The Heartbreak Factor - Part One

Chapter Fifty-Eight.

"You shouldn't be in here," a familiar voice said to me as I sat in the rehearsal room on my phone.

I looked up at the door to see Tulisa stood in the doorway. "Tulisa!" I beamed, standing up and walking over to her to hug her.

"Alright, my little cupcake?" she grinned, giving me a huge hug.

"I've missed you loads," I said as she continued to hug me.

"Not as much as I've missed you," she laughed. "It's all boy talk around here now. Anyway, how come you're back?"

I smiled at her. "Oh, let me guess. George?" she winked.

"It's all of Union J," I grinned. "Not just George."

"It's great to have you back though," she smiled, giving me another hug.

"It's good to be back."

"So what's been happening in Sammy land then?" she asked, sitting down on the sofa with me.

"Just the usual - photo shoots, interviews.." I joked.

"Get you," she laughed. "I'm proud of you though."

"I wouldn't be doing this if it wasn't for you though," I grinned. "Thank-you."

"Anyway, before we get all slushy, I'd better go get ready for the semi-final," she smiled. "But we'll definitely catch up properly later on."

"Definitely," I said as she hugged me one last time before disappearing out of the room and down the corridor.

Sat in the rehearsal room alone, I couldn't help but think about things as I looked around the room. This was the last time I'd ever be back here. I wasn't even a contestant anymore. My X Factor journey was well and truly over. This time next week the winner would be revealed and it would be the end of the X Factor officially. Everything I looked at in the room brought back memories. The sofas where we all sat during the other acts' performances; the clock that I'd anxiously stare at as I used to await for my turn to perform; even the floor brought back all the times I used to sit on it laughing. Noticing there was only two hours left until the live show began; I stood up and made my way towards the door. Taking one last look around the rehearsal room, I smiled before turning the light off for the last time and closing the door.

*

"You look stunning," George grinned to me as I walked down the corridor towards where he was stood on, leaning against the wall, on his phone - evidently tweeting.

"Thanks," I smiled. Every time he complimented me, I still found myself blushing; I still found my heart racing; I still felt the butterflies overtaking my stomach. "Look at you though, Mr 'I'm-a-teenage-heart-throb'"

"Quick," he smiled, grabbing hold of my hand. "There's somebody I want you to meet."

George pulled me down the corridor towards the main stage, nearly pulling my arm out of its socket. "George, slow down," I giggled as he practically was running down the corridor.

"Come on," he laughed, refusing to slow down.

Eventually, he stopped and pushed the door to the backstage bar open. Sat inside at a table was his family. "So we finally get to meet you properly, Sammy," George's dad smiled to me as he stood up as me and George walked into the room, still hand-in-hand.

"Yeah," I smiled awkwardly.

I'd never met a boy's parents before... I'd never had a boy's parents before so I didn't know how to act. What if they didn't like me? What if they just judged me from the Sammy that they saw on stage and in the media? "It's lovely to meet you," he smiled. "I'm Pappa Shelley, but you can just call me Dom."

"Hey," I smiled, still feeling quite awkward and unsure of what to do next.

"George has told us a lot about you," he smiled.

"Has he really?" I grinned, looking at George, who started to look a bit embarrassed. "How adorable."

"Shut up," George joked, wrapping his arm around my shoulder.

"He won't stop talking about you when I call him and whenever I text him he's always like "with Sammy so can't talk"", Dom added.

I began to feel a little relaxed. "George, you can still text your family when you're with me," I laughed.

"Anyway, I've gotta go to get ready for the show," George said, escaping from the situation. "You'll be fine, won't you?"

"Yeah," I smiled.

"I wasn't on about you," George joked. "I know you'll be fine. It's dad I'm worried about since you can talk for England."

"I think we'll have a good laugh talking about when you were growing up," Dom laughed.

“Oh, God," George grinned. "I'll see you afterwards then."

Without notice, George leaned in and kissed me softly on the cheek. The awkwardness returned. I knew the one rule about meeting the boyfriend's parents for the first time was publicly displayed affection is a huge no-no. It was only a peck on the cheek but George's dad was looking right at us. "Good luck," I smiled as he left the room.

"So I suppose we'd better had make our way into the studio, hadn't we?" Dom suggested.

I nodded in agreement as I returned back to not knowing what to say or do. I'm absolutely useless with meeting new people, which wasn’t an ideal trait to have when you were branded an ‘up-and-coming star’. 

"Oh, Sammy," Dom said as we got to the friends and family section of the packed audience. "This is George's mum, Toni."

"Hello love," she smiled as I made my way down the row and sat beside her.

"Hey," I smiled nervously.

Both of George's parents seemed lovely and friendly. "This is George's younger sister, Harriet," Toni smiled, moving backwards so Harriet was in view.

"Hello," Harriet smiled.

"Hey."

"And this is George's older brother, Will," Toni added, pointing to the boy - well I say boy, he was a man - sat at the end.

"Alright Sammy," he smiled.

"Hey."

Before anybody else had chance to say anything, the lights dimmed and the tanoy announced the two minute warning. "I bet you don't miss the feeling of not knowing who's going through or not, do you Sammy?" Will asked me.

"I hated it," I laughed. "But it's even worse watching it for the boys."

"I just hope Dermot announces their name first. The no bottom two thing is the worst bit about it," Dom said.

"George has been saying all day that he thinks they're going," Toni said.

"I know. He said it to me backstage," I said. "He's got himself convinced that this is it."

As soon as I finished my sentence, the opening titles began for the show.