Dark Side (Harry Styles) HOLD

Lux spent twenty minutes staring at herself in the mirror before the results show started. She's never seen herself look so young, and she wondered if they made her look young on purpose, so she would appear less harsh and less guarded for the audience. Since the show started her eyes have always been shadowed in dark kohl, her lips usually dark red or glossed, her eyelashes big and fake and long, and her hair was always in big curls with tons of volume, volume, volume.

Now, she has the bare minimum amount of make-up on, simple foundation and a swipe of liquid liner on her top lids, and nothing else. Her hair was straightened and then pulled back fiercely into a slick ponytail that hung down past her shoulders. She barely recognized herself.

“Lux, its time.” She heard behind her, and she rose to her feet, feeling 6 feet tall in the outfit she was wearing. Her short black dress and black thigh-high stockings with her black Jeffrey Campbell Litas not only made her look tall, but made her feel like she was attending a funeral.

It made her nervous that the make-up artists, hair stylists, and wardrobe stylists made her look like a little girl attending a funeral, she wondered if they knew the results and did it on purpose.

“I am so going home.” She whispered to herself as she walked to the other contestants as they prepared for the show. Her palms began to sweat and her heart began to race, just like it always did before she hit that stage. It was a feeling she hated and cherished at the same time, and she hoped it never went away. Lux always figured that the day she stops feeling nervous before going on stage is the day she should just stop performing.

“Lux!” She whipped her head around instantly at the sound of Harry's voice, seeing him running to her, his perfect curls bouncing on his head. A smile appeared on her lips without her noticing, and he smiled back as he made his way down the hallway.

A stagehand appeared behind her, beginning to push her toward the stage and away from Harry, and she felt her stomach clench and her smile fall as she tried to get another glimpse of him as she was pushed along with the rest of the contestants.

She got one last look at him before she went onto stage, saw him standing there and staring at her, his hand raised slightly in what looked like it was supposed to be a wave. She raised hers as well, giving him the tiniest of all waves before being yanked onto stage by Sara, who kept a hold on her hand afterwards, clenching it tightly in her small palm.

“...and welcome the contestants.... The X-Factor.... one will be eliminated....”

She only caught glimpses of what the host, Steve was saying, but she was too distracted by the crowd to care. Her eyes wandered and her breath caught in her throat as she saw at least 20 signs in the audience that said something about 'Save Lux!'... what was all this about? They were mostly teenage girls, which has never been Lux's main dynamic, but either way she never really saw any signs in support of her before tonight. This was crazy.

“Didn't you know?” Sara whispered to her, seeing the shocked look on her face.

“Know what?” Lux scrunched her eyebrows and looked away from the crowd, down at her.

“Harry's spent practically all his free time telling everyone on Twitter to vote for you. He even made a video about it. He really loves you.. ya know?” She whispered, and Lux felt her eyes water up at the sound of that sentence coming out of anyone's mouth. Harry.. loving her... it was such an unreal concept. She couldn't wrap her mind around it.

“I didn't... I didn't know..” She murmured, looking back out at the crowd and smiling slowly.

“Well, now you do.” Sara replied, smiling back.

Lux felt in a daze through the entire show, through the commercial breaks and the make-up touch ups and the wardrobe malfunction that Sara had, through the celebrity performances, through the contestant interviews. All she could seem to see were those girls holding those signs, smiling and looking so happy to be doing something just because Harry asked them to. She appreciated it more than she could ever express to those girls, she wanted so badly to go out and hug them or hand Harry over to them for hugs and kisses as a thank-you. She wondered if he would protest if she tried.

Even though Harry has been trying to save her, Lux was still not surprised when she ended up in the bottom two. The bottom two was never necessarily the two who got the lowest votes, usually it was the one with the lowest votes and the one that everyone expects to go home. Still, Lux had her 'thank yous' prepared for when Steve announced that she was eliminated, she came prepared for it.

But it never came.

“Lux Gallagher....” He paused for a long time, staring over at her and the over 30s contestant named Mike that she was up against. Lux knew he did better than her, everyone did better than her.

“You are safe! Mike, I'm sorry but this is the end of the road for you..”

Everything after that became a blur, she knew that her eyes were wide and that tears were falling down her face as she hugged Mike and whispered apologies to him that he shushed away, but it felt as if things were beginning to move in high speed. The other contestants came out on stage as the show concluded, saying their goodbyes to Mike and their congrats to Lux, everyone all smiles and tears and hugs.

Then the girls in the audience began to scream.

Lux looked up just in time to see Harry's smiling face as he ran at her, collapsing into her body with a very audible thud, squeezing her tightly. She made some sort of inhuman noise as she wrapped her arms around his waist and squeezed back, squishing his body against hers as close and tight as it could possibly get. He pulled his face back only to press his forehead against hers and look down into her eyes.

“My Lux..” He murmured, “I'm so proud of you...”

“This was all you.” She replied in a whisper, shaking her head. “You did this.”

“I did not. I nudged them in the right direction, which never hurts, but its you they fell in love with.” He smiled, reaching up to grab her cheeks, stroking her tears away carefully. “I'm not surprised.” Lux wanted badly to ask him what he meant by that, but shoved it away.
“Hazza..” She whispered as she fell back into his arms, squeezing him again as she buried her face into his shoulder. “I'm still here... we're still here.”

“And you're gonna kick ass next week and be safe again. I need you to be here for my birthday.” He said, and Lux knew that she would give her all in her next performance. If Harry needed her to do something, she would come through and do it.
“I will be. I promise.” She said, wanting so bad to turn her head and kiss his perfect red lips. She knew that she couldn't though, she just got his fans on her side and kissing him would surely turn them against her. Lux knew how it was with boybands, she used to be crazy for that little Jonas Brother.

They released each other from their death grip hugs and looked into one another's eyes, seeming to read each other's minds in unison. Harry nodded his head toward the backstage area, and she gave a tiny nod, watching him turn and give a wave to the girls screaming at him from the crowd before disappearing from everyone's sight. Lux turned and said her last goodbye to Mike before tugging Sara aside, who was all snot and tears because she's an emotional wreck.

“I'm, um, going backstage. You gonna be ok?” Lux asked quietly, watching Sara nod.

“Yeah, I'll be fine.” She nodded, “Where did Harry go?”

“Um, backstage.” Lux whispered, looking down at her with a quirked eyebrow.

“Okay. See ya.” Sara turned away and back to everyone else and Lux sighed at how clueless she could be before walking toward backstage as well.

She had barely gotten two steps away from all signs of producers and stagehands when hands reached out and pulled her into a nearby room. It was dim, but she knew Harry's scent and sound and hands as well as she knew her own. His fingers were gentle against her face as he touched her cheeks, leaning down to breathe against her mouth for a second before closing his lips to hers. It was like he hit her with lightning.

Her entire body felt a shock, the same shock that she's felt every time she's kissed him, and she couldn't help but wondering if she would always feel it when they kissed. She knew life wasn't a fairytale and she can't expect everything to always feel this good, but this was one thing she hoped never changed. The way Harry's kisses made her feel like she was alive.

“Hi.” He whispered to her when he pulled away, and she smiled as she leaned back up to kiss him again. His curls slid through her fingertips and she wondered how many girls around the world have dreamt of doing exactly what she was lucky enough to be doing at that moment.

“Harry Styles..” She murmured, laughing lightly. “I'm making out with Harry fucking Styles in a goddamn closet.” Her laughter grew until she could no longer kiss him because she was laughing so hard. The irony of her entire situation was just killing her. She always wondered what it was like to actually be involved with a celebrity and now she was, but it didn't feel like what she expected it would. Harry is such a little prick, its hard to believe that there are girls in the world that would love to put up with all his crap.

Lux wondered if they would consider her ungrateful because she calls him out on his shit.

“Your fans are gonna hate me.” Her laughter came to a stop as she inhaled a shaky breath, leaning up against the wall behind her and staring down toward his shoes.

“Not all of them.” He replied, “Do they frighten you?”

“No..” She whispered, “Well, not yet. I've just... I've heard some of the things they've said to Sara because Niall is constantly posting stuff about her on Twitter. And I know how they hated Caroline..I kind of... googled her...”

“You did what?!” Harry screeched, stepping back slightly, his eyes wide.

“I just wanted to see what she looked like.” She said softly, shrugging.

“They hated her because she's twice my age.” He ran a hand through his curls and took a cautious step toward her. “They saved you tonight, Luxie. They like you, and it's not like they'll know what we're doing behind the scenes... its not like we can exactly broadcast it..”

“You're right.” She nodded in agreement, reaching for him again. “I'm sorry.”

He blinked in what seemed like surprise, stepping within her reach and allowing her to pull his body to hers. He smiled lightly, “That was easy... usually you don't admit that I'm right.”

“That's because you usually aren't right, silly.” She giggled and he smiled brightly, leaning down to kiss her softly. He was going to pull back but Lux grabbed his hips and pulled him in closer, so he pinned her against the wall and pressed his palms flat against the sides of her head, deepening the kiss.

“Ok, ok...” She lightly pushed him away, sighing in content. “No more until your birthday.”

“What?! I can't wait that long!” He protested, trying to pull her back into more kisses.

“Yeah, but think about how amazing it will be to be able to touch me after not touching me for such a long time. Think about how great it's going to be when you come to unwrap your present and you find me wearing nothing but a big red bow.” Lux murmured into his ear, gently giving his earlobe a nibble before backing away from him slowly.

His lips curved up into a cocky smile, one that she knew all too well.

“C'mon, Styles. Think of it as a game, huh? It will be fun.” She nudged his chest before moving to the door, pulling it open a crack. Harry's hand pressed down against it and shut it again, spinning her around so her back was pressed against it. Her breath hitched as he looked down into her eyes with that devious smile of his.

His fingers trailed over the bare areas of her thighs, moving up under her dress until his fingertips were lightly touching the lace of her underwear. He traced a pattern in them softly, smirking in satisfaction when Lux's face flushed at his simple touch.

“Alright, Lux. I'll play.” He whispered back to her, removing his hand and leaving her hot. Harry pulled the door open and began to slip out. “But I'm better at this game than you are.”

Notes

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