CHAPTER 63

Finn… it's not good news. I'm really sorry. I'm taking Matt…"

Finn felt like ice-water had been poured on top of him. He was immobile in shock and his heart felt like it had been ripped out of his chest. Eventually he got over the initial shock and he looked at the judges.

"Um… okay. Thank you for your time." Finn said. The judges smiled and nodded at him but inside, they felt awful. Finn was an incredible singer and he truly deserved to be in the competition. However, 6 spot 7 incredible competitors. One person had to go and it unfortunately had to be Finn.

Once Finn was off stage, he looked around the backstage area and saw all of the other rejected guys and girls and he finally broke down. His dream was over. He thought, he honestly thought, that he had actually found a way to break into the business. He was wrong though. He had to go back to Lima, facing all of his friends, having failed. He saw all of the other rejected contestants - all young adults between age 18 to around 27 - and they were all crying as well. It was absolutely gutting. It was the worst feeling in the world. Waiting to hear his name called but it wasn't. He didn't want to go home.

Meanwhile, in the judges' dressing room, the four judges were talking about the day. This had probably been the hardest boot camp year yet - the standard of the contestants had never been so high. Simon was pondering everyone who had been sent home and he suddenly had an idea…

"Hey guys. I have an idea…" He said. The judges looked at him.

"What?" Nicole muttered. The day had been particularly difficult on her because the boys she had sent home were much better than the other rejected categories.

"What if we were to put these 5 boys together?" Simon suggested, pointing at the pictures they had of them on the judges' table.

"Like as a singing group?" Louis asked, confused.

"No, like as a soccer team." Simon rolled his eyes sarcastically. "Of course as a group!"

Nicole looked at the people Simon had pointed to and she smiled faintly.

"That's a great idea!" She exclaimed. "Those boys would do a great job together!"

"Yeah, I think so too." Tulisa agreed. "But if we're putting those guys together, I think we should also put these four girls together." She said, pointing at the pictures of 4 girls. The judges thought for a moment and nodded.

"Yeah, I say we do it." Louis said.

"Nicole?" Simon asked.

"Yeah, let's do it." Nicole replied.

"Tulisa?" Simon asked.

"Hell, yeah. I'm in." She said. Simon smiled and nodded. He then summoned a producer.

"Um… could you please tell these following people to come back on stage?" He asked. The producer nodded and walked away, walking backstage and over to the devastated rejected competitors. Just as Finn was about to leave, the producer walked over to them and they looked at him.

"Listen up, everybody!" The producer announced. "The judges would like to see the following people back on stage… from the girls… Jesy Nelson, Jade Thirlwall, Perrie Edwards and Leigh-Anne Pinnock."

The four girls, perplexed, left the backstage area and approached the stage, but the producer was not done yet.

"And from the boys… Zayn Malik, Niall Horan, Liam Payne, Louis Tomlinson, Finn Hudson."

Finn was just as confused as everyone else. He looked around the room and saw four guys, seeming to be around the same age as him, walking towards the stage. Finn followed them. He hoped the news was good. He hoped to God the news was good. As Finn was walking towards the stage, he caught up with one of the guys - a short, blonde man named Niall.

"Hey. You know what this is about?" Finn asked. The man shook his head.

"No idea." He replied. "Let's hope it's something good."

"Yeah. Definitely." Finn chuckled. They made it to the stage moments later and the boys were told to stand together and the girls were told to stand together. The audience had all left the arena at this point and it was eerily quiet.

"Hello." Nicole said to them. "Thank you so much for coming back. I know, judging from some of your faces that this is really hard. We've thought long and hard about it and we've thought about each of you as individuals and we just think you're too talented to let go of."

Finn and the other boys exchanged confused and nervous expressions. What on earth was going on? In the 9 years that the show had been running, Finn had never seen something like this happen.

"We think it would be a great idea to have two separate groups - a boyband and a girl group." Nicole explained.

"We have decided to put you both together and send you to judge's houses." Simon said.

That's when the stage erupted. The boys started leaping into the air in joy, Finn amongst them, and the girls did exactly the same. They were absolutely ecstatic. The boys all grabbed each other in a group hug, over-the-moon at this bombshell.

"Guys, girls." Simon said, getting their attention again. "This is a lifeline. You have got to work ten, twelve, fourteen hours a day, every single day and this opportunity. You've got a real shot here guys. Don't waste it. Of course, this is entirely up to you, whether you want to do it or not. Becoming a group is a big committment and a big commitment. So with that in mind, girls?"

The girls looked at each other and nodded.

"We'll do it." They said, after a bit of thought. Simon nodded.

"Good. And boys?"

The guys grinned at each other, not needing any thought about their answer.

"We'll do it…"

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The contestants left the stage shortly after, still slightly in shock about the news. Dermott approached the girls first for a quick interview, and then walked over to the boys.

"How does it feel guys?" Dermott asked.

"We thought we were out." Louis Tomlinson said, still slightly in shock. "We thought we were out, and now we're suddenly back in."

"Yeah, we went from the worst feeling in the world to suddenly, the best." Zayn added.

"Wow, what a rollercoaster ride, huh? Did you guys know what was going on?" He asked.

"No!" They exclaimed. "We had no idea."

"And I take it you didn't need any thought about the decision, huh?"

"Yeah, I mean although none of us know each other, it was the obvious choice. But I mean, if we made the wrong decision, this could ruin each one of our careers."

"True. But you could always go solo later." He pointed out.

"Yeah, I guess."

They were all incredibly happy. They had made it to judge's houses round after all. They were being flown to somewhere in the world, to perform for one of the judges, and a guest judge who was usually a superstar. Finn left the arena the happiest he had ever been. It was a feeling like no other. As he made it closer and closer to live shows, he could feel himself getting happier and happier. He was starting to appreciate life more, and he wasn't about to let this prime opportunity slip away.

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Exactly one week later, it was time for the judge's house round. Finn's new band - which they dubbed as One Direction - as well as the other groups were taken to Simon Cowell's hotel in St. Lucia for the round.

Like the new girl group Little Mix, the five boys - Zayn, Liam, Louis, Niall and Finn - had auditioned as soloists but the judges decided to put them together as a group at bootcamp. But as their performance approached, with just 30 minutes until they went on, there was a problem…

"Louis was in the sea with us earlier and he cut up his foot." Finn explained to Dermott and the cameras. "It was swollen up really bad and we sent him to the hospital."

"We're all panicking a little bit because we're not sure when and if he's gonna get here and what's going to happen with the performance." Zayn said.

"Yeah, for us that's a huge blow because after we got put together, we spent a week at Louis' house to help prepare and get to know each other and then we came straight here. We haven't had much time at all as it is and we really need him." Liam added.

The camera moved away from the boys shortly after and once they were gone, the boys tried running through the song a capella without Louis. At the end, they all shook their heads. It was not very good.

"No, no, no. It doesn't sound right at all!" Liam exclaimed.

"Yeah, it's not… it's not… thick enough without Louis." Finn pointed out.

"Yeah, it's not working at all." Niall agreed.

The clock was ticking and it was getting closer and closer to their performance and they were really just waiting around and hoping that Louis turned up. He wasn't answering his phone either so they couldn't contact him to see where he was. 30 minutes turned to 20, turned to 10. Turned to 5. Then, when all hope seemed lost, the boys were sitting on the front stops of the hotel when suddenly, a black SUV pulled up in front of them and Louis stepped out!

The boys' faces lit up and they practically dived on top of each other in relieved hugs. The four boys each grabbed one of Louis' limbs and they carried him into the hotel like he was the king. They made it to Simon Cowell and the guest judge - singer-songwriter Calum Scott - moments later and Simon nodded at them.

"Hey, boys." Simon said. He then noticed Louis limping and he chuckled. "Oh, I can see which one of you got hurt. What did you do?" He asked Louis.

"It was a… sea urchin." Louis replied. Everyone winced at the thought.

"Is it painful?" Simon asked. Louis nodded.

"Yeah, very, very painful."

"Are you all right now?"

"Yeah, good." He replied. Simon gave him a thumbs up.

"So, you boys feeling confident?" He asked them.

"Yeah." They replied.

"Good." He stated. The music started shortly after and they prepared to sing…

[LIAM]

I thought I saw a girl brought to life

She was warm she came around

She was dignified

She showed me what it was to cry

You couldn't be that girl I adored

You don't seem to know or seem to care

What your heart is for

But I don't know her anymore

[FINN]

There's nothing left, I used to cry

My conversation has run dry

That's what's going on

Nothing's fine

[FINN, LOUIS, NIALL]

I'm torn

I'm all out of faith

This is how I feel

I'm cold and I am shamed

Lying naked on the floor

Illusion never changed

Into something real

I'm wide awake and I can see

The perfect sky is torn

You're a little late

I'm already torn (I'm already torn)

[FINN]

There's nothing left, I used to cry

Inspiration has run dry

That's what's going on

Nothing's fine

[FINN, LOUIS, NIALL]

I'm torn

Torn

I'm torn

[FINN]

Nothing's fine

I'm torn

[ALL]

I'm all out of faith

This is how I feel

I'm cold and I am shamed

Lying broken on the floor

Illusion never changed

Into something real

I'm wide awake and I can see

The perfect sky is torn

You're a little late

I'm already torn

[ZAYN]

I'm already

I'm already torn

[ALL]

Torn

Oooh

Torn

To hear the actual song, click:

watch?v=V5UQD61Tg3E

Or search, 'Torn 1D X Factor'

"Ok, thank you boys." Simon said once they were done singing.

They nodded and left without another word. The boys thought it had gone reasonably well. They were very nervous and they were sure the judges could tell but they had nevertheless, given it their all.

"I like them." Simon stated to Calum afterwards. "They're cool, they're relevant."

"So cool." Calum agreed.

"I mean, it was a little bit timid. I could see that they were nervous." Simon pointed out.

"Yeah, but that rawness… I mean, I think that was so emotional." Calum replied.

"True. True." Simon agreed. He had a tough job on his hands. There were 8 groups to choose from (the 6 original groups, One Direction and the new girl group that was christened as Little Mix) and they were all excellent. However, he could only take with him 3 to the live shows. It was going to be hard…

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That night, Simon had finally come up with his decision on the three groups he was taking to live shows. His first pick through to live shows was Little Mix, and it was understandable. Although they had also only been together for a week, they sang like they had known each other their whole lives. One Directions were good, but Little Mix were miles better. The second group through was a less expected one - Simon had put through an urban pop duo called MK1. It was a huge risk but the duo were excellent so it would probably pay off. He had also sent home 4 other groups, leaving just two groups awaiting their fate, one final spot in the live shows to vie for. The two groups in the running were One Direction, and another boy band called Princes and Rogues.

Both acts wanted it to be a yes more than anything because they had worked so hard to get where they were. If they got a no, it would mean that perhaps they were doing something serious wrong. Their hunger for it grew as they got through each stage of the competition. It was just the biggest stage to be told yes or no. It was one word that could change their lives because it wouldn't be the same if they got a yes. And if they got a no, then straight back to their old lives, doing stuff that was meaningless in comparison.

Two acts left, only one place to fill…

One Direction were the second of the two groups called up, and they walked over to Simon.

"Hey boys." He said to them as they walked over, his face an emotionless mask that they couldn't read.

"Hey." They said, standing together and the five of them draping arms around each other in anticipation.

"Do you understand why I did this in the first place?" Simon asked. "Because I think, once we got through to the bootcamp stage, there were weaknesses in all of you, which is why we made the decision about all of you individually. To a point, you came in and had a disadvantage because you didn't have the time that the other groups had. On the more positive note, when it worked, it WORKED. My head is saying that it is a huge risk, and my heart is saying that you deserve a shot, and that's why it's been difficult. So I've made a decision."

The boys' hearts pounded. Here it was. One word that had the potential to make or break their careers. What would it be, yes or no?

"Guys… I'm going with my heart. I'm taking you through to live shows…"