Chapter Forty Two

This time it's not a secret show, they'd gone with the title 'exclusive'. The venue is tiny, only a hundred and fifty fans they'd been able to squeeze into the small room. There's always a different feel when playing small gigs, the five of them shuffled into a tiny room which feels more like a cleaned out storage room to get ready for the early afternoon show.

It had been Zayn's pitch to management to do several shows like this one during the tour in different countries and continents. A chance to truly connect with the fans by playing such tiny shows and interacting with them in a way which made it unique and fun.

They'd all quickly jumped on board with the idea, aiding their individual support to Zayn's idea and management had quickly caved. The difficulty in it all was finding a suitable way to advertise tickets to the shows. They'd all been adamant that these shows wouldn't be about money, so higher ticket prices were out of the question immediately. Several ideas had been thrown out there before he'd thought of a solution. So they'd set up a sort of scavenger hunt. Leaving clues and subtle riddles around the city for fans to find till they pieced together the end result. They'd sent out the first riddle a week ago, sending fans in the area into a frenzy over finding the clues. Each one of the twenty riddles they'd sent out had become increasingly more difficult. The questions all focusing on an event in One Direction's timeline, beginning easy but eventually even the most dedicated fans were left scratching their heads to figure out the last few riddles. The first one hundred and fifty completed and all correct fans had won their tickets as a result.

It was the best way of doing it they'd thought, giving this opportunity to people who had shown their dedication and in a way them performing felt like giving back as a thank you for all their hard work and devotion. Needless to say he thought the seven different shows they'd organized in this style for the duration of the tour he thought would certainly be some of his favourites.

The venue is dark when the five of them step out on stage. He can barely make out the crowd just in front of them through the dark but the echoes of excited chatter is everywhere.

He feels a warm hand in his for a brief moment, tightening around his for a fraction of a second before it's gone.

I think I'm gonna lose my mind, something deep inside me I can't give up.

He sings into the quiet buzz, lights turned off and he's never heard a room grow silent so fast. It takes singing through to the third line until the crowd realises they're actually on stage and the cheering starts though it quickly dies down again till everyone in the crowd is singing along to Niall's vocals.

Cause nobody knows you baby the way I do, and nobody loves you baby the way I do.

The lights go up as the chorus begins, another quieter round of cheering starts but again dies as they start back up singing along with them.

This is the other part of why he loves small shows like this. The crowd doesn't drown them out with screams, instead choosing to sing along with them till they're just a collection of choir voices.

The five of them are sat in a semi-circle on stools. His left leg braces him as he perches on the edge of it, unable to contain the smile on his face.

"Now this!" Niall says into his mic at the end of the song, "Feels like a proper welcome home! We want to say a massive thank you to all one hundred and fifty of you who worked your way through our little challenge to be here today. Your support and ongoing dedication honestly just means the world to us and we're so thankfully for it all."

"So these nights are quite different from our normal shows. As you walked in the doors tonight hopefully you all filled out the forms that were handed to you and those have been counted up so! What have you all chosen for us tonight?" Liam smiles out to the crowd.

Another one of his ideas had been for the fans to largely choose which songs to sing. They'd complied a huge list of a number of their songs from across different albums both as a group and as soloists. They'd had each person attending fill in just five songs to be tallied up and they would sing whatever had the most votes. Around fifty songs had ended up on the list and they'd had to make sure that they all knew the lyrics for them in order to ensure they could actually manage singing which songs were chosen. For each show they'd decide on a different song to start with, Fireproof had been tonight's choice.

Mitch steps forward then with a sheet of paper folded into his right hand. He passes it too Louis who he's situated closest too and Louis makes a show of flipping the paper over like it's something harmful. The crowd laughs quietly at his antics before he flashes a smile and unfolds it.

"Right well, let's see what we have here." He pauses, eyes scanning over the songs written on the page. "Oh you've got to be joking." He mumbles under his breathe though his mic still manages to pick it up and the audience laughs once more. "Once In A Lifetime? You guys really wanted the ballads here tonight didn't ya? Alright then, you guys have chosen Once In A Lifetime, 18, Strong, Still and Sweet Creature."

"Gee!" Niall whistles, "You guys really did go hard with the 'in your feels' songs." This only causes the crowd to laugh harder but there's a mixture of cheers mixed in with the announcement of the most voted songs.

"You're really gonna test out our bands memories here." He chimes in with a smile aimed out at the crowds. "You guys think our wonderful band here can handle it?" He questions out to the crowd and receives a chorus of cheers. "Alright then, Once In A Lifetime here we go!"

It's been a long while since any of them have properly sung this song, they'd gone through it several times in rehearsals over the past two weeks since beginning to rehearse for these shows but he finds himself enjoying singing along to it. It's one of their songs which hasn't aged badly for him despite his growing maturity.

He doesn't miss the wink Louis sends him either as they sing through the verses, lyrics hitting a little close for home especially between them.

Once in a lifetime, you were mine

They all harmonize together as the song fades out and the crowd cheers for them.

"Gave me chills I'm telling ya!" Niall says once the song comes to a close. "You guys are sounding lovely out there, how are we all feeling?"

"Can I just say," Liam says through his laughter, "That you there in second row, yeah you," He says pointing out a late teen girl who smiles and waves back up towards them, "Have I think the best shirt on I've seen so far this tour!" The crowd is a mixture of cheers and laughter from those close to the girl who can see what is depicted on the shirt. It's a picture of the five of them in their first ever photo together on the steps outside the X – Factor building, horrible outfits and all. Each of them look fresh faced and young, completely oblivious to the chaos that their lives are about to become. "No idea how you got a hold of that photo or if you realise the significance of it but that right there is the first ever photo of One Direction."

"And it's funny actually, because we'd just been put together and when one of our mums, was it Jay Louis?" He asks turning to him.

"Yeah I think so?"

"Well when she said to grab us all to get a photo we could barely recognize each other and we had to scramble around trying to find us all to actually take the picture."

"Oh I remember that!" Zayn pipes up laughing.

"So that's classic seeing that photo again here tonight." Liam says smiling back at the girl. "What's your name love?"

"Veronica!" She yells back.

"Well thanks Veronica for reminding us all of that!"

"What other embarrassing stories have we got for you?" Louis says with a knowing smirk.

"Oh no, here we go." Liam mutters under his breath as everyone laughs.

"Alright well one time, think we was in Paris actually, we were out taking photos and that for something an' Niall just disappeared at some point for about half an hour. Sent our team into a frenzy tryna find him and turns out he'd wandered into some, what was it again?" Louis says turning to face them all.

"An art gallery." Zayn supplies.

"That's right a dam art gallery of all places and just bought about a dozen of these really weird paintings."

"Those painting were awesome! Still have them somewhere in fact one of em is actually hanging up in my living room in London."

"You mean that big grey and blue on is one of those?" Zayn asks and Niall nods.

"You would have some crazy collection of strange Parisian art Niall." Liam says shaking his head as the crowd laughs.

"You know I always pictured Harry as the one to fill that role out of all of us."

"Hey, I'll have you know I have exquisite taste in art."

"Says he who has that framed sketch of a goat from a tour stop in Australia from 2013 in his hallway." Louis chimes straight back.

"It was a gift from a fan and she was about four years old! I wasn't going to say no!"

"Yet you still choose to hang it up in your house?" Niall butts in.

"I'm feeling targeted." He says only causing the crowds laughter to increase. "How about a second song!" He interrupts and the laughter dissolves into cheers. "Alright, 18 was it?" He says glancing back to Sarah who he knows has been laughing at him this entire time. She nods back at him with a beaming smile.

This is one he's always loved performing on stage though they've never sung it to such a small crowd. He vividly remembers how much trouble both he and Louis had gotten into singing this over the years but for a song written about his relationship with Louis by Ed Sheeran, it was hard not to sometimes get carried away. This had always been one of his favourite songs to hear Louis sing, especially his solo parts and he recalls especially that one time when a video of him screaming back 'sixteen' had gone viral. 'Larries' had lost it at his added feature to the song, management had lost it at him in another respect.

He definitely doesn't add in any extra words tonight though he finds it hard to sit there and not steal glances at Louis every few seconds. By the end of the song he's grinning like a fool however and offers his mic out to the crowd to sing the last line.

"Always loved that song." Louis says at the end of it and he struggles not to spit out the water he's drinking at that moment when he hears it. The crowd certainly doesn't miss it and they cheer hysterically for the comment.

"Alright moving on from the embarrassing stories, we have a bit of a surprise for the five of you." He hears Sandy say to his left. The five of them turning to face him where he stands. "We went ahead and asked if those invited tonight could send in some thoughts as to what you guys mean to them and we've got a few people lined up in the crowd to have a quick chat with you guys."

They're all smiling at his words, spinning back around to the crowd as they wait for the first person to step forward.

"Uhh, hi!" A nervous voice calls from the crowd and to the right of the stage a woman who looks to be in her early twenties hesitantly steps onto the stage. Jeff and Rebecca are stood in the wings signaling for her to keep walking out towards them, a few other fans are waiting nervously beside the two managers.

"Hi love, come on out we don't bite!" Louis says with a soft smile and beckons her over. She seems to relax at the words, stepping forward till she's standing close to where Zayn is seated on the far right of the semi-circle.

"My name is Delilah, I'm 22 and live here in Belfast. I umm," She starts but her voice wobbles. Zayn reaches out slowly to her and places a reassuring hand on her arm for her to continue. "My younger sister, Frances, was actually the one to get me into you guys back in 2014, she loved you all so much and went to so many of your shows. She always loved just watching the videos of you guys goofing around on stage or wherever and you all brought her so much happiness and joy. She was diagnosed with terminal cancer back in 2018, Leukemia, and she umm... she passed away late last year. And I know that this tour you're doing now..." Delilah carries on through the tears in her eyes, "would have meant the world to her. Listening to your music has really help me deal with my grief from losing her so I really just want to say thank you, for everything you guys have done, the freedoms you've given up and the hardships you've had to face over the years. I know us fans don't know the full story of what you guys have been through but there are so many people like me, like my sister, or in other situations around the world who have been so deeply affected by you guys so thank you. Thank you for being here tonight, thank you for making the music you do and for being a safe place for people to turn too."

She finishes with her voice barely still functioning, her words tumbling over the other and he doesn't think anyone in the room isn't left moved by her words. Each of them are as dumbfounded as ever when people tell them stories such as this. It doesn't matter how many times he hears stories similar to Delilah's or otherwise, it moves him beyond words what an affect he and the boys can have on people's lives.

Zayn pulls her in first but over the next few seconds they're each crowded around her in a shared embrace.

None of them have their mics so when he whispers to them the six of them are the only ones who can hear him. "Your sister would be so proud of you, thank you for sharing your story with us."

The other four people who come up to share their stories are equally as sentimental and heartfelt as the first. Even though all their stories are different and unique to the individual it's chokes them all up every time.

Strong is likely the most fitting song in their entire discography for them to sing next. It's emotional for all of them, and he feels for the crowd as well as they sing it through with the audience right there with them. It's one they hadn't chosen to not put on their setlist so he's glad to have the chance to sing it now.

"How we feeling lads? Cause for a second there I think I got a bit choked up!" Niall tries to joke.

"Think we need to take a step back from the heavy stuff, and you know what I think we should take some time to focus on at the moment is these wonderful couple of humans behind us here who have kindly taken months out of their lives to come on tour with us!" Louis says gesturing back to the band. "So, this here is Mitchell Rowlands, a few of you might recognize him from Mr. Styles touring band?" There's a round of cheers at that point as Mitch offers a small wave but shrinks back from the crowd slightly. "How you doing so far Mitch?"

Mitch takes a moment to step up to the mic, hands draped over his guitar. "Well, this feels a lot more like I the gigs I was used to playing so it's quite nice being back in this kind of environment."

"For those of you who are unaware, Mitch is credited for helping me write a lot on what has gone onto both of my solo albums. He's a pretty cool all round guy, and is wicked at playing the pots and pans should any of you feel like that kind of information is relevant." He pipes out causing Mitch to smile at him because of their inside joke and the memories it stirs. "Anyways," He continues, "For anyone here who may have come to one of my shows, this lady seated right here behind the drums is actually the lead star of this whole show. This is actually Sarah Jones ft. One Direction!" He jokes and the crowd roars with laughter.

"It's true, I'm actually responsible for wrangling these five back together to come play shows for me." Sarah chimes in adding fuel to the crowds laughter.

"We love you Sarah!" Someone calls out from the crowd and Harry laughs.

"Alright moving on to a familiar face for anyone who's been around since the start." Niall offers next. "This is the wonderful, the talented, Sandy Beales everybody! Now he's stuck around through the whole thing, been around with us since the first tour we did so it's great having him back with us this time around.

"Don't know how I'm still putting up with you lot." Sandy retorts grinning towards them.

"Back now with the incredible Ny, who is another member poached from Harry's crew. Ny is quite honestly the one who gets us all in trouble with our managers backstage, must be something about her New Zealanderish." Niall continues.

"New Zealanderish?" Ny pipes up to the crowds delight. "Kiwi humour is just too elite for you northern hemisphere natives."

"I think I'd give you a run for your money there Ny!" Louis pipes up. "And finally back there is Michael Blackwell, who's joining us from my crew. He's an all-round legend and one hell of a guitarist! So if we could all please put together a massive round of applause for these incredible five people!"

"Alright everybody!" Niall calls out once the cheering has died down once more, "This is Still."

Niall takes the lead for this one, considering it's his song but they all join in with him for the chorus and the repeated lyrics of We'll be alright. It's touching and the perfect song for the atmosphere which has been established tonight.

With only one song left to perform, it's time for questions straight from the crowd.

"Now you see, this is always the most intimidating part for the artists, standing up here being asked questions when you haven't a clue what's about to be asked." Zayn says with a smile as the song fades away.

"Ok let's get started, you there in the blue top, what's your name?" Niall points to someone in the fourth row, she's handed a mic.

"Hi! I'm Jessy and my question is if you could claim one song as your own from another artist, asides from any of the other boys, which song would it be?"

"Oh! Good question!" The other boys set about finding a song of their choice, since they start with Zayn he's the last one to answer. He's not half surprised when Louis chooses Champagne Supernova by Oasis as his choice, well aware of his intense love of the song and the band itself.

"Ah, I think mine would probably be Girl Crush, it's a song I really love performing so I think I'd have to say that one."

There seem to be a few knowing expressions flashed back at him as he says that particular song and he tries very hard not to look over at Louis after announcing it.

They move through a few more questions till one is asked directly towards him. Niall and Zayn have both had individual questions asked of them so at least he's not the only one. The microphone is handed to a young boy who looks to be around sixteen or so and he looks straight up at him as he introduces himself.

"Hello, my name's Isaac and my question is if you had to chose one song off of Fine Line as your stand out favourite which would it be?"

"Umm, I think my favourite one really just changes with my mood and what I'm going through on any particular day. Recently I've been connecting most with Adore You I'd say but I'm really proud of all of the songs on the album."

There's three more questions after that until Louis specifically is asked a direct question.

"I'm Luci and my question is for Louis, if you already knew the answer would be yes, what would you wish for?"

That seems to stump Louis for a second. Harry's eyes wander towards him as he waits for Louis to respond.

"What a great question. Uhh, few things running through me mind that I'm not allowed to say but err I don't know, can't think of something currently but I'll come back to that one later!"

It's only because he's already looking intently at Louis that he doesn't miss when his eyes are directed towards him. He thinks they both know what he'd say, freedom.

As it turns out Louis doesn't come back to the question, instead they move onto the final song after saying rounds of heartfelt thank you's to the fans for coming out.

After Louis' song to him last week he can't quite help not singing Sweet Creature for him. Though he only looks over towards the other man a few times during the course of the song, it's enough for Louis to catch the intent behind it.

It's a perfect way to finish their day in Belfast. Everyone in the crowd had been incredible from the way they'd sung through every song to how respectful they'd been of them all.

It was certainly an event he wouldn't ever forget.