Locked up for Love

Prologue

“Good morning boys… I welcome you!” A man spoke and with a wide fake grin he opened the door.

The man looked too decent: dressed up in a shiny black suit with a white blouse beneath and a black tie. His neatly shaven face and his dyed choppy hair finished the whole look. The man frowned and kept his arms folded.

“Please sit down, young men.” The somehow important-looking man paced at the front of the tiny room as he watched the five boys walking in. Each of them looked tired.

“Good morning, sir”, mumbled the curly-haired boy and he sat down on a red, soft couch standing in the middle of the little room.

“Will you please close the door, Niall”, the man said and he gestured at the blonde boy, who nodded drowsily and shut the door behind him, before he sat down next to the other guys as well. The decent man stood still in front of five staring pairs of eyes and kept a little silent before he started to explain why they were all here:

“All right, welcome, boys”, the man repeated and an irritating grin appeared on his face again. The boy in the stripy shirt, Louis, sighed softly and stifled a yawn, while the man in front of them, who was their manager, continued the story.

“I asked you to come over here to make an announcement.” The manager looked around the group and made eye contact with each lad. His glance stuck at the three boys in the middle of the couch and he spoke mysteriously and slowly:

“This mainly applies to you: Zayn, Harry and Niall.” The three boys frowned their eyebrows, while Louis and Liam glanced at each other quickly.

“For three of us? What is it?” Zayn’s voice sounded surprised. The manager looked like he already expected such a reaction and continued:

“I heard you were complaining about…being single”, he said with a chuckle. This immediately caused an effect on all of the boys. Zayn’s jaw dropped unnoticed, while Harry and Louis frowned, smiling uncomprehendingly. Niall and Liam just sat there, staring at the manager to await his further story.

“The board actually came up with a great idea, which will be good to all of us.” The neat man took a handful of papers and threw it on the coffee table in front of the boys with a loud smash.

“Boys, we’re going to make a TV show.”

As the manager spoke those two last words, little shrieks and exclamations sounded. They even seemed to echo, as far as that’s possible in such a tiny room.

“A television show?” Harry shouted and he laughed warmly as his dimples appeared. “And what does the ‘being single’-part have to do with this idea?”

The manager kneeled down in front of the coffee table and tapped with his forefinger on the forms.

“Boys, listen”, he said with a deep low voice. The lads stared at the forms in front of them as the manager continued: “Three of you. Niall, Zayn and Harry”, he said, looking them all in the eyes, “are going to be locked up in a large villa somewhere near.” Right now outrage was visible on certain faces. “With 24 girls…”

“What!” The five boys shouted in unison.

“Let me continue”, the man said, well annoyed. “Like I said, Niall, Zayn and Harry will be locked up in a large villa with 24 girls from different countries around the world, for five weeks. Every week at least three girls need to leave, until…the finals. There will be cameras all around the house, which follow you 24 hours a day, seven days a week. But you’re kind of used to that already”, the manager joked.

It remained silent for a while, as the boys tried to understand what he actually meant. Harry broke the silence:

“Oh my… Do you… Do you mean this will be some kind of a dating show?” He asked with his mouth wide open. The manager didn’t deny anything, but he just grinned.

“Absolutely awesome! I’m in!” Harry exclaimed and he gave Louis a high-five.

“I’ve always thought you were dating me though”, Louis smirked and the other boys laughed along with him, except Niall. While the other boys looked all happy and energetic by hearing this news, Niall’s face looked pale and his eyes were meaningless. Everybody immediately stopped laughing.

“Come on Niall, what’s the matter? It will be fun, I promise you”, Harry said. He glanced at his friends and claimed: “I don’t think there’s anything wrong with this idea.” He wiped a curly lock of hair out of his face and grinned mischievously. Liam touched his friend’s back and tried to comfort him, but Niall didn’t turn around.“I don’t know guys. It just doesn’t feel right to me”, Niall whispered. His friends looked at Niall anxiously, but the manager, on the contrary, acted like he had never heard any bad word Niall said and stood up.

“Okay, that’s settled! The auditions will start this week! Thanks for your attention, boys. Could you follow me and come over to the hallway now all together? We need to arrange some important things for the show and I’ll inform you about the details.” As if it was a sign, everyone suddenly forgot about Niall’s doubts and stood up to walk in the same direction as the manager.

Though Niall remained sitting on the couch, without an expression in his eyes, staring into the black darkness of the painted walls.

One Direction @onedirection                                                                          1 second ago

We’re thrilled to announce the start of the auditions to ‘Locked up for Love’! Send in photos, letters or even videos to participate! 1DHQ x

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written by Josca