Save You Tonight (Liam Payne)

Chapter 1

            It’s over. I lost The X Factor. A dejected feeling sinks in and chills me to the bone. I’m frozen in place, frozen in time. It’s only when the hot tears start streaming down my face that I finally melt and am aware of the others—I am not alone. Other people lost their chance to make it to the big time too. Others in this room are bursting into tears like I am.

            Why do I still feel so alone though?

            “Hey, Liam,” a blonde boy says to me. His eyes are red and his cheeks glistening with tears that haven’t dried up. They probably never will—at least not inside.

            “Hey, Niall,” I say softly. “Sorry about…You know. You’re too good to be booted off.”

            “Me? What about you, them? None of us deserve this.”

            I let out a weak chuckle. “True, but tell that to the bloody judges.”

            Niall smiles, but it fades. “Well, goodbye, and good luck with…Whatever.”

            “You too.”

            I look around the room, and a boy named Harry is sitting by his mother, crying. She’s trying to soothe him, but it’s hard to calm a boy with shattered hopes and broken dreams. He’s from a sleepy little town in England where nothing really changes, and it looks like he’s not going to break away from it anytime soon.

            “Liam…” my father calls my name. “I’m so sorry.” Sympathy is written all over his face, and I know he feels for me, but I can’t help but be annoyed. He’ll never understand how much this hurts. I wanted to be a singer, but now I have to ask myself what I’m going to do next, what my backup dream is, and I don’t have one at the moment.

            “I know, Dad. Let’s just go,” I mutter.

            He nods, and we head out of the building. As I leave, I wave goodbye to Louis, and a guy named Zayn waves goodbye to me. I’m almost too sad to wave back.

            In the car, my father asks me the inevitable question.

            “So, Liam…What’s next? Will you stick with singing or…?”

            “No,” I say immediately. “I obviously don’t have what it takes.”

            “Don’t say that—“

            “Dad!” I cut him off. “I can’t do this again…I can’t have my dream taken away from me again. It hurts too much.”

            “Okay, okay,” he says. “But do have any idea? What you’ll do next? You’re currently studying music technology. Do you not want to do that anymore?”

            There’s a long period of silence before I answer his question. I sift through my mind for the slightest inkling of a goal, plan, or desire, but not a dream, because as I now know, dreams are for the lucky ones, and I wasn’t lucky. Then, a thought floats into my consciousness.

            “A fireman. That’s what I’m going to be—a fireman,” I answer him.

            “A fireman…Why?” he asks.

            “I don’t know…I guess I’ve just always liked the idea of saving someone.”

            He places a hand on my shoulder. “That’s good…There’s always people that need to be saved. You’ll have to be careful about your kidney though.”

            I don’t answer him. Instead, I gaze out the window into the night. How dark the world is. How dark, and how cold…