I didn’t see anyone when it was over. Due to swarming fans, security rushed most of us out separately and quickly. One Direction, their girlfriends, and Little Mix were taken out in a couple of SUVs. Adam, Christina, and Blake were taken out in another. I was taken away in a car I had never been in before, and I think the same happened with the other finalists.

When I got back to the house, I was surprised at what I saw. The guys, Little Mix, Eleanor, Max, Chris—with Harley in his arms, of course—Noah, Kiley, Madi, and Dad were all there waiting for me with big smiles on their faces.

Eleanor was bouncing a little. “Wow, Everit! I didn’t realize your hair actually glowed like that! That was awesome!”

I smiled nervously while she bounced over to hug me, but of course, I hugged her back. “Thank you. And yeah, it glows.”

Harry surprised me when he came over and punched my arm. “Where has all that dancing been hiding, Ev? Did we not even get a warning?”

My cheeks began heating up while Dad cleared his throat, and I gave him a sheepish grin.
“Well, I mean, it doesn’t make sense to dance to what I’ve been singing.”

“Still, you coulda warned poor Niall at least,” he reminded me.

Niall rolled his eyes and shrugged. “Guys, I don’t know what the big deal is. I’m fine. She did awesome. Nothing to warn me about.”

The guys all looked doubtfully at him while I walked over to Noah and put my hand on his shoulder so I could take my shoes off. Niall, Dad, and Chris were the only ones who noticed—besides Noah, of course—and Chris actually laughed when I began trying to sneak away.

“You’ve gotta get used to people telling you that you’re awesome, Ritty,” he reminded me. “It’s gonna happen more often than you think.”

“In her defense, I’m still not all that used to it,” Jesy said before giving me a kind smile. “Don’t worry, Everit. It’s a lot to take in so quickly, but eventually, you’ll realize this is actually reality and learn to accept the idea.”

Dad sighed. “I’m not so sure I’ll adjust that well either.”

I threw my arms around him and smiled. “Don’t worry, Daddy. I may not be so little anymore, but I’m still your little girl.”

“I know, pr—sweetheart,” he said, and when I pulled away from him, I saw a grin on Dad’s face. “What? You’re not my princess anymore.”

Niall’s eyes were as wide as mine while the guys all started cheering, and his cheeks were bright red. Neither of us really knew what to say, so I decided to start backing away from everyone.

“I’m gonna run upstairs and change real quick,” I said, and I bit my lip. “Be right back.”

That night was one of the best so far—note the one of. You know, with such a huge group of people I didn’t really know all of just yet, it was surprising. I was myself, completely. Maybe it was because I knew that they would all find out eventually pretty much everything about me, so I was myself—minus the wings and glowing red eyes. Niall was struggling more with that than I was, though, because he still struggled a bit to keep his wings hidden when he was comfortable like we were.

It was kinda funny. No one left that night, not even Chris. Everyone found a bedroom or a couch to sleep on, and we had one huge slumber party of people that we all genuinely enjoyed being around. Even Chris seemed to fit right in, and it was beyond incredible.

I liked being able to go to sleep in Niall’s arms. It still wasn’t quite okay for us to be together, but it was safe now.

Everything was gonna be okay.

---

Niall sensed that I wasn’t asleep. He must have because he immediately woke up and looked over at me, his eyebrows raised. I don’t know how, but somehow, he managed to be wide awake within just a few seconds.

“What’s wrong, love?”

I shook my head. “No matter what happens tomorrow, we’re gonna part ways, and I’m not gonna see you for a while. Months, Niall . . . .”

His eyes closed for a second, but to my delight, his warm arms wrapped around my waist and pulled me against him. “You’re right, Evie, but when you compare months to potentially eternity, I mean . . . what’s a couple months?”

“Torture.”

He actually laughed a little. “Alright. You got me there. We’ll pull through, though, and before you know it, we’ll be touring the world together, and I’ll finally be able to say, ‘Hey. That girl right there? The beautiful one that won the Voice? Yeah. She’s mine.’”

That made me smile, and I snuggled deeper into his arms. “And I’ll say, ‘Hey. That boy right there? The gorgeous one that won the world? Yeah. He’s mine.”

His lips pressed softly against my forehead. “You know, I think I’m gonna miss this the most.”

My eyebrows furrowed. “What do you mean?”

“Moments like this,” he admitted. “Just laying here together, cuddling. Don’t get me wrong. Being with you is great enough, and sex? Well, that’s definitely nice. But this . . . this is what I’ll miss the most.”

My grip on him tightened, and I nodded. “Me too.”

“But, you know . . . sex . . . .”

I didn’t let him say anything else. Through my laughter, I brought his lips down to mine to start yet another beautiful piece of what was potentially forever.

I was gonna miss everything about him.

Notes

The lyrics are from the incredible song One More Night by the incredible Maroon 5. I don't know if you guys have heard Maps yet or not, but you should definitely listen to it if you haven't. <3 I adore that song. It had kind of the old Maroon 5 sound mixed in with the new, and it's just awesome. :D

Anyways . . . one more chapter, and then the epilogue! I'm actually super psyched to be finishing this up. I can't wait to get the Tour moving along, and I definitely can't wait for Niall and Evie to become public. :)

Let me know what you think! I'm gonna do my best to edit the next chapter, but it's long. It's got a lot of song lyrics, but even without the song lyrics, it's pretty long. x3

So I'll do my best! :)