Gotta Be You

3 Rodney: The Boys of One Direction

"HOW ARE WE DOING TONIGHT, ROBOT CITY?!"

The crowd went wild, clanking and clattering in delight. Their voices grew to a collective shriek of euphoria.

Rodney looked around, concerned. Piper was screaming along with the rest of them, Fender looked ready to faint, and Aunt Fanny started shaking so violently her voluptuous booty knocked several robots flat on their backs. It was madness like Rodney couldn't believe.

Then, the boys walked out on stage, and he began to understand. These had to be the four most beautiful boys he had ever seen.

"What are their names?" Rodney yelled over the din to Piper.

She pointed at the boy on the far right, his bright blonde hair glinting under the stage lights. "That's Niall," she said, "He's the jokester of the group. The only thing that gets him out of trouble is his Irish accent and cute smile."

"C'mon Robots, I want to hear you make some noise!", a deep, sultry voice called out.

"Zayn," Piper said dreamily. "He's—"

"The resident bad boy," Fender finished. "More tattoos than all the other boys combined and those dark eyes..." Fender fanned himself and screamed, "I LOVE YOU, ZAYN!"

Rodney's tore his eyes away from the tanned boy's slim figure and pointed to the left of the stage. A boy with a mop of chestnut hair stood a bit behind all the others, singing with feeling. "Who's that?" he asked.

Aunt Fanny chimed in, "That's Liam. He's like the older brother. Smart, quiet, and sweet. But, be careful—he's been known to break hearts!"

Suddenly, the lights went down and the crowd hushed. A blinding spotlight focused in on a figure at the center of the stage. His white pants, white undershirt, and curly, brown locks shone like sunlight.

Rodney began to ask, "Who's—", but Piper shushed him.

Can we fall one more time?

Stop the tape and rewind

Oh, and if you walk away I know I'll fade

'Cause there is nobody else.

It's gotta be youuuuuuuuu

The crowd went wild as his angelic voice filled the stadium. Rodney found his arms waving back and forth with everyone else in time to the soulful ballad.

Oh girl, can we try one more, one more time?

One more, one more, can we try?

One more, one more time

I'll make it better

One more, one more, can we try?

One more, one more

Can we try one more time to make it all better?

With those lyrics, Rodney felt everything bubble to the surface—growing up with embarrassing hand-me-downs drawing ridicule from his peers, the shame of his father being a dishwasher (and then, the shame at his own shame), the fear of leaving Rivet Town, feeling so alone in the big city, simmering rage at the entire capitalistic system that ran the world—everything.

It's gotta be youuuuuuuu

To Rodney's surprise, a single tear slid down his gleaming, azure face. And in that moment, he felt as though Harry was staring straight into his heart, filling every mechanical nook and cranny with a golden light.