Being on the set of a music video was a bit jarring for me. I had only ever done theater previously, so coming onto set and seeing all the cameras and lights set up made me a bit nervous.

"Alice!!"

Louis and Harry latched onto me immediately, nearly pulling me down onto the floor with the force of their hugs.

"Was your flight okay?"

"Did you get enough sleep, you're not jetlagged are you?"

I laughed, trying to extract myself from their hug, "I'm good, I slept really well. The hotel is super fancy... jeez you guys go all out."

"Well of course," Louis said with a shrug, "Thought you'd figure that out from the tour."

I smiled, not wanting to bring up memories of said tour, "Yeah, right, I forgot."

"Is this our girl?" A woman came up to us with a smile, "Alice, correct?"

"That's me." I replied, holding out a hand.

She shook it, "I'm Jane, I'll be your stylist for the shoot. So if you could just come with me, so we can get started?"

"Sure! I'll see you guys later." I said waving to Louis and Harry.

"Make her look like a million bucks!" Harry shouted at us as we walked off. I stifled a laugh behind my hand, hoping that the rest of the shoot would be like this. I was nervous, I couldn't deny that. Niall loomed in my mind, and I knew eventually we would have to come face to face, and not only that but we'd have to act as though everything was fine.

"The boys really adore you," Jane said as she ushered me into a chair to do my make-up and hair, "They've been talking about you non-stop."

"Really?" I asked, wondering if Niall was included in that. Probably not.

"Mhm. They're all aflutter, best be on your guard, seems like they're planning something." She said with a laugh.

"They always are!" I replied with a giggle.

About an hour later I felt unrecognizable. Beautiful, but the girl staring back at me was foreign.

"Come on, time to get dressed then it's time for you to get on set!" Jane helped me up and took me over to the racks of clothing. She handed me my [url=http://www.polyvore.com/wiwun2u_stand_up/set?id=56882441]clothes[/url] and I quickly got dressed.

Well, Jane definitely made me look like a million bucks just as Harry requested. I smiled at my reflection, feeling confident now. I could face anything.

"Ready?"

"Yup."

Jane helped me to set, and the moment I arrived the boys, sans Niall, surrounded me.

"You look gorgeous, love!" Louis said grinning, "Absolutely stunning."

I blushed at their compliments, "Thanks guys. It's the beauty of make-up." Behind them, I could see Niall sitting in a chair, looking pained.

"Is...is Niall okay?" I whispered, my sudden bravery fading away by the second.

Liam glanced back at him, "He'll be fine, don't worry about it. You don't have to act with him until later. So just enjoy yourself."

I bit my lip, trying to do as he said. But the look on Niall's face hurt, and I wanted nothing more than to go over to him and wrap my arms around him.

It wouldn't have helped though, I told myself, he would hate it.

With a sigh, I got into place, and waited for the other boys and the extras to get into place. The basic set up was five extravagant parties, with the boys mingling. During each party, I would go up to one of the boys and steal a piece of plastic, that when all five pieces were put together would form a heart. At the end of the video, I would be out on a balcony and one of the boys would confront me, and it would end with a kiss.

Of course, the boys refused to tell me who that boy would be. They said it was "still undecided", and that the "rock paper scissors tournament to decide has yet to be finished."

Liam was up first, and we went through the first scene smoothly. Within an hour we managed to get all the shots for Liam and I's party, which meant a costume change for the next scene, with Harry. It was exhausting, but exhilarating all at the same time. At around noon, they called for a lunch break, for which I was relieved. Not so much because I was tired or hungry, but because Niall and I's scene was next. I had been acutely aware of him the entire time, noting his angry glances at me every chance he got. Was he seriously that upset?

To be honest, I wasn't hungry at all and I only picked at the bread from my sandwich.

"So guess who should be here soon?" Louis asked me, shoving a chip into his mouth, "Simon! He wanted to come and watch us make the video."

"Really?" All of a sudden my nervousness tripled. So not only would I have to fake it with Niall, resisting the urge to cry the entire time, but it would have to be flawless so as not to tip off Simon. Great. I stole a glance at Niall, hoping he would be calm enough, no... willing enough, to get through this with minimum of fuss.

Half an hour later I was back in costume and waiting nervously for the cue to get on set.

"Hold on a minute folks, Simon's here!"

I bit my lip, and smoothed my dress as Simon's voice rang across set.

"Hello boys, how is the shoot going?"

A chorus of "Simon!"'s were his response and I smiled, but hung back nervously.

"Simon, this is Alice, she's our main girl!" Harry said proudly, bringing Simon over to me.

"Hello," I said shyly, holding out a hand, "It's very nice to meet you."

Simon ignored the hand and brought me into a hug, "It's quite nice to meet you as well, the boys haven't shut up about you."

I giggled, "Really? Sorry, they can be really annoying sometimes, huh?"

"I resent that!" Louis muttered, "We're perfect angels."

"Hardly," Simon said with an eye roll, "Well, don't let me delay you all. Go ahead and start shooting again!"

Great.

A few minutes later we were on set, and the director was yelling action. I made my way through the crowd of extras, searching for Niall. And there he was, talking to an extra. When he saw me, his face hardened.

"CUT! Niall, we need you to look... well... happier to see her. Imagine she's the most beautiful girl in the world, alright?"

Niall didn't say anything, just nodded.

"Alright, from the top! ...and...action!"

I took a deep breath, and began to walk through the crowd again, searching for Niall. I found him, and he took one look at me and then...

"No, no I can't do this." Niall shook his head, refusing to look at me. His voice grew louder as he continued to speak, "Why the bloody hell did you guys think this was okay? I hate her! I... I can't stand the sight of her!"

My entire body felt cold, and I could only stand there as he hurled insults at me. The director yelled cut, and Niall stormed off. Louis and Harry ran over, enveloping me in a hug. Blearily, I wondered why I wasn't crying. I felt like crying for sure, but I was in too much pain to even process the act of actually crying.

"What... the hell was that?" Simon. I was petrified now.

Louis stood up straight and looked at Simon, "It's a long story sir. You see... Alice and Niall they used to date."

"Yes I heard about that, I was under the impression they were still going out?" Simon crossed his arms and looked at us.

"He broke up with me." I said quietly, "And... he's going out with Charlene. I tried telling the boys this was a mistake but they-"

"It wasn't a mistake!" Louis hissed at me, "Niall is still in love with you. Look, Simon, ever since Niall broke up with Alice, he's been absolutely miserable. He hates Charlene, every time they talk he looks like someone just ran over his dog or something."

"Mhm..." Simon thought for a moment, "Start doing solo shots with the boys! I'll be back with Niall so we can finish up the rest of the story shots."

He looked at me, and I was surprised to see a smile on his face, "Don't worry dear, I'll sort all this out."

"I'm sorry," I said weakly, "This is all my fault, I..."

Simon shook his head, placing a hand on my shoulder, "No, it's not. I have a feeling I know what's going on and it's neither yours nor Niall's fault."

I smiled and nodded, "Okay. Thank you so much."

----NIALL'S POV----
As soon as I left the set and found my way into one of the dressing rooms, I slammed the door shut as hot tears spilled out.

"Fuck." I thought I was done crying, I hated crying. I thought back to what had I said, the way Alice looked at me, her own tears threatening to fall.

"Fuck." I repeated myself, hitting my forehead with my fist. How many more times would I have to make her cry? When would she understand what I was trying to do? My phone began to ring - it was one of Charlene's obnoxious songs she insisted on being her ringtone. Figures. I grabbed it, and stared down at her name. I could only think of Alice though, how hurt she look... and I threw my phone at the wall furiously.

"Knock, knock." Simon entered without bothering to actually knocking. Not that I blamed him. To be honest, I was half expecting him to kick me out of the band here and now. Not that I would've minded.

"So, mind telling me what's going on?" Simon asked, staring at me intensely.

I was quiet for a moment... then everything seemed to just spill out.

"I miss her! I never wanted to break up with her, every night I regret it, I regret not having her next to me, or waking up to her texts. I... but I had too."

"Why is that? Niall I pride myself on not being involved in my artists personal relationships, but what exactly is going on?"

"It was our management..." I said quietly, "They said... they said she wasn't good enough for the band's image. They said Charlene's team came to them saying Charlene had a thing for me... that they wanted a relationship for the publicity. So management, they said I had to be with Charlene for the good of the band. I had to break up with Alice or they'd... they said they'd make life for her very hard. I didn't want anything to happen to her! I couldn't... so I... I had to break up with her." I shook my head, "But of course the boys were suspicious and they've kept trying to get us back together. But I can't, I won't let anything happen to her!"

Simon was quiet for a moment, before beginning to laugh, "Niall, [i]I[/i] am your true management. And I did not hear a word of this and I most certainly did NOT authorize such a thing. To be honest, I can't even stand Charlene, her singing is absolutely horrendous. I don't care how popular she is, I hardly want you boys associated with her. Whether or not Alice is famous or not is hardly relevant, she's a nice girl, very likable." he thought for a moment, "And besides, I'm positive after this video is released everyone is going to be after her. She'll end up being more popular then Charlene could ever wish for."

I stared at him... a mixture of emotions running through me. I was definitely angry, angry that management manipulated me into hurting Alice for...well, nothing. More than that... I felt relief. I could finally stop the charade of hate.

"So here's what I want you to do." Simon said, "I want you to go out there, and I want you to tell that girl just how much you love her. And if I had to guess, it's quite a bit, correct?"

"More than you know." I said, smiling for what seemed the first time in forever. For the first time in a while... the future didn't seem so bleak, because I could finally have the love of my life back.