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It's Not Over

They Don't Know About Us - Part 2

Chapter I. - Part 2

Louis' head was hurting so bad that he didn't open his eyes even when he had been up for at least ten minutes. He was leaning against a cool wall, which was strange, because he couldn't ever remember falling asleep against a wall. However, he felt so damn awful that he didn't care. He wondered what party was so fucking good that he didn't even have an idea where he was.

"C'mon, c'mon. You, I don't see your number from here, but you have to come, no time for a nap, you need to be on the stage." Louis opened his eyes for the first time since he has woken up to see an enormous sea of people. He had no idea where he even is, but it seemed no one cared about such things and soon he was lost in the sea of the crowd and he went along with them. To his surprise, he was led into a familiar room – the very big X on the wall behind the stage said everything. X Factor.

A handful of people pushed them around so all the hundreds of people could get on the stage. It reminded Louis of all the times they were pushed around by their security guards or by police officers when the crowd of fans were too big and demanding to handle and they had to be rescued, or at least accompanied to a safer and more fan-free area. It had been years since he felt so invisible. He had no idea what was going on, but since the band made it big he was used to not being left on the side lines. The problem was that while no one seemed to recognize him, he did recognize quite a few faces – they just weren't exactly right.

He saw Wagner, he recognized the boys of Diva Fever, he saw one of the Belle Amie girls, he even caught a glimpse of Mary Byrne. Feeling sick to the stomach, he realized that all of them looked just like he remembered from the X Factor. Just as he was to try to break out of the crowd, he saw brown curls he could recognize anywhere.

"Haz," he called out not caring about the strange glances he received. Harry turned swiftly around and Louis noted that he was holding the hand of a blonde girl who was vaguely familiar to the older boy. It was probably the girl from the Xtra Factor who was reported to have a crush on Harry (not unlike five or six others as it was later revealed). It was something the boys always liked to joke about – how their little flirt was a manslut even before they met and he became a celebrity.

It was a longshot. Harry didn't even seem to notice him before so the chances of recognizing him were rather small, but Louis had to take a chance. Harry was always charming and had a way with people so Louis wasn't exactly surprised that the crowds seemed to part as Harry walked towards him. To his surprise, there was obvious recognition in his younger friend's wide green eyes and he seemed relieved.

"Tommo, is it really you?" Haz – because it had to be a version of Harry Styles that knew Louis – asked. Louis just nodded and he opened his arms. He was not surprised that Harry hugged back. When they finished hugging, Louis took a good look at his younger friend – who was in fact very young. From everything that had happened since he has opened his eyes, he kind of suspected that he was somehow younger, but seeing baby Harry (or whatever the fans called sixteen-year-old Harry. Was it baby or fetus? He couldn't remember.) was more than strange. The dimples and the curls were there, but his face was so childish compared to what Louis was used to by now and his voice was a lot higher. The lack of tattoos on Harry's arms made him automatically check his own ones and note that his were missing as well.

"Lou, what the fuck is going on?" Harry asked and Louis shook his head. Harry's choice of words earned some rather nasty glances from the people around them (and some amused ones as well) so Louis decided to tone it down.

"I have no more ideas than you do, Haz. I woke up leaning against the wall right outside with a terrible headache – I thought I had a hangover, and then some of the staff was telling me to get in line and the crowd made sure I followed the instructions," Louis said with a shrug while looking around.

"Are we really here?" Harry asked in awe. "I mean I saw Liam – who looked like the lovechild of Zac Efron and Justin Bieber, but I was hoping that I was just hallucinating or something. But you seem too real to be part of my mind games." Louis cracked up at the description of 2010 Liam, but he was soon rather sombre realizing that as good as it was to have Harry around, this was certainly not a laughing matter.

"Maybe we're high?" he suggested and Harry snorted.

"Shouldn't you be in LA? This is most certainly London," Harry pointed out and Louis shrugged, not bothering to point out that as far as he knew Harry was supposed to be across the pond as well. Harry was right though, this was the Wembley Stadium, there was no question there – outside of course how the fuck they ended up there and especially in what seemed to be in 2010 in their younger selves' bodies.

"This is just a dream, right Haz?" he asked uncertainly. He had Freddie to think about, after all. He was not supposed to end up somewhere on another continent now without remembering it (and especially not in another time) when he was a father. He hissed when the younger boy pinched his cheeks.

"Well, did you feel that?" Harry asked innocently and Louis glared at him. "Then sadly, I don't think so." They weren't the only ones in the crowd talking, but they soon had to end it, because the TV staff had arrived to give instructions to film the moment the judges arrived. It all seemed so foreign to Louis though he was no stranger to TV shows – after all they competed in X Factor then to have their own movie, countless guest appearance on other shows, and endless TV interviews.

*** From what Zayn understood at this moment he was supposed to be Zain – sadly, while it seemed like just a letter, the difference was not subtle. Zain Malik was a no one, while Zayn was a famous singer. What was even stranger was that somehow it was 2010 again – Rebecca just introduced herself to him!

He woke up sitting on his suitcase and leaning against the wall with countless people all around. It was the suitcase that gave him the clue. The stuff in it was most certainly his, but he hasn't seen half of it in years. Then he was faced with people he had met years ago, but seemed just like they were in his memories. He felt feverish when Rebecca introduced herself after bumping into her, so he ran off to the closest toilet, leaving the poor girl behind in confusion.

After he opened the door, he turned towards the tap and the mirror that was hanging above it. In a way, the face that was awaiting him was familiar – of course it was, it was his own after all, but it still seemed foreign. There was no question in his mind the moment he saw his reflection that it wasn't 2017 anymore. The face looking back at him was just too young for that. He turned on the tap and made it the coldest possible temperature and then washed his face with the cool water. When he looked up, he hoped to see that the picture has changed and it was just his mind playing tricks on him, but sadly, the reflection remained unchanged (if he didn't count the dripping water).

Okay, boot camp, X Factor. What did he know about it? A lot, obviously, as pretty much anyone would have who knew of the boys of One Direction, after all, the band was put together on the last day of boot camp. Boys – One Direction. He paled at the thought. Were the others in this strange vision or dream or whatever?

Then another thought entered his mind: with all the luggage around, it seemed that it was the first day of the boot camp. This was most likely a dream, but he couldn't recall ever knowing being in a dream that was this real, so it was most certainly a strange experience. Still, a part of him (probably the part which never denied to being a bit of a nerd and loving shows such as Power Rangers or books like the Harry Potter series) had a feeling that there was more to it. He didn't exactly believe in such a thing as time travel, but he had a general idea of it. Power Rangers Time Force was a pretty much fan favourite season after all. Not to mention the whole time turner deal in the third Harry Potter book when Sirius (and Buckbeak) were saved thanks to Harry and Hermione going back in time.

What if this was all real? What if he somehow ended up in a time where he was just Zain Malik – not yet famous and not even part of boyband One Direction? (Or ex-band member of a now pretty much ex-band, to be precise.) Would he go down on the same road? Get kicked out of the show only to be given a lifeline in a band which would explode in about a year's time? A nagging voice reminded him that Simon said that the reason of not selecting them as individuals was that during the boot camp stage, he wasn't satisfied with them. However, if this really was 2010 and better yet it was the beginning of boot camp, then Zayn could easily change that.

He still didn't exactly like dancing, he was no professional, but he now understood the judges' enough to know that they were not exactly looking for dancers, but simply for people comfortable on a stage performing and that he was. While his voice in 2010 would never be as trained as it was in 2017 he still had a lot more experience on stage and had endured a whole lot more of theoretical vocal coaching than probably any other contestant. There was no way he couldn't advance in the competition.

From what he knew of time travel it happened for a reason (if it ever really happened at all – well, in books, comics, and TV shows there was always a reason behind it at least). What if this was the reason? Maybe he wasn't supposed to be part of a boyband, maybe he was meant to be a solo artist from the beginning and something went just wrong and he was put in One Direction.

"Man, are you coming? We should be on the stage already – I just really needed a wee, the nerves and all," a brunette guy Zayn didn't remember at all (though looked a bit like Louis as an adult) asked after leaving the stall. Zayn nodded wordlessly and followed the guy to the stage while some staff members were obviously not happy with them for being late.

***
Harry didn't remember much of boot camp – the hype of it all was too much. He did know that Liam and Niall were roommates (it came up in the interviews quite a few times, because people were always curious how much they knew each other before being called back on the stage together). Still, he was fairly sure that he hadn't seen them clinging to each other like that. Then again, he most certainly didn't look out for the Justin Bieber-lookalike and the small blonde with the thick accent on the first day of boot camp.

He nudged Lou who looked automatically in same direction. Harry noted how faraway his friend's expression was.

"It's them," Louis stated and Harry raised his eyebrows.

"Of course it's them – the band might not be together anymore but surely I would recognize Liam and Niall." To his surprise Louis shook his head.

"No, I mean it's Payno and Nialler," he emphasized the nicknames and Harry paled in realization. He had no idea how Louis could just tell from seeing the two together, but the older boy seemed so sure that there was little room for arguments. Louis grabbed his arm and started to pull him in the direction of the other half of One Direction. People were giving them odd looks and Harry was kind of curious to what they might have thought of the scene the two of them were causing.

Liam and Niall were talking quietly to each other and they didn't seem to notice Harry and Louis while they were getting closer and closer. Liam was saying something enthusiastically to Niall when the blonde caught Louis' eyes. Blue met blue with a challenge.

"Lads," Niall's familiar voice relaxed Louis. Harry being the only one like Louis made no sense to the oldest boy. It should be only him or all of them, right? (Except if all those Larry Stylinson fangirls were right and the universe thought that Harry and he should be together. But then again, if he remembered, boot camp started on the 18th of July and he didn't meet Louis until the 21st. So if it was some weird romance story, wouldn't he get back to that day? That seemed more romantic to him. Though, if this was indeed about 1D, the last day would make a whole lot more sense since it was the day they were formed. While he had seen the boys around, they were in a category, he most certainly didn't get to know them on this day.)

"Hey, I just wanted to introduce myself – you seemed like good lads, you know. My name is Louis James Tomlinson," he said and saw the flicker of surprise even in Liam's eyes who had a lot better poker face than Niall.

"Who uses second names when they introduce themselves?" Liam asked and he crossed his arms. Though of course, that wasn't the only problem with the introduction.

"Well, isn't James a lovely second name?" Louis mocked the other boys. He was pretty sure that their reaction was more than being surprised at sharing a middle name with him. After all, James was a rather commonly used name in the UK. He hoped it meant what he thought it did – that they caught on that he was lying. The Liam and Niall of his time and world would of course know that his middle name was William.

"Right, William," Liam said with a challenging expression and the four boys shared a look of relief at that moment. Louis just wanted to fall in the arms of his old friends (who he had hardly seen recently and with whom his relationship was falling apart. Still, at that moment he didn't care about solo careers or feuds, he was just happy that he wasn't alone in this strange place), but he knew better. With cameras all around (not to mention contestants) it was risky enough talking with the boys, let alone show that they knew each other that well. (They were already in trouble, because he broke down and hugged Harry in a moment of weakness).

"So, Boys category, I reckon, huh? We all are going in the same direction," Harry stated and Niall grinned so his crooked teeth showed.

"I thought there was only one direction," he said with a suggestive wink and Louis chuckled while Liam shook his head.

"I agree," Louis said with a soft smile.

"Oh, yeah, the finals," Harry mimicked what the judges told them over the competition (which was actually a self-fulfilling prophecy). A small smile was on his face which turned into a frown when he realised that in whatever strange world they were in that hadn't been said yet, not by any of the judges, simply because it was July and the live shows didn't start until October. At this moment in time, One Direction didn't even exist yet. If this was some elebrate prank made up to celebrate the fast approaching seventh birthday of One Direction – though with how young everyone looked (the other familiar faces in the crowds as well) it seemed just a bit too well-planned with too much makeup and directing to be logical. A dream then – he was just not sure how to wake up.

Notes

Comments

@xXFluffy_GruXx
I'm glad you find it original. :) They are to re-live quite a few important events!

@ontheedge
Thanks! :) It's a bit of 'fix-it' and a rather strange 1D reunion, I believe!

I've never seen this before. I'm really interested on where this is gonna go.

This is a really original story plot and I'm intrigued about what's going to happen next! Keep up the good work girly