“Welcome to this elimination episode of the Voice!” Carson exclaimed, a warm smile on his lips while the crowd cheered. “We have two guest performances tonight, but we also have twelve people leaving this show. The contestants standing behind me know anything could happen, and it’s all based on what you decided. Our first guest performance is from a man named William Beckett.”

Girls began screaming all over the room while Adam and Niall grinned up towards William, who saluted the two as he continued getting ready for his performance on the stage opposite of Carson.

“Before his performance, however, we’re going to announce the top four people,” Carson said. “The order has already been selected. Team Adam, Team Niall, Team Blake, and then Team Christina. Now, for Team Adam, the top performer of the night was once again, Emma Nelson!”

While everyone began cheering and she actually genuinely seemed surprised, she hugged some teammates and made her way back over to the side of the stage she was supposed to stand on as quickly as we were told to do.

My heart sank into my stomach, at least that was how it felt.

This is it. You either stay or go. This decides it all. Though being able to sing my survival song to Niall would be very nice . . . .

Carson smiled as the cheers began to die down, and he took a deep breath. He only glanced at the card in his hand and actually laughed. “Out of the four left, only three will perform to try and remain in this competition. Only one will. The three performing on Team Adam are Seth Griffin, Aubrey Stone, and Clara Heslin.”

For that one person who wasn’t mentioned, I felt terrible. Yet I couldn’t feel bad enough to stop being so nervous.

They began consoling each other, specifically that one automatically eliminated, and they moved backstage out of the way. They moved so quickly because that’s what they were supposed to do, yet every part of me wished they had moved slower . . .

“For Team Niall, we have a record breaking amount of iTunes performance downloads. Miss Everit—”

When I heard my name, and people began cheering, I felt so much relief that I felt sick, honestly. Sick from the sudden pressure just disappearing. My heart, though, wrenched because he cut himself off and looked a little confused.

“Oh,” he said, and his eyes widened.

He wasn’t the only one. Adam gawked at him, and Niall just looked utterly terrified. Blake and Christina just looked as confused as I felt.

I had never felt so small, though. When I started to step out, I had to step right back in as Kiley and Madi began clutching me close.

Still wasn’t enough to ease the pain that came rushing back.

“Uh, Everit had the record number of iTunes downloads of her performance, in all the seasons of this show, but the top performer for Team Niall is Brinley Pearson.”

I felt sick all over again, especially as people cheered as loud as they did for Brinley. Since we were on camera, she couldn’t smirk over at me, but it was like she had anyways.

It was so hot, and I couldn’t see straight. The blinding lights were burning, and I felt so tiny in comparison to everyone and everything. It was horrifying, but the most horrifying part was the look on Niall’s face.

Complete and utter fear. What was he going to do?

“The three fighting to stay in this competition are Everit Eberly, Noah Stephens, and Kiley Black.”

Immediately, all of my feelings disappeared as I had to wrap my head around the fact Madi was done. We all knew that only one, maybe two, of the four of us would come out of this, but hearing it set in stone . . . it brought me to tears as I tightly hugged her.

She was crying, too, but she also smiled as the four of us moved backstage, where I just began hugging her again. “You wanna know what happened with you?”

“I have no idea what happened with me,” I scoffed. “I’m not worried about that.”

She laughed. “But we knew this was happening. We knew only one of the three of us were getting through, if any of us. Everit, you should be where Brinley is, but you’re not because everyone thought you would be good. You’d get plenty of votes, so they spent their time voting for everyone else. It’s the only thing that makes any sense.”

“No, what makes sense is that people liked her singing the song but hated her performance,” Demi Fucking Lovato decided to say, making us aware of her presence immediately.

My eyes narrowed. “You don’t know that. Trust me. I probably would’ve lost if I did it your way.”

She rolled her eyes. “One day, you’ll look back on that night and regret it. You’re gonna go home and have to face what you messed up, and you can’t say I didn’t try to warn you.”

“Even if it was my performance that did it for me, I will never regret it,” I informed her. “I stood
by who I am. If America doesn’t like that, I’m not changing. Now, don’t you have someone else to bully? I’m trying to see my friends before we’re all separated.”

She glared at me, for a good ten seconds, before turning and walking away, just like that. It
made Kiley giggle and Noah grin, but Madi just rolled her eyes and hugged them again.

Noah kissed the end of her nose, which brought a huge smile to her face that was more genuine than I expected. “Don’t forget our date. Honestly, I won’t let you.”

“Good,” she said. “Saturday?”

“Saturday,” he agreed before his lips tenderly pressed against hers.

I frowned. “What if you make it, Noah?”

Kiley snorted. “Yeah, right.”

“Guys, you can’t keep saying that,” I groaned. “He can’t pick me. He won’t.”

“Okay,” Kiley very sarcastically agreed, and she actually rolled her eyes at me. “We’ll see.”

---

I didn’t pay any attention to the people getting saved and eliminated and such from Team Blake and Christina. Except for Jesse. He was announced as the top of Team Blake, so I was able to cheer for him. That was about all I could muster up, though.

So, after the performances from Adam’s team, Seth Griffin was the one to stay. He sang Glad You Came by the Wanted. Clara sang Cut It Out by Kitten, which, like the judges said, wasn’t anywhere close to being enough to stay. Aubrey did pretty well with Behind These Hazel Eyes by Kelly Clarkson, but it was a bit much for her. So Adam picked Seth.

Then, to my delight, We the Kings sang Just Keep Breathing. Honestly, it was the reason I was able to breathe and relax a little. It brought me back to logic, and I realized that no matter what, Niall and I would be together. Maybe publically it would be better if I didn’t win.

So, I just kept breathing as the three of us went out to perform. We had to cut our songs down a bit, but I was able to smile as I saw Adam look quite pissed in my direction while Niall looked utterly devastated and conflicted.

Noah began, and just like I knew he would, he killed it. Never Too Late by Three Days Grace? He cut it down, obviously, but he had enough to work with that he just nailed it. I lost all hope right then of continuing, but I was happy as I hugged him and told him how well he did.

Then Kiley came next with 4ever by the Veronicas. Honestly, the judges summed up my thoughts exactly.

Blake frowned as he looked at us. “I’m not sure I agree with these three anyways, but based on the two that have performed, I would hate to be you, Niall.”

Adam grinned. “Well, here’s to making Niall’s life complicated. I applaud you both. Kiley, you’re spunky and hot, and that was great. Honestly, you couldn’t have done better. I really dig the song choice, and I really love how hard you guys are making Niall’s life.”

Niall actually threw his head back and groaned. “Why does my team have to be so freaking amazing? I can only choose one, and it’s already impossible to do. Everit hasn’t even gone yet, and I’m sure she’s gonna kill it just like you two did. I hate you all, but I really don’t because I love you all and hate that I can only choose one. Everit, no pressure, but they nailed it. Have fun with that.”

I scowled at him as Kiley passed the mike. “I hate you.”

He just smirked up at me and leaned back against his chair. Despite his cheerful and positive attitude, I could see the fear and anxiety in his eyes.

What was going to happen?

The guitars immediately started, a bit faster paced than the original song due to time restraints, and I closed my eyes to just keep breathing. And then I came in to the best of my ability. Hayley Williams had a voice range that I wanted to perfect, so her higher notes weren’t hard for me anymore after months and months of practicing every Paramore song I could stand to listen to—all but Misguided Ghosts.

“It’s really hard
I can’t cry in your arms ‘cause you’re not here
It’s not your fault, and if it was, I wouldn’t care.
My heart is bigger than the distance in-between us.
I know it ‘cause I feel it beating.”

When I got a glimpse of the judges, I saw Adam grinning while Niall’s eyes were wide and full of so much love and understanding that it only fueled me to sing and perform even more intensely than I already was.

“So strong it’ll knock you down
So strong, so strong.
Over here, I can’t count the miles away from where I wanna be.
I bet your skin is warm, and that you’re smiling.
Yeah, that’s what I always loved the most about you.
You’re so strong, come and knock me down, hey.

Baby, if I’m half the man I say I am
Whoa-oh, oh
If I’m a woman with no fear just like I claim I am
Whoa-oh, oh
Then I believe in what you say
There’s nothing left for you to do
The only proof that I need is you.

So do you love me?
All you gotta do is say yes.
Now do you love me?
And I won’t ever second guess

Now do you love me?
All you gotta do is say yes.
Now do you love me?
Then you already proved it.
Yeah, yeah

Baby, if I’m half the man I say I am
Whoa-oh, oh
If I’m a woman with no fear just like I claim I am
Whoa-oh, oh
Then I believe in what you say
There’s nothing left for you to do
The only proof that I need is.

Baby, if I’m half the man I say I am
Whoa-oh, oh
If I’m a woman with no fear just like I claim I am
Whoa-oh, oh
Then I believe in what you say
There’s nothing left for you to do
The only proof that I need is you.”

The way the people were cheering, or the way that Kiley hugged me tightly and whispered, “Good luck, Ev,” I realized that I must’ve done better than I thought. I thought I did well with it, but they were screaming.

“Well, sweetheart,” Christina began the moment the cheering died down enough that she could be heard. “You just made Niall’s life easier. That was . . . I have no words besides cute and fun and beyond incredible, perfect. I really like it when you do things that have that pop element. Seeing you dance around and move like that makes it all the more fun because you don’t get winded. You don’t have any trouble at all, and I think that’s incredible. I have to ask, though. Are those house slippers?”

I smiled sheepishly and nodded. “Misplaced my other shoes.”

She laughed as she leaned down to look at Adam. “All yours.”

Adam made a face. “I wish. Niall won’t give her to me. Anyways, Everit, what can I say that Christina didn’t? It was kinda like a mixture of the things we’ve seen from you, both pop and rock, and not to take any credit away from Kiley and Noah . . . I don’t know where that came from. You surprised me Monday, and you surprised me again with this. You shouldn’t have had to do that. I don’t get why you did, but you did so well that my mind has been blown, and I think Niall would be absolutely stupid to choose anyone but you.”

Niall’s eyes were shining as he looked up to me, and I think that about sealed the deal for me. How happy he looked, how excited . . . it made me realize that he had decided.

On me.

“Everit, it’s shame you hate me because I’m just as in love with your voice as I always have been,” he informed me. “That was . . . like Adam said, blew my mind. Kiley and Noah . . . goodness. You all did the best you could’ve done! I still can’t . . . uhh!”

“What are your thoughts, Christina?” Carson asked her with raised eyebrows.

“It’s no secret that I’m in love with Everit, and I’m just as pissed at Niall for taking my chance to help her get where she is now as Adam is,” she said. “But I think I’d be just as confused as to what genre to put her in as Niall. Either way, I would most definitely choose Everit. Not because the other two didn’t do incredible. Put in any other situation, I would’ve been more likely to pick the other two. It’s just . . . what she has is special.”

“Blake, who would you suggest he choose?” Carson asked with a laugh as Adam stuck his tongue out at her.

Blake had a coy smile. “I would suggest either Noah or Kiley. I think Everit had the most outstanding performance, though I agree that she shouldn’t even be there. Still, she was, and she killed it. They did incredible. She took it a step further. I would suggest Noah or Kiley because I really wanna win this year.”

Adam leaned over to look at Blake while he laughed. “That’s not even right, man!”

Blake just laughed and shrugged. “I wanna bring in my fourth win, man.”

Adam rolled his eyes. “You don’t have to ask, Carson. I know Noah and Kiley from all the rehearsals and fun we’ve had. They’re great people, just like Everit, but that’s not what determines who advances. It’s talent and who does the best at their performance. They all did amazing, but I would go with Everit. Hands down.”

“I would be lying if I said that losing you was something I could handle,” Niall informed me suddenly, so suddenly that it completely caught me off guard. “I hate losing all of you, but Everit . . . I don’t think you’re done yet. I still very strongly believe that you could win this. Next week will decide if you’re in my final spot or not, but I’m definitely choosing you.”

Notes

The lyrics are from Desperate by Decyfer Down. :3

Alright, so, first, lemme apologize. Over a week? I'm horrible. xP

But, I do have a lame excuse. Aside from my Internet being very unreliable all week, one night I did actually try and post this chapter. But it wouldn't let me. It kept deleting like a huge chunk of it for no reason, so I said fuck it and decided to come back later.

...five days later, so I'm sorry. xP I'll do better! :3

Let me know what you think, though. :D The end is not too far away. :3 Then updates will be even more sporadic. o.o