Lucky Ones [L.S.]

Epilogue

"Tonight we have five amazing personalities with us! Please welcome ONE DIRECTION!"

The five singers enter the stage, Zayn, Liam and Niall urging Harriet and Louisa to walk in the front- Ladies first, the boys following behind.

There is an extremely loud cheer as their fans see them. They sit on the couches- the girls taking one and the boys settling on the other one.

"Welcome to The Late Late Show, this is Harriet, Louisa, Zayn, Liam and Niall. Give them a round of applause everyone!" James introduces them and there's another loud cheer from the crowd.

The band loves James Corden, he's such a close friend of theirs. And they always have very much fun, cracking internal jokes and the questions never feel forced and they can always politely decline whatever they don't want to answer- which is like, super awesome.

They talk a bit about their new album, Midnight Memories. It's very dear to all of them, it being actually written by them and being able to make what they actually want to make.

They all knew James wouldn't ever address one situation, he would never put Hartiet on spot like that, humiliating her- the pregnancy rumors.

But Harriet had asked him to.

"Now I know you've certainly heard some of the rumours going around, about you- Haz. You wanted to say something about it, please do."

Gulping, Harriet faces the crowd, the camera specifically, Lou's hand wrapped safely around her waist. "Yeah, um, I've had people coming up to me, you know whenever we go out on for walks or to the store, um, they ask me if I'm pregnant-" Blinking away her tears, she continues, "-beacuse apparently putting on some healthy weight looks like you're pregnant." Her jaw twitches. "I'm not."

Louisa steals one glance at Zayn's slim figure. Too slim.

"Yes, I have a tummy, so what? I've finally started feeling alive after a whole day of work, so I think that counts as success."

She had realised it's high time only after she fainted in the middle of recording her part. But thank God, she realised it before it was too late.

Louisa's thumb rubs her back continuously from where her hand is settled around her pudgy waist.

"You don't get the pressure that's put on you until you are in the industry, working like a robot day and night, without breaks." Louisa shakes her head, continuing, "I mean, we all just need to fit into some certain standards, certain body figures. If you're a lad, you need to have those muscles but never fat, you know what I mean. If you're a lady, you need to have enough weight to have curves but not enough so it settles on your stomach or thighs." Harriet and Louisa are latched onto each other's hands like their life depends on it.

Liam speaks next. "That's something, I guess, all of us can attest to. You need to be attractive enough to pull listeners. And that's what's being reflected via media- be it social or mass media, that's what we're setting for the society, innit? That you need to have a certain body type to fit in. Nobody speaks about how unhealthy that is."

James nods in empathy. He has seen first hand how they are all treated, harassed. The girls, emotionally, the boys, physically. It kills him to see such strong kids go through something this terrible. Nobody deserves that.

Zayn is quiet during the whole time. Nobody catches the lone tear that falls on the cheek that's not in the vision of the camera.

They talk some more about the topic, about body positivity and a little about their own experiences. Settling the matter, they move onto the next one.