Double Act (A One Direction Fanfiction)

Chapter Thirty: So close

Double Act - Chapter 30

~~ Louis' P.O.V ~~

"Ah! Lara and Liv! How nice to..." I trailed off as I caught Liv shaking her head at me sadly. I frowned a little, and forgot what I was saying. "Um, let's get down to business, shall we?" I said, clearing my throat as I scanned all my contestants at the table.

I had lost one act, and by no means was I about to lose another. Triple threat were good, and I can't believe I had been forced to see them leave the competition. I knew what that was like. You felt like the walls were closing in around you, and you thought your dreams were over. In our case, they weren't, but in many cases people aren't so lucky to have Simon Cowell as their mentor.

I resurfaced from my thoughts and watched Lara and Liv take seats at the table. Lara shuffled close to a boy from 4 Life, and he wrapped a protective arm around her as she leant her head on his shoulder. I tensed, but forced myself to relax.

They were friends. Friends did that. It was normal.

But I'm sure it wasn't normal for Lara to give me a dirty look before closing her eyes and nuzzling further in to her friend, who I noticed to be none other than Dylan. Could it be she was even angrier than usual? That would explain Liv's warning at the beginning as they entered the room.

I shuffled the papers in front of me and sighed, and caught sight of someone raising their hand tentatively. I smiled warmly at them, and they leaned forward.

"What have you got written on all that paper?" the boy asked curiously, flicking his long hair to one side.

I chuckled and glanced down. "Games of noughts and crosses," I admitted. "But it makes me look important, doesn't it?" I asked cheekily, winking at one of the closest girls. I forgot who I was for a moment, and was confused when her cheeks erupted in to red blooms of embarrassment. I smirked, and shuffled uncomfortably.

Suddenly the door behind me burst open, and Jennifer popped her head inside. Her face was more orange than usual, meaning that she wanted to impress someone, and her eyelashes looked like lumpy spider's legs. I cringed and turned back around.

"Oh my gosh! I am so sorry!" Jennifer gushed. "Am I interrupting a meeting?"

I scowled. "Gee, Jen. What gave it away? The sign on the door saying 'Meeting in progress'? Or the actual meeting?" I said through gritted teeth. It probably looked like I was grinning like a madman, so I stopped and let a look of utter disgust take over. "What do you want?"

"I want to talk,"

"Can you with all that makeup?" I muttered, earning a grin from one of the nearby boys. He held his hand out down low, and I slapped it in a low-five. I liked him.

"What was that?"

"Nothing, dear," I smirked.

Suddenly there was the unmistakable, ear-splitting noise of a chair being scraped back, and footsteps running out of the room. I took one look at Lara as she fled the room, her hair flying out behind her and her hands up at her face, and stood up quickly. Dylan did the same, but I sprinted to the door to go after her. I turned back to face the confused audience.

"I'll be back in a minute, everyone," I told them quickly before flashing Jennifer a quick glare and hurrying out of the room.

Lara had her back against the opposite wall with tears dripping down her face and her hands hugging her knees to her chest as she stared glumly at the floor. But as I ran out she looked up and her eyes widened in surprise. She scrambled to her feet and began to run down the hallway.