𝘾𝙍𝘼𝙎𝙃𝙄𝙉𝙂 𝙄𝙉𝙏𝙊 𝙔𝙊𝙐 ↣ 𝙊𝙉𝙀 𝘿𝙄𝙍𝙀𝘾𝙏𝙄𝙊𝙉

IRRESISTIBLE

I woke up a few hours later from a nightmare, which wasn't unusual. It had me pretty shaken up. I reached for Louis in the bed next to me but he wasn't where I thought he would be. I sat up, confused, and looked at where he was supposed to be.

He wasn't in bed.

If I was anybody else, it would have been fine. But Zayn leaving had only tacked onto my abandonment issues, and I was still fretful from the nightmare.

He left too, I thought. I scooted to the edge of the bed and pulled my prosthetic leg on, leaving the pull sock off for the sake of time. Goosebumps prickled my skin while I walked across the floor.

I turned down the hallway and padded down the stairs. I checked the kitchen first. Louis wasn't there. I poked my head in the garage, to check for his car. It was there.

"Love?" Louis asked. I stepped back inside and shut the attached garage door. "What're you doing?"

"I woke up, and you were gone, so I just-"

"Oh," Louis sighed. He held out one arm and I shuffled closer so he could wrap me in a side hug. "I thought of a melody and I wanted to record it so I didn't forget it. You don't have to worry about me leaving like that."

"Promise?"

"Promise," Louis laughed. He and I walked upstairs together and climbed into his bed. I pulled off my prosthetic and rolled around until we were close together.

"I love you," I mumbled. It came out almost unintelligible against his sternum.

"I love you too," he whispered.

-

About eight hours later, I was sitting in the recording studio staring at a camera.

My contract with SYCO would be officially over next week. I was going to be free from that, and free to talk about the things I needed to talk about.

I said I would come clean about Donte as soon as my contract was over. It was a promise I intended to keep.

And so, I was staring at a video camera. I was sat on the floor, no prosthetic, wearing shorts while I fiddled with the camera. I wanted -no, I needed- the fans to see me as a real person. I set the camera right and then pulled my hair up into a bun out of my face.

I took a deep breath, and then leaned forward to press record. I pulled back and sat down. I put my right hand on my stump subconsciously before pulling it away.

It's time to start talking.

"Hey, everyone," I said. Millions of people would be watching this next week. "As you all know, my contract with SYCO records has just ended. This isn't about my album, though, this is about me." I inhaled and pressed my lips together.

"While I was under SYCO records, they suggested that I don't come out and talk about things I'm going to say. That contract has since expired, and I'll be breaking down the months before we left for tour, and what happened to me during them."

And that's what I did. I explained what happened with Donte in full. From the first time I met him, to school, and all the warning signs I never picked up on.

I talked about how he yelled, and how he forced me to do things, and how he hit me. I came completely clean.

"All of this was happening while I had SYCO pressuring me to work on my second album. Obviously I did, because it was released a week ago from the day this video will be put out. What I'm trying to say is that coming out and talking about this, and a lot of other things, wasn't an option while I was under Simon Cowell's management." I paused and stared into the camera. "Thank you to everyone who has listened to this. And if you're going through what I went through, you can get help. You aren't trapped. You can find the hotline for domestic violence in my bio on Twitter and Instagram." I nodded my head and then leaned forward to turn off the video.