The show started at 4:00pm West Coast time the next day, but we were expected at the venue by 3:00pm. This meant that we had some free time in the morning, which we spent hanging out near the hotel pool and generally catching up on our sleep.

Louis was (still) being a bit of a dick bag and wasn’t really talking to me, but I refused to be the first one to say something, seeing as I hadn’t actually done anything wrong. He and Eleanor had gone off wandering the streets of Los Angeles, while the rest of us hung back and soaked up some rays. That was fine by me, as it meant that I got to watch a shirtless Liam diving into the pool.

It was quite nice, observing him from under the protection of my sunglasses, but after a while it got a bit frustrating. Why did he have to look so God damn good??

Zayn, who doesn’t know how to swim well, lounged next to me like the diva that he is and read some book or another, glancing up disinterestedly whenever one of the other boys came over. Danielle stayed on dry land as well, while Niall, Sandy, Harry, and Josh had decided that an intense game of pool basketball was in order, even though they had no basket with which to play. Liam, joining in, suggested they use me as the hoop, which was completely out of the question.

They, of course, didn’t listen and began hurling the water-logged Nerf ball at me every chance they had. Needless to say, I didn’t stay dry long and eventually bustled inside.

Eventually, it was time for lunch and I was sent out to get some Subway for everyone. Josh and Zayn tagged along, and we were luckily only stopped a few times for pictures. It was a little weird to have some of the girls follow us back to the hotel, but at least they didn’t try to come in with us.

We all ate together and then it was time for the boys to get ready. Lou’s assistant, Anna, was pretty well versed at this point, which meant that Lou herself was free to take care of us girls.

“Time to get ready!” El jumped around excitedly, as the girls escorted me to my room to get my dress.

I had, during dinner, decided that maybe going wasn’t the best idea. But, as soon as I had even mentioned the fact that I thought I was coming down with some sort of Avian flu, El shot me a deadly glare and told me, in no uncertain terms, that I was going to the award show and I better damn well enjoy myself.

I really didn’t want to go anymore, though. I mean, I was going to look awful and there were going to be a ton of pictures of me there and...yeah, I just didn’t want to go. To prevent me from locking myself in the bathroom for the duration of the night, El and Dani were now dragging me up to get my dress before marching me down to Lou’s room. I pushed open the door, sighing dramatically and dragging my feet as much as possible, my stomach lurching at the site of the black monstrosity that was hanging in my closet.

"JJ!" Dani squealed suddenly, pushing past, and I looked ahead of me to see what she was doing. "You didn't tell us you bought the dress!"

"What dress?" I asked, coming further into the room, but stopped short when I saw. Dani was standing there, at the end of the bed, holding up the cream gown with the sequins. My jaw, quite literally, dropped. "But...but...I didn't!"

"When did get a chance to go back to the shop?" she asked, holding up the gorgeous sequined dress and running her hand over the fabric.

"I didn't," I repeated, stepping over to her and looking at it up close. It was indeed the same dress from yesterday.

"Well then who...oh, look!" Danielle reached around to the back of the dress and retrieved a small, folded note. "Looks like it's for you," she beamed, handing it to me.

Frowning, I unfolded it. There in chunky block lettering: Because you deserve to feel beautiful.

"That," Danielle said, reading over my shoulder, "is adorable."

Yes, it was adorable and romantic and fucking annoying. I wasn’t supposed to get this dress. I wasn’t supposed to be excited about going to this stupid show. And yet I was now. Damn. A thousand thoughts were running through my mind. Spinning, I turned to look at Eleanor, who was suspiciously quiet behind me.

“Did you tell Louis to get me this dress?”

“Nope,” she said, flashing a smile.

“El,” I said sternly. “Who bought me the dress?”

“My lips are sealed,” she replied wickedly, before pulling a pair of ridiculously high cream heels from her ridiculously large bag. “But I think these will go perfectly with it.”

“I can’t wear it,” I said stubbornly. “I’ll wear the black one. We’ll take this one back tomo – Danielle!”

“Oopsie,” she said, innocently holding a snipped tag between her fingers. “Did I just do that?”

“I hate the both of you,” I grumbled.

“No, you don’t,” El replied, grinning at me. “You love us and you love this dress, even though you’re too stubborn to admit it. Now, stop acting like a whiny little bitch, screw a smile on your face, and get your bum over to Lou’s so she can work her magic.”

I glared at her, but snatched up the dress anyway, wondering just how she managed to get Louis to buy it for me, since he didn’t want me going anyway.

“I’m so excited you’ve bought it,” Lou preened, as I held up the garment for her to examine. “You’ll look stunning. Now, El, Dani, you two know generally what you need to do, but you - ” I grunted as Lou forced me into a chair, “you are my little project.”

“Am I really that hideous?” I asked, somewhat annoyed.

“You’re not hideous at all, love,” Lou replied, yanking my hair from its ponytail. “You’re like a blank canvas, which is absolutely perfect. We’ll give your cheekbones some definition, your eyelashes really are incredibly long, so nothing to do there, but we’ll straighten your hair and I think I might even be able to give you two eyebrows.”

“What?” I asked, startled. “Two eyebrows? I don’t have a unibrow, do I?” I mean, I did look in the mirror and I never noticed the fact that my eyebrows were attached.”

“She’s exaggerating,” Dani comforted from her place on the bed, where she was pulling out some of her make-up.

“They do need some shape though,” Lou continued, looking down at me. “Are you ready?”

“Um, yes...but I’d like to keep my hair up please.”

“Nope.”

“Why not?”

“Because you aren’t going to play 5-a-side with your mates, JJ. This is Hollywood. Plus, don’t you want to impress the boys?”

“But I don’t like hair in my face,” I muttered, but didn’t argue any further, as Lou stared picking up some scary looking instruments and attacking my face with them.

About an hour later, she had me put on the dress and step in the heels that El had given me. I wobbled a bit at first, but once I got my balance under control, I was able to walk across the room without looking like a limping ostrich.

“Alright,” Lou said, taking me over to the full length mirror, “close your eyes.” Sighing, I did as I was told, allowing her to maneuver me in front of the mirror. “Alright...open!”

I blinked.

Hmm.

I looked...like a girl? A pretty girl, I think. Quite pretty, actually. It was a nice change.

The heels and the short length of the dress accentuated my muscular legs – and not in a manly way, luckily – and my hair, which was surprisingly long, looking quite nice falling in waves over my shoulders. My make-up was very natural looking, which I appreciated, though my eyes were outlined a bit, making them pop a bit more than usual. My eyes were bluer than Louis’s and they definitely were my favorite body part. I was going to have to learn to use eyeliner if they could look like this more often...

“So? What do you think?” Eleanor asked, coming up next to me and looking ravishing in a short, tight, white number.

Honestly, the longer I stared at my reflection, the more convinced I was that this was the big romantic moment of my life. I was walk downstairs, all elegant and graceful and shit and Liam and look up at me and be struck with my beauty and toss Danielle to the side, profess his undying love for me right there in the lobby and we would be married that night.

Will Smith would officiate.

Johnny Depp would be the ring bearer.

Then Danielle sidled up next to us looked breathtakingly gorgeous in her flowing blue dress and I was reminded of just how plain I was compared to these to. Damn.

“I like it,” I said, though it was hard to hide my proud smile. Sure, I wasn’t a model or a dancer or anything of the like. But I did look good...and I felt good too. “It’s a little short though...”

I tugged self-consciously on the bottom of the dress. So, no bending over for me tonight.

“Don’t worry, we’ll let you know if your hoo-ha comes flying out,” El said, wrapping an arm around my shoulder.

“Yeah?”

“Of course,” Dani smiled. “That’s what friends are for.”

I didn’t really like how nice Dani was, or how much I was starting to like her, considering I wanted to shag her boyfriend, but I didn’t have time to dwell on it as there was a knock on the door.

“Niall,” Lou greeted, heading out into the hallway to see him. “Come here, do your buttons up.”

“No!” I cried, running (or, attempting to) out after her. “Leave his buttons alone! They look like such tossers with them done up all the way!”

Lou merely laughed at me and finished doing Niall’s top button.

The Irishman’s eyes widened upon seeing me and he looked me up and down. Suddenly, I felt nervous. Being judged was not something I enjoyed, especially by attractive boys. Not that I thought of Niall of attractive. I mean, he is very good looking and I mean, a girl would be crazy not to think...oh, sod it.

Lou bustled back into the hotel room and I looked at Niall, who seemed to trying to decide if it was really me standing in front of him.

“So,” I said, biting my lip nervously. “What do you think?” There was no response, except that he rubbed his hands down his face, looking very tired all of a sudden. My stomach dropped. “That bad?”

“What?” He asked, startled. “What? No! JJ, you look…you look…”

“You really don’t have to be nice about it, Niall,” I frowned, as he got more agitated.

“JJ, you look perfect,” he finished bluntly, before finally giving me a soft smile. “Absolutely perfect.”

I blinked at him, wondering what he was getting at. “…Perfect? Really?”

“Yeah,” he breathed, running his hand through his hair. “You do.”

I grinned then, though I was confused as to why he was acting so strange.

“Do you like the dress?” I asked. “I was going to wear this horrid black thing, but then –ooh!”

I had tried to do a cute little spin like you see in the movies, so that the hem of the dress twirls out and looks all beautiful and shit, but of course, being in four inch heels, I fell over myself in a rather ungraceful fashion.

Niall caught me before I could hit the ground, surprisingly strong for such a wiry lad.

“Careful there,” he said and I realized just how close our faces were. The heels had made me taller than him, but since he was holding me up we were right on eye level.

“Erm, thanks,” I said, clearing my throat. He smiled and stood me upright.

“Oh, you still have a tag on here,” he said, stepping behind me.

“I do? I thought Dani had gotten them all...”

Niall gently pulled my hair into his hands, lifting it away from my back and draping it over my shoulder. His fingers drifted lightly down my skin and I shivered, wondering why it suddenly felt so warm in the hallway. I felt him playing around near the zipper and there was a tight yank.

“Here you go,” he smiled, handing me the tag.

“Thanks,” I replied softly, smiling up at him.

Niall cleared his throat and then took a few steps to the hotel. “You girls are making us late, you know,” he called in teasingly.

“Not all of us are blessed with such natural good looks, Horan,” El replied, emerging with her massive purse.

“This coming from the model,” I replied.

“All ready,” Danielle appeared, grinning. “Thanks Lou!”

“May I?” Niall asked, holding his arm out for me. I smiled and slipped my arm through his, helping me keep my balance as we headed toward the elevator, ready to meet the rest of the boys. It was a quiet ride down, but Niall kept looking over and smiling at me, causing me to giggle every few moments. He pulled a face or two, so I swatted him on the shoulder. I caught Eleanor and Danielle glancing at each other out of the corner of my eye.

“I’ll never understand why you girls have such massive purses,” he commented, as the doors dinged and opened.

“All the essentials,” Eleanor replied, patting the bag, which looked like it weighed more than her, fondly.

Niall and I shared a look, but followed the girls out of the elevator and towards the lobby.

The boys were standing in the lobby, looking completely done up and smart in their semi-coordinated outfits. Louis, of course, was rocking the suspenders; Zayn had his signature Varsity jacked with – to my annoyance – the top button only done (why did they do that?); Liam and Harry were looking devastatingly handsome in their navy blazers.

“Ah, here come the girls,” Louis said, spotting us. They all turned to look and smiles broke out on all of their faces. I felt myself flush. I hated being sized up like that, and felt almost naked under their stares.

“Looking lovely, as always,” Liam greeted us, pulling Danielle over to him and gazing adorably at her. Louis did the same to Eleanor, giving her a quick kiss, before looking over at me.

“Looking good, sis,” he acknowledged, giving me a small but genuine smile.

“Thanks,” I muttered, again self conscious, and pulling at the bottom of the dress. It was a small gesture, but maybe I appreciated it none-the-less. I would have to talk to him eventually, I knew, but he wasn’t being a complete turd at the moment, which was a plus. I turned to look at the other boys, who had yet to say something. Both of them stood there, staring, mouths slightly agape.

“Hey,” I said, trying to sound cool and confident, though I knew my cheeks were flaming. “Eyes are up here.”

Zayn broke into a grin and was the first one to come up to me, pulling me into a hug and kissing me on the cheek. “You look stunning, love,” he whispered in my ear.

“Oi, back off my date,” Harry said, giving his band mate a shove away from me.

“I’m not your date,” I reminded him, but he ignored me, instead towering over me and staring down at me with that same damn smirk. My legs suddenly felt a little wobbly. “If anything, I’m Zayn’s date.

“Not when you’re looking like this,” he said, pulling me into a hug, lips just a hair’s breath away from my ear. “Tonight, you’re all mine.”

I swallowed hard as Harry pulled away, his eyes still floating up and down my body. I really didn’t like the way he did that. Or the way it made me feel.

“Alright, we all set?” Paul asked, thankfully interrupting the moment.

“Wait, before we go,” Eleanor chirped, diving into her bag, a la Mary Poppins, and pulling out a camera. “Pictures!”

Everyone, aside from Liam of course, groaned.

“Girls together first!” Eleanor beamed, handing the camera to the tour manager, before coming over and grabbing Dani and I by the arms, so we flanked her. “Oh, wait, JJ, go in the middle. You’re the shortest.” I shuffled over, rolling my eyes good naturedly at her as the boys snickered. I flicked them off as the flash went.

“Very classy, JJ,” Paul remarked, look at the screen.

“Oh, no, we need a nice one,” El pouted and I smiled nicely to please her. El ran around arranging us in different groups for a million different pictures. Zayn and I gave our best Blue Steel looks (after I yanked his top button open), the couples did some corny Prom types shots, Louis jumped on Harry’s back, and other nonsense.

“Hey, Paul,” Niall said, suddenly beside me. “Get one of me and JJ.” Grinning, I wrapped my arms around his middle and looked to the camera.

“Alright, one, two three - ”

I felt a soft pair of lips press against my cheek and I burst out laughing, feeling Niall smile against my face. “Real smooth, Irish,” I teased. Niall just grinned back at me cheekily.

“It’s a nice one,” Paul remarked, grinning as well.

I took the camera from him and had to agree. My eyes were closed and my face was scrunched up, but I had a huge smile on my face. Niall was leaned in, his face a mere centimeter from mine, having just kissed me. He was grinning like a fool as well, blue eyes sparkling as he looked at me.

“I love it,” I said softly, before turning to Niall and showing it to him.

“Hey, you two!” I looked up to Louis, who was waving us over. “Last one, we need a group shot.”

We all lined up and I found myself standing in between Zayn and Harry. We all wrapped our arms around each other, and I could feel Harry’s hand resting softly on my lower back – a little too low, if you ask me.

Trying to look casual, I let my hand drop from his back and move his hand upwards. Out of the corner of my eye I could see him smirk, before dropping his hand to an even lower position than it was before.

Blushing, I grabbed his hand and pushed it off of me, but this time, he didn’t let go. Instead, he entwined his fingers with mine, gently rubbing his thumb across the back of my hand. My heart skipped a beat at the gesture and I glanced up at him. His face, of course, betrayed nothing, as he merely smiled for the camera.

When Paul dismissed us and Eleanor skipped over to get her camera, the others all headed for the doors to get into the limo and I yanked my hand away from Harry, hurrying after them. I didn’t even have to look at him to know he was smirking at me. Damn him.

I slid into the limo next to Liam and had hoped that Harry would sit elsewhere, but of course, he had to force his way next to me, just to make me uneasy.

“Hey, bunch over, Liam,” he said, trying to slide onto the seat beside me.

“Can’t you sit up there?” Liam questioned, motioning to the open side seat next to Zayn.

“I could, but I’ll get car sick,” Harry replied easily. “Need to be facing forward, you know.”

Whether or not this was true, I have no idea, but Liam being Liam took it without question and he and Danielle switched seats with Zayn.

I was squished between the two of them (a position I’m sure many girls would die for), but couldn’t help but feel on edge as the limo pulled away. Louis put on some fun music and everyone was talking and laughing, but my attention was focused on Harry’s leg, which was casually pressed against mine. With every bump in the road, Harry somehow managed to press his body closer to mine and, unless I wanted to be sitting in Zayn’s lap, I had no choice but to deal with it.

“Do you enjoy it?” I asked in an undertone, as the others sang along loudly to Journey. Harry gave me a quizzical look, a smile playing on his lips.

“Enjoy what?”

“Making me uncomfortable,” I glared, making an effort to cross my legs so I wouldn’t have to touch him anymore.

“JJ, RED ALERT!” Eleanor screamed from the other end of the limo and I slammed my foot back down, pressing my legs tightly together and blushing deeply.

“What on earth does that mean?” Louis chuckled as his girlfriend.

“Nothing,” she mumbled meekly, before leaning over to snog him. Harry chuckled and I could feel his chest rumble beside me.

“I make you uncomfortable?” He asked, looking down at me, though it was clear he already knew the answer.

I blinked. “…Sometimes, yeah.”

Harry laughed again softly, before looking me up and down. ““I like your dress,” he said in a low voice and a crooked smile.

I cleared my throat nervously. “I’m sorry it’s not the red one.”

His smile grew wider then and he leaned down, whispering, “This one definitely suits you better.”

I turned sharply to look at him, questioningly. His green eyes glinted, a mixture of the typical Harry mischief and…pride, was it? I furrowed my eyebrows at him, trying to sort it all out in my head.

“Th-thank you,” I stuttered, trying to comprehend.

Harry had bought me the dress.

He bought me the $4000 dress after I explicitly told him I would wear the other one. And while part of me wanted to smack him upside the head and tell him he was an idiot, another part of me wanted to hug him. I settled with a smile.

“Thank you.”

Harry grinned and threw his arm across the back of the seat, under the pretense of flicking Zayn in the ear, but in actuality let his fingers dance across my bare shoulder. I didn’t shrug him off as I normally might have done, but instead found myself leaning into him slightly.

**

We arrived at the Galen Center to the screams of thousands of teenage girls, a noise which was becoming all too familiar for me. El, Dani and I were shooed into the hotel, while the boys posed for pictures and answered questions on the carpet, but not before Harry gave me a cheeky wink.

Dani was right, we were pretty far from the stage and on the balcony level, but luckily we weren't surrounded by fans. It seemed that all of the non-famous guests of the famous people were seated together. Eleanor pointed out that Justin Bieber's little sister was sitting three rows behind us.

Better seats than the sibling of The Biebz? Not bad.

We settled ourselves in and waited somewhat patiently for the whole thing to start, entertaining ourselves by pointing out some celebrities and playing six degrees of Johnny Depp (which was incredibly easy, actually). Both El and Dani had gone to the Brits to support the boys, so they were pretty much Award Show pros at this point. After about forty minutes, though, we were all getting antsy.

"I'm thirsty," Dani announced, as we could see the last celebrity seats being filled (including the five seats in the front row where the 1D boys all sat). "Do you think I have time to get a drink before the show starts?"

"Oh, I have something for you girls!" El cried, seemingly just remembering, and dove headfirst into the monstrous bag she had brought along. She pulled out three water bottles and handed one to each of us.

"El, you are a lifesaver," Dani smiled, before taking a sip of hers - and promptly choking, nearly spitting it all back out on the back of the gentleman in front of us. "Eleanor!" she sputtered, coughing. "That's...that's not water! It's - "

"Pure vodka," El nodded solemnly. "Did you really think we could make it through this thing sober?"
I blinked at her. "Eleanor Calder," I said, reaching over and hugging her. "If Louis doesn't marry you, I will, because I think I might be in love with you."

"Oh yay!" She beamed. "You're so much better looking than Louis, too!"

"We...we can't - " Dani was still sputtering, looking around and hoping no one had heard us. "We can't drink this! We're underage here, if we get caught - "

"We won't," El comforted her. "It looks like water. No one is even paying attention to us anyway."

Grinning, I took a sip of my drink, reveling in the burning sensation in my throat and the slight buzz in my head. It had been so long since I had had last had a good strong drink.

Needless to say, I had a much better time slightly (or completely) buzzed. I made El and Dani swear on their lives they wouldn’t tell the boys that I not only sang ‘What Makes You Beautiful’ in its entirety, but also danced along erratically. I did have a reputation to uphold, after all. But, it was actually a really fun night.

“I wonder what the slime tastes like,” I inquired, as we stumbled back down to meet with boys when it was all over.

Dani was propped between us, having decided not to consume her drink (I had finished it for her, as any good friend should), laughing and holding us up as we giggled and snorted at every little thing.

“I bet it tastes like tacos,” Eleanor burped. “Oh my God! Look! It’s Justin Beaver!”

“That’s not his name!” I whisper-shouted at her, as Danielle looked at the boy in question apologetically.

He was most definitely not Justin Bieber, but we all laughed and pointed as if it were him, until he ran away into the crowd, no doubt terrified.

“Well, who are these three charming young ladies?” Harry asked, strolling up to us and glancing at El and I proudly. “Have fun time?”

“Can you take one of them please?” Danielle pleaded.

With a knowing smirk, Harry grabbed me around the waist and pulled me into him. “You’re a little smashed, are you, babe?” he asked as we walked back over to the rest of the group.

“Just a bit,” I agreed, before darting away to throw my arms around Niall’s neck (and unbutton Zayn’s jacket once again). “Nialler, you were fantabulous!”

“Ugh...”

“And that’s not Niall, JJ,” Harry chuckled, pulling me away.

“Oh...well, who is it?” I asked, glancing at the person up and down. By this point, Danielle and Eleanor had caught up and Eleanor shoved her finger in the stranger’s face, squinting at him.

“Are you Justin Beaver?”

“Um...yeah, actually, I am.”

“Beaver!” She cheered happily, reaching over to me. “JJ, it’s the Beavs!”

I snorted. When I thought of Beaver, I thought of...

“PUSSY!”

Justin, Harry and Eleanor all fell about laughing at my outburst, while Zayn grinned widely.

“That’s what she said!”

“What going on here?” Liam asked, coming up with Niall and Louis, and wrapping an arm about his girlfriend.

“I’m just meeting your friends,” Justin laughed. “This one is quite the charmer.”

I gave a little bow.

“RED ALERT!” El screamed and yanked the back of my dress, almost sending me toppling over and causing us to break out into laughter.

“Please don’t tell us you’re uninviting us,” Louis said, watching us. “We’re actually not with them...”

“No, I think they are hysterical,” Justin replied, as El and I clung to each other, trying to catch our breaths.

“Wait, where are we going?” I asked Harry, suddenly concerned (why I was concerned, I don’t know – I do weird things when I’m drunk).

Harry smirked at me again, slinking an arm around my waist. “An after party, my dear. We’re going to an after party.”