>Audrey's POV<
"I think we were both just frustrated and I apologize." Normally I would be just barely listening to bullshit like this but since it was Liam, I was hanging onto every single word that left his perfect lips. His hand came up and touched my arm lightly. "I really do want to try to make this all work out. I want Delilah to be apart of my life." His eyes glistened and made him look sorry but I wasn't completely convinced.
"Can we talk about this some other time, some other place?" I asked him, glancing at the side of the X Factor building and wrapping my arms around my waist as a gust of wind blew past us.
"Yeah, how about coffee tomorrow night?" He asked. I couldn't help but laugh out loud.
"Coffee? At night?" I questioned, his lips widened into a grin.
"How about ice cream?" I laughed again and nodded my head.
"Sounds great." We began walking back towards the entrance. The white vans that held the contestant's were just leaving and I smiled at the fact that my daughter was still in this. I couldn't even put into words how proud she makes me.
"So 6 tomorrow night. I'll pick you up, just text me where you're staying." Liam said to me, while he grabbed my phone out of my hand and tapped in his number. He then smiled at me one last time and walked into the building ahead of me.
For the rest of the night, no matter how hard I tried, I could not get the smile off my face.
>Delilah's POV<
On the ride home, I tilted my head back against the seat and tried not to listen to the conversations around me. I tried to just focus my attention on other smaller noises like the other cars as they zoomed past us. I felt a tap on my shoulder and sat up. I looked for who tapped me but quickly noticed the entire van was staring at me.
"What's going on?" Matt, who was sitting beside me asked.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"Don't pretend like you don't know. Something is defanietly up." Megan said, sounding almost angry.
"It looks like you haven't slept in forever and you've been ignoring everyone all day." Logan, one of the guys still here said to me. I felt like they were all verbally attacking me.
"I'm fine. What could possiblly be wrong?" I knew what was wrong, but none of them would.
"Delilah, we're concerned is all." Shirley, who was a mother of 2, told me.
"Thanks for your concern, but I can handle things by myself." I told them all and then leaned back against the seat and closed my eyes before anyone could say anything alse to me. I didn't need any other complications in my life at the moment. When we pulled up to the house it was 11:56. On live show days, everyone was super and usually went to bed super early, I would have to fight against that urge to hand in these papers. The sooner, I was out of this life, the better.
I wasted my time by hanging out in the music room. I fought the urge to sleep by drinking coffee and allowing my fingers to roll onto the keys of the piano. That was one thing I had learned in this competition, how to play the piano. I sang every single song that I could think of the notes to until I felt I could not keep my eyelids open any longer. I checked the clock and it said 1:34. Yawning, I exited the room, papers in hand. I stood at the bottom of the stairs and strained to hear any type of sound coming from upstairs but I heard none. So I crept out of the house and prepared myself for the long walk ahead.
I'm not sure how I got through the walk. Hard would be an understatement to describe it. I was more than just a little tired, I seriously almost passed out. My legs ached with every step I took considering I had no time to rest them from my walk yesterday throughout this crazy day. I kept my mind on one thing for the entire walk, how much I wanted this. I classified myself as a very determined person, when I wanted something, I usually got it. If you keep the mindset that you can do anything, I promise you can move mountains.
The sun was peaking over the horizon when I finally made it to the small offices, panting and out of breath again. A voice inside me began to panic as I realized there was no way I would make it home in time and I prayed to god some how, some way, I could make it to the X Factor building today with no questions asked. I flew into the building and impatiently tapped my foot as I waited for the elevator. It felt like it was taking 20 hours longer than usual. When it finally came down I hopped in and pressed the 5th floor button about 35 times while wishing that somehow this elevator would hurry up. Finally, I made it into the small office space where the bright morning sun began to shine through the window. I leaned against the wall practically gasping from my miny panic attack and al the running I had just done.
Mrs. Watson was beginning to pack up her suitcase, so I assue she has the night shift and someone knew would be here soon.
"Oh my god.." She put her hand over her mouth when she saw me. "Hon, are you okay?" She asked, coming up to me and putting her hand on my back "Do you need water or somehting?" I handed her my papers.
"No, I need this taken care of." I told her through breaths.
"Did you run here?"
"Part of the way." I answered her truthfully.
"How long did it take you?"
"Three hours." I confided. She gasped a little.
"Well do you need a ride back then?" The fear in my mind that I wasn't going to make it back and despite being more tired than I had ever been in my entire life, I smiled.
"Please!" I begged of her.
>Declan's POV<
"Has anyone seen Delilah?" Megan asked us as we slowly began making our way out of the house and onto the van.
"What do you mean? You can't find her?" I asked. Megan shook her head.
"She wasn't there when I woke up and she I haven't seen her all morning." I could see the fear in Megan's eyes and I thought back on two nights ago when I had caught her sneaking out of the house. Lately she's been acting concerningly weird. My thoughts wandered to all the different possible places she could be. A lot of the options made me shudder and only concerned me more.
"I hope she's okay." My buddy Matt said as he lifted himself into the van. At that moment a car pulled up next the curb, behind our van. We all stared at the car, waiting to see who would get out. I heard the passenger door open but couldn't see from where I was standing who it was.
"What the hell is going on?" Is the first thing I heard. It came from Megan as she yelled to the person who got out of the car. The car drove off, revealing a very very worn out looking Delilah.
"Excuse me." Delilah said, pushing past Megan who looked pissed beyond belief.
"No! We aren't leaving this spot until you tell me right this seocnd what the hell has been happening lately!" Delilah rolled her eyes.
"Nothing." Her voice was so low and scratchy that it was hard to believe it even belonged to her.
"Don't even give me that bullshit! Something is happening that you're not telling anyone and you need to because we're all concerned!" Megan motioned to everyone who had stopped what they were doing to watch the drama unfold. Delilah just shook her head.
"You don't understand." Delilah tried to push past again.
"Then help me too!" Frustration echoed through Megan's words. Delilah stopped trying to get through and just stared at Megan, with one nod to her head, Megan through her arms up in the air in defeat and stormed onto the van. Delilah stood there frozen for a moment before coming back to earth and hurrying inside the house to change or get her bag or whatever she was doing. I got on the bus, all the while staring at the spot that Delilah had stood in a few seconds prior and thinking about how she wasn't even Delilah anymore.
>Megan's POV<
I was angry and frustrated. If Delilah didn't want me to know what was wrong then I wasn't going to waste my time worrying about her. She could sulk in her own agony for all I cared. This is what I tried to tell myself during our entire drive to the building and walking through the halls. It's what I tried to tell myself as I barely listened to Louis while he gave his usual beginning of the week speech. It doesn't matter how hard I tried to convince myself that I didn't care because the truth was that I cared so much. I wish she knew just how much I cared. I evaluated her appearnce. Delilah was wearing the same yoga shorts she had change into after the show last night with the same navy blue tank top and cardigan. She had insanely baggy eyes with dark circles that showed just how tired she was. Her lips were stuck in a stiff line. There was a kind of absence from her eyes. Usually her eye's shown in a way that was intriguing but it was almost like they were cold and stiff now, with none of their usual iridescence. The spark Delilah had when I first met her had now become as dull as a piece of cold. Louis, who was standing in front of me announced to us that this weeks theme was going to be rock and roll week. I was too focused on the girl next to me who was trapped inside her own brain to care. What the hell was happening to her?
>Delilah's POV<
Everyone has told me that my mom had a breaking point. A moment where she lost it. It didn't have to necessarily be the moment she decided to leave. Maybe it was when she was trampled by fans, the very last time she spoke with her sister, a fight with Danielle. Who knows? My mom never told me about the moment she realized she had lost who she was but I know at one point she must have just stopped and thought and realized that she didn't even know who she was anymore. That's how I felt. Not just in a physical way, but I didn't recognize myself. Even the words that came out of my mouth didn't feel like they were mine. My train of thought felt like it belonged in someone who was mentally insane's head. I could barely think but at the same time the enitre world was crashing through my brain and it felt like I was thinking of everything at once. I didn't even want to think about the fact that I was walking on a very thin, long line that my own mother had once fallen off. Explaining to anyone, even Megan, Declan, or Roman didn't even feel like an option when I couldn't even explain to myself what was happening. I was breaking, I was losing, I was tumbling forward and I didn't know how to stop it.
--------------Author's Note-------------
I would say that I'm sorry I didn't proofread this but I never really do soo.... lol! Little fun fact: There's a chapter in Not the Same called Breaking Point as well ;) I liked the way this chapter turned out, for some reason I thought it was gonna suck. Thanl you guys for your continued support <3 it means the world to me!!
xx, Ashley.