The Competition

2

They sat in the front row when the competition started to scout out their biggest rivals. First up was an all-girls band that clearly had Spice Girls as their biggest idols.
"Oh, I love Spice Girls!" Someone said next to him and Louis turned his head to look who it was just to find Harry taking a seat.

"Yeah, right." Louis chuckled at what he thought was a joke but Harry pouted.

"I'm serious! It's about time that girls take over the world. Men have spent centuries destroying it." Harry said.

Louis just stared at him. That was a potentially deep argument. He wasn't sure Spice Girls would change the world though but he kept that thought to himself.

They clapped their hands when the girls were done with their performance. The next band took the stage. Louis' eyes grew wider as they kicked it off. Harry leaned in so he would hear him over the loud music.
"Now, that's a band to watch out for!"

"Yeah." Louis agreed. Why was Harry acting like they were old friends? They just met for crying out loud.

He glanced at him. Harry had removed the scarf around his head. Instead, he had bejeweled butterfly hair clips in pink to keep his hair out of his eyes. Louis couldn't help but smile. His sisters had a million of those.

During the third performance Harry handed him a Hubba Bubba. Did he have bad breath? He accepted it and put the chewing gum in his mouth. When Harry started to blow bubbles he wanted to strangle him lightly. A particular big bubble made him reach out a finger and pop it and the chewing gum covered Harry's whole mouth. Louis gave him a grin of satisfaction.

Harry rolled his eyes at him and removed the gum from around his mouth and popped it back in. They listened to the third act. They were good but Louis knew that his band was better.

The fifth band on the other hand was great. Louis sighed and twisted in his chair. They would have to make a performance of a lifetime if they would have a shot at winning. Thankfully he didn't have to perform until tomorrow. Plenty of time to get ready. He clapped his hands when the final band had finished their song.

He turned to Harry.
"Good luck tomorrow."

"Yeah, you too. Suddenly I'm nervous." Harry said.

"I'm sure you'll smash it." Louis replied before he got up and turned to his bandmates on his right side.
"Band meeting."

He waved goodbye to Harry and his band. Niall smiled widely but that Zayn guy just nodded a goodbye. He didn't say much, did he?

They held the meeting in the van as they drove home.
"There were at least two bands today that can give us a run for our money. We need to be on fire tomorrow. No drinking. Get to bed early so you're well rested." Louis lectured.

"Alright, daddy." Michael smirked.

"If you were remotely gay you wouldn't call me that." Louis snorted and the whole band burst out in a loud cackle.

"I'm sure straight people have that kink too Mr. Too gay to know anything else." Michael said in amusement.

"Oh, is that a confession Mike?" Steve grinned.

Louis listened to their joshing with half an ear. No one in the band was even an inch homophobic so he had no problem with their friendly banter. His mind wandered off to a certain singer in flannel. Harry was gorgeous. Probably the prettiest guy he had ever seen.

Steve dropped him and Liam off at their place before they drove off. They ordered pizza and watched The Gladiator show on the telly before they headed off to bed.

Louis got up early and took a shower before he went through his closet to find something to wear. He settled on some blue jeans and a polo shirt and made sure to button it all the way. He grabbed his jeans jacket and a pair of sneakers.

Liam was in the kitchen making breakfast and Louis gave him a once-over. Blue jeans and a double layer of shirts. A long sleeve in green underneath and a white t-shirt over. Louis approved. He knew that the rest of the guys would wear something similar to Liam.
"Good morning." Louis greeted as he opened a cabinet to get a bowl of his breakfast cereal.

"Good morning. Nervous about today?" Liam asked.

"Yeah, but that's a good thing. You?" Louis smiled as he poured cereal into his bowl.

"I'm nervous too." Liam admitted.

"We just have to make it to the top five this round. I can't see why we wouldn't." Louis said as he poured milk into his cereal.

"At least two of the bands yesterday were awesome." Liam pointed out.

"Yeah, they were all good but two of them stood out." Louis replied and took a spoonful of cereal in his mouth.

"Hopefully the bands competing today won't be that good." Liam said and ate his toast.

"Hopefully. We have to make sure to warm up before we go on stage." Louis said. He decided to make some tea for his vocal cords and got up to fill the kettle with water.

"Make me some too." Liam said.

They had just finished their tea when Louis' Nokia 3210 beeped. He checked his messages and quickly pressed the buttons to compose an answer.
"The guys will pick us up in ten minutes." He informed Liam.

Liam rushed off and Louis finished the last of his tea before he went to the bathroom to brush his teeth and put on some CK One Cologne. He looked at himself in the mirror for a moment, trying to boost his confidence, before he headed out.

He played snake on the cell phone on their way over to The Arena to keep his emotions in check. He didn't want his nerves to get the best of him. Touring with Oasis would be a dream come true. He loved their music!