With a sigh, I pulled up the heavy door of my freezer and stared at the emptiness in dismay. Yes, this was a problem, and I had no idea what to do about it.

I tried holding it off, saving as much as I could, but it had been two weeks since my last drink. I was starting to feel pretty terrible—the whole beginning of the end deal that Niall experienced.

My last blood bag . . . I didn’t know what to do. All this time, I had kept it from Dad, hidden the fact that Niall and I were bonded. There were so many things he would ask me after he got over the initial anger.

Right now, I didn’t want him to know. Really, he didn’t need to know.

My phone rang right about the time I pulled out the last bag of Niall’s blood, the bag that barely had any left after I used it the last time.

When I saw Kiley’s picture, it helped cheer me up a bit. “Hey, Kiles.”

She sighed. “Starting to feel like shit?”

“More than you know,” I groaned. “I’m using the last bit now. I don’t know what to do. Niall said he ran out this morning, but he had to go before we could talk about what we’re gonna do.”

“Well, tonight, when we’re hanging with Noah and Madi, we’ll figure it out then,” she promised. “Don’t stress, Ev.”

I stuck the straw into the blood bag and took a sip. Really, this had become too easy. I didn’t even have to put the straw in anymore, only did for convenience. Truthfully, it had almost gotten to the point that it tasted . . . good.

The thought made me sick when I thought about it, so instead, I sighed into the phone. “I don’t know, Kiles. I’m not doing so well. I knew it would be hard, but this . . . it’s too hard. A part of me wishes that maybe . . . well, I don’t know. I don’t wish none of the things had ever happened, but I wish things didn’t have to be this way. I miss him.”

“I know,” she assured me. “Believe me. I know. All you can do is remember that you’re almost there. Don’t you start tour rehearsals at the beginning of next month?”

“Yeah.”

“So see?” she said, and she let out a laugh. “You’ll be in his arms before you know it.”

I sighed again and took another big gulp of blood. “I can’t wait, but it feels like it’s been forever. He looks different. He has a new haircut, and it’s been re-dyed. I just feel so empty now, like I can’t even explain.”

“Well, Ev, all you can do is wait, unless you plan to fly out there,” she reminded me. “Which, I mean, I think you should go for it. Their management might have other ideas.”

And I knew she was right about that, but it made me laugh. “They’d probably kill me.”

“But, you know, as much as you might not like hearing this, I think this is probably the best thing for you,” she informed me. “I mean, you had to adjust to being in such an intense relationship in your first relationship, but once it’s public, it’ll be that much crazier. Your life has been turned upside down as it is. Once you throw it all of that drama, it’ll just be harder to handle. If you had been thrown right into a public relationship and this new life, don’t you think it would’ve been harder?”

“You know, that’s a good point,” I decided, and it was. I didn’t like hearing that there was a silver lining to all of this because, truthfully, I didn’t want to be happy right now. Finding a silver lining, though, usually made that possible for me. “You’re right, Kiles. Thanks. I needed to hear that.”

She laughed. “Yeah, I know. Anyways, I’ll let you go so you can get ready for your interview. Be good, Everit. I’ll see you tonight.”

“Can’t wait.” And it was true, though I wished someone else would be there as well.

“Me either,” she said, and the cheerfulness in her voice actually made me feel a little better. “Bye, Evs.”

“Bye, Kiles.”

As soon as I hung up the phone, I made sure to get out every last drop of blood, threw the bag away, and scurried off to hop into the shower.

The blood made me feel better health wise, but a shower would make me feel better otherwise.

Before getting in, I sent a quick text to Niall.

I’m about to hop in the shower. I’m out of blood now, so we’re gonna have to figure out something soon. I love you, and I miss you. So much.

---

“I know that this won’t be easy for you, but I have something I wanna ask you. Give me a call when you can. I have a promise to fulfill, and I may be able to do that much faster than we thought.” I slid my phone into my purse and took a deep and bracing breath. “Alright, Evie. Showtime.”

The bathroom door creaked open, but I tried to slip out unnoticed anyways. It worked, thank goodness. Everyone was too busy rushing around, trying to keep the show running properly, to notice me trying to stay out of sight.

This was madness, and the craziest part? I was the big event. The debut of a Birmingham based talk show “Talk of the South”, which was supposedly created to help push out stereotypes about the South and save Birmingham, had me as the final and main event of the show. For the majority of it, they had different skits—some Southern related, some not—and they even managed to get Channing Tatum for an interview . . . and I’m the main event.

Channing’s little girl, Everly? Oh my goodness. That baby girl is so precious, and he’s pretty awesome, too. Very down to earth and funny.

But me . . . the main event . . . .

Maybe it was because I won the Voice back in December, and now that it was March, I still hadn’t done an interview.

Then there’s the tour coming up next month . . . .

No words could describe how ecstatic I was about that.

When the last skit finished, the show’s host, Tabby Miller, who insisted that I call her Tabby, started my cue. With my makeup and newly red hair ready to go—naturally curly with a crown braid wrapping around my head and light amounts of smoky makeup—I checked the lace dark blue and pink strapless dress I was wearing.

Nothing on it, nice and presentable.

I slipped into the grey cardigan and back into the silver pumps I wore with it. I mean, isn’t it good to look nice at your first interview? Nice and not controversial?

That’s what management told me.

“You know, it’s amazing to see how quickly someone’s life can change in such a drastic way. From the shy girl in the back of the classroom to the girl that’s sold a million copies of her debut single, I’m pleased to bring out Miss Everit Eberly!”

Truth be told, I wasn’t expecting the reaction I got when she called my name. I thought that the crowd was mostly adults, but from the volume of the screams and cheers, I figured out otherwise.

With my best smile, I stepped onto the stage and stepped carefully to avoid, you know, falling on my face in front of potentially a million viewers.

Tabby stood up and hugged me, and admittedly, I had gotten so used to hugging people I didn’t know that it didn’t even faze me anymore.

She smiled as we sat down. “Thank you for joining us for your first interview. We’re glad to have you.”

“I’m glad to be here.”

And you know, it wasn’t actually a lie. I really was happy to be at my first interview, and to have it so close to home was really nice.

“Are you nervous?” she asked, and she laughed a little.

“You know, I am,” I admitted, and I gave her a sheepish smile. “One of the ladies backstage freaked out when she came in my dressing room because I ate all the food in there, and she was like, ‘You’re gonna throw up!’ And now that I’m here, I’m kinda feeling it.”

Tabby’s eyes widened a little, and she started scooting away a bit. “Well . . . let’s hope that doesn’t happen.”

I laughed. “Don’t worry. It won’t. I’m used to being much more nervous without vomiting everywhere.”

She smirked at me. “Well, I mean, you were being coached by one of the most sought after bachelors in the world.”

The crowd screamed in agreement, and despite how frustrating it was to hear “most sought after bachelor,” I laughed and nodded, shrugging my shoulders a little. “Yeah, well, it wasn’t so bad.”

“Singing a duet dressed in a white dress while he was dressed in a tux wasn’t nerve-wrecking for you?” she asked, and her eyes widened.

“Well, that was a bit terrifying, yes,” I agreed. “Neither of us actually realized it could be taken as a wedding theme until I watched it later, after hearing everyone assume that’s what it was.”

“You know, I watched the show with my daughter because she’s a huge One Direction fan, so since Niall was the coach, she just had to watch,” she informed me. “I kept watching because of you. I couldn’t believe such a powerful voice came from someone so tiny, and you took over and won at, what, seventeen?”

“I turned eighteen during the show,” I told her, and I gave her a tiny grin. “And, well, I mean, I fought hard. There were so many talented people on that show, and making it to the finals was probably the hardest thing I’ve ever done.” Lie. “I almost got cut during the Battle Rounds.”

“Adam would’ve saved you,” she reminded me.

“That’s very true, but as much as I love Adam—trust me, I love that man to death—I don’t know if things would’ve turned out the same if I didn’t stick it out on Niall’s team,” I admitted. “I learned so much from Niall, and I met so many amazing people because I was on his team. Maybe I still would’ve won. Who knows? I just know things wouldn’t be the same.”

“Do you miss everyone you met?” she asked, and her eyebrows rose. “Rumor has it, you had a bit of a crush on Niall.”

I felt my cheeks heating up a little, and I couldn’t stop my smile. “You know, it’s really not a huge secret. What’s not to love about him?”

The audience cheered with me, so I felt a little less embarrassed. No, I wasn’t embarrassed that my feelings for Niall were there, but I wasn’t sure how to react to this. Niall’s management and mine all knew the whole story . . . or some of it anyways. Niall and I had talked to them about it—separate, of course, since we weren’t even under the same management—but they knew. They told us that the tour was the best time to come together, and they also told us how to handle any speculation, how to handle questions like this.

Niall was supposed to say he had to keep things professional, that he never thought about having any kind of anything with me. Now, he was allowed to say more, but he wasn’t really asked about it anymore.

I was allowed to be honest because even to the other people on the team, it wasn’t a secret that I was in love with him. Brinley made sure to let everyone know.

Ugh. Brinley.

“I do miss a lot of the people,” I admitted. “I miss all of those crazy boys because, honestly, they made things that much better for everyone. They’re just always so positive and happy that you kinda can’t help but be positive and happy with them. They were so encouraging and so much fun, and I miss them. As far as the contestants go, you know, most of the really good friends I made on the show live close to me. A couple of them that live in Tennessee are driving down today, and the other is dating my best friend. I miss Emma, and I kinda miss Jesse. You know, we fought in the Battle Round, but once he was on Blake’s team, we just kinda became friends and had loads of fun together.”

“Was there anyone on the show you just didn’t get along with?”

I didn’t really know how to answer. Telling on Brinley would probably cause problems because she is known to be a drama queen, but I didn’t really wanna lie about it. “You know, there are always problems when you’re around someone for extended periods of time. It’s why siblings fight all the time, I think. With all the tension of competing together, yeah, there were people I sometimes wanted to just politely tell to stand still while I hit them with a binder a few times, and there were times when there was just too much drama. But the good overbalanced the bad, and it didn’t really even matter. I got through it and dealt with it, and it feels good to say I came out on top.”

The audience applauded me and cheered a little, and I found myself laughing. It almost turned into a giggle, so laughing was good.

“So, everyone was surprised to see you in a music video that wasn’t your own,” she said, changing the subject entirely. “How did you get involved with 5 Seconds of Summer?”

“Well, they were actually huge fans after my blind audition,” I said, and I felt my cheeks heating up as I remembered Michael rambling about how wonderful I was and how the four of them sat around, waiting for me to perform. “Since we’re gonna be touring together for a big part of the Where We Are tour, they decided it’d be cool if we got to know each other a little beforehand. So since a duet wasn’t in the cards, they asked if I could be in a video. It sounded like fun, so I flew to Australia and shot She Looks So Perfect.”

She smiled. “Was it weird dancing around in your underwear like that?”

“I was so embarrassed!” I laughed. “Oh my goodness, that was mortifying. I don’t go around in bikinis without shorts because I have this weird insecurity about my legs. I just think they look strange, so I freak out. Then I had to strip down. It actually helped a little with my insecurity, to be the first one in the classroom to stand up and start taking my clothes off. I had so much fun while being utterly embarrassed.”

Tabby smiled at me. “It’s hard to remember you’re only eighteen. You act so much older than that. The teenage stars of today can talk really big, but talking to you before the show, you’re genuine, you know? A lot of times, for interviews, you have a set list of questions you’re allowed to ask so that the person you’re interviewing is prepared for it, but I wasn’t given questions. I was told I had free reign and could ask you anything. That’s pretty incredible.”

I smiled when the audience clapped again. “Well, I mean, I don’t have anything to hide. I’m not gonna say, ‘Hey. My life is free to pick apart,’ because I have a private life and a public life. I don’t want people outside my window trying to see who’s inside my house, when if they ask me while I’m out and about the next day, I’ll probably tell them. ‘Hey. There’re no boys in there. Daddy says they still have cooties. It was my aunt.’ I don’t know if that makes any sense.”

“You’re saying that you have a private life that you’re not afraid to tell people certain details about,” she said, but it was more like a question.

I nodded. “That’s what I’m saying. There are some things I may not tell people about. Like, when I get married, I’m not gonna tell people all about the sex aspect of it all. That’s my business, but I’ll gladly say, ‘Hey. I’m married to this guy over here.’”

Her eyebrows rose. “What an interesting example. Anyone in mind yet?”

I knew my cheeks were flushed again, but this time it was because I had to lie. Of course there was someone in mind, but no one could know that. If I said, “Yeah, I wanna marry Niall,” and we’re not dating, it’ll just seem strange.

“Actually, it’s funny you ask,” I said, and I got this huge smile when thinking back to my time in Australia. “Luke has insisted that we’re soul mates and will get married. He actually asked me to marry him.”

“You’ve just got gorgeous guys throwing themselves at you from all around you, don’t you?”

My eyes widened. “Oh no. Luke was only kidding. He’s definitely gorgeous, but he’s really the only one who’s kinda thrown himself at me.”

“So is it all just for fun, or is there actually something there?” she asked.

“You know, I really hope it’s just for fun,” I admitted, and while girls in the audience gasped and started asking what the hell was wrong with me, I scrunched my nose. “Luke is awesome! But he’s just not my type. I would love to hang out with the lad more, and I’m psyched I get to on the tour, but I couldn’t see a future for us in that aspect.”

She didn’t continue with the subject—thank goodness because it was so hard to leave out that Luke and I wouldn’t be because I was already with someone. “Any plans for a love life at all?”

I shrugged my shoulders and took a deep breath. “Not yet. I’m still adjusting to normal life now. Did you know that it’s nearly impossible to drive in Cullman anymore?”

Tabby laughed. “I didn’t, actually. It’s only an hour from here, but I haven’t been. That wouldn’t be much different from here.”

“Agreed,” I sighed. “But I’ve never driven in Birmingham for that exact reason. Now I’m not even allowed to drive at home!”

Tabby’s eyebrows rose. “Really now? Don’t you come to Birmingham all the time to record your album?”

The audience began screaming and cheering all over again, and I looked out to all of them with bright eyes and a smile. There were a couple of girls standing up wearing shirts that said Team Niall Forever, and it had my picture on it. As weird as it was to see my face on a shirt, their screaming and jumping up and down made my heart all warm.

Here they were, some of my fans who had only heard one song off the album. That was all it took for them to be my fans.

My fans . . . .

“I’ve actually stopped coming so often because I’m done recording,” I told her as my gaze shifted back to her. This seemed to surprise her, but here it was, the big announcement. “Next week, I’m releasing one last single along with the music video for Decode, and then, on April first, my album ‘Breaking Free’ will release.”

The room got louder than ever, so loud that Tabby actually flinched a little and began laughing.
Honestly, I couldn’t believe this was real, so instead of laughing like Tabby, my eyes widened, just like my smile.

This was real. This was for me.

I had made it.

The cheering died down when Tabby started trying to talk again. It wasn’t because of time because the show had a two hour premiere, and I had a thirty minute segment on it. I guess she just wanted to move on.

“Can you tell us anything about the album?” she asked.

I nodded. “You know, for the longest time, I thought I’d be straight rock. That’s what I felt was my strongest genre, but then I tried some different things on the show, and I didn’t know what I wanted to do. This album really has no genre, I don’t think. I keep asking people who have heard it, and they’re like, ‘Oh, it’s pop rock,’ but then someone will mention a few of the songs, and then everyone just gets quiet. It’s genre defying, so I’m really excited. I wrote all the songs myself, so it’s very personal. It’s very . . . real.”

Her eyes were wide. “All of them? Yourself?”

“Well, I mean, I wrote the lyrics to all of them and some of the music,” I corrected. “I wasn’t the only one making it. Others helped me finish the music on some of it, or helped me when certain lyrics sounded stupid when they came out of my head. Actually, Niall and I wrote one together that we started working in Australia. It was kinda funny because he never came to Alabama, so what we didn’t get finished in Australia, we actually finished via Skype and email. I swear, my email blew up with audio files that we sent back and forth. That was pretty funny.”

Her eyes softened, as did her smile. “Speaking of Niall, are you excited about the tour coming up just next month?”

“I’m super excited!” I exclaimed. “My goodness, it’s my first concert ever. Some argue that being on the Voice counts, but I sang one song. Sometimes it was a few songs, but there were breaks between my songs. It’s not the same at all. This is my first concert, ever, and I’m opening for One Direction and 5 Seconds of Summer on a worldwide stadium tour! This is probably the biggest thing I could imagine right now, so I’m excited and nervous at the same time.”

She laughed. “Hopefully not nervous enough that you throw up on me!”

I shrugged a little. “Hope not. I think I’ll be good. Just gotta remember I’m seeing some people I really miss today.”

Her eyebrows rose. “Friends from Tennessee?”

I nodded. “Yes, ma’am. It’s been a few weeks, so I’m pretty excited. Noah, Madi, and Kiley have become my best friends, and Kiley’s dating my best friend, Max, so it works out pretty nicely.”

“They’re adorable,” she informed me. “Both of those couples! Rumor has it, Kiley is recording an album of her own.”

“They all are, actually,” I said, and I smiled. Truth was, I was helping them all out. Madi and I wrote songs together for hers, and I wrote a couple for Noah and Kiley. So, a lot of times, during recording, I was there.

It was incredible being able to be such great friends with them and work together like we were.
“So, what would you say if I told you we had a surprise for you?”

“I would ask what it was because I’m horrid with surprises,” I informed her. “It’s not that I mind them, necessarily, but I typically don’t get excited enough or get too excited.”

“Why don’t I just show you?” she asked, but from the way her eyes brightened, I realized that this was probably something big, something I would get too excited for.

And you better believe it was. When my eyebrows rose and her eyes moved behind me, at the same time the audiences’ screams got beyond loud, I knew there was someone here.

Five someones, to be exact . . . .

I jumped up from my chair and looked at them with wide eyes. As happy as I was to see them all, I couldn’t take my eyes off Niall. Dear goodness, that boy was a wonderful site to see. Since I had last seen him, he had gotten his hair cut in a different way than anything I had seen yet.
Spiked up, layers, bangs . . . it looked quite wonderful right now.

I think his muscle definition had grown because in the tank top and jacket he was wearing, it was all I could do not to drool. Maybe it was because I needed him so badly that it was driving me mad.

My heart swelled up in my chest as tears came to my eyes, and his as well. He was better at hiding it, though, and instead, he laughed at the way I continued bouncing.

Harry was the first to run over and hug me, followed very quickly by Liam. Both held onto me, and actually, they kinda argued over who got to hold onto me. Zayn and Louis broke it up by hugging me themselves, and last but not least—not even close to least—was Niall.

The feeling of his arms around me made my head spin, to feel the sensation of him touching me. I almost couldn’t breathe when I hugged him, took in his mind boggling after shave and minty breath.

I didn’t realize it, but while I was hugging them all, they brought out one really long couch for the six of us. There wasn’t really a middle, but Niall and I were in the center of the six of us. Harry and Liam were to the left of me, and Louis and Zayn were to the right of Niall.

I think my face must’ve been glowing because Tabby laughed. It was all I could do not to keep staring at Niall, take in every single detail about his gorgeous face and that sexy new haircut of his, and it was even harder to stop myself from kissing him or touching him.

That would have to wait.

“This is a cozy place,” Harry informed Tabby. “I like this couch.”

“Well thank you,” Tabby laughed. “It’s new.”

Louis smiled. “I like this state so far. The traffic was kinda crazy getting from the airport, but did you know that not a single person has taken our picture since we got here?”

Tabby’s eyebrows rose. “Well, I mean, we can change that if you want.”

“I’m saying this state is private,” Louis laughed. “I like it so far.”

My eyes must’ve lit up because Niall’s did, too. “How long are you guys here for?”

Harry shrugged. “Not really sure. We have to go back and see our families before the tour, but I think we’re kidnapping you when we do, so . . . .”

“Come on, Harry, I’ve missed you too, but I’ve already told you that I’m not gonna fit in a suitcase,” I reminded him.

He smirked. “I’m still gonna try. You look small enough.”

Niall rolled his eyes and leaned back against the couch. “This was impossible to work around sometimes. I had to ban Harry and Liam from the rehearsals sometimes because the way those three are around each other distracted her from other things. Even Louis isn’t as bad as those three.”

I frowned at him. “Hey. You’re just mad ‘cause I’m their new favorite Irish person.”

Liam laughed. “Well . . . you know . . . she kinda got you there.”

Tabby smiled at the six of us. “It’s pretty incredible watching you three. I think you could take up the rest of the time all by yourselves, but I have a few more questions before I let the world watch you work off each other. This one’s for Niall, and it’s the question most of our audience members wanted to ask. We asked Everit a similar question, but this one’s for you. You know, there’s a certain professionalism that you have to maintain while coaching someone on a show like the Voice, but was there ever a time you wished you weren’t coaching?”

Niall’s eyebrows furrowed. “No. Never. I enjoyed every minute of it, and I hope I get the opportunity the next season. If scheduling works out and everything. I met some incredible people, and I learned a lot myself. I never regretted it, never will.”

She nodded. “The question that’s similar to Everit’s is this. You know, there were a lot of rumors that Everit had feelings for you, and a lot of people noted the obvious chemistry between you two on the show. Was that all it was? Just obvious chemistry?”

“You know, I actually have been asked a question similar to this many times, so I’ll just go ahead and answer them all,” he informed her. “Looking back on it now, yeah, I guess I see the chemistry. It’s all it was because like you said, there’s a certain professionalism that has to be maintained on a show like that. I knew that, and I never thought about it. And then it ended, and she won. We went our separate ways, and I felt strange. I couldn’t really describe it, but I felt different than I had before. We started working together, and after she came back to Alabama when she left Australia, I realized that I actually missed her. You know, while on the show, I never realized it, but she’s such an amazing person that being around her is almost addictive. Noah talked about it once when he was still on the show, and I realized when we finished the song we worked on together that he was right. I actually missed her.”

Tabby’s eyes were as wide as mine, though I knew he missed me. We talked as often as possible, every day. He left out a lot of details, like the fact that he was coming here, or the fact that he planned to say that now . . . .

The audience, to my surprise, was actually cheering pretty loudly. I hadn’t expected that reaction, but it’s the one I got.

“So, wait just a minute here,” Tabby said, and a smile spread across her lips. “Are you saying your feelings might possibly match?”

Niall’s cheeks began heating up, and I knew this was good. Of course, talking about this was exciting for both of us, that step we had been waiting on for so long, so it was working out really well that he was blushing like he was.

“It’s not that they might possibly match,” he disagreed. “It’s that I know they do.”

Oh. My. Goodness.

Notes

The lyrics are from A Thousand Years by Christina Perri. :)

I decided because you guys are so awesome that I was gonna go ahead and post another chapter. :D

Enjoy! Lemme know what you think. :)

Also, if you wanna check out her interview outfit, see it here! :) Special thanks to my friend Phenax for continuing to make these for me. :) She's awesome like that.