CHAPTER 65

"Guys!" Simon exclaimed, bursting into their room. Finn and the band were sitting in their room and jamming some songs along with Finn's guitar. It was 8 am, and they had the day off before live show preparation started.

"Hey Simon! How's it going?" The boys asked.

"Good. I loved your photoshoot the other day! You guys did a great job." He started.

"Thanks."

"Ooh… are you guys practising something?" Simon asked. The boys nodded.

"Yeah, we're just jamming, trying to compose a song." Louis replied. Louis was trying to get as much singing experience as possible before live shows started, and singing in non-pressure environments like in their room really helped his voice come through. He had the least practise out of the five of them but he was the most important member of the group: although he wouldn't be singing too many solos, his voice would be the harmony that linked the whole group together and made them sound good.

"What's the name of the song?" Simon asked, curiously.

"We're calling it One Thing" Niall replied.

"Can I hear it?" He asked, excitedly. The boys nodded. Finn started strumming his guitar, and playing the chords of their original song.

[Liam:]

I've tried playing it cool

But when I'm looking at you

I can't ever be brave

'Cause you make my heart race

[Finn:]

Shot me out of the sky

You're my kryptonite

You keep making me weak

Yeah, frozen and can't breathe

[Zayn:]

Something's gotta give now

'Cause I'm dying just to make you see

That I need you here with me now

'Cause you've got that one thing

[All:]

So get out, get out, get out of my head

And fall into my arms instead

I don't, I don't, don't know what it is

But I need that one thing

And you've got that one thing

[Niall:]

Now I'm climbing the walls

But you don't notice at all

That I'm going out of my mind

All day and all night

[Louis:]

Something's gotta give now

'Cause I'm dying just to know your name

And I need you here with me now

'Cause you've got that one thing

[All:]

So get out, get out, get out of my head

And fall into my arms instead

I don't, I don't, don't know what it is

But I need that one thing

So get out, get out, get out of my mind

And come on, come into my life

I don't, I don't, don't know what it is

But I need that one thing

And you've got that one thing

Woah-oh-oh-oh

Woah-oh-oh-oh

Woah-oh-oh-oh

[Finn:]

You've got that one thing

[Liam:]

Get out, get out, get out of my head

And fall into my arms instead

[All:]

So get out, get out, get out of my head

And fall into my arms instead

I don't, I don't, don't know what it is

But I need that one thing

So get out, get out, get out of my mind (out of my mind)

And come on, come into my life

I don't, I don't, don't know what it is

But I need that one thing

Yeah, you've got that one thing

To hear the actual song, click

watch?v=EDv7efxb4No

Or search, 'One Thing acoustic'

When they finished singing, Simon clapped and cheered.

"Wow, guys, that was amazing! Louis, your voice is really starting to come through!"

"Thanks Simon!" He replied. "Anyways, did you have something to tell us? You came in like you needed to tell us something."

Simon nodded.

"Yeah, be in the lobby in an hour. The finalists are competing in a mini game for the Xtra Factor."

"Another one? Didn't we just do the interview thing?" Finn asked.

"Oh no, trust me, Finn, you're going to love this one in particular. We're going paintballing!"

Finn couldn't help but smile. This was going to be good! Finn laughed.

"Wait, you're going to let me play? Is that really fair? I mean, I did serve in the Army, and in my traning, I got the best close range marksmanship in Army history."

"Ooh, big man thinks he's better than us?" Liam asked. Finn shrugged.

"Look, y'all know I'm not an overconfident person normally, but marksmanship and military training is the one thing I can take pride in being good at."

"Well let your actions talk, buddy…"

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Two hours later, all 20 of the finalists were gathered in the outdoor paintball arena, decked out in camos, a helmet and a paintball gun. Louis, who was practically swimming in his overly large fatigues - although Louis was nearly Finn's height, he was extremely skinny - walked over to him.

"Does this bring back memories for you?" He asked. Finn nodded.

"Yeah, bad ones. The worst part of any mission is the anxiety in the wait before it. I'm just excited to let out some of my frustration out by shooting people with bullets that don't actually kill people. I'm going to kick some serious ass."

"Well, I just hope I'm on your team." Louis laughed. Suddenly, all of them were called over by the two hosts of the X Factor spin-off show Xtra Factor, Olly and Caroline, who were also playing in the upcoming tournament that was being nationally televised on ITV.

"Hey everyone! How are all of you doing today?" Caroline asked them.

"Not good! These fatigues are so uncomfortable!" Jade from Little Mix exclaimed. Finn raised an eyebrow.

"Well at least you don't have to wear them in an actual war!" He responded. Jade laughed and nodded.

"Yeah, thank god for that! I wouldn't enlist in the Army for that reason alone!"

"OK, contestants, listen up! We're splitting you into two teams in a draft format. Caroline and I are Team Captains. What we do every year is that whichever one of us captains loses, has to either shave their head bald, or dye it an outrageous color. So neither of us wants to lose."

"Who picks first?" Olly asked.

"Rock, Paper Scissors." Caroline replied. Olly nodded and they played a quick round, resulting in Olly winning.

"OK, I've won. I get first pick, and I'm sure you all know who I want. With the first pick of the draft, I want…"

"Finn." They all said together. Olly laughed and nodded. Finn walked over to him and they fist bumped. Honestly, Finn was all Olly needed to win the game. As the only ex-military contestant, Finn was the only one to have done actual marksmanship training.

"OK, thanks Olly. I can't say that was unexpected." Caroline said. "With my pick, I'm going to go with Lucy."

Lucy walked over to Caroline's side. The picks started to come in quick succession. Eventually, they had been split into two teams of 10. On Olly's team was Finn, Kye, Louis and Liam, Perrie from Little Mix, Charlie and Raheem from MK1, Ella, Leigh-Anne from Little Mix. The rest of the contestants were on Caroline's team. The first round of the competition was a simple elimination game, with everyone getting 3 lives, and when they're shot three times, they're out of the game for the rest of the round. Finn knew that he had the game in the bag. Olly and his team stood together on one side of the arena, whilst Caroline and her team stood on the other. There were various obstacles in between them that they could hide behind such as flipped cars, fake tanks, storage crates and empty sheds.

"So Olly, what's the plan?" Ella asked. Olly shrugged.

"I don't know. Everyone do whatever you want and hope we win. That's been my tactic in the past."

"And Olly, may I ask, how many times have you won?" Finn asked. Olly coughed into his arm a word that sounded suspiciously like zero, and everyone laughed.

"Anyways, we don't need tactics. We've got Finn." Perrie said, and everyone agreed. Finn shook his head.

"Woah, woah, woah. First of all, I haven't held a gun in almost 4 years so I'm going to be kind of rusty. Second of all, the other team is probably going to gang up and eliminate me, so don't rely on me."

"Finn's right." Kye said. "He might be our best player, but it is still going to take every single one of us to win."

If only that was the case. Within the first 5 minutes of Round 1, everyone in Olly's team but Finn had been eliminated. It was a 1 vs 5, and the odds were stacked against Finn. If he wanted to win, he was going to have to start getting creative. On the other team was Lucy, Jahmene, Chris, Caroline and Niall, all of whom had just one life. Finn had exactly 5 paintball bullets left in his gun. Every shot had to be perfect for his team to win the game.

Finn knew exactly where each enemy was hiding, and as silent as a mouse, he tiptoed over and took cover behind a car, where he would have a good vantage point on any of them if they peeked out from behind whatever they were hiding behind. Caroline was the first to make a mistake. She raised a hand to scratch her head and adjust her helmet and Finn took the opportunity, firing a single round and hitting Caroline right in the hand. The bullet made a satisfying 'SPLAT' sound as it exploded into liquid paint and drizzled down her hand and onto her helmet.

"I'm out! He got me!" Caroline exclaimed. Now, it was 4 on 1, and Finn still had all 3 lives…

The next person to peer out of their hiding spot was Chris. Because the man was really tall, Finn could see his leg poking out of his hiding spot. Aiming through the windowless car, Finn fired a round through the empty space where windows would be, and the bullet splattered on Chris' thigh. Chris swore and trudged out of the arena. 3 on 1. Finn now almost had the upper hand, and the other team knew it. Their best chance to eliminate him was for the three of them to charge together and all three of them shoot him at the same time. Niall, Lucy and Jahmene had barely left their hiding spots when they heard 'BANG! BANG! BANG!' and immediately after, felt bullets splat onto their helmets, almost exactly halfway between both temples. Suddenly, the buzzer rang out, indicating that Olly's team was victorious. Olly's team ran back into the arena, and hugged and high fived Finn. He had absolutely carried them.

The tournament was best of 3, so if Olly and his team won the next round, they would win overall. Once again, due to Finn's supreme skill, Olly's team reigned victorious, and were therefore triumphant in the competition. Finn had been his team's leading man from the word go, and in fact, he hadn't lost a single life in both games. The contestants clambered into the various SUVs that were waiting for them, and they were driven back to the hotel. Finn was in a car with Niall, Louis, Liam and Zayn, and the five of them were having an intense argument.

"You're insane, Zayn! The best food in America is the cheeseburger!" Finn shouted. Zayn shook his head furiously.

"No, it's pizza!" He replied.

"Pizza's Italian, you dumbass!" Niall yelled.

"Not Pizza Hut. Pizza Hut is from Kansas!" Liam exclaimed.

"You are all crazy! The best food in America is the hotdog!" Louis added.

"CHEESEBURGER!" Finn and Niall screamed.

"PIZZZZZZZAAAAAA!" Zayn and Liam yelled.

"HOTTTTT DOGGGG!" Louis shouted.

That went on for twenty minutes.