𝑾𝑯𝑬𝑵 𝑰𝑻 𝑨𝑳𝑳 𝑺𝑻𝑨𝑹𝑻𝑬𝑫 | 𝑛𝑖𝑎𝑙𝑙 ℎ𝑜𝑟𝑎𝑛

•Chapter 17•

'This is what the contestants have been fighting for for weeks. The final results of the x Factor 2010 UK. The ones still here with us right now are: Matt Cardle, One Direction and Samantha!' Dermot starts his little saying. 'The contestant who ended in third place is....'

It becomes dead silent in the hall. No one is saying a word, you can only hear the music on the background. The lights are dimmed, and each candidate gets a spotlight aimed at them. 

My breathing and heartbeat start to accelerate and I look in the direction of the boys. Harry was already looking at me and I look right into his gorgeous green eyes. I give him a little smile and he smiles back.

'Matt Cardle!' Dermot shouts out of the blue and I almost crap my pants.

I look at Matt. He has a smile on his face, but his eyes look sad. He gives Dermot a hand and talks into the microphone about his time on the show and thanks everyone he wants to thank.

'Have a look at Matt his time on the x Factor.' Dermot says and a clip starts to play on the big screen.

Matt isn't even looking at it. Instead, he gives everyone a hand, also me and the guys. He smiles and thanks everyone for the unforgettable journey.

Dermot walks to Matt and Dannii before the clip has ended. 'This is where we say goodbye. A few words Dannii?'

'Matt is so talented. It's a shame he only got third, but it's a huge achievement and I'm very proud of him.' she says with a smile.

Dermot grabs Matt's hand and raises it into the air. 'Give a huge applause for Matt Cardle everyone!'

The audience gives the applause and Matt and Dannii both walk off the stage. 

'Who has won the x Factor of 2010? Is it One Direction or Samantha? Say Samantha, would you mind telling everyone at home why we only say your first name?' Dermot starts to ramble and holds the microphone before me.

'No one here can pronounce my name correctly.' I say and the audience laughs.

Dermot chuckles. 'That is very true. Alright, have a look at a combined clip of not only One Direction's time, but also Samantha's time on the show.'

I turn around to the big screen behind us. I see the six of us auditioning, and the moment Harry and I celebrated that we both were through. Cher and I are over the moon that we passed bootcamp, but the boys haven't. All of a sudden, it changes. The quality of the video becomes worse and it looks like it is filmed with a phone. The background music stops and you hear the original sound of the footage.

'She's absolutely crazy, isn't she?' I hear Louis' voice on the video. I look at the boys with my jaw dropped and look back to the video.

'Ssshh, I can't hear what she's saying.' I hear Cher's voice, which is closer than Louis', which probably means that she is filming.

'Can't you at least make a group of them?' That's my voice, in the far distance. I can't believe they filmed it and didn't tell me.

'We'll see.' I can hear Simon say, before the video stops. 

All the footage now shows what the guys have accomplished since then and a smile appears on my face.

'When Samantha suddenly stood before me after bootcamp and said that I was making a huge mistake if I would let the guys go, I thought; "You have some guts to stand here before me and say all of this."' Simon is sitting in a black, leather chair and it appears that Simon is being interviewed. 'The more I started thinking about it, the more I thought that she was right. Those five guys owe everything they will ever accomplish to her. Without her, they would've been send home at bootcamp and would never be a band.'

I feel all the eyes of the guys burning on my face, but I keep looking at the screen. 

'The guys work hard, don't get me wrong, but they are who they are today because of her. I have the feeling that they sometimes forget that.' he finishes his speech.

Now, the footage shows all my achievements on the show and the clip ends.

'And now, the winner of this long, long journey. The winner of the 2010's x Factor UK is....'