When they finished the recording of the album and after having a makeover with new haircuts and clothes, they flew to New York to shoot the video clip. It was their first time in the USA. They had never been on another continent before and most of the boys never took a plane before or did not even have a passport. They had to make one in emergency. They played the tourists for a bit, marvelled by everything they were seeing. It was different from England and they loved it. Their new life was full of excitements and they could not wait to see more of it. The music video of only three minutes took four days to film and they were not expecting it. They did not know it could take this long. They were dressed like young Abercrombie models and had fun doing the shoot. After landing back in England, they went through another week of media training and then they were ready to be out there.
A hectic schedule during the whole month of May was waiting for them, they went to every major radio stations in the UK, singing lives their single in the radio studios, doing interviews after interviews. Everything was kind of a blur, they were going from cities to cities in a short time, doing the same things, answering to the same questions. The journalists and radio hosts were nice to them as they were young and endearing and the boys liked the experience most of the time. It was not as daunted as they were expecting and they could be themselves.
When the single was released, they did not even know if the public appreciated it because they were still promoting themselves all over Europe the next month. They were exhausted but they always managed to keep a smile on their faces. And then, they heard the incredible news, they were number one in the UK. But they could not even enjoy it, everyone was asking for them. They were the new sensation. The girls showed up by thousands wherever they went, screaming their names, crying, fainting in front of them. It was intense. How could they have such an effect of them? They didn't do anything extraordinary, they were just normal boys. They were puzzled.
Gabriel was the first to come across the unpleasant side of being famous. He messed up during their first TV live performance by tripping over the stairs and landed face first on the floor at the beginning of the song. Even if he stood up quickly, he was so ashamed and stressed that he could not sing his first verses properly. William backed him up at that moment, letting Gabriel the time to regain himself and then he gave an incredible demonstration of his voice. Despite the slight accident, the performance was still excellent but Gabriel felt worthless. Even Louis could not cheer him up. It was nothing but for Gabriel it was the end of the world. He was convinced that he deceived the boys despite them telling him it was not true. His phone kept buzzing and buzzing after the performance and he checked it only to realise that there was an impressive amount of notification on his Twitter. With trembling fingers, he opened the application and his blood froze. His name was trending and when he read what people were saying about him, his perfect world was collapsing. Thousands of tweets were bashing him, mocking him, insulting him, saying that he was bad and annoying. Some of them even stated that he deserved to die. And to add more to the humiliation, there were already Gifs showing his fall on the loop. All the hate he received was horrible for him. He did not expect to be as wild as this, he was not even a worldwide star. Making fun of him for being clumsy was one thing but the bullying was another one. It truly affected him and he could not believe how people could be so mean. He tried with difficulty to keep a straight face and to not show to everyone that he was actually hurt. But as their single kept hitting number one in Australia, New Zealand, Japan and several countries in Europe and by literally conquering the world with one single, Gabriel finally realised that he was more supported and loved than he thought and it became slightly easier to not give attention to the haters.
The first of July, Andrew called them in the morning asking them to be at the office in less than an hour. They did not see much of Andrew during the last months but they knew that he was watching them carefully. When they pushed the door of the conference room of Empire, the first thing they saw was Andrew with a smile that stretched to his ears.
"Congratulation boys, you made it! I am so proud of you. How is everything going? Good? You like it?" He moved closer to them and took successively each of them between his strong arms.
The boys could sense that he was proud of them and they felt honoured. They were glad to not have deceived him. They owed him everything.
"We love it," William exulted, "it's incredible, we are so happy."
"That's good. I've got great news from you. I signed on your behalf, as you gave me the right to do so on your contracts, a deal with Thunder record. It's a powerful label in the US and they have the resources on every level to help you break the US market. They believe in your success."
"What?" Oliver said astonished.
"Yes, and you will be the first English boys' band to do it, after the Beatles of course. Keep working hard and you will be famous over there. That's it boys, it was the only thing I needed to say to you. However, Gabriel and Louis you stay here Charles wants to see you. Alex, William and Oliver you can go."
"Why we can't stay?" Alex asked with a wary tone.
"Charles needs to talk to them privately. "
Andrew could see that none of the boys moved, they were concerned about Louis and Gabriel.
"Don't worry, it's nothing important." Andrew added cheerfully and he stood up and gently pushed the boys out of the room and closed the door behind him.
Gabriel and Louis were now alone in the room. Gabriel breathed deeply, he did not have a good feeling on what was going to happen. Louis felt it and reached Gabriel's hand, holding it strongly.
"It's going to be okay." Louis promised softly.
Gabriel moved his head in disagreement, "No it won't."
Charles made his entrance and stood in front of them. "Good morning boys, so you know that you are about to enter into the US market..." His face fell down. "I did not want to come to this but we need now to take some drastic decisions." His voice was softer. "You relationship starts to raise eyebrow. The affection you two have for each other is blatant during the interviews and it went to an incredible friendship to a romantic relationship. The fans even mixed your names together and call you 'Louriel Spenson'. It's harmless for the image of the band for the moment but as we have decided that Gabriel will be pushed as the front man for the US market..."
"No I don't want that, I don't want to be the front man!" Gabriel interrupted, "We are a band!"
"Gabriel, you have something that the others don't have. Girls like you better, media like you better. You have the charisma of a pop star. You will be the front man whether you like it or not. Your face and name will represent Young Up Spirit."
"It's unfair." Gabriel said desperate but he knew it was a pointless fight. He had no leverage on them whatsoever.
"I'm sorry Gabriel. But I'm not finished yet, as you are going to be the front man we need to kill the rumour about you and Louis."
"You are not going to make me break up with him?!" Louis threatened, his eyes becoming darker.
"It would be simpler but no, I can't force you to do that. Fortunately we came up with a plan. Louis as Gabriel need to be single, you'll be the one to have a public relationship with a girl."
"You're joking, right?" Louis asked spitefully and he could feel Gabriel's hand clenching on his leg.
"It's for the good of the band. Okay, let me put it in another way, are you ready to go out there and tell the journalists, your fans that you are gay and together? Really?"
Gabriel and Louis stayed silent.
"You are not strong, not strong enough to deal with the backlash, the hate, the mockery and all the criticisms that will come with it. Because it will if you do that, and for what? You are still young, trying some new experiences. You are just fooling around. You will grow past this, trust me. But your career will not." He said marking all his words.
Louis tensed under Gabriel's touch. Gabriel always knew deep down that Louis had some uncertainty about his sexuality. He could easily read into Louis, he was the only one able to do it. He sensed that Louis was ashamed in a way to be attracted to Gabriel, to a man even if there were no proof of him for doing so. But still, Louis did not tell his family or friends that he was with him. Gabriel never confronted him with the dreaded question he had in his mind for a long time now. He wanted to know if he was indeed an experiment for Louis and that after using him and tried everything he wanted, Louis will go back at 'being straight' or not. But Gabriel knew that if he had asked this, Louis would have felt cornered and he would have lost him sooner than expected. Louis was short-tempered and impulsive. Instead, Gabriel gave him some space, did not ask for much, did not pressure him and was hoping that one day Louis will say that he loves him. But now, with what Charles said, it will inevitably open a door of doubts for Louis. Gabriel felt sick, he wanted to throw a punch to Charles so he could stop with his nonsense. Maybe he was too idealistic but he believed strongly in their relationship, it was beyond some teenage foolishery. He fell for Louis hard and fast. But could Charles in a way be right? To jeopardize the future of their success over something that could be a 'fling'? And what about Oliver, Alex and William? Was it worth it to ruin everything because of him and Louis? Their ultimate dream was within their grasp, they could not throw it away.
"You won't make it to the US if they know you are gay. No radio stations will play your songs. USA is a pretty conservative country. They won't allow their little girls idolising two young gay men in a boys' band. You have to be realistic..."
Charles's voice was echoing through their ears. They did not know what to think anymore. They were just scared, scared about their future, scared of being gay, scared of being together, scared of everything.
"...If you agree to have a beard, it's how we call it in the business, we will found a nice pretty girl for you who will play the game perfectly without being annoying. She will be professional and your relationship with Gabriel will be protected. It's a win win situation"
Louis looked at Gabriel, his eyes full of despair. "If I agree, how long she will be playing my 'girlfriend'?"
"As long as we see fit."
"It does not answer my question." Louis replied dryly.
"When the rumours die, it depends on you boys."
"And how does it work, what will I have to do with her?"
"Mostly we will take pictures of you in public places holding hands, kissing. And we will give the pictures to the media who will run stories about you and your girlfriend. You will need also to interact with each other via social media, post pictures together mostly."
"I need to think about it."
"Do it quickly, if the fans and journalists figure out that you have sex together, it will spread like wildfire and it will be too late for your career."
Gabriel's cheeks flushed, it was utterly embarrassing to talk about his sex life in a meeting. He wished for a moment to not be in this position and enjoy freely his relationship with Louis.
"Can you leave us please?" Gabriel asked Charles.
"Of course." He turned on his heel and swept out of the room.
"Gabriel what do you think?"
"I ... I don't know, he's right and wrong. We can't be selfish we have to think as a group."
Louis was uncomfortable with the idea but for sure he did not want to come out in front of the whole world. It was no one business and maybe he was just 'experimenting' but he could not say that to Gabriel. He will upset him. And it was always nice to have a pretty girl around him.
"Gabriel you realise that if I agree, I will have to play the perfect boyfriend but just for the pictures, it's pretty harmless." Louis could not have been more wrong about it but at that moment he thought it would not be a big deal.
"I trust you Louis but promise me one thing." Gabriel searched for Louis' eyes.
"What?"
"Don't ever hurt me."
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