Lost at Sea || Niall Horan (In Editing)

Chapter 43

Erica's POV

I shifted awkwardly as Lou continued to fuss over my hair. My make up had been perfected and now Lou was perfecting the finishing touches on my hair. I was thankful beyond belief, I couldn't use a curling iron to save my life.

(Hair and makeup on sidebar)

Eleanor and Christina were sat beside me waiting for my hair to be finished. Perrie was with the Little mix girls and Dani was with the other dancers getting ready to dance. The boys were ready and waiting in the room next door for us ladies to finish.

"Voila! There you go Miss Erica, all done." I grinned at her through the mirror,

"Thanks Lou, you're the best." She flipped her hair obnoxiously,

"Honey tell me something I don't know." Eleanor handed a giggling Lux back to Lou and stood,

"Ready to rock ladies?"

I swallowed nervously, my dress showed more leg than I was used to. My mind was mentally preparing itself to be slammed with hate on the carpet and on twitter later tonight. Eleanor sensed my uneasiness and smiled gently,

"Tonight isn't going to be easy, but everything after tonight seems a whole lot better. Its always the first red carpet event that hurts the most."

She leaned forward a kissed my cheek just as the door swung open.

"Eleanor? How could?" Louis gasped dramatically falling against Zayn. El rolled her eyes and flipped him off earning a wounded groan from the boy. Lou walked into glaring at Lou giving him a scolding for ruining his suit and hair.

Niall walked towards me with his eyes bulging from their sockets, I suddenly felt extremely insecure. He smiled taking my hand in his kissing my knuckles softly,

"You look stunning,"

Suddenly all insecurities flew out the window.

I watched in awe as our car pulled up at the venue, the red carpet sat only meters from where I sat. Hundreds of screaming girls lined the carpet along with hundreds of paps with their cameras flashing. Niall gripped my hand in his,

"Everything is going to be ok babe, i'll be right beside you." I nodded stiffly still looking at the crowd. I heard Zayn groan from beside me,

"Liam looks like its gonna be some Ziam action tonight, Perrie is already inside." He tossed his phone at Harry and pouted. The boys laughed with Harry pocketing his phone with a cheeky grin. The playful banter started and continued as the door opened. Niall and I were second last to exit, Harry and Christina being last.

Louis stepped out first causing the screams to increase dramatically, nearly bursting my ears. Eleanor followed suit with Zayn right behind her. Liam crawled out flashing the cameras an adorable grin. I swallowed thickly as Niall took my hand and stepped out of the car.

I was instantly blinded by flashing cameras and deafened by the screams. Niall's arm wrapped around my waist pulled me against him. He leant towards my ear,

"Smile babe, we don't want any derp faces on tumblr tomorrow" I grinned and faced the camera trying to show a little confidence.

We passed most of the cameras and reached the stretch where the boys were to take photos with fans and sign things. Niall walked towards Liam leaving me standing on my own. Eleanor and Christina stood with Larry Stylinson talking to some fans while Zayn was taking photos.

"Erica!" I turned to see a group of girls around my age grinning madly beckoning me to come closer. Hesitantly I walked closer and they squealed,

"Hi Erica!" The blonde girl near screamed as I reached them. I grinned,

"Hi there, what's our name love?" She grinned,

"I'm Ashleigh and this here is my best friend Tijana." Her friend, Tijana, rolled her eyes and grinned,

"I'm the supervisor," I grinned and took the camera from Ashleigh,

"Lets see if I can work this thing, I swear technology hates me." The girls smiled and bunched in closer for a photo. After saying goodbye and swapping twitter names with the girls I moved on to the next group.

A tall girl with bleach blonde hair gave me a look own and grimaced,

"Honey have you ever heard of a thigh gap? It could look good on you." My fingers twitched as I plastered a smile across my face,

"Thanks, i'll keep that in mind." And walked on completely ignoring her now complaining friends.

Eventually I reached the boys who were posing for a group photo and pulling faces at the girls behind the cameramen. Eleanor made her way towards me smiling softly,

"How did it o?" I shrugged,

"Not too bad, got hit with several comments but its ok." She smiled and pulled me in for a hug. Niall chose that moment to wander over and pressed a light kiss to my cheek, scared of the wrath of Louis he ruined my make up.

"Time for us to head inside," He shot me a small smile clearly understanding what could have happened on the carpet. I nodded and linked my hand with his,

"Lets do this."

As soon as we walked through the entrance the boys were whisked away backstage to change an warm up for their performance of One Way or Another. Christina, Eleanor and I made our way to our allocated seats. We could see Perrie and the other girls of Little Mix sitting a bit farther away on the other side of the catwalk.

The girls would be singing a little later on after the contenders sang, a sort of intermission. I recognised several faces around me such as James Arthur, Cher Lloyd, Jahméne Douglas and some others who had been on X factor.

The lights dimmed and a voice echoed through the room,

'Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the 2013 X factor finale. I now present your host Mario Lopez," I zoned out through the introductory speech, anxious to see my Irishman on stage. I had never seen the boys perform before, excitement was beginning to build.

"I now introduce to you, One Direction."

The beginning notes started and the boys appeared, looking very dapper in their street wear singing to their charity single.

Niall continuously threw winks in my direction and occasionally blew me a kiss. Tonight would be a night I would never forget.