Anonymous

God, I hated doing live television shows. When they were pre-recorded, if we made a mistake or slipped a curse into what we were saying, it could get edited. Everything would be fixed.

But with live shows, it didn’t work that way. Sure, we got a practice run earlier, but I didn’t remember what I’d said. And with my luck, I’d forget what was rehearsed and say something massively rude and end up ruining our careers.

The only thought that comforted me was that Niall had a way better chance of saying something offensive than I did. So at least there was that.

After we settled down on the couch that had replaced the chair that usually sat there, Rich grinned at us. “Hello, boys.”

“Hello,” we chorused back, all of us smiling.

God, it felt so good to be sitting there, knowing all the fans were watching us, waiting in anticipation to see how we’d embarrass ourselves next. It was nerve-wracking, too, don’t get me wrong. But it was fantastic at the same time.

“So, come on. How on top of the world are you right now?” We all nodded, still smiling. “Your single hit number one on iTunes all over the world, breaking records in pre-sales, and then your video broke Justin Bieber’s record of getting the most views in twenty-four hours. How does that feel, guys?”

“Surreal,” Liam responded without much of a pause. “I think the rest of the boys will agree. It feels like just yesterday that we were on the X Factor, still feeling out each other’s boundaries and getting used to each other. And now we’re beating Justin Bieber. Like, it’s mad.”

“Niall, this must be even crazier for you, yeah?” Rich added in his Australian accent, turning to the blonde. “Because you loved Justin Bieber when you auditioned for X Factor.”

“I did,” Niall agreed. “And now I hang out with him, and we’re pretty good friends. It’s pretty strange. But he’s a very cool lad. Very down to earth and chill.”

Rich nodded. “Yeah, he seems that way. Zayn, what do you want to say about the rumors that Justin pushed you down the stairs, and that’s how you ended up on crutches a few weeks ago?”

Harry, who was taking a sip of the wine in front of him, snorted, which made me just about die laughing. I struggled to calm myself so people could hear Zayn’s answer, but it wasn’t easy.

“People are insane with their rumors,” Zayn answered calmly. “Justin definitely didn’t push me down the stairs. We were just goofing around, and I tripped over the couch. I didn’t say anything because it’s massively embarrassing.”

Niall burst out laughing and slapped Zayn on the leg. “Oh my God, I almost forgot about that mental image. I’m so glad that you just reminded me of it.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Zayn muttered, though he couldn’t completely keep the smirk off his face.

“So where are you guys going to be going on your next tour for the Take Me Home album?”

As with most questions that were directed at the whole group, Liam stepped up to the plate to answer. “Uh, we’re going to go to as many countries as we can, I think. We love to see the fans from all over. We’re definitely coming back here, we’ll be going a few different countries in Europe and South America, and we’ll hit the U.S., Canada, and possibly Mexico.”

“Sounds like you’re going to be busy,” Rich pointed out.

“Oh, no,” I scoffed, waving the idea away. “We’ll be fine. We actually have these defect that makes it so we can’t sleep, so we’ll have time for everything. Really comes in handy with the jetlag, too.”

“Don’t let him fool you,” Rich directed at the audience, winking at the camera. “My makeup consultant told me how massive the bags under these boys’ eyes were. She had to use her entire supply of foundation to cover it all up.”

“Hey,” Liam protested with a laugh. “I don’t think they were that bad.”

Rich winked at the camera again. “Alright, let’s change gears a little bit. Louis, surely you know about the phenomenon among teenage girls where they write stories about you boys. They’re called fan-fictions, yeah?”

“Yeah, we know about them,” I chuckled. “They can be kind of weird sometimes.”

“The weirdest ones are where, like, they make two of us together,” Zayn piped up. “I’ve seen some where I was with Liam or Niall.”

“I dunno. I like the ones where we’re gay over the ones where there’s an original character, but the story doesn’t have a plot and the whole thing’s just incredibly graphic sexual content,” Liam spoke up, chuckling a little bit uncomfortably.

“Hold on,” Rich started, putting up a finger to silence us. “Are you guys saying that you actually read these stories?”

“Mmm, sometimes,” Harry replied cheekily. “Depends on how bored we are and if there’s a computer nearby.”

“They can be really entertaining,” Niall defended. “I’ve read some really creative ones in, like, alternate universes and stuff. I’ve read one where we all have, like, mind control chips. That one was brilliant.”

“And the one with the girl who was with Niall, and they lived in Ireland, and she took care of her gran? Ugh, that one almost made me cry, like, a million times,” Liam admitted.

“You guys really do make a sport out of this, don’t you?” Rich gasped.

“Not a sport. We just like seeing how creative our fans can get,” Harry defended. “It’s very cool.”

“Yeah, like I read this one recently on a website where the lot of us are in college," I voiced, scooting forward in my seat, going off-script, "besides Liam, and my character meets this girl Emma in drama class. I’ve only read a few of chapters, and I’ve no idea whether she’s updated since then or she’s quit the story or anything, but I thought that one was brilliant.”