Kiss Me Under the Light of a Thousand Stars

"Looks like a great turnout tonight." Mariana commented, gazing around McNally's for a moment, just taking in all of the people who had shown up for the weekly open mic night. She and Ella had both been attending, and performing in them, for a while now. It was how Mariana had met the fellow youtuber and singer. She liked to think that Ella was one of her good friends, she was one of the first people she met when she moved to London the summer after she graduated high school. Like any big city, it was rather overwhelming, and could be a bit intimidating, and it was even more so seeing as the place Mariana once called home was an entire ocean away. Now, after living in London for two years, Mariana sometimes felt as though London were more like home than the small town in Massachusetts did that she grew up in.

---

"You're sure that they come here, Niall?" Harry asked, glancing around the pub as he walked through the door with the Irishman. He was the one who'd shown Harry and the rest of the lads the youtube video in the first place, and apparently he'd watched a couple of their other videos as well. Not to seem creepy or anything like that, seeing as he and Niall were here hoping to see the girls perform, and maybe even talk to them if they had the chance to do so, but Harry had watched a couple more himself. There had just been something about them, he could tell almost immediately why Niall had wanted to show him and the lads the video in the first place, it was just so clear that they were doing what they loved. There was this passion and excitement, and Harry really did hope that Niall had gotten the name of the place right. He would love to talk to the girls if he had the opportunity to do so.

Ella bit down lightly on her lower lip as she looked around the room, nodding in agreement with her friend. There was a bigger turnout than usual, and it made her even more nervous. "You remember the order of the songs, right?" She asked, knowing they'd both gone through the order plenty of times during the day. There was a huge difference between singing to a camera and singing in front of a live audience. Once she was up there, she loved it. The rush was amazing and usually by the second song she was full of confidence; grinning and winking at the audience even though most of them were regulars. She'd been going to the bar long before she met Mariana, having grown up in the suburbs of London and moving into the city after secondary school. She had never performed there though - she'd only recorded covers of songs on Youtube. That was how she met Mariana and once she found out the girl was living in London too, they'd become the closest of friends.

---

Niall headed straight to the bar after walking in with Harry, nodding in reply to him. "Pretty positive," he nodded, calling the bartender over and ordering him and Harry a pint. "They mentioned it at the end of their last video that they'd be here tonight." He said, not even embarrassed that he was a regular watcher of their videos. It had started a few weeks ago when a load of fans had tweeted him a link to a video, saying that he must watch it. For once he did what they said and he was so fucking glad. The girls had done a cover of Fireproof from their new album, and they were amazing. Really fucking hot, too. It had escalated from there. He'd shared the link on his Twitter to get other fans to watch, and forced all the boys to watch too. Harry seemed to take a liking to the girls as well, so it wasn't hard to convince him to hit up the bar while they were in town.

"I'm pretty sure that I have it drilled into my head." Mariana said, letting out a quiet laugh. They'd gone through the order several times over throughout the day, so she highly doubted that it was something that she'd be able to forget that easily. Sure, singing to a camera and singing in front of a live audience were two completely different things, and sure, maybe she was a little nervous, but she was sure that she and Ella would be fine up there. They always were, even when they were nervous, though the nerves only really lasted for the first song or so. The whole thing was kind of an absolute rush, almost indescribable really, and she couldn't think of a single thing that she loved doing more. "Hey, it's just a few more people. We'll still kick ass like we always do." She grinned slightly.

---

Harry nodded. "Sorry, I forgot that you're the expert here." He teased lightly. In all honesty, Harry had no room to talk. He'd watched a couple of the girls' other videos after Niall had shown him their cover of Fireproof, which blew him away by the way, so he really couldn't say anything anything to his friend. He'd really taken a liking to the girls, and he really did hope that Niall was right, and that there was a chance that they'd get to talk to them at some point tonight. And it wasn't just because they were fit, they were, but Harry could tell that this was what they both loved to do, this was what they were passionate about, and he was curious to see how they were up there on that stage. He was sure that they were just as amazing, but he wanted to see it for himself.

Ella took a sip from her drink, needing just a little bit of liquid confidence to make sure she didn't chicken out on stage. She was a little jealous that she couldn't be a calm as Mariana. But hey, nerves were good, right? "Yeah, we've got this," she said with a nod, trying to convince herself more than anything. "Come on, let's go set up on stage." She murmured, slipping off her jacket and scarf, leaving her in just her black dress. She was small anyway, so she had on her platformed boots but was just praying she wasn't her usual clumsy self and fell over. She headed up onto the small stage, fiddling with the microphone stand and making it lower for her height. The excited murmurs in the room picked up when they got on stage, and Ella gave a little nervous wave to the crowd. "We're opening with Fireproof, yeah?" She asked Mariana, just wanting to double-check.

---

"Shut up," Niall laughed in reply to Harry, grinning over at his friend before taking a sip of his beer. He watched as the girls walked on stage, his eyes drawn to the blonde. He'd had his eyes on her since he saw the first video of them. They were both pretty, but wow, she was something else. "Let's stand at the back, I don't want to get spotted here." He said quietly to Harry. It wasn't that he didn't want to interact with the fans, well, he wasn't in the mood for that either. But he didn't want to take the spotlight away from the girls. He knew if fans tweeted a picture of them at McNallys, more would show up immediately and it would be crazy. It wouldn't be fair on the girls and other people trying to perform that night.

Mariana could tell that Ella was still pretty nervous, and she was too, but she liked to think that she was also confident in herself and in her friend. She knew that they could do this, they'd done it countless times before and sure, maybe the majority of it had been done behind a camera, but they'd performed at McNally's before too. Alright, maybe there were more people here than there usually were, but she liked to think that that wouldn't sway either of them too much. Nodding, she took a sip of her drink before following Ella up onto the stage. "As long as nothing's changed since we decided on the order yesterday, yeah." Mariana would like to believe that she and Ella were pretty damn prepared, well, as prepared as they could be right about now anyway.

---

Harry laughed. "You aren't even trying to deny it!" He said, punctuating his words with a cheeky grin. He took a sip of his beer, following his friend's gaze up to the stage just in time to see the girls walk onto it. Well, there was the answer to his question from earlier. This definitely was the place. Harry might not have watched as many of their videos as Niall had, but he'd recognize them from anywhere. Especially the brunette. She was gorgeous, and even more so in person. He could only imagine how breathtakingly beautiful she must be up close. He hoped that he had the opportunity to find out for himself. Nodding, he followed his friend towards the back of the pub. He understood why Niall didn't want to get spotted, and he agreed completely. The last thing that he wanted was to have a bunch of fans show up and take the spotlight away from the girls or other people performing tonight. This was about them right now, not he and Niall.

Ella shook her head in reply to Mariana, not wanting to make any changes to the setlist. She looked out at the small crowd, squinting a little when the house lights dimmed and the lights on the stage brightened. That was her favourite thing about McNallys - how it felt like she was really performing on a big stage. There was an acoustic guitar to the side of the stage for when they played one of the later songs. They were only performing covers like they usually did but she wished that one day they could perform their own songs. She turned to her microphone stand, swallowing down her nerves again. "Hey, guys," she spoke softly into the mic, a little smile on her features. "Thanks for coming out. I'm Ella and this is Mariana." She grinned, gesturing to her friend beside her.

Niall rolled his eyes, resisting the urge to grin at Harry. "Piss off, Haz," he huffed, eyes on the stage when he spotted the two girls walking onto it. He moved with Harry so they could stand in the back, and thankfully no one had noticed them. He grinned a little when the brunette spoke, introducing them. His eyes fell on the blonde when she introduced her as Mariana. It was a very interesting name and he was really looking forward to speaking to her later. Only if he got the chance to, that is. He hoped he did, he wanted to tell her how much he enjoyed their cover of Fireproof.

Mariana gave a little wave when Ella introduced them, a smile on her face. She loved the feeling of being up there on that stage. It was just such an amazing feeling and so different from recording a video at home. Sure, that was always fun too, but this was where she wanted to be. She didn't care if this never actually ended up getting her anywhere, it made her happy, and that's all that really mattered. "This one's called Fireproof. It's one of mine and Ella's favorite songs. We hope you like it."

---

Harry let out a quiet laugh, shaking his head. "You know it's true." He said simply as he walked to the back of the pub. He could tell that his friend was trying his hardest not to grin, it was fairly obvious really, and he knew that Niall knew that he was right. He said nothing else on the matter though, giving his undivided attention to the girls as they spoke. He smiled when the brunette, Ella, spoke first. He couldn't help it. She was adorable. He really hoped that he got to talk to her afterwards. The smile on his face only seemed to widen when the blonde, Mariana, said their first song would be Fireproof. He loved their arrangement of it.

Ella couldn't stop grinning after they finished their last song, a cover of I Knew You Were Trouble and she thanked the audience as they clapped and cheered for her and Mariana. Even though she was nervous in the beginning, like she'd predicted before, she'd gained all of her confidence by the end of the second song. Soon enough she was shaking her little hips and having a little laugh with the audience. She knew that performing was what she really wanted to do in life - more than anything. But sadly she was a realist too, and knew the likelihood of that happening was slim. Which is why she enjoyed the nights in McNallys so much. She was able to forget about her job and the fact that she was once again behind on her rent. She reluctantly headed off the small stage, taking a few sips of her drink that she'd left waiting on the side. She accepted a few hugs from the other regulars and turned to her friend with a huge smile. "That went even better than usual, I don't know why, but I just feel like it did." She said excitedly, adrenaline still rushing through her.

---

Once the two girls started singing, Niall couldn't look away. They opened with their cover of Fireproof which got Niall all excited for some reason, because hey, that was their song! They covered a few songs that he didn't know - smaller Indie bands that he was sure Harry must have heard of. He watched their last song, completely enthralled because they seemed to be enjoying themselves so much. It reminded him of when he and the boys were on stage in front of crowds, albeit a lot bigger than the one in the pub. Once the girls finished up, he turned to Harry for the first time since the beginning of their set. "Holy shit, they were good." He said, being completely honest.

The nerves melted away quickly, Mariana having forgotten where she was momentarily. She and Ella always had an absolute blast whenever they were up there on that stage. It was where they belonged, it felt like home. With a grin on her face, Mariana walked off of the stage with Ella, picking up her drink which she'd placed down next to her friend's. After accepting a few hugs from regulars, she looked to her friend, a nearly identical grin on her face. "I couldn't agree with you more. It definitely feels like it went better than it usually does." She said, punctuating her words with a wide grin. "You were great up there, girl."

---

Harry's mind was completely blown. The girls sounded even better than he'd expected them too. He realized now that those videos did neither of them any justice whatsoever. They were even better in person, and that was certainly saying something because Harry had thought that they were amazing before tonight. He nodded, agreeing with Niall completely. "They were amazing. They sound even better live than they do in their videos." He said. "We should see if we can talk to them." He really wanted to, especially Ella.

Ella nodded excitedly and couldn't stop herself from pulling Mariana into a big hug, squeezing her tightly and pulling back after a few moments. "You were too, babe," she said, slipping her hand into her friend's and pulling her towards the bar. "Let's get some drinks in to celebrate, yeah?" She suggested, not even waiting for Mariana's answer before she beckoned the bartender over. She was on such a high from their set and she wasn't working the next morning so she definitely wanted to make the most of the evening. She ordered them both a strong cocktail, handing over the money.

---

"They looked so good up on stage as well," Niall said, looking at Harry with a little smirk before adding "proper fit too." He said with a laugh, nudging Harry with his elbow lightly. He kept his eyes on the girls as they hugged and he watched the brunette pull the blonde over to the bar. "Now's our chance, Hazza," he said, winking at him before he turned and headed over to the girls, sliding up to the bar beside them. He didn't introduce himself just yet, instead ordering himself a beer, glancing at the two girls for a moment before he spoke up.

"You girls were great up there," Niall said, his accent as thick as every and a bright smile on his face.

Mariana smiled, hugging Ella back just as tightly. "You read my mind." She said with a grin, allowing her friend to pull her over towards the bar. She knew that neither of them had to worry about working the next morning, something that she was very thankful for, and she was ready to have a good time and enjoy the rest of the night.

Taking a seat once she and Ella reached the bar, she hadn't even noticed the guys approach. Needless to say, she was caught off guard when she turned to talk to whoever had spoken to her and quickly realized who it was. She kept her cool though, she'd gotten past the whole freaking-out-over-celebrities phase of her life back in middle school, a smile finding it's way onto her face. "Thanks." She said, sipping her drink.

---

Harry let out a laugh, though he couldn't argue with Niall at all. His friend was right. The girls looked great up on that stage. The little black dress that Ella was wearing looked amazing on her tiny frame, hugging her curves in just the right places. Following Niall's gaze, he watched as the girls headed towards the bar. He followed his friend over, taking a seat next to him. "I think great's an understatement, Niall. Amazing's much more fitting, in my opinion."

Ella took a sip of her cocktail, a pleasant smile on her face because there was a little umbrella in the drink and she absolutely loved them. She usually tucked them behind her ear when she was drunk. She looked at the guy who spoke, about to thank him but her jaw dropped a little when she realised who was standing next to her and Mariana. Her eyes only widened more when none other than Harry Styles appeared next to Niall. "Holy shit," she breathed, and then immediately regretted it. Her cheeks heated up furiously, even more so when Mariana managed to keep her cool and just thank them. Ella had never wanted to crawl under a rock so much before in her entire life. She couldn't help the little shy smile from appearing on her features when Harry said that great was an understatement. Instead of embarrassing herself even more, she took a longer sip from her cocktail.

---

Niall kept his eyes on the blonde for a few moments longer than he probably should have before he looked over his shoulder when Harry sat down beside him. He took a sip from his drink, letting out a little laugh at Ella's reaction. "Harry's right, and I think you performed Fireproof better than we ever could." He said with a shrug and a nod of his head. "We've seen your videos as well!" He said, frowning a little to himself afterwards because yeah, that probably made them sound like stalkers. Nice one, Nialler.

Mariana couldn't help being at least slightly amused by her friend's reaction. It was an understandable one. After all, it wasn't every day that they got approached by Niall Horan and Harry Styles at a bar. That kind of sounded like the beginning of a really bad joke actually, now that she thought about it anyway. Shaking the thought from her head, she focused her attention back on the guys, eyes widening slightly in surprise when Niall said that they'd seen their videos. She knew that he'd tweeted the video for their cover of Fireproof, but they'd watched other videos of theirs as well? They'd thought they were decent enough to watch more than one of them? "You have?" She asked, unable to keep from smiling. Niall Horan and Harry Styles from One Direction had watched she and Ella's videos. That was insane, in a good way obviously, but insane nonetheless.

---

Harry let out a quiet laugh of his own, slightly amused by Ella's reaction. He thought it was cute though too. Everything about this girl was cute. From her tiny frame, to how soft spoken and shy she'd been when she and Mariana had first gone up onto the stage earlier, to her cute little dance moves when she was up there on the stage. He figured that he might as well quit while he was still ahead. He could probably go on for days about this girl, which was strange seeing as he really didn't know her at all. "Yeah, Niall here watches your videos regularly. He's the one who showed me and the rest of the lads your version of Fireproof. He's right, you know. You two definitely performed it better than we ever could."

Ella bit down on her lower lip to stop herself from grinning too much when Niall admitted that they'd seen more of their videos. She was kind of in shock still, and kept taking sips from her drink because if she thought she was nervous earlier, well it was nothing compared to the butterflies swimming around in her tummy now. She couldn't help but laugh quietly at Harry's words, when he said Niall watches their videos regularly, but shook her head afterwards. She knew that Niall had tweeted about it - and she'd freaked out enough then; calling Mariana and shouting down the phone all excited. "Thank you," she murmured, eyes on Harry rather than Niall. She couldn't help it. It was the hair, his dimples, how tall he was. He just commanded her attention. "But I don't know about us being better." She added, with a shake of her head.

---

Niall rolled his eyes but grinned when Harry said to the girls that he watched their videos regularly. He couldn't deny it though, because he did. But they still didn't need to know that. He smacked his friend in the chest and purposely turned away from him. "You look like you were made to be up on that stage," he said, more towards just Mariana than the both of them. He couldn't help it, she was so gorgeous and he really wanted to talk to her more. He didn't feel bad though, because he knew his friend well, and he could definitely tell that Harry was into the brunette, Ella. He took another sip of his beer, watching Mariana with a little smile. "Have you been performing here long?" He asked, with a little tilt of his head. Her accent wasn't a local one like Ella's, and it made him even more curious about the girl.

Mariana almost laughed as she thought back to the day she and Ella discovered that Niall had tweeted the link to their Fireproof video. Her friend had been shouting down the phone, and at first she hadn't picked up on what her friend said, but when she did, she started shouting too. But she was much calmer right now, maybe surprised, but still somewhat calm. She couldn't believe that Niall watched their videos regularly. That was insane. "Thank you. It certainly feels that way sometimes." She said, a small smile tugging at the corners of her lips. She was perfectly fine with just talking to Niall for the time being. If she had to pick a favorite, which was kind of hard to do sometimes, it would probably be Niall. There was just something about that Irish accent of his that she loved. "It's been about three years now. I came across the place about a month or two after I first moved here."

---

Harry let out a soft chuckle when he earned himself a swift smack in the chest. He noticed his frowned turn slightly, talking more to Mariana than anyone else. It didn't come as too much of a surprise to Harry, he knew that Niall definitely had his eye on the blonde. And that was fine by him, because he had taken a liking to Ella, so it all worked out perfectly. "You're welcome." He said, sending a smile the brunette's way. "I beg to differ, love. Your version is phenomenal. And I'm not just saying that because it's technically one of my songs either." He told her, letting out a quiet laugh.

Ella ducked her head a little, her cheeks still burning furiously because she wasn't good at accepting compliments usually, never mind compliments coming from people like Harry Styles. "Well thank you," she murmured, looking back up at him through her long lashes. "Fireproof is an amazing song, and I'm not just saying that because you're standing in front of me." She told him, a little cheeky smile on her lips. She took another few sips of her cocktail, glancing at Mariana quickly, who was still talking to Niall. The pair looked quite cute together. "But it's just a bit of fun really." She said with a little shrug of her shoulders, looking back at Harry.

---

Niall only grinned when she thanked him, and took another drink from his beer. He raised his eyebrows in surprise when she said it had been about three years. He thought they would have moved on the bigger places, if he was being honest. "That's a long time," he commented, leaning his hip against the bar. He wondered if they had videos from back then, and if they sounded different. He and the guys sounded a lot different a few years ago. "Where'd you move from?" He asked, hoping he wasn't being too nosy. "Just tell me to shut up if I'm asking too many questions." He added with a laugh before taking another sip from his beer.

Mariana nodded. "Yeah, I suppose it is." She said, taking another sip of her drink. While being up on that stage felt like home, this had always kind of just been a hobby for both her and Ella. Sure, it would be cool if it got them somewhere in the world, but Mariana was just as much a realist as Ella was. She knew that the likelihood of that actually happening was somewhere around one in a million. So, she had a job, and while it wasn't necessarily what she would love to be doing with her life, it helped pay the bills. Most of the time anyway. "Massachusetts." She answered. "And trust me, you'd know if you were asking too many questions." She let out a quiet laugh.

---

God, she looked adorable when she blushed. Was there anything about this girl that wasn't absolutely adorable though? Harry was pretty sure the answer was no. It sure as hell seemed that way anyway. He let out a soft chuckle in response to her words. "That's good to know. I'd probably wonder why you bothered covering it if you didn't like it." He said, sipping his beer. Her later words surprised him. "You've never thought about doing something like this as your career?" He asked, the surprise evident in his voice. She and Mariana both had phenomenal voices. He was surprised that, with the talent that both girls had, it hadn't taken them somewhere yet.

Ella let out a soft laugh in reply to Harry before sipping the last of her cocktail through the straw. She placed the empty glass down on the bar and shrugged again before shaking her head. "Not really," she said, tilting her head as she looked at Harry. "I mean, trying to break out in the industry is something you have to completely commit to, but we both work other jobs." She said, waving over the bartender and pointed to her drink with a cheeky smile. The bartender rolled his eyes playfully before making her another cocktail. "So this is just something fun to do on the side, I guess." She told Harry. Of course she dreamed of performing in front of huge crowds, recording an album and touring across the world. But she couldn't live in a dream world and she couldn't waste her life away trying for something that wasn't going to happen.

---

Niall raised his eyebrows in surprise when she said she was from Massachusetts. "Wow, you moved far from home," he said, before taking another sip of his drink, grinning at her. "You're brave, why'd you move?" He asked, full of questions now that she'd basically given him permission to be as nosy as he wanted - within reason of course. He took the last few gulps of his beer before calling the bartender over. He ordered himself another beer, before looking back at Mariana. "Want another one, love?" He asked.

Mariana nodded. "Yeah, I guess I am." She said, shrugging her shoulders. "It's not really much of a reason, but I just wanted a change of scenery." She'd lived in the same small town her entire life. She'd only been out of the country once, and that was when she visited Niagara Falls in 8th grade, so Canada didn't really count. Hell, she hadn't seen any part of the United States that wasn't along the eastern seaboard. Maybe moving to London was drastic, and risky, but she would never go back and change her mind. "It was probably one of the best decisions I ever made though, so I regret nothing." She added as an after though, a smile tugging at the corners of her lips. "Sure, why not."

---

This girl certainly peaked Harry's curiosity. He didn't know what it was but, for some unknown reason, he wanted to learn as much about her as he could. Sipping his beer, he listened as she answered his question, her response honestly surprising him. "It is a huge commitment." He agreed. "But if it's something that you love doing, don't you think it's worth a shot?" She looked like a natural up there, so he couldn't see why it wouldn't be something she felt was worth taking a risk over. "Here, I've got it." He said, handing the bartender some money as he came back over with another cocktail for her.