Where I Am Without You [L.S]

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.