it in anymore. Liv asked no more questions, and I was thankful for that. Instead, she wrapped her arms around me and pulled me in to an awkward sibling hug, only it wasn't that awkward.
Whatever had happened inside of Liv's brain that had made her suddenly kind, I didn't know, but I wish it had happened sooner.
~~ Liv's P.O.V ~~
As Lara's sobs died down, I pulled out of the hug that I'd initiated, and smiled. "I'm not going to dig into details because I'm not sure if I want to know," I told her, only half joking. "But I think you should talk to him. Don't shut him out, because you'll regret it," It probably sounded like empty words, but I meant it, and I knew what I was talking about.
I used to shut out everyone when I was younger, and I think it's because I was embarressed that our parents abandoned us. I used to think that we weren't good enough, so I didn't like mixing with other people incase they thought the same thing. But then I made friends and realised that the idea was silly.
But then I began to blame Lara that they left us, and I never really got over that thought. I knew the idea was stupid, but it took entering the X Factor for me to realise that no one would ever think wrongly of Lara if it weren't for me.
And that was going to change.
I didn't want to make her life miserable. I didn't want her to be sad all the time. I wanted to be there for her. I wanted to help her and cheer her up when she cried.
Like a sister should.
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Authors Note: Hi Guys!!
It's a bank holiday today, so I don't have school, so I'm uploading a little bit earlier than usual. Hope you like the chapter!! Vote and comment, as always, and thankyou for reading this story because it means a lot!
I think that's all for now... so.... bye guys!!<3 x