Chapter Text
Chapter 1 – The Reveal….
NO P.O.V
As the last few notes of the song faded out and the four boys that made up Union J hugged a small figure ran out onto the stage the boys had just performed on. None of the four boys noticed but the judges and the audience certainly did. They calmed down and went silent as they watched as the small figure hurried towards the four unaware hugging boys.
They watched as the security guard that had followed the small figure managed to get a hold of the small figure and scoop the small figure up into his arms. Now that the small figure wasn’t moving they could all tell that it was a little girl.
The little girl squealed and squirmed in the security guard’s hold. Hearing an unfamiliar sound so close to them the four boys of Union J broke their hug and turned towards the unfamiliar sound. The sight they were greeted with broke all four of their hearts just a little bit but it broke one of the four boys’ hearts more than the rest of the boys in the band.
“Put her down,” One of the four boys coldly stated.
The other three boys in the band looked at him oddly as they had never before heard him sound so cold towards anyone; he was always cheerful and talkative to anyone who was involved with the X Factor.
“Wh….What? Why?” The security guard stammered.
“Just put her down and no one will get hurt,” He replied angrily, “The no one actually meaning you if you don’t understand.”
The security guard slowly put the little girl down and backed away into the backstage area where he had come on stage from and far away from the furious boy band member. The one who had spoken so coldly knelt down and opened his arms to the young girl.
“Now how did you get all the way over here honey?” He asked gently.
“I snuck away from Nanna when she was distracted and then I just walked around until I could hear voices singing and then I found my way on here so I could get to you,” She paused and took a deep breath, “I’ve really missed you and I know that everybody else has too.”
“Really?” He asked, “Coz I’ve missed you all too.”
The little girl smiled widely and hugged him tightly around the neck.
“Now,” He started sternly, “What do I always tell you about sneaking off from anyone?”
“Not to because I could get either lost or taken,” She answered biting her lower lip.
“That’s right honey,” He softened his voice, “And what have you done?”
“I sneaked off,” She was still biting her lower lip but she had now lowered her eyes to the floor.
“That’s right,” He praised, “Now what do we need to do?”
Apolo….Apologise to you and Nanna,” She replied and looked him in the eyes, “I am really sorry Daddy.”
He smiled at her warmly and pushed her hair away from her face as he heard the gasps from his band mates, from the judges, from the audience and even from Dermot. The gasps are what brought him back to reality and made him realise that he’d need to tell everyone his secret. The one thing he’d kept buried in his memories for years.
“We need to get you back to Nanna honey,” He stated and looked at Dermot, “Can we have a break or something and I’ll explain everything backstage to everyone without any cameras?”
“Yeah, of course,” Dermot replied, “We can take as long as you need.”
“Thank you,” He blew out a relieved breath.
Dermot nodded in silent acceptance of the gratitude and turned towards the camera, “Right now we are going to cut to a break and we will be back shortly.”
He straightened up with the little girl in his arms and started to make his way backstage. His band mates followed him and they were then met with confused and worried stares when they entered the backstage area.
“I promise that I will explain everything in a minute,” He swore, “I’ve just got to find my Mum so she can take her because I really don’t want her listening to this.”
The majority of the people in the backstage area nodded so he made his way through the gathered crowd trying to ignore all of the stares and through to the hallway. He found his Mum at the corner of the hallway that led to the backstage area.
“I’m so sorry love,” She apologised, “We thought she was with your cousin and we didn’t realise that she had snuck off until your cousin came over to us and we found that she wasn’t with him and the boys.”
“It’s ok Mum, it’s really not your fault,” He soothed her, “I think that she has something to say to you.”
“I am really sorry Nanna,” She apologised looking down at the floor from her place in her Daddy’s arms, “I really didn’t mean to make you worry. I just got so excited at the thought of seeing Daddy that I just couldn’t wait to see him and I sneaked away.”
“Oh, it’s ok my darling little girl,” His Mum cooed, “Just please never ever ever do that again! You had us all so worried and your Uncles are even looking for you.”
“Really?” The little girl and her Daddy asked simultaneously with identical looks of disbelief that included wide eyes.
“Yes,” His Mum retorted, “Of course they are, they do love this family you know?”
“I know, I just didn’t expect them to brave the crowd,” He exclaimed, “Can you please do me a favour Mum and take her and look after her while I explain everything to everyone?”
“Of course I can,” She smiled at him and held out her arms out for the little girl who went into the open arms willingly.
“Will I see you again Daddy?” His daughter looked up at him with her puppy dog expression, that one of her Uncles had taught her, on full display.
“Of course you will my little Angel,” He answered her.
“Yay,” She clapped and smiled so widely he thought that her cheeks might start to hurt after only a second of that smile.
He smiled back at her before turning to his Mum, “I think I’m going to explain everything to them.”
“If you think that that’s what’s for the best love,” She replied with an unspoken question in the words.
“I do, I think that it’s time,” He answered the unspoken question, “And anyway it’s not like I can really hide it for any longer now that they’ve seen her and she’s called me Daddy on live television.”
“I really am sorry about that love,” His Mum apologised once again.
“It’s really not your fault Mum so please stop blaming yourself,” He reassured her and they both knew that he was talking about more than his little girl sneaking off.
She smiled softly at him, “Now shoo! Go before they have to end the break that you called for love.”
“Yes Ma’am,” He saluted her playfully and making his adorable little girl giggle at his playful and cheeky antics.
He smiled and kissed his Mum on the cheek and his little Angel on the forehead before walking back down the hallway towards the backstage area.
*UnionJ *1D*UnionJ *1D*UnionJ *1D*UnionJ *1D*
He stood just out of view of everyone in the backstage area for a few minutes and just focused on his breathing and just breathed to try and stop any oncoming panic attacks. He knows that he is about to open up some of his rather horrible memories that he’d really rather forget or keep locked up in an unbreakable box in the back of his head with the key lost forever but he knows that it really isn’t possible right now.
He took one last very deep breath and rounded the corner into the backstage area to everyone else only to find that the judges had now joined the whole crew and X Factor contestants.
“Hey,” One of his band mates commented when they saw him, “Are you ok? What happened? Who is she? She’s adorable.”
“I’m fine, she just escaped from my family without them realising it until my cousin and his friends went over to them,” He paused and took yet another deep breath, “And she, if you haven’t guessed already, is my Daughter. And yeah she is adorable, thanks.”
“Care to explain?” His mentor asked in his typical accent, “There was nothing on your application form or in your file about a child.”
“That’s because no one here knew anything about her until now,” He paused again and took a deep breath and opened his mouth to continue with his life story when he was interrupted.
“Wait,” A breathless voice commanded as his cousin and his cousin’s friends ran into the room.
“What are you doing in here? And did all of you run all the way over here?” He asked shocked.
“Auntie told us that you were planning on telling everyone your story and we knew that we had to be here with you for that,” His cousin panted, “And yes we did, we love you and we didn’t want you to start your story alone with no one in the room knowing the truth.”
He smiled gratefully at his cousin and his cousin’s friends who had adopted him as one of their own as soon as they had met him a few years ago. Every single one of them smiled gently back at him. They had also accepted him and comforted him when they found out about his story and they never judged him.
“Wait!” One of his fellow X Factor contestants exclaimed, “He’s your cousin?”
He and his cousin nod their heads in unison.
“Yeah,” He replied, “I’m actually surprised, but very grateful, that Louis didn’t recognise me when I first auditioned because I spent so much time here with them when they were on the show. Hell I even stayed in the contestants’ house with them during their time at the X Factor.”
“But you were never shown on TV so how could you have been here,” Another of his fellow contestants protested.
“Because I didn’t want to be,” He stated, “Especially not after what had just happened.”
“What happened?” One of his band mates asked gently almost as if he was afraid to break him.
“It’s the story of how my Daughter came to be….” His voice broke as his memories of that dark time hit him full force.
His cousin clasped a gentle hand on his shoulder and his cousin’s band mates gathered around him, each of them offering their own silent support as they know that this is a very difficult thing for him to talk about and it would be easier without any distractions or interruptions.