Free One Direction: Dare to Dream: Life as One Direction by One Direction Page A

daunting. He looked like a really normal guy with jeans and t-shirt, but we were still quite intimidated. We also recorded a track over there with RedOne’s team and it feels very cool to say that we went to LA to record.
     
    When we flew back from LA we had one of the best fan moments we’ve ever had. We had hundreds of fans waiting for us at the airport. We had to run through them all to try and get to our cars, but there was no chance of getting away. There’s only one way out of the airport terminal and that’s where everyonewas waiting, and as much as we wanted to see the fans it would have been crazy to try to go out there and sign autographs.

    I got a real buzz from the madness of it all, but Niall was absolutely terrified. To me it felt like being on a rollercoaster or something, and I just went with it. When so much is happening and you don’t know where to turn or where to go—and you know everyone is there for you—it feels amazing.
     
    In the end we left through a side door, but everyone saw us and we were completely mobbed. I was wearing a hoodie and half of it got ripped off me. Later, when we went to a signing for the first One Direction book, Forever Young , there was a girl there who had brought the sleeve along with her to show me—and even asked me to sign it. I thought that was hilarious.
     
    Rehearsals for the tour were another big thing for us early in the year. They were quite intense, and when we started practicing “Only Girl in the World” we realized that there was a lot more movement in it than there had been when we did the track in The X Factor . It wasn’t that it was difficult, but there was a lot to take in and learn and we had to go over things about 20 times. We were all keen to move on and learn new songs, so we got a bit frustrated at times. We all gave everything a go, though, and you could see us getting better and better each day, and that spurred us on.
     
    Looking back at how much we’ve grown, I definitely think all of the rehearsing paid off. When I watch our performances from The X Factor , anything that required a little bit of movement or energy—like “Only Girl in the World”—looks so different from how we perform it now. I think we’ve all learned to have a bit more stage presence and we’re much more confident. Harry has always been the most comfortable on stage, but I think we’ve all caught up with him now. Going on The X Factor and playing in arenas so early on in your career is some of the best training you can ever have.
     
    One of the best things about the tour was getting to hang out with everyone from the show. Matt is such a good guy and we had fun taking the mickey out of him, saying things like “Look at me, I’m Matt, I think I’m sick ’cause I won The X Factor .” It was also great to be around Aiden again—he was always someone I could talk to outside the band.
     
    Every night after the shows an area of the bar or a room would be hired for us to go and chill out in. I tended to go there every other night so I didn’t get burned out. I think Niall was the only one of us who was down there every night—he loves to talk. He was always chatting away with the crew or the dancers. Even if we were down there he didn’t sit with us; he’d search out new people to talk to.
     
    Every now and again we’d get this urge to do some daft stuff. When we were in Sheffield we trashed the dressing room. It all started with me trying to throw an apple core into the bin and missing, which somehow turned into everyone picking up apples and throwing them at the wall as hard as they could. We were sharing a room with the other male artists and we all started picking up any fruit we could find, so there were oranges all over the floor and bits of pear all over the tables. For those five minutes it was so much fun. We knew we shouldn’t be doing it, but we were caught up in the moment.
     
    After the fruit fight I popped out to go to the toilet,