Long live the reckless and the brave [X-factor drabble]
Louis can’t describe how happy he is when they get called back on stage. He sees four other boys, their faces as nervous and hopeful as his own. He remembers the curly haired boy with the grey beanie; they had run in to each other at auditions. Louis had asked for a picture and an autograph because he knew that the boy would make it far. He felt it in his bones.
And yeah, he hadn’t expected the boy to be kicked off but he was also called back now so hopefully this is a positive thing, a second chance.
He sees the boy bite his lip, the blond one is shaking and the other two seem equally shaken up. Duh, Louis thinks, they just got kicked off, then got called back on stage. They’re all on stage, Louis as last and he sees four girls, tear streaks down their cheeks, on the other side of the stage and they look just as confused as him.
They’re asked to stand in front of the judges and Louis slings an arm around the shoulders of the two boys next to him.
“Hi”, Nicole Scherzinger says and they all greet her back. “Thank you so much for coming back. I know, judging from some of your faces, that this is really hard. We’ve thought long and hard about it and we thought of each of you as individuals and we thought you’re just too talented to let go of.”
Louis looks around and he sees everyone looks just as confused as he feels. What is she getting at? That they’re too talented to let go of but sadly there isn’t enough space in the X factor House so they’ll have to go anyway?
“We think it would be a great idea to have two separate groups.”
Louis doesn’t quite get it yet.
Simon takes the mic from Nicole and says “We’ve decided to put you both through.” And yeah. Louis didn’t see that one coming. The girls scream and he sees the boy with the grey beanie kind of collapse onto the floor and somehow he hears himself scream too. He’s through. They’re through.
Simon tells them something about having to work very hard but all Louis can focus on is the boy with the grey beanie next to him and the smile threatening to split his face in two. And then they’re free to go and suddenly he finds himself being carried off stage by the boy with the grey beanie and he really needs to learn his name.
-
Harry. Harold, Haz, Hazza, Harry. The boy with the grey beanie, the green eyes, the deep voice despite his age of sixteen, the boy Louis has grown to love. They’re strangely close, but strangely is a good adjective in this case. Their third live show was yesterday and they did great, if Louis may say so himself. They all sounded very well together, Niall, Liam, Zayn, Harry and him. They had even gained some fans!
“Lou, what are you thinking about?” a voice says in his right ear.
“About how crazy this journey has been so far”, he answers and there’s a deep chuckle.
“It has been crazy so far”, Harry agrees. “Do you want to watch a movie with me?”
“Only if you cuddle with me.” And yeah. Maybe their friendship is a little strange, without boundaries, but they’re both fine with it so why the hell not?
“Of course I’ll cuddle with you”, Harry laughs and Louis finds himself drifting off to Harry-land (yes, that’s an actual word from now on) with butterflies in his stomach and – most likely – heart eyes.
“Come here then.” And he holds out his arms and pulls Harry in his lap and Harry squirms and giggles and fuck, Louis’ heart did not just flutter at that sound. “You’re cute, Curly.”
