Scarlett’s POV I groaned as I felt my phone vibrate under me. My eyes fluttered open, and I rubbed my temples, attempting to ease my splitting headache. I glanced at the clock on my nightstand and looked away before I realized what it had read—7:38. “Shit.” I mumbled. I was supposed to be at the studio in 22 minutes to do more rehearsal for this week’s group performance. I shot out of bed, taking a moment to glance at my phone. Brett had texted me three times, asking me why I wasn’t there yet. We usually got there an hour early to do extra practice or to talk a bit. I quickly discarded my sweatpants and t-shirt and pulled on the first thing that I found. Somehow, it ended up looking semi-decent: I had on galaxy tights and a black tank top. I threw on a pair of black converse and put my hair up in a ponytail. I grabbed my black bag which had everything I would need for the day and threw my phone in it, checking the time one last time. I grit my teeth, knowing that I only had seventeen minutes to run downstairs and catch a cab to the studio. I didn’t really have the money for cab fare on me, and the car that would have taken me had undoubtedly left already. If I was late, the managers would be more than annoyed at me. I sighed and sprinted down the hallway, opting to take the elevator, as it would be faster.
I finally reached the first floor and sprinted through the lobby, stopping just before the door when I heard someone call my name. “Scarlett!” I turned around and found the source of the voice. Niall was making his way towards me from the front desk.
“Look, Niall, I’d love to stay and chat, but I have 14 minutes to get to the studio, and I can’t be late.”
“I know, I know. Paul’s outside. We’re going to give you a ride.” I nodded swiftly and let him lead me to the car. We jogged out to the car park and hopped in the black SUV that had taken us to the pub last night. I chuckled slightly, realizing that I had known Niall barely a week and I was already randomly getting into cars with him, but he seemed trustworthy. I stared out the window at the rain that was trickling down and leaned my head against the glass.
He laughed. “How you feeling?”
“Massively fucking hungover. Thanks for that. Nicole’s going to be beyond pissed at me, as well as the managers.” I sighed and turned to face him. “Where’s everyone else? And how’d you know that I was still at the hotel?”
“We were at the studio, and you weren’t there yet, so I figured I’d come back to get you. The others are rehearsing. I just decided to check if you were there. I thought maybe you weren’t awake yet. I caught you just in time, eh?” He grinned at me.
“Well, I don’t really have cab fare, so thanks for this. Thanks, Paul!” I yelled up at him. He grunted noncommittally and I flashed a smile at Niall. “You’re a very thoughtful leprechaun.”
“Well, I am your boyfriend. And ex-fiancé.” He said, referencing the events of last night, when he’d pretended to be my boyfriend and our Twitter conversation. I laughed and rolled my eyes.
“I might consider doing it, now, fangirl.”
He mocked offense. “I am not a fangirl! I just think you’re a really good singer, and I happened to be very awkward when I went to get you yesterday. Besides, you’re the one who asked to marry me.”
“Oh, shut up. Just because you can steal my phone and send a tweet from it does not mean that I want to marry you.”
“I don’t see why you wouldn’t want to marry me, but whatever.” I punched his shoulder and he shoved me back lightly in retaliation. We rode in silence for a couple minutes, and finally pulled up in front of the studio. I thanked Paul again and Niall and I sprinted inside. The guards at the front let us in, and I glanced at a clock on the wall: 7:57. We were going to be in one of the dance studios to start out with, before rehearsing on the main stage. We had already prerecorded this performance—yes, we did lip sync for the group performance—so we just had to work on the dancing and how everything meshed together. This week, we were performing ‘We Are Young’ by Fun, a song that I particularly liked, and I had gotten a good solo part. I bade goodbye to Niall as we parted ways, and burst into the studio right as the clock hit 8:00.
I sighed with relief and waved to Brett, who frowned at me. I ignored it and walked over to one of the dancers, and American girl named Chloe, to stretch with her. “Hey, Scar!” She said brightly when she noticed me.
“Hey, Chloe. How are you?”
“Pretty good! I’m really excited for this number, there’s a lot of dancing and I love it! Also, did you hear that One Direction is here! Oh my gosh. They’re performing tonight! Do you think we’ll get to meet them?”
I chuckled and bent over to touch my toes. “I actually already met them. We went out for drinks last night.”
Her eyes widened. “Seriously? You are so lucky, you have no clue. Were they cool? It must have been awesome. Did you kiss Harry? Did you get their numbers?” Her enthusiasm amused me.
“Yes, they were cool. No, I didn’t kiss Harry, why would you think that? And, actually, I did get Niall and Harry’s numbers.”
“Scar, that is just awesome.” I was about to reply when I heard our dance coordinator’s voice.
“Alright, everyone, let’s get going. Scarlett, Brett, Elise, Cameron, Ryan, Ben, Tyler! Get over here.” I groaned and walked up to the front with Brett, Elise, and the four lads from Up-Down. I knew that with my pounding headache, this would be a long day.

***

“How was your night yesterday?” Brett asked as we walked to the exit. Rehearsals had been long, but it was finally time to just relax until the show. The other contestants had already left to go back to the hotel and rest, and Brett was going to follow suit, but I had opted to stay. I had told him that it was to get extra practice time, but I was really hoping that I would get to hang out with the One Direction lads again. I had, however, decided to walk him to the door, figuring that I owed him a bit of an apology for yesterday.
I stretched my back. “It was good. They’re loads of fun—especially Niall. You know, the blond one.”
“Yeah, Scar, I know who they are. He was the one who interrupted us. Also the one you were flirting with yesterday on Twitter.” His thinly veiled disdain for Niall was obvious.
“We weren’t flirting.” I said automatically, even though we had been.
“Whatever. But, seriously, I think we should talk—”
He was interrupted by Louis, who ran down the hall yelling at me. “Scarlett! Hi! How’s it going? I watched you practice! You were good. Oh, hello!” He didn’t seem to notice Brett until the very end.
“Hi, Louis. This is Brett.”
“Oh, I know who he is. How are you doing, mate?” He shook a very reluctant-looking Brett’s hand.
“Good. I suppose you’re going to steal her. See you later, Scarlett. I get why you wanted to stay now.” He left without another word. Louis and I stood in silence for a moment, until he broke it.
“Well, what’s got his knickers in a twist?”
I sighed. “I don’t know. What’s up, Lou?”
“You should come hang out with me and Harry until the show. We have, like, two hours, and we’re bored. You’re not boring. Come on.” Without waiting for my answer, he grabbed my arm and pulled me down the hallway.
“Ouch, Lou! Where are we going?”
“Our dressing room.” I raised my eyebrows. “Oi, shut up, perv, there’s couches and food and a TV. Plus there’re no nasty managers there, either. You’ve been perverted by your ‘doing it’ with Niall…what’s that all about, anyway?” He looked at me, smirking a bit.
“Inside joke.” I answered immediately, not wanting to let the others in on it.
“You’ve known him a week and you two already have inside jokes? He’s such a fangirl. And you’re such a flirt. I swear, you’re almost worse than Harry.”
“I’m not sure how bad Harry is, but I am not a flirt.”
“Yes, you are, and Harry’s awful about it. Now, are you going to walk or do I have to drag you the rest of the way?” I grinned and pulled his arm off me, starting to walk all on my own. I didn’t bother to deny being a flirt again. It was a bad habit of mine.
Their dressing room turned out to be right down the hall, and Louis held open the door for me, making a sweeping gesture. I curtsied overdramatically and walked in to see Harry on one of the couches, his feet up on the coffee table. He wasn’t wearing a shirt, just a pair of basketball shorts with the waistband of his boxers showing. I tried to act nonchalant. They had a huge dressing room—at least three times the size of mine—with three couches and a mini fridge. I grabbed a water bottle from a table near the back and flopped down on an unoccupied couch. “Hey, Harry.”
He looked up and smirked at me, and I swear I melted. All throughout my rehearsal I’d been thinking about last night when I stumbled and somehow ended up in his arms, as well as the impossibly flirty text he’d sent me after. “Hey, Scar. How was rehearsal?”
“It was good. Long. Plus, I’m awfully hungover, so my head was pounding insanely. But, hey. I signed up for it.”
He laughed while I chugged my water. “I can’t believe you had four drinks and you’re that hungover. Seriously. I had six, and I feel fine.”
I tossed a pillow at him. “You’re just lucky. You and Niall both. Ugh, my head.” I stood up and rubbed my eyes, stretching my arms. I walked over to the bin and threw my empty bottle in. I turned back around and noticed Harry eyeing me and Louis sitting with his legs thrown up on the third couch, on his phone.
As I walked back to my seat, Harry took me by surprise as he said, “You look hot.” I blushed and I heard Louis try to stifle a laugh. Harry’s eyes flicked back over me in a way that seemed ridiculously seductive. I saw Louis staring at his screen, a smile playing on his lips. The smirk hadn’t left Harry’s face.
“Harry, I got dressed in five minutes today.” I sat back down.
“Well, you look hot.”
I felt my cheeks flush an even brighter pink, and I couldn’t resist flirting back. “You’re not so bad yourself, Curly. But have you heard of shirts? They’re pretty cool, I’m told.”
Did I notice a bit of color in his cheeks? I brushed the thought aside. “You’re lucky I’m wearing anything at all. Or maybe unlucky. You choose.”
Louis made a gagging noise. “Yeah, okay. I’m leaving. You two are insatiable flirts. Try to keep it PG, Harry. Oh my god, right in front of me, too, I swear...” I laughed and waved goodbye to him, turning to Harry when he was gone.
“He’s convinced that I’m a flirt.”
“Mm, I noticed. You are, though. There was the almost kissing Brett, then the talk of doing it with Niall, then the Twitter incident, then the stumbling last night, if I remember rightly.”
“I tripped. You caught me. Simple as that, Styles.”
“You didn’t seem to want to let go.”
“I was drunk.”
He moved his feet off the table so he was sitting up. “That’s all it was, then?” I nodded, and he got a playful smirk on his face. “Okay.” He stood up and started walking towards me. I followed him with my eyes. When he reached me, he extended his hand, which I took, and he pulled me up. Suddenly, he guided my hands up behind his neck, and my breath quickened. He wrapped his arms around his waist. I became suddenly more aware of the fact that he was shirtless and I was wearing a tight, low cut tank top. He rubbed my lower back a bit, and I felt those butterflies in my stomach again. His face was—as the Americans say—just inches from mine. “So you could just let go, right now, then?”
“Absolutely.”
He raised his eyebrows. “Why don’t you, then?”
“I don’t think you want me to.” I grasped at straws, trying to find an excuse to stay in this position with him.
“You think very highly of yourself.”
“And you don’t?”
“You’re such a flirt.”
“Excuse me, sir, who pulled me into this?”
I heard the door open behind me and Harry looked up, but made no effort to pull away from me. Louis groaned from the doorway, and I grinned up at Harry and slowly detached myself from him, turning to face Louis. “I swear, I leave you alone for two minutes, Harry. And you, Scarlett, you’re just encouraging him. Well, I was going to tell you that we’re heading over to Niall and Liam’s dressing room, but you two are obviously busy, so…”
I grinned, not minding being caught with Harry. “No, I’m coming, Lou.” I started to follow Louis. I heard Harry mumble “wanker” under his breath before trailing behind me. I turned to look at Harry, his eyebrows raised, who was looking at me—finally—with something other than a smirk. It was half a smile, half a questioning look, like he was trying to figure something out about me. I quickened my pace and started walking next to Louis. “So, you’re not going to mention that, right?” I asked, smiling at him.
He mimed zipping his lips. “Your secret is safe with me. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were toying with him.”
I thought for a moment on that, before deciding to confide in Louis. In a lower voice, that Harry, who was following a couple meters behind us, couldn’t hear, I said, “Louis, he gives me these…butterflies, I swear. Like I’m twelve fucking years old.”
Louis smirked at me. “Oh my god, Scarlett.” He shook his head and laughed at me, looking at me strangely. “You’re cool. You’re a cool person.”
“Who’s the flirt now, Louis?”
“Shit, Scar, I have a girlfriend. You’re so thick. I was just trying to compliment you.” He teased.
I raised my eyebrows. “Oh, really? Someone failed to mention his relationship status.”
“Upset that I’m off the market?” He made a fake pouty face and I laughed.
“No thanks, I think I’ve got my hands full with Harry.” I frowned. “And Niall.” I frowned more. “And Brett. Ugh. I am a flirt. What’s her name?”
“Eleanor. She goes to U of Manchester. And she’s fit. Isn’t Eleanor fit, Harry?” He asked, turning around and raising his voice.
Harry looked up. “You’ll punch me if I answer that, Tommo.” He grinned.
Louis nodded. “Good point. This is the room.” He pointed to a door on the left, and knocked loudly, not stopping until a tired looking Niall opened the door. “Christ, Louis, you fucker. You only have to knock once.”
Louis grinned. “I know!” He pushed past Niall and pranced—and yes, this boy legitimately pranced—into the room, flopping down on the couch next to Zayn, who was watching the telly. I smiled at Niall, who pulled me into a very unexpected hug. I felt Harry brush past me and sit next to Louis. Niall finally released me, and I grinned at him. We sat on the remaining couch, next to Liam. Harry stared right at me, and I smiled brightly at him. He was the one who had failed to make a move. If he was angry, he could keep it to himself. Some part of me liked that he seemed, well, jealous. Actually, all of me liked that he was jealous. Because if he was jealous, that would mean that he wished it was him who had hugged me. And the thought of that made me tingly.
I leaned backwards and put my feet up. I looked over at Liam, who was frowning at his phone. “You okay, Liam?” I asked.
He looked up and smiled at me. “Oh, yeah. I sort of scowl at my phone all the time. I’m not actually angry.”
I laughed. “Okay, right.” Louis looked over at us.
“We have two hours until we’re due to start getting ready. Who wants to watch a movie?”

***

We ended up watching a comedy that was running on some low-budget channel, which wasn’t really all that funny except for how awful it was. As the credits were rolling, Niall whispered in my ear, “You should check your Twitter.” I raised my eyebrows at him but obliged, pulling out my phone. His face was twisted into a half-smile, half-frown. “What’s wrong?” I asked.
“Just worried about how you’ll react.”
I opened Twitter and started scrolling through my mentions, quickly realizing what he was talking about.
@Ellie37: Ok what’s the deal with @Scar_Cross and @NiallOfficial? Confusedddd…are they together?
@I_Love_Niallerr: @Scar_Cross and @NiallOfficial flirting has made my lifeee
@1DIsLife: Okay…I’m now shipping @Scar_Cross and @NiallOfficial. Sciall…or maybe Niallett…
@PeytonT: @NiallOfficial and @Scar_Cross DATE NOW DO IT
@Foooood: @Scar_Cross don’t you take my Niall! :(
I looked up at Niall. I was, obviously, perfectly fine with people shipping Niall and I, but I wanted to mess with him a bit. In a soft voice, I said, “Maybe I should delete the tweets.”
He got a worried look in his eyes. “I’m sorry, Scar, I didn’t know it would bother you. I’m really, really sorry. Here, I’ll delete mine—”
I cut him off, laughing. “Niall, I’m joking.” Relief washed over his face. “People can ship us all they want. Do you think we should be Sciall or Niallett?”
Liam piped up from next to us. “Niallett.”
Louis stroked his chin. “I don’t know, I like Sciall.”
“No way, Lou, Niallett is way better.” Zayn grinned over at us.
I looked at Niall, who was grinning. He punched my shoulder lightly. “You scared me, you arse. I thought you were mad at me.”
I laughed and bit my lip. “Maybe I should be an actor. What do you think? I like Niallett.”
“Oh, definitely Niallett. Sciall sounds really strange.”
I stood up and stretched. “I should probably head out and find Dana. The show’s going to be starting in two hours.” My stomach dropped at the thought. I was more nervous for tonight’s judging than I had been for any of the others. Niall seemed to sense my nervousness and reached out for my hand, squeezing it quickly. I looked at him gratefully. “Don’t worry, Scar. I’m sure you’ll be fine.”
“Thanks. Good luck, lads. I’ll see you later.”
“Hey, we should go out for drinks again, after.” Niall said.
“Yes, Niall, because that was such a fucking fantastic idea last time.”
He grinned cheekily. “Okay, fine. Fucking ice cream, then. You lads good with that?”
“I can’t. I’m hanging with Danielle.”
“Same. Perrie and I are going out tonight.” I assumed that Perrie was Zayn’s girlfriend, and made a mental note to look that up later.
“No, I’m tired.” Louis yawned, giving me a quick wink.
“I’m up for it.” Harry piped up, smiling at me. Whatever he had been upset about earlier seemed to have gone away.
“Niall, if I don’t make it through, I’ll need to pack up my stuff—”
“You will, don’t worry about it. You were fantastic. Meet us after the show, Scar. And good luck.” Niall gave me a small smile.
I waved goodbye and left. As I left, I heard something that sounded suspiciously like “dibs” followed by a few snickers. Then the door closed, and all I could do was slowly walk to my dressing room, lost in thought.

***

I came off from the group performance, sweating. I had managed not to screw up the dance routine, and I was happy. I grinned at Brett, who gave me a small smile. He still seemed angry at me, but I didn’t want to distract myself, or him, so I stayed away from him.
I had hoped that I would be able to wish good luck to the lads, but they were on right after us, and besides, my nerves only let me sit in a chair and stare at the ground, fiddling with the bottom of my red strapless dress. Dana came up to me and massaged my shoulders. “Scar, you’re the best singer I’ve seen on this show—I’m serious. You’ll go through. You’re amazing. Scarlett, heads up, come on.” I looked up and turned to look at her, smiling a bit. “Don’t worry, sweetie. No matter what, everything will be okay. Baby, don’t be nervous.” I heard Zayn start to sing, starting off the only song of theirs that I knew: Heart Attack. There was another singer performing, one that I didn’t know, then the judging. Then the judging. I managed a smile as I heard Niall’s “ow”.
“Dana, I just…I’m so scared. I’m scared that I won’t go through. I’m scared that I will.” I put my head in my hands. “I’ve been trying not to think about it all day, but I’m so scared.”
“Should I bring Brett over here? He usually makes you feel better—”
“No!” I yelled. “Sorry, no. We…there’s some drama there, right now.”
“Okay, hon. Don’t think about him, then. Scar, you will be okay. Everything’s going to be fine.” I nodded. I heard the guys start another song. Zayn started this one, again. I heard the faint, “Oh, I just want to take you anywhere that you’d like…” coming from the stage.
Dana didn’t say anything more, just stood with her hands on my shoulders. Nicole was out in the judges podium, but I wished that she was here. She always made me feel so safe. The lads finished, and I watched them come off stage. Niall made a beeline to me. “Scar, do you want to see him?” She whispered. I nodded, and she left, giving my shoulder one more quick squeeze. I stood up to greet Niall. “Hey, boyfriend.” I teased, trying to take my mind off what was coming ten minutes in my future.
He grinned. “Hey, ex-fiancé.” He pulled me into a hug. I clung tight to him, burying my head in his shoulder.
“You did really well.” I mumbled.
“Thanks. You okay?”
“Yeah. Just really, massively nervous.”
“You’ll be fine.”
“I wish the judging would just come and I could get this over with.”
“Scar, you have nothing to worry about.” He released me and sat down in a chair. I plopped down next to him and he put a hand on my knee, drawing circles on it. “Look, we’re on commercial break right now, then Leona Lewis is singing, then another commercial, then you’re on.”
I sighed and laid my head on his shoulder. I saw Liam and Louis a little ways away, right next to the stage. Liam waved at us, his eyebrows raised, and Louis winked and mouthed “flirt”. I rolled my eyes and mouthed, “shut up” back. He just winked again and turned to watch the stage. Niall had seen him and snickered. “Lou’s just like that. You just have to get used to it.”
“Well, I mean, the show’s almost over. It’s not like I’ll be seeing him for much longer.” I said nonchalantly. I had been enjoying my time with the lads, and was sad that it would be over soon, but I couldn’t help but think that as soon as the X Factor was over I wouldn’t see them anymore.
Niall pulled away abruptly. He looked at me, frowning. “What are you talking about?”
“I just thought—you know, when the show’s done, you won’t have to hang out with me again.”
“Are you serious?”
“I…”
“Scarlett, we’re not just going to stop being friends just because the show’s over.”
“Oh.”
“Unless you want to…”
I laughed. “No, Niall, definitely not. I’m…that actually makes me really happy.”
He smiled. “Good. Now, can we go back to…you know…” he motioned towards his shoulder. I laughed and we assumed our original position. I noticed Brett staring at us and I gave him a wave.
“Brett’s burning holes into us.”
“I know.” He answered. “Probably because he really likes you and you seemed to suddenly lose interest as soon as the famous boy band showed up.”
I sighed. “Yeah, it does seem like that, doesn’t it. I promise it’s not.”
He laughed and gently pushed me off him. “Maybe you should go talk to him.”
“I will after the show.”
“Okay. Just as long as we still have time for ice cream.” He grinned at me and lightly elbowed me in the ribs.
“I promise we will. He probably thinks I’m using you.”
“I don’t mind being used as much as long as it’s a pretty girl doing the using.”
I punched his shoulder. “Come on, Niall, I don’t want to sound like that. You don’t think…I mean, you five don’t think that I’m just hanging out with you because you’re famous, do you?”
“Well, considering you were nice to us before you knew about it, no. Not at all.”
I relaxed back into my seat. “Okay. Good.” We sat for another few minutes before a producer came over. “Scarlett, it’s time to get out there.” I nodded and stood up. Niall gave me one last hug, and kissed the top of my head, sending tingles down my spine. I bade him goodbye, and he told me good luck, and I found myself walking onstage with Nicole.
“Hey, Scar, baby. Don’t be nervous. You’ll be fine.” She whispered to me, standing behind me. Dana had warned me not to fiddle with my dress, so I held my hands behind me as I stood next to Nicole. I had on a red strapless dress with black heels and a black belt. My hair was straightened, and it fell flat down my back. I had a single red bow that held it back.
“Ladies and gentlemen, we will now start the judging.” I felt the lights come on brighter and I tried to wet my dry throat. My heart was pounding in my chest, threatening to crack my ribs, but I put on my best smile and looked out at the audience.
“And the first contestant going into the finals is…”