Double Act (A One Direction Fanfiction)

Chapter Forty Four: A Rant From Baby Brother

Double Act - Chapter 44

~~ Lara's P.O.V ~~

My mouth wasn't dry. I wasn't shaking. I kept telling myself that I was scared out of my wits, but I simply wasn't, and after a moment I started to figure out why. All those times before when I was scared of leaving the competition, I was terrified that we would go home and Liv and James would hate me for letting them down.

But James had shown that if we didn't win, then nothing would change. Liv had told me that - well, in a round about way - I was her sister and nothing could come between that. So if we didn't win tonight, no one was going to hold it against me.

For the first time since we entered the competition, I wasn't terrified. I wasn't scared. It felt like I had already won something.

So when Louis' gaze flickered from my face to the boys faces, I decided that I wouldn't let him be bias towards me. He had to choose whoever he thought would make it further in the music industry, and if that was Four Life then so be it. As he looked at me I caught his gaze, and he looked at me desperately for an answer to the unspoken question.

I looked at him and sighed before smiling at him. I let it light up my features completely, my hands found each other and I clasped them together in front of me, and I nodded. Go on. It's okay.

The confusion on Louis' face evaporated and he gave me a questioning look. After I nodded one last time, he smiled back. Thankyou, it seemed to say.

And then all the guilt was gone. He was free to choose whoever he wanted without being influenced by me. And do you know something? In that moment, the millisecond as Louis' mouth opened, I truly believed that his choice would be Four Life. And that made the next few words all the more surprising.

~~ Louis' P.O.V ~~

The nod that Lara gave me meant everything. It meant that she had forgiven me, for whatever she was angry at me for in the previous hour. It meant that I wasn't weighed down with the knowledge that if I didn't choose to let them win, then she wouldn't hate me. It meant that.. well, I was free to make the decision I wanted to.

But was it really that important?

The weight of Lara was lifted off my shoulders, and I expected the decision I wanted to make to be completely changed. But as I thought about it, I wanted to make the same decision. I frowned, but began reassuring myself I was making the right decision.

I thought that when I didn't care what Lara wanted, I would pick Four Life. They were fresh, they would get backed by all the teenage girls out there, and flexible too; they could sing any song and would be amazing. But I didn't. I really, really didn't.

I was about to lose friends that I would truly truly miss, but somehow... I didn't mind.

So I opened my mouth and made the decision my brain had been mulling over for the past 10 minutes.

 "That group is Double Act,"

~~ Dylan's P.O.V ~~

My heart shattered for the second time, all because of this stupid competition. I shook my head, the lads around me seeming to slump in sadness. I turned to my brother and saw him frozen, his eyes filling with tears of shock and sadness. A lump grew in my throat and I sighed, pulling Olly in to a hug that I hoped would make him feel better. His lip trembled and he buried his head in my chest as the other 2 boys hugged each other.

The next few minutes went by in a blur. Dermot's consolatory words meant little, and as we trudged backstage all I wanted to do was go home. All of my