Chapter 14

The days flew by after that, and before we knew it, it was our last day of the audition tour. We were currently heading to Dublin, sitting in a cab that was taking us directly to the stadium. Since there were only four empty seats in the vehicle, Patrick had to ride with the other crew members.

The last four days had been pretty calm and quiet. No arguments had unfolded between either of us, not even between me and Nick. And the only thing I had acknowledged from Harry was that he still seemed sad. He had also kept humming words that I was now pretty sure were lyrics to a song he was working on.

Judging by the sound of it, I was positive it was a personal one, and if his demeanor was anything to go by, it only added to my assumption. I hadn't heard much of the lyrics, though, only those few sentences in Leeds, although the walls were pretty thin in every hotel we had stayed at. Still, I kept pressing my ear against it every time I heard him sing since I couldn't help but be curious what the song was about, even if it were mostly to no avail.

It was crazy thinking that it had only been two weeks since we began this journey. It felt like months ago, mostly because more things had happened during this short time than what had happened the last year of my life. It was pretty sad now that I thought about it, but I wasn't complaining. I hadn't missed the drama. If I were honest, that was one of the best things about the band taking a break.

"We're here," the driver announced, pulling over outside the stadium.

I had been leaning against the window with my eyes closed, but I sat up straight in my seat at the sound of the man's voice. It was almost two in the afternoon, yet it felt like it was morning because it was so dark outside, all thanks to the grey clouds layering the sky.

Letting out a loud yawn, I rubbed my eyes before finally getting out of the car along with the other guys. All of our bags had barely fit into the trunk, but somehow, the driver had managed to squeeze them all in... Or, all of them except one of Harry's two suitcases. He'd had to place it at his feet in the car.

I grabbed my suitcase first, placing it on the ground before walking towards the stadium entrance. That was until I was stopped in my tracks by someone calling my name, making my body freeze.

"Louis."

Turning around, I could feel my mouth dropping at the sight of Harry standing there, his hand extended with my baby blue pillow in his hand. He wasn't looking at me, though. Instead, his eyes were fixated on something to his right, his brows furrowed.

"Thanks," I mumbled, grabbing the pillow quickly before turning around.

My heart was beating frantically, my knees feeling weak. It felt like I was dreaming. Had he actually just been nice to me? It felt surreal. Besides, he had said my name again. It was the second time he had done so in two years, and I was just as affected by it this time as I was at the spa. It was embarrassing that he still had this effect on me, especially considering what we had been through.

It turned out that a few fans were waiting for us outside the entrance. They must have seen us arrive at the airport because I was pretty sure no one except the contestants knew that we would be here today. Or, the contestants had spilled the information to their friends. That could also be it.

We stopped to take a few pictures with them and sign some autographs before eventually heading into the stadium. Thankfully, Patrick was there to guide us to the dressing room, which seemed to be located on the other side of the place because it felt like ages until we eventually walked into the room where our stylists were waiting for us.

After putting away my suitcase and pillow, I sat down on my chair, getting ready to be fixed up for the show. Perrie was sitting next to me, her hands on the armrests of her chair, while looking into the mirror in front of her.

When she noticed me staring, she turned to meet my gaze. "Can you believe that this is the last day of the audition tour? That we're going home tomorrow and won't meet each other again until the 30th?" She said in disbelief.

"It's sick," I nodded in agreement. "It feels like we've been away for ages, so it's going to feel weird to go home."

She pursed her lips. "Yeah, I agree. I'm going to miss you guys."

A smile spread on my face. "Aw, I'm going to miss you too, Pez," I teased, to which she rolled her eyes.

Soon enough, we were ready to head into the stadium, where the audience was waiting for the show to begin. This felt like a typical day in life now, so it was really going to feel weird not doing this every day for the next couple of months. We only had one more show apart from the Judges' houses until September.

It wasn't until then that Perrie's words actually hit me. We weren't going to see each other every day anymore. I wasn't going to see Harry every day anymore. I knew it shouldn't, but the thought made my heart twist in my chest. Two weeks, and I had already grown used to having him around again. Pathetic, that's what it was.

After greeting the audience, we sat down at our table, getting ready for the first contestant to enter the stage. People in the crew were running around the place, and I could see Logan talking to one of the women through the corner of my eye. It had been a few days since I last saw him because he was usually not around the stage area during the show, so seeing him now was quite a surprise. He didn't notice me looking, though, and he left only a few minutes later.

The show started shortly after that, with the first contestant entering the stage. It turned out it was a woman in her forties with a really bad voice. I didn't particularly like calling anyone's voice bad, but she really couldn't sing. The thing was, she didn't know it herself, and she refused to believe us when we told her.

We'd had quite a few of these people during the audition tour, and it was a pretty awkward situation every time. I didn't understand how some people refused to believe they couldn't sing. If the judges had told me I was tone-deaf when I auditioned eight years ago, I would have never tried to tell them they were wrong. Auditioning for the X Factor was about finding out whether you could sing or not after all.

The second the woman eventually left the stage, we all breathed out a sigh of relief. "I thought she was going to come down here and slap me across the face," Nick said.

"She would have probably tried to slap us all," Perrie added, shaking her head in disbelief.

"I just hope that was the last contestant trying to tell us we're wrong," I grimaced.

People would think I didn't mind being in a situation like this since I was pretty known for being impulsive and snapping at people I didn't particularly agree with, but I was not fond of it at all. Standing up for myself was one thing, but saying something bad about someone who hadn't done me anything wrong was completely different.

It turned out my wish had been for nothing because not only half an hour later, a young man in his early twenties entered the stage with a cocky grin on his lips. I could tell by just looking at him that this was probably not going to end well.

He had short blonde hair that was trimmed at the sides, and he was wearing a white button-up along with a pair of tight, black jeans. He was also very well-built with large thigh muscles and biceps, which would have been attractive if it weren't for the stupid smirk on his face.

His introduction made me even more suspicious, the way he wanted the audience's confirmation of everything he said. "Alright, so why are you here today?" Perrie asked, tilting her head to the side with a slight smile on her lips. It seemed like I was the only one feeling suspicious about this guy.

"I'm here because I want to give you all a good show," he replied, the smirk not leaving his face. "And I hope you'll find my voice great."

"Alright, cool. Off you go."

My eyes narrowed at him as he took a few steps back to get ready. "That is not many buttons done up on his shirt," I acknowledged, glancing at Perrie. I was pretty sure he had only buttoned two of them.

I could hear Harry snort next to me, and I knew what he must be thinking. He was not known for buttoning his shirts all the way up either, so he probably didn't see a problem with it. The thing was, Harry pulled it off like no one else, and his intention had never been to show off skin just because he wanted to impress people. It just made him look very attractive.

This guy was completely different. I was sure his intention was not only to look good. I had a feeling there was something else going on inside his head.

The man, Oliver, finally brought the mic to his lips to start singing. "You know, I've been taking some time, and I've been keeping to myself. I had my eyes upon the prize, ain't watching anybody else..."

He hadn't told us what song he would sing, but I recognized this one very well since my best friend had written it. And as he walked back and forth on the stage, waving and smirking at the audience, I started wishing he had chosen another song because I didn't have a good feeling about this.

"You know, I love it when the music's loud, but c'mon, strip that down for me, baby. Now there's a lot of people in the crowd, but only you can dance with me. So put your hands on my body, and swing that round for me, baby. You know, I love it when the music's loud, but c'mon, strip that down for me, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah."

His dance started getting more and more seductive, the way he bent down and ran his hand across his naked chest with that stupid smirk on his face. I thought things couldn't get more awkward, but then he started taking off his white button-up altogether.

"Oh, strip that down, girl. Love when you hit the ground, girl. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, strip that down, girl. Love, when you hit the ground..."

The shirt was now off, and he was walking down to us with a suggestive look on his face, his eyes flicking between all four of us. I had the urge to pull my chair out and run because I didn't want this man anywhere near me, but I didn't want to make a scene either.

He ran his hand over Nick's shoulder slowly before ruffling Harry's hair. He then set his eyes on me, and I didn't know what else to do other than push myself as close to the table as possible and lean down so that he couldn't touch anything but my back. I could feel the tips of his fingers hovering over the back of my neck, making me shiver uncomfortably. He then moved on to Perrie, wrapping his entire arm around her shoulders and leaning in to give her a kiss on the cheek. What the hell was going on?

Thankfully, the song was over not long after that, and the man returned to the stage, finally putting on his shirt. The worst part of it was that he actually had a good voice, so I didn't understand why he wanted to ruin it like that. It was just unnecessary.

"Alright, Oliver. That was... something," Perrie said, furrowing her eyebrows.

"I thought it was quite entertaining," Nick chuckled, his chin in the palm of his hand with his elbow on the table.

I narrowed my eyes at him while clenching my jaw. That was far from entertaining. It was just uncalled for. "I personally think it was really unnecessary. You actually have a great voice, but you just ruined your audition," I muttered, looking at the man disappointedly.

It seemed like the audience had split opinions on him because some were cheering, and some were booing. My gaze settled on the side of Harry's face, waiting for him to say his words. "I have to agree with Louis. Your voice is great, but you didn't have to do all that. It might have been a bit entertaining, but it won't get you anywhere. I'd suggest you keep your shirt on in the future, mate."

I couldn't have said it any better myself. I might be gay, but witnessing cocky men who were trying to show off was such a turn-off that it might as well have been Shrek standing up there.

"I'm sorry, but it's a no from me, Oliver," Perrie said, pulling her bottom lip between her teeth.

"No," I agreed, shaking my head.

"It's a no from me too, sorry," Harry grimaced, turning to Nick.

"It's a huge yes from me," Nick smiled, making me roll my eyes.

Oliver grinned brightly, not seeming to mind that he didn't go through. "That's a shame, but I appreciate that you all gave me the chance to perform this number for you. Having your lovely attention was an honor," he smirked before leaving the stage, making me grit my teeth. I just couldn't stand personalities like his.

"Calm down, Lou," Perrie chuckled, placing a hand on my shoulder. "He's gone now."

"I don't think I'll ever be able to listen to that song again," I muttered, mentally apologizing to Liam.

Perrie let out a loud bark of laughter. "Liam would have hit you if he had heard you say that."

"I don't care."

There was a small break until the next contestant entered the stage, so our stylists took the opportunity to come over and apply more makeup to our faces. Perrie left a few seconds later to use the bathroom, and it was also then I heard a familiar voice behind me. "Why do you look so grumpy, man? You didn't enjoy the strip dance?" Logan chuckled.

I turned my head to look at him, the stylists finally finished doing my makeup. His eyes were twinkling from the lights in the stadium, his lips curved into a wide smile. "Not quite," I grimaced, making Logan's smile widen.

"I'm sure you just don't want to admit it," he teased. "I must say I kinda liked it, though. It's been a while since I last saw a body like that."

I stared at him for a while, trying to figure out whether he was still joking or not. "I could have lived without seeing it."

He let out a breathy laugh, looking at me in amusement. "I was sure well-built, muscular men were exactly your type, though," he smirked, nudging me in the side playfully.

My thoughts wandered to Harry, the man who was sitting in the seat next to me, whose body was the only one I had ever been genuinely attracted to. It didn't matter whether he had muscles or not, even if he had always been quite aware of his body and enjoyed exercising. I would have loved him no matter what, but sure, muscles weren't exactly a bad thing, but it wasn't a necessity.

"Not men with an ego like that," I said, letting out a dry laugh.

Logan raised an eyebrow at me, the amusement not leaving his face. "So, you're telling me that men are your type then?"

I could feel my mouth drop. I didn't realize that I had basically just outed myself to him. Even if Patrick knew about my and Harry's prior relationship, I knew Logan didn't. Otherwise, he wouldn't have asked me about him at the diner last week. "I..." I trailed off, not knowing what to say.

"Don't worry," he smirked. "I swing that way too."

With that said, he started walking away so that his back was the only thing I could see. That was until he turned around to flash me a smile. "See you at the restaurant tonight. We're all celebrating that it's the last day of the audition tour." And then he left altogether, leaving me to stare at his retreating figure.

I sat there for a few seconds, just looking into the distance until I finally closed my mouth and turned around in my seat so that I was facing the stage again. It wasn't until then I could feel a pair of green eyes staring at the side of my face, almost burning holes in my skin. I turned to Harry quickly, my eyes meeting his.

"Wha-"

"Don't," was the only thing he said, his jaw clenched.

He then turned away as quickly as I had snapped my head to look at him, visibly scooting away from me. I mentally let out a deep sigh while running my hands over my face. What just happened?

Not long after that, Patrick told us to get ready for the next contestant to show up, and we all returned to our seats. Harry's chair was still further away from mine than before Logan had been here, though, and the fact made my heart twist uncomfortably.

I couldn't help but fear how this day would end because last time we had been to a restaurant together, Harry had talked to me for the first time, and I wasn't sure if I would be able to handle another situation like that.

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Pretty short chapter, I know, but I wanted the restaurant scene to take place in a separate one. However, did you know that there was a man auditioning for the X Factor when Louis was the judge that actually did strip his shirt off? Must have been the most awkward audition I've ever seen, so I decided to make this a little less awkward than that. Louis said the same words, though; "There are not many buttons done up on his shirt" and I've never laughed so much hahaha. You should look it up if you haven't seen it x

Thank you so much for reading, voting and commenting. You're the best. I hope you look forward to the next chapter as much as I do <3

Edited by: butterflies151

Pauline .xx