Finding My Voice

~22~

//A/N//: it's been a slow month honestly. by all means i should be working on this a lot more, but what can i say? your gurl is a lil bit bored of this story now, as i'm sure y'all are too. don't worry don't worry, i've been brainstorming new ones for when this one is finally over. 

x  -  s

...

The spotlight shines into my eyes as I hear the beginning notes of our song play. Claire's sweet voice begins to riff and hit impressively high notes, as she stands in her short red cocktail dress. 

Clock strikes upon the hour and the sun begins to fade. Still enough time to figure out how to chase my blues away. 

Alex's voice rings as he steps out in his white dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up and maroon dress pants. 

I've done alright up 'till now it's the light of day that shows me how and when the night falls, loneliness calls.

Jamie steps up and joins the other two in singing the chorus. He finally had figured out his parts of the song as he stands there in a white dress shirt and a red vest. 

Oh, I wanna dance with somebody, I wanna feel the heat with somebody. Yeah, I wanna dance with somebody. With somebody who loves me. 

Now Anthony and I finish out the chorus, harmonizing with smiles on our faces. Anthony has a red dress shirt while I'm wearing a maroon flowy dress. 

Oh, I wanna dance with somebody, I wanna feel the heat with somebody. Yeah, I wanna dance with somebody. With somebody who loves me. 

We all dance around the stage, performing with all that we've got. The crowd is on its feet clapping along and vibing with us as we sing Whitney Houston to our hearts content. Casey and Tom are among them, Tom going absolutely feral with his moves while Casey is just smiling up at me. 

As we keep on singing, I find myself forgetting that we are currently in a competition as Jamie takes my hand and spins me. It feels as though this is a completely normal thing and that us singing together is just how life is supposed to be. It feels right to be singing alongside these four amazing people, who have so kindly accepted me into their group. Honestly, I am so lucky that Niall decided to bend the rules. I highly doubt anyone else gets this opportunity in a competition like this.

It is at this exact moment where I come to a realization. 

My outlook on this whole experience has changed. Originally I arrived here, not believing that I was a good singer or that I could even win, but because I felt bad for my older sister. But now I'm realizing that maybe I am good at this singing thing, and that I actually want to win. Not only for my sister's sake, but also because I think we may have a good shot at it. It's funny, how just a few weeks with Niall Horan praising you can entirely change your confidence. (//A/N//: i wishhh)

The song finishes and we all immediately go into a group hug. 

"I can't believe we did that!" Anthony says.

Jamie squeezes all of us a little tighter, "We did so well!"

"Ohh, I hope that was good enough that we get voted to stay!" Claire says. "I'm not ready for this to be over yet!!"

We all mumble our agreement as we let go of each other, the crowd still on their feet clapping for us. 

Of course as soon as our hug breaks, Carson appears out of wherever he comes from with a shiny smile on his face. 

"Well Almighty! You guys really got us all on our feet with that one!" The crowd cheers, still applauding us, "Would you listen to that crowd? Seems to me like you guys may just be the fan favorites today!"

As the crowd cheers again, we all share smiles with one another, hoping that what Carson says is true.

"Since we obviously know how the crowd feels, how about we go to our judges? Who wants to talk to Almighty first?" Carson smiles again, addressing the four of them. 

Chance immediately raises his hand to talk but Kelly just starts speaking regardless. "That was one way to end the live performances for tonight, huh?" She starts, causing the audience to cheer once again. "Almighty, you guys did so good! Jamie and Anthony, I was very impressed to hear your lovely bass voices hitting those harmonies in a way that was so subtle yet effortless. It brought such a unique depth to the performance, and I certainly cannot wait to hear how all of you incorporate harmonies in any of your future performances. I will tell you guys this now, I would absolutely love to hear you sing a slower, more emotional song. I'm just absolutely obsessing over the idea, but I guess you guys have to stay voted on first before we get to that huh?" Kelly smiles. 

Chance coughs as he glares at her, "Is it my turn now, Kelly?". She shrugs and indicates for him to start talking. "Okay. I think that song was a great impression on this part of the competition. It seems as though you all are now taking this seriously, yet still having fun. Honestly, knowing that the singers are enjoying themselves and having a good time performing, makes it so much more fun to watch. It was not only the fact that the song was a great choice for entertaining, but seeing you guys have fun out there really makes a difference on how you perform. So, all I gotta say is keep it up. You guys are doing great." He claps. 

"Now sorry to interrupt you guys, but I have just been told we have limited time left, so Blake I'm sorry bud but we're going to have to skip over you to hear Niall's thoughts." Carson apologizes. 

"Now what in the hell?" Blake says laughing. "Whatever, go on Coach Niall."

Niall laughs and gets up to hug Blake before turning to us, "I'm so proud of you guys. I know that we had some rough rehearsals, and it took a while before really getting all of this down. But you guys did great out there; it was a really entertaining performance and truthfully, I didn't hear much that I would change or consider something to work on. Honestly, every time you guys perform I just get a confirmation that I made the right choice in creating a group with you five. It really makes me feel like Simon Cowell, which is something that I never would have imagined saying. Kinda makes me feel gross, saying that out loud actually," He shudders, "Anyways, if you keep up what you did during this performance, there are no doubts that you will go far in this competition. Good job guys. Mwah!" He finishes, blowing all of us a kiss. 

"Alright, now that we've heard what the coaches have said-", "Minus one!" Blake interrupts, "Yes whatever, can we have all of the acts come out onto the stage please? Now, the audience and people watching this show live, go on TheVoice app or on NBC.com to  vote for your two favorite performances. Now remember, the two acts with the least amount of votes will be going home." 

As we mutter 'good lucks' with the other acts, we all grab hands with one another just to feel supported. Carson announces the first act deemed safe as a soloist from Team Chance, and the nerves are biting me in the ass right now. The second one gets called a duet from Team Blake. Holy shitballs I'm nervous. 

"And now for our third performance moving on in the Live Shows," Carson calls. "Almighty from Team Niall!" 

I can feel Jamie next to me jumping for joy while still holding onto my hand, and I can hear Claire on my other side screeching in pure excitement as she latches onto my arm. But I can see Casey, holding onto Tom with tears in her eyes as she celebrates for me. 

'All for you', I mouth to her before I get pulled into our group hug.

"Guys, we really need to post on TikTok or something so we keep getting fan votes." Anthony says into our hug. 

"Yeah we can do that later." Alex dismisses. 

...