Ella’s POV

I stayed round Conor’s another night, but I couldn’t sleep. What was I going to do now? I was in the public eye, I was being chased by paps asking questions about things that hadn’t even entered my mind… How did this happen? I used to be a girl with an anger problem looking for jobs, now I’m a bodyguard for celebrities. I date Conor Maynard, I’m friends with One Direction, Jake’s still alive… My life couldn’t have changed any quicker. But do I like it? I dunno. Part of me is tempted to pack it all up and leave, just walk out and say ‘Sorry guys, I need to be normal again…’ huh, funny how I use the word normal… I’m still the same person, yet I feel like an alien. I feel like the life I’m living at the moment is nothing in comparison to the lives of the people I used to hang out with. Hannah’s life changed with mine, although hers is bad press.

“You sleep well?” Conor stirs awake and turns over to look at me.

“I didn’t sleep…” I answer simply.

“Hun, you need to stop thinking about it all… The illness is nothing that can’t be handled!” Conor smiles.

“It’s not that. It’s everything… I can’t keep being bombarded by paps shouting absurd things at me, I can’t keep waking up in the morning needing to check the Gossip Corner channel to find out what they’re saying and having to tell everyone its not happening…” My sentence fades off into a mumble.

“It’s not easy, I’ll be the first to admit it… Imagine if you were ‘Beyonce’ famous…” Conor tries to cheer me up.

“I don’t think I can do it any more… I think I’m gonna quit the job…” I say, humbly.  “I’m sorry…”

“Ella, you’re not thinking straight… You love the job, you love the people you hang out with! Don’t let the paps and the gossip get to you.” Conor sits up and sticks his arm round me.

“I can’t do it… I thought about it all night. I-”

“What if Barry comes to get me at this event tonight?” Conor interrupts. I pause. Of course I wouldn’t want that to happen, and he knows I’m the only one that knows about Barry. He really knows me.

“He won’t…”  I simply say, pleading for a change of subject.

“Well, I had hope that you’d be there to protect me today… But-”

“Stop trying to talk me out of it Conor! I’ve thought about it, and I am quitting. I’ll soon die out of the public eye when I’m not doing anything!” I shout.

“Okay, Okay!” he says holding his hands out innocently. “Then at least come to the gig to support me?”

“Fine, Conor… I’ll come with you, but don’t expect me to save your life!”

***

Barry’s POV

Today was the day. I’d waited for a perfect time to get back at Conor; A time when it was only him performing in a smaller location so I could get there and do him in without it being obvious. He deserves it. Does he have any idea what I went through with the police? His stupid manager burst on the scene and just ripped the shit outta me. I had police up my arse for months… And now he’s doing a local gig, back in London SBE where me and him first met. It’s almost like it was meant to be.  I look over to the Gossip Corner Channel on mute to my left and see a picture of Conor’s face, immediately rushing to turn it up. This channel has been my life, I’ve watched it every day to find out news on Conor and his failing life. It has cheered me up I must admit.

“Hello this is Jade and welcome to Gossip Corner. I’ve just had some breaking news that Conor’s love interest  Ella has officially quit her job as security to the stars. We have not yet had any proper statements but as soon as we do we will let you know. This comes just hours before Conor is scheduled to have his one-off date in London. Will he continue with the gig? In other news, it is believed that the One Direction boys will be there to support Conor tonight. Niall tweeted today saying he couldn’t wait to see Conor perform and meet up with him again. That is all for Quick Chat and I shall see you soon with more gossip you hear here first! Bye!” and it cut to adverts. Oh there is a God and he loves me right now… Just have to wait till the gig begins, I’m in the front row baby! 4 hours to go. May as well choose my outfit, get my shit together and work out when and where to beat this fucker…

***

Ella’s POV

Conor’s only made sure I’m sitting in the front row… I didn’t want attention drawn to me, but everyone knows that unless celebs are in a VIP box, they’re at the front of the gig. People are already shouting out to me and trying to take my picture. Oh well. I’ll be a non-celebrity soon, and I can’t wait. I have an empty seat next to me, thank goodness cos I hate sitting near random people, they would be weirdos! I look at my watch, 7.59pm. Time to get ready for the gig to begin.

“Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for listening to my mix of songs, now I’m proud to present to you, for one night only where it all began; Conor Maynard!!!” The DJ shouts from the stage, his microphone making his voice boom around the hall. All the fans scream and I swear the roof lifts off, again. I’m quite excited actually! The feelings of the fans are infectious, I want to scream his name and fangirl. But something’s wrong. No one’s walking onto the stage. The cheers fade and everyone looks around confused. The DJ runs off the stage and runs back on.

“Sorry, guys! He’s still getting ready, building it up for you guys! I’ll play a few more songs.” The DJ stutters out and I can tell he’s made it up.  As he begins to play a song I get up and rush out towards the stage door entrance, knocking at it and greeting Chris as I rush towards Conor’s dressing room. My heart is pounding so fast I swear I can hear it over the music. My breathing is laboured and heavy. I push past Conor’s new bodyguards, standing playing cards and burst into Conor’s dressing room. Its empty.

“Where the fuck is Conor?” I shout at the guards.

“In his dressing room.” One says without even turning round. Rude.

“Well, which one of you supplied the invisible cape then? Huh? Cos he’s not fucking there!” I say slamming the door open so it hits the wall. The bodyguards turn round and are looking into an empty dressing room.

“Shit!” One of them exclaims and I roll my eyes and walk off. I run round to the other dressing rooms, but find nothing. Oh God!

“Conor?” I shout. Who am I kidding? He won’t hear me over the music. My combat boots echo the halls as I run around trying to find him. As I run past the utility room I hear a thud. I practically kick the door open. I can’t believe it. How could I have been so stupid? A familiar face turns to greet me.

“Barry…” I say as if it was a film and the twist in the story had been revealed. Barry turns round and steps to the side, revealing a bloodied Conor laying on the floor. My heart dropped. I felt sick. How could he? After all this time?! I was fuming.

“If you don’t mind, I’m busy!” He spat at me as he kicked Conor on the ground. Oh wrong thing to do Mister! I pounce at him, pushing him to the floor. I restrain his arms with my legs and I hit him. I feel numb, it doesn’t even hurt hitting him in the face like it did the first time.

“How could you? Get over it, it was only a kiss!” I say as I hit him. The adrenaline rush was unbelievable. It was like a drug, rushing through my veins. Unfortunately the drug was taken from my grip. The bodyguards came and pulled me off Barry. I kicked and I screamed for them to let me finish him. I can’t help but take my eyes off Conor, who is bloodied and bruised. One of the bodyguards grabs hold of Barry and throws him against the wall before dragging him out of the building. The other bodyguard holds me as I weep. How could I let this happen? I was meant to be his bodyguard, his security. I was the one that was stopping this from happening. I gave up on my job and I gave up on him, who now lays beaten on the floor. I push the bodyguard off me and slap him.

“Where the fuck were you guys? I leave you with one job and look what happens! You’re fucking useless!” I scream at him. He simply grabs his radio and calls Leon. When Leon runs over, he is shocked at the sight.

“What the hell are we meant to do now? He’s meant to be performing? We need to think of something!” Leon shouts at us. The bodyguard looks clueless – as always.

“I have an idea, but you won’t like it…” I say. Looking at the desperation on Leon’s face, I’m partly believing he’d just say yes to anything right now.  I grab my phone and dial a number while discussing with Leon what’s happening. He’s happy, and I’m ready. So let’s get this over and done with!

I run out on stage. The cheers deafen me. They know I’m not Conor so why are they cheering? I talk into the microphone I’ve been given. I’m so scared it’s not even funny. But I need to do this, for me and for Conor.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, We’re all here cos of Conor right?” I say as the reply of screams takes me by surprise. “Well before he comes out, I just wanted to do this small thing. If you know who I am, hi and thanks for coming tonight, it means a lot to all of us. For everyone who doesn’t know me, I’m Ella, Conor’s security and girlfriend. Now, he’s done a lot for me with the gossip that’s spread about and allow me to just clear up; I’m not pregnant, or secretly dating anyone else, I’m friends with One Direction and their girlfriends and I am not friends with Hannah. He doesn’t know I’m going to do this, but I’m going to sing him a little song, just to say thanks and if you can bare my singing for this one song I’ll allow you to have Conor for the evening, Agreed?” Again the screams were deafening. I do a thumbs up to the guys at the sound desk and he plays One Direction’s song ‘Little Things’. “Your hand fits in mine like it’s made just for me, but bare this in mind it was meant to be…” I began, Zayn walks out on stage with another microphone and joins in singing. The screams become louder as the rest of the One Direction boys sing with me. I only hope this is working and Leon has cleaned him up and he’s fit for the gig. This was all my fault and my mind couldn’t escape that. The song ended quickly and I panicked. Any second now I was either going to be greeted with Leon shaking his head, or Conor walking out on stage. I look to the side and there’s Leon trying to catch my gaze. He nods and puts his thumbs up.

“Ok, you get your side of the deal now, I’m present to you… Conor Maynard!” I say into the microphone, and there he was; as if nothing had happened… He bounced on the stage and began singing ‘Can’t Say No’ with the One Direction boys singing along too. I couldn’t be happier. The relief that rushed over me made me lightheaded and I backed off the stage, back down to my seat and sat there.

I finally knew what I wanted to do, what I wanted to be. I wanted to be Ella; successful security guard, loyal girlfriend and friend to those who deserve it. And nothing and no one will stop me...  From all of this I have learnt so many things; Trust my heart and my head – one or the other could be wrong singly, together is usually right.  Don’t let others get in your way – I lost my best friend and my family but I gained others that I trusted to stay and be loyal. Gossip is just gossip and the only people that know the truth are the ones involved, not the connections. I had Jake, Penny, Conor, Zayn, Liam, Louis, Niall and Harry. They were my family, my friends, my fans… Forget what happened, mistakes only make you stronger. I only just realised this myself. The things I thought I could never get over, I’m over. The things I never thought I could achieve, I achieved. You can either go at it running or take a step back and watch it pass you. I know what I want to do… Do you?

To be Continued?? What do you guys think? Please let me know!! :D xx