|Chapter 4

"Right there!" Marco, the head of One Direction's management, said. He paused the tape of one of the auditions that tried out for the new member for the band. "He seems decent. He's got a good voice, not ugly either." The other management workers in the room nodded their heads in agreement.

But Liam, Zayn and Harry had different thoughts on the guy.

"Um... he's not exactly... us." Zayn spoke up, his brows scrunched up in distaste.

"And what exactly is 'us', Zayn? Care to elaborate?" Marco asked with a raised eyebrow.

Liam stepped in and said, "We're not exactly loose drop crotch pants and extra large jumpers. Or chain wearers..." He explained, reading what all the boys thought too.

"Then we'll just slap some skinny jeans and a shirt three times smaller, and there you have your new member!" A woman standing next to the large desk said, an annoyed look on her face.

This watching auditions one after the other process has been going on for two days, and they haven't decided yet. Basically because Marco insisted they watch them all from the start to make sure they had all made a decision. Although, Liam, Harry and Zayn had a pretty clear idea on who they wanted in the band.

"We can't exactly tell if he's a good singer if all he did was rap some ridiculous song." Harry pointed out, a yawn escaping their lips. It's been a long day.

Marco let out a loud, frustrated sigh. "Fine." He dropped the TV remote onto the desk and lazily picked up the next set of papers. "Next is... Niall Horan."

At the sound of the familiar name, the boys all perked up. How could they not remember the lad with the big smile?

Everyone in the room watched the tape as it started playing on the large screen.

"Hi." Niall's voice from the speakers said. "I'm Niall Horan."

Soon after the short chat Niall had with the three boys, he started to sing. His unforgettable voice filling the room. Once the video was finished, Liam, Harry and Zayn turned out to face Marco with excited looks. They knew Niall was the guy they wanted.

Marco shrugged his shoulders. "He's actually not that bad. And he seems a lot like you boys, appearance and behavior like I guess. I like him." He smiles at them.

The three boys cheered, excited to recruit Niall to the band. They knew he was easily going to become close friends quick.

"Looks like we've got our new member boys!" Another worker exclaimed.

While Zayn and Liam continue to talk about how excited they were, a name suddenly came through Harry's head. A smile slips onto his face when he remembers the shy boy. Harry turns to Marco. "What about Louis Tomlinson?" He asks.

The room goes quiet, everyone's eyes on Harry.

"Oh yeah! We need to watch his Marco." Liam said, a smile on his face.

"Louis Tomlinson?" Marco questions, flipping through the multiple application sheets on his desk and pulls out the one Harry was talking about. He reads over the sheet for a bit. "Louis Tomlinson, twenty years old." He scans over the rest of the sheet before looking over to the girl next to the TV. "Rachel, can you please put in Tomlinson's tape?" He asked, more like ordered, the girl.

For some weird reason, Harry was a little happy to see Louis' face again. He had a good voice, Harry says to himself. There was obviously nothing more he liked about the boy.. nothing.

Once the video loaded, the room was once again silent and all focus was on the screen. Everyone watched as the boy stepped out onto the stage, his eyes scanning the empty seats before landing on the boys.

"H-Hello." Louis said. His voice brought a tug at Harry's lips, slipping a small smile. Harry turned back around on the large couch to face Marco, noticing a look on his face that said "really..?". Harry's eyes furrowed. What was the problem? "My name is Louis, uh, Louis Tomlinson." Harry turned back around to watch Louis again.

They listened to them talk about Louis on the X Factor. "I guess nerves got the very best of me."

"Harry, I'm not sure he-"

"Shhh!" Harry quickly shushed Marco, wanting them to watch through the whole audition.

Soon, Louis' audition song was playing, and everyone in the room was waiting for him to start singing. But when it didn't happen, everyone, but Liam, Zayn and Harry, were confused. Some even seemed annoyed, finding this to be a waste of their precious work time.

When Harry started singing through the speakers and then finally Louis, everyone in the room was once again listening. Except, they didn't seem so interested as they were with Niall's audition song.

Once his video was over, the three boys in front of the TV turned to see Marco's reaction. They all wanted Louis in the band just as much as they wanted Niall.

"So?" Harry says.

Marco looked back and fourth between the boys in front of him, brows raised. But they weren't raised in amazement like with Niall's audition before. "Really? Harry, was that really worth watching?"

Harry's brows furrowed in confusion and slight anger. "What do you mean?"

"Comparing that to the Niall kid, he has no chance."

"What do you mean 'he has no chance'?" Harry stood up. Liam and Zayn watched in slight shock. As much as they want to stick up for Louis as well, they weren't getting as worked up as Harry seemed to be getting. "That was a great audition!"

"If you call stuttering, shyness, and an incapability to sing a song with out your help a great audition, I don't know what planet you're living on."

"What was wrong with him being shy or even nervous? Everybody get nervous with something like this! You can't expect someone to be absolutely perfect in an audition!" Harry was getting angry over Marco's words. He can't just say stuff like that.

"But he's just not what we are looking for?"

"Who's 'we'? Because this decision effects us more than you guys. 'We' is Zayn, Liam and I. Not you. Why should it be your call to have him in the band or not. We are the one's who have to work with Louis. It's more of our concern who is in the band, not our managements." Harry argues back.

Marco seems a little surprised at Harry's words, but looks unfazed. "Actually Styles, it is our concern in fact. We have to make sure the talent we're working for brings in what it's worth."

"Oh yeah, all you care about is the money."

"Well, if it wasn't for the money you were making, you wouldn't still be in this business."

All of this was irritating Harry. Why couldn't they just see Louis like they did with Niall? Why can't they just let Louis join as easily as Niall did?

"I'll show you. Putting Louis into this band won't be a mistake." Harry says, determined.

"Zayn and I say the same." Liam speaks up, standing next to Harry. Zayn follows, arms crossed over his chest.

"We want Louis in One Direction." Zayn says.

Marco stares at the three with an unbelievable look. He groans, putting Louis' audition papers on top of Niall's. "You better be right boys."

That brings a smile to Harry's face, and the three boys once again cheered about their new band member.

Louis and Niall, welcome to One Direction.

+
Today was finally the day. One week later and now Niall and Louis will know if they made the cut.

To say Louis was nervous would be an understatement. He felt like he was almost shitting bricks, that's how nervous he was.

This phone call was basically his future, and he's scared that he'd failed. This is his dream, to be singing in front of crowds, writing his own songs that came from the heart and to hear them sung back to him in loud screams. But only this one phone call could make that happen.

Niall and Louis have been hanging together all day in Louis' bedroom, hands clutching their phones for dear life and checking every few minutes to see if anyone had called them. But no one has yet.

It's now around six in the afternoon and the boys are slowly losing hope in the phone call. Deep down, Louis knew this was going to happen.

"I don't think we made it Ni-" Louis was cut off at the sound of Niall's phone chiming, the screen lighting up with an unknown number.

For a moment, Niall was frozen in his spot, but he quickly snapped out of it and answered the call with shaky hands.

"Hello?" Niall said, listening to the voice on the other line. From what Louis could hear, it was a deep voice.

"Yeah, I was at the audition,"

"Yes, that's me,"

Seconds later, Niall's face changed from nervous to wide eyes and a dropped jaw.

He continued to listen and Louis watched the boy beside him, curious.

Next thing he knew, Niall was falling off the bed from trying to get up to fast.

"This isn't a joke right!?" Niall questioned, his voice louder. A few seconds later, Niall was cheering in excitement, a large smile on his face. "Oh my gosh! Thank you! Thank you so much!"

Right then, Louis knew what was happening, and he couldn't believe it.

The second Niall ended the call, he was basically screaming, for good of course. he finally got off the floor and looked at Louis.

"You made it!?" Louis asked excitedly.

Niall nodded his head frantically, running to Louis and tackling him on the bed. "I'M IN LOU! I'M IN THE BAND!"

"I can't believe it! I mean, I can because why wouldn't you make it? But, oh my god, I'm so happy for you!" Louis held his best friend in a tight hug, Niall returning it. "Now I can officially say I'm best friends with a member of One Direction! this is like a dream come true!" Louis laughed.

Niall pulled out of the hug, looking at Louis with a big grin. "Only for now. Now we just have to wait for your call to come! Then I can be best friends with a 1D member." The blonde exclaimed.

Louis' smile dropped slightly, looking down and playing with the end of his sweater sleeve. "There isn't going to be a call Niall. I'm nothing compared to your voice, they won't want me." the older boy mumbled. "I bet they didn't even look back on my audition."

"Why are you always thinking negative Lou? You are amazing! I don't know why you can't see that." Niall argued, placing his hands on Louis' shoulders and gripping them slightly.

Louis just shrugged, looking up at his friend.

"I know their gonna call you."

"How do you know?"

"Because why wouldn't you make it?" Niall smiled, repeating Louis' words from before. "I just know."

Louis finally gave a proper smile back to Niall, nodding his head. "Okay."

An hour and a half past, and Louis still hasn't got a call. He has started to give up. Not even Niall's words of encouragement helped Louis to think that maybe his phone might ring.

It was now dark outside and Niall had to head home before it got too late. Before Niall walked out the front door, he noticed Louis' down face, and he wrapped him in a warm hug.

It hurts Niall to think that he got into the band, but Louis didn't. He feels even worse because he feels like he's betrayed Louis by getting this spot in One Direction, when Louis was the one who actually wanted to have all this.

With a final goodbye, Niall left to go home. Louis closed the front door with a sigh. he rested his forehead against the wood, his lips pursed and eyes shut tight.

Before his mum could see, Lottie being at her friends house for a sleepover, he went to his bedroom, closing the door and falling onto his bed. A few tears started to roll down his cheeks, as much as he tried to wipe them away. But he gave up after a bit.

Even though he saw this coming, it hurt. This was his dream, to sing, but it's gone. He wasn't good enough.

Suddenly, the sound of his phone broke through the silence in his room. Louis shot up from his bed and scrambled searching for his phone. He found it on the floor, answering the call without looking at the caller ID.

"Hello?" Louis said, a little bit of excitement in his voice.

This was it. The phone call he was waiting all day for.

"Did you make it!? Did you make it!?" The sound of Lottie's voice came through the speaker.

Louis' heart dropped, tearing starting to build up again slowly.

This wasn't the call he was waiting all day for.

"N-No.."

"Oh my god! Lou, I'm so sorry. I knew how much this meant to you.."

Louis sniffled. "Yeah... I know. Thanks for the call Lotts." he said before hanging up.

Louis had the urge to throw his phone across the room, but he decided against it. Instead he curled up on himself, arms wrapped around his legs with his head on his knees.

He took a quick look to the alarm clock on his bedside table, it read 7:53 PM. they wouldn't call this late.

He's given up.

He decides to just get some sleep, nothing much else he could do.

Just as he was about to get into his bed, his phone rang once more. Louis didn't think much of it as he picked it up.

"Hello?" he answered tiredly.

"Hello! Is this... Louis Tomlinson?" The deep voice asked on the other line. The voice sounded familiar.

"That's me."

"Well, congratulations Louis! Your audition for the new member in One Direction was successful!" The man cheered through the phone.

Suddenly Louis' heart was pounding fast, his face full of shock.

"What?" was all he could get out of his mouth. the voice on the line chuckling softly.

"Welcome to One Direction, Louis Tomlinson!"

Louis had to wait a few seconds before it all sunk in.

And when it did, the biggest smile was in his lips, big enough to create the small crinkles by his eyes. He was screaming inside.

He made it.

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Hey Guys!
I know it hasn't been that many reads, but you don't know how happy I am to see that people are actually reading and voting on this story. It's putting a big smile on my face, and it's also helping me to write even more knowing that someone out there is reading this! :)
Thank you so much! 
-Chloe xx