Gotta Be You

6 Harry: A Proposal

In the darkness of the tour bus, the boys of One Direction were huddled around the table. They were nearly ready to sleep—dressed in their matching blue and white silk pajama sets, embroidered with their respective initials—but there was still one last order of business to finish up.

"I say Braydinleigh is still on the table," Naill said hotly, "She's pretty and rich."

Zayn shook his head. "Her family seemed to love her too much. I don't think they'd sell her."

The boys nodded in agreement. That was always one of the most important aspects of the decision.

Harry tapped his foot nervously. He knew who he wanted to suggest—the blue robot. Harry had glimpsed him for a moment after the concert, yet when the rest of his group came into the meet-and-greet room, his distinctive aquamarine paint was nowhere to be seen.

While taking pictures, Harry had asked the yellow robot about her disappeared companion. She'd told him that he was Rodney, a small-town robot who now lived in the big city at Aunt Fanny's Boardinghouse. With a name and an address, Harry had his people do some research.

"Myckynnaeh is a much better choice," Zayn was saying.

Niall shook his head. "She's not nearly quirky enough."

Zayn scoffed. "You think that Braydinleigh would be able to spontaneously throw her hair up into a messy bun?"

"Do you think that Myckynnaeh would not see her own staggering beauty despite the fact that everyone else does and she has a constant line of suitors at her door?" Niall shot back.

"Okay, well do you—"

"That's enough boys," Liam said calmly. He turned to look at Harry. "Styles, what do you think?"

Harry gazed at the three boys in front of him. Would this work? Would they see right through him?

"Harry?" Liam prompted.

"I have a proposition, lads," Harry said, steeling himself for their protests. He slid the picture of Rodney he had in his pocket across the table.

For a moment, it was silent. Then, from Niall, "Who the heck is he?"

"That is our mark," Harry said with a confidence he didn't quite feel.

The boys looked at him with confusion. But Harry had been prepared to do some convincing.

"Meet Rodney Copperbottom. Originally from Rivet Town, he came to Robot City to pursue his dream of becoming an inventor for Bigweld Industries. After his aspirations were swiftly crushed by capitalism, he decided to rebel against the city's big business overlords by fixing outmoded bots instead of letting them rust on the street. He is now Robot City's most wanted (and, most eligible bachelor)." He looked at the other three hopefully.

"It's been a while since we've had a dude around," Zayn said, squinting at the picture in front of him. "And he's...cute, I guess."

Harry couldn't think of more of an understatement, but just nodded in agreement.

Liam leaned back in his chair. "He's more than cute. He's a smart choice."

Harry knew the optics of having an activist for a groupie would attract Liam. A man-of-the-people image was exactly what the boys needed now that they technically had no country.

They all looked at Niall. He was staring at Harry with a thoughtful look on his face. Harry tried not to squirm under the scrutiny. Niall had always known how to read him, but Harry hoped he was keeping his fascination with Rodney hidden—that the boys only thought he was thinking pragmatically about the choice.

Finally, Niall said, "He sounds more interesting than Myckynnaeh or Braydinleigh, so I'm in."

Harry breathed a sigh of relief as the boys exchanged grins of satisfaction. After months of searching, deliberating, and disagreeing, they had finally come to a decision!

For Harry, however, this was about to become infinitely more complicated. He couldn't let them know the connection he felt to Rodney, nor could he allow his infatuation to move any further than that.

Because the first rule of the One Direction Manifesto, which they followed under threat of exile from the band was as follows: don't fall in love with the groupies.