Chapter Text
Louis couldn't breathe properly. This was the first time he stood in front of the panel and it was intimidating to say the least. His heart was beating so hard that he could barely hear his own thoughts and he didn't realize that Elle was talking to him until his eyes rose to her face and he saw her lips moving and her eyebrow cocked in a questioning look.
"I'm... I'm sorry can you repeat the question..." He stuttered out.
She smiled and looked over to her fellow judges with a strange expression, almost a knowing smirk.
"I asked to tell us about yourself, where you come from, what age you are, things like that."
Louis gave a little cough and began his answer, even though his brain wasn't working very quickly at the moment.
"Um, my name is Louis, I'm 18 from Doncaster, and I... I don't know what else, I can't really think right now if I'm being honest," he said, voice shaking slightly.
The judges all gave out light laughs and Tyson smiled up at Louis from his seat. Louis' heart clenched. Tyson Beckford was one of his all time favorite models considering he was insanely beautiful with his smooth dark skin and smoldering eyes as well as the giant poster Louis had of him hanging in his bedroom. Louis was internally screaming at that smile, his dreams were coming true one second at a time and he needed to pull himself together if he was going to reach his ultimate goal of becoming Britain's next top model.
"So Louis, tell us why you wanted to become a model," Tyson's deep voice said, breaking through Louis' thoughts.
Louis took a second to think of his answer before answering his question.
"Ever since I was little, kids would pick on me and call me names. It only got worse the older I got and I couldn't figure out why I was the butt of their jokes. I've always been a little snarky but I stuck to myself and only really talked to a couple people I was friends with. I started modeling through Instagram as an escape and distraction from the bullying. I would post pictures of myself and see how many likes and comments I got and most of them were nice except for a few people from school who found my account. But, through that I was encouraged to take it a step further and here I am..." he finished with a smile.
The judges reciprocated the look and Dannii spoke up for the first time.
"Well love I think you're a beautiful model with an award winning smile and cheekbones that could cut glass. I have a really good feeling about you in this competition and I'll be fighting for you to get through to the next round," she said, winking at him and looking back down to the card in her hand.
"Thank you Louis, we'll get back to you soon."
"Thank you," he said, turning on his heel to exit the panel and return to the waiting room where the other models were awaiting their interviews.
He took a seat in a large blue plush chair and relaxed into the seat, sighing with relief. He couldn't believe he just stood in front of three experts who could potentially change his life. Three of his idols growing up. He looked around at some of the other men and women in the room, all of varying sizes, races and looks. Many of the contestants were extremely unique looking and some were more basic. Louis didn't quite know where he fell in the rankings against the others but he tried not to dwell to much on it. He's struggled his whole life with confidence and he wasn't about to go back to the way he felt in secondary school.
"Louis?" a man, tall and handsome asked him, taking a seat in the chair directly next to him. He wore a bright smile and his eyes, jade eyes, shone in the florescent lights of the room.
"Harry, what are you doing here?"
Louis was taken aback and asked his question in shock. "I didn't know you were auditioning to be a model?"
"Yeah, I didn't want to tell anyone before I actually made it on the show. You know, save the embarrassment if I didn't make it and all that."
Louis stared at him, eyes wide and lips parted.
"Hey, don't look at me like that. You didn't tell me you were auditioning either," Harry said with a chuckle.
"Yes I did! Five times actually and you ignored me every time," he said, clearly exasperated and still in shock.
"Well to be fair, I didn't think you were serious."
Louis huffed out a breath.
"Why would I not be serious. You've known for years that I've wanted to model."
Harry gave a sheepish smile and said a quiet "sorry" before Louis punched him in the bicep.
"You still didn't say why you're here..."
Harry looked around at all the boys standing around, pretty faces and bodies surrounding them.
"Have you seen the guys here? Who the hell wouldn't want to come and experience this. It's like a soft core strip show, especially when they have to model in their underwear. I'm waiting for the day," Harry explained.
Louis rolled his eyes and punched him again, this time in his stomach so he keeled over.
"Ow," he said, slightly out of breath.
"Stop being an idiot, why are you really here..."
Harry sat back up and reached his arm behind Louis' chair.
"Well I found out the audition tour was coming here and I figured, why not right. I've got a decent face and some nice abs, I may as well give it a try eh," he said, wiggling his eyebrows at Louis.
"Whatever Harry."
You see, Louis and Harry have been best friends since birth. They've grown up together, gone through every piece of drama in their lives together and still are best friends through it all. Harry's been there for Louis through the bullying and Louis' been there for Harry during his sexuality crisis and his breakups. Harry's one year older than Louis, says he can remember the day Louis was born and was brought home all for Harry to have a playmate, (he can't), but Louis doesn't doubt that he remembers almost everything after that. All throughout secondary school, the other kids thought they were dating, actually everyone that met them thought they were. Even their parents at one point. They've always acted closer than normal friends, hugging constantly, kissing on the cheeks and foreheads and even holding hands at some points. Louis knows how other people see them but he never wanted to let other people's opinions ruin his relationship dynamic with Harry so they continued acting the same way, no matter what.
"All right bitches, let's get together and introduce everyone to each other so we know what we're up against," someone's voice said from a little ways across the room.
It brought Louis out of his trance as he saw people coming around and sitting on the chairs and couches next to his. There were roughly 30 people in the room and some had to sit on the floor as there was simply not enough space to hold everyone.
"Alright I'll start. I'm Jessica, 22 from Manchester and I'm currently a student in Manchester Uni. I was learning to be a veterinarian until I found out how good I was a modeling and now here I am."
She was a brown headed girl with hazel eyes and a slight frame although she was quite tall. She wasn't anything spectacular, though she was pretty.
Everyone went around the circle saying their name, age and occupation and it seemed that most of the contestants were in their 20s already. Louis was one of the youngest if not THE youngest person there and that was intimidating as well. All of these people have had at least a few years more experience than he had and he was feeling the pressure even before the competition began. When it got around to him, he basically repeated the same introduction that he gave to the judges and he could tell that many of the others were sizing him up, just like they did to everyone else.
"I had a question, how tall are you exactly?" Some girl, Aubrey was her name, asked as a few others snickered at her question.
"I'm 5'6, not that it's really any of your business. Why?" He replied.
"Just wondering. I didn't know they let hobbits into the competition, I thought you had to be at least taller than most of the girls. I was wrong obviously."
"And I thought to be a model you had to be pretty but you have successfully broken that stereotype," he shot back.
This was the same type of shit he dealt with in school and he wasn't about to be a victim again.
Several people around him laughed at his comment and she shut down. He felt a sense of pride and crossed his arms over her chest looking away while the intros continued. A minute later he felt an arm snake around his shoulders and hot breath on his ear.
"Ignore her Lou, she's just a bitch asking for attention. There's gonna be a lot of those here," Harry whispered,
Louis nodded and went back to watching the conversation flow around him. Maybe the competition wouldn't be as bad if he had Harry by his side. He'd helped him through a lot worse before and he's always been Louis' knight in his hardest times.