This seems to be the hardest part. The waiting.

Once Ollie is found to be saved, the first sound that is heard is Emily bursting into tears.

"All my best friends, and I'm gonna lose one of them." She sobs, hand on her forehead. Jack perches beside her and moves her hand down to her lap and placing it on her other hand, holding them both softly.

"You don't know that, and whatever happens, they did their best and if one of them goes out, it'll be hard, but you'll pull through." Jack reassures her, and Jaia steps towards her, crouching to her level.

"And we'll help you. We're a family now, and we all need each other sometimes," Jaia continues, putting her hands on Jack and Emily's, her gaze wondering to Pierce who gives her a supportive smile.

"We all need somebody to lean on, '

"No offence or anything man, but I'd never lean on you purely out of fear of catching somethin' nasty" Ace jokes before Pierce pushes him over to the floor. He regains his balance, sticking his tongue out and Pierce who smirks.

"Thanks guys" Emily says, her voice small. But somehow, her stomach stays in knots, her palms continue to stick together with sweat and her heart pounds so violently she feels like it'll jump out of her chest. She just sits there, numb, cocooned in a web of fear and doubt, knowing that whatever the outcome, everything will change for the worse.

Ollie lies on his bed, hands behind his head, staring up at the cracks and chips in the ceiling's paintwork. He's so engrossed in his own thoughts that he doesn't even notice West sitting on the edge of Ollie's bed, until he kicks him in the face.

"Uh... Ouch?!"

"SHIT man, I'm so sorry. Didn't mean to-"

"I know, I know, you're forgiven." West sighs, trying to reassure Ollie before he gets flustered. "Don't get your lacey panties in a twist."

"Oh... my god, that was one time!" Ollie shreiks, and West simply grins as his reply.

"If that's what helps you sleep at night" West mumbles under his breath, and Ollie throws a pillow at him, missing completely and hitting the wall.

"How did you even get through high school gym?" West cries,

"I didn't, I just became pretty good at forging my mum's signature" Ollie admits matter of factly, and West shrugs.

"Figures. " West jumps off the bed and grabs the pillow, shoving it into Ollie's lap. "Now tell me what's up." He orders, and Ollie looks slightly taken aback.

"Uh, the sky, the ceiling, lights, that film with the creepy old guy and the fat kid, some gum-"

"How the hell did that get there?" The blonde interrupts, staring up in horror at the blob on the ceiling, waiting for it to drop.

"Let's just say that Jack, Pierce and I DEFINITELY had nothing to do with it." West nods, smirking.

"How long did it take?"

"Six. Bloody. Attempts."

"Life well spent!" West says, and the pair chuckle. The room falls silent and West's gaze stays fixed on Ollie.

"I don't know what to do. I like Chesney- I really do- but I don't know if it's more than friendly. I feel like I'm involuntarily leading her on, and I'm not that guy. I'm just... not, and I never wanna be." Ollie spills, and West sits, nodding rhythmically as he speaks, biting his lip in thought.

"Let me pour you a glass of this is how it is."

Ollie flinches.

"You're a good guy. You're a catch: Kind, fun, charming with this kinda boy next door vibe that girls just dig. You saw that Chesney was alone, and went to make her feel better, because you're nice. This house, being away from home, fucks you up bigtime, your emotions get all frazzled up together and confused. So just stop overthinking, and live in the moment, hashtag yolo and all that crap."

"Frazzled?"

"Frazzled."

Emily, Ollie and West looked at each other. They stood by the door into the choir room, trying to process what would happen when they opened their door. Ollie and Emily looked at West and nodded.

West pushed the door open.

Penny, Chesney and Cindy stood with their arms wrapped around each other. They broke apart when they saw the other seven contestants enter.

"What's going on?" Emily stammers, looking at their wide smiles.

"WE'RE ALL CALLED BACK!" The trio screamed, and everyone rushed up to have a massive group hug.

Thinking about it, Emily mused as she watched everyone squish them in a group hug, I don't think I've ever been this glad about being wrong.