*Sofia's P.O.V.*

"Fuck." I muttered under my breath after the camera was removed from my face.

"Harry fucked up." Eleanor whispered.

"Yes he did." I replied back, still trying to process the whole situation in my mind.

"Can't believe he messed up like that." Gigi added.

"Specially him, since he was the one that asked about it last night." Eleanor continued.

"I know, I'm still in shock." I answered. This obviously wasn't the way Niall and I had planned to tell everyone about our relationship, but for better or worse our relationship was now exposed and we had to deal with it. I knew Harry didn't do it on purpose, he wasn't deliberately trying to fuck with us, so even though I was mad at the situation, I couldn't be angry at him. I couldn't even pay attention to the rest of the interview, over thinking about the previous events and how they would affect our lives and relationship. It was all going to be different from now on. 

As soon as the show was over we saw the boys get off from the stage. We had to stay and watch until the show ended, since we were sitting in the audience and we couldn't just leave our seats in the middle of the show. After another 15 excruciating minutes, since I couldn't stop thinking about how our relationship was no longer a secret, the show finally ended. I sprung from my seat as fast as I could and started to make my way backstage, I could hear Eleanor's and Gigi's footsteps close behind. The first person I came face to face with as soon as I went backstage was Harry. And knowing him, I knew he must've been really worried and wanted to apologize to me as soon as possible so he decided to wait by the entrance until I got there. Even if he had fucked up big time, he was still a sweetheart.

"Soph, I'm really really sorry. I swear to god I didn't mean for it to slip. Please don't hate me." He pleaded, the pain and regret evident in his eyes. How could he possibly think that I could hate him? I could be mad at him, which I wasn't, but I could never ever hate him. 

"It's okay Harry. I know you didn't do it on purpose."

"So you don't hate me?"

"Of course I don't hate you. I could never hate you." I spoke and I saw as relief washed over him before he embraced me. 

"Thank you, thank you, thank you. Again, I'm really sorry."

"It's okay Harry, don't worry." We broke apart from our embrace. 

"Hey." I suddenly heard Niall speak from behind me and I turned around to face him. I don't know what overcame me, but I had the sudden urge to wrap myself around him. It was as if I needed his embrace to let me know that everything was going to be alright. And it was as if he understood exactly what I needed, because he hugged me as tightly as he could before whispering

"Everything's going to be okay babe. Don't worry." As he stroked my hair in a calming way. 

"I hope so." I voiced, mostly to convince myself. 10 minutes later we were ushered into several vans, Harry and Liam in one, Zayn and Gigi in another, Eleanor and Louis in a third one and finally one for us, since they were taking each of us to our houses. I couldn't help but pull out my phone as soon as Niall and I got inside the van. I had been dreading the moment, but I knew that I had to check it sooner or later, so I decided to deal with it now instead of later. It had only been about 30 minutes since the interview had aired, and news had travelled fast. I opened Whatsapp first and saw that I had messages from Valentina, Victoria, my mom, some cousins, Isabella and Emma, my trader friends, and a bunch of other acquaintances who suddenly all wanted to speak to me. I decided to only answer Valen's, Vic's and my mom's texts, I would deal with the rest later. I opened Valentina's texts first

V: What the actual fuck?

V: I thought you were going to wait to tell everyone about your relationship

V: Harry fucked up didn't he?

S: Yes, he fucked up. But it's okay, we were going to tell everyone in a week, so it's no big deal.

After answering her text, I moved on to Victoria's. Knowing Victoria, there'll be a lot of swearing.

V: The fuck

V: What the hell was that?

V: Did Harry just expose you and Niall on live tv?

V: Shit, I just saw you on tv

V: Only I could see how angry you were, it was as if you were shooting daggers out of your eyes

V: Punch Harry for me, really hard

V: Wait, not that hard. I don't want his face to be disfigured, he's gorgeous. 

V: But maybe you can punch him in the stomach, if it bruises he can hide it

V: Can't believe he could be that stupid to let it slip up like that

V: Why don't guys think before they speak? Seriously

V: Holy motherfucker you're famous. Check your instagram bitch

V: The followers just keep on coming and coming, shit

V: I expect to get some of the free stuff you receive from now on, since I'm your best friend

S: Yes Harry just slipped on live tv

S: The only live show they did today and that's the one he chose to fuck things up

S: I won't punch Harry you idiot. He didn't do it on purpose

S: I already forgave him

S: And what the fuck are you talking about? I haven't even checked instagram

S: But my messages are sure blowing up, even Natalia messaged me, I mean bitch we haven't talked for like 5 years and now all of the sudden she wants to be my bff? Wtf?

S: And I'm not going to be getting free stuff, although that would be nice now that I think about it. If I do get stuff I'll share it with u bitch, don't worry

I love how Vic always makes me laugh and she doesn't even care about anything, she just writes whatever she's feeling in the moment. She's so carefree and I wish I could be more like her. I decided to answer my mom's text before checking my instagram

M: Valentina just told me and she even showed me the video. You were on tv! You looked beautiful sweetie. I miss you a lot, can't wait to see you. Say hi to Niall for me. And I'm really sorry that it happened the way it happened, I know that's not the way you wanted it to come out, but at least it's out now. I love you baby, keep sending photos!

S: Hi mom, thank you! I miss you a lot too and can't wait to see you either. Niall says hi too. And yeah, there's nothing we can do about it now. I love you too, I'll send more pics later tonight

"My mom says hi." I finally spoke after sending the text.

"Tell her I say hi too." Niall smiled at me.

"Already did." I admitted before opening my instagram. "Holy shit." I couldn't help but exclaim.

"What is it?" Niall asked with a concerned look. I was at a loss for words, in shock, so I just showed him my phone screen. I couldn't believe how fast the news had traveled and how quickly people had discovered my social media accounts. Before the show I had about 5,000 followers, now it was almost at 115,000 and they kept coming in. Holy fuck. I just heard Niall laugh as he saw my shocked face. 

"And they'll keep coming. Trust me, by tomorrow morning you'll have a million. I'm not kidding."

"Holy shit." Was all I could muster, my brain forgetting how to function correctly. I decided to check TikTok too, to see if anyone had found my account and that one was blowing up too. I had just surpassed the million followers on Tiktok, wow! "Look at this, a million followers on TikTok." I showed Niall my screen once more.

"Wow, that's a lot."

"I know. Wow." And that's when it hit me, everything was about to change from this moment on. Nothing would ever be the same again. Everyone would be watching my every move, commenting on our relationship and saying stuff about me. I know I'm stronger now, and that I've learned to cope with the hate and mean comments I've seen people write about me. After that one time when I broke down after New York, I'd managed to detach myself from the hate online and I was learning not to read those comments. But those times, there had only been a couple of mean tweets and comments, and they didn't even know who I was, now that they knew who I was, were the comments going to be meaner? I just hope that I'm able to keep it together and not let the mean words the media and online community spread. I know that if they do, it'll put a strain in our relationship and I don't want that to happen. 

"I love you." I suddenly spoke, after snapping out from my thoughts. 

"I love you too Soph." Niall replied with a sheepish smile before kissing me. And in that very moment, I knew that even though I was surely going to receive hate, it was all worth it. Being with Niall was the best thing that had happened to me and I wouldn't change it for anything. Our relationship was worth it, he was worth it. 

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Author's Note:

Hey there guys! Thank you so much for all the love you're giving my story! It means a lot to me. Almost done with the book! I can't believe that there's only a few chapter left. For all the new readers, I update daily! How are you enjoying the story so far? If you have any suggestion about something you'd like me to include be sure to leave it in the comments! I'm really hoping you enjoy it and any suggestions and/or grammar corrections are more than welcome. Don't forget to follow me, vote and comment, it really helps me out and I'd love to hear your thoughts! If you're obsessed with 1D make sure to check my TikTok account, I upload daily vids of the boys, it's @cristylealr