Where I Am Without You [L.S]

Chapter Forty Six

"Hey now!" Niall yells into his mic, the crowd still roaring with laughter before them as Zayn slings an arm over Harry's shoulders. "Do I get a chance to defend my actions here or what?"

"Nah mate, you're a goner." Louis chimes back, laughter laced through his tone as he wanders back towards the main the seats built into main stage, lined as always with throws and pillows.

"Poor choice of mates I say, who doesn't come to my defence when it happened when I was nineteen!"

"No excuses craic, you're still the one who went through with it."

"That's it, I'm leaving the band." Niall comments with a deadpan voice, sending the crowd into an uproar of protest. "See!" Niall continues throwing his arm out to gesture towards the audience, "They at least want me here!"

"We still love you Ni, promise." He says into his own mic, still tucked into Zayn's side on stage right.

"Mitch!" Niall calls out, turning to face the guitarist standing with a smile on the raised platform, "You're with me on this right?"

Mitch leans forward towards where his own microphone is positioned in front of him, "Think Sandy's the better one to ask, he was there for it."

Niall simply shakes his head in defeat, "Poor friend choice, I'm tellin' ya."

"Alright lads, enough of this we've still got a show to play. As much as I love watching Niall be called out." Louis says, now nestled into one of the burrows.

Liam joins Niall at his side on main stage, wrapped in a giant flag with an intricate home drawn image of New York's skyline painted on the fabric.

"Speaking of tonight's show," Liam chimes in then just as Zayn navigates him and Harry both back towards main stage, "Tonight we're finally making good on a certain promise we made right from the start of our reunion announcement. As most of you will be aware, this show came with another of our challenges we've sorted for you all to work through, and we can now admit we found our two winners earlier today." Liam pauses as the crowd cheers wildly behind him. "Now, from the VIP box I'd like you all to show a huge round of applause towards the winners of this challenge, Lillian and Tina, here all the way from the UK!"

"The lovely Lillian and Tina found us three mongrels strolling through Central Park earlier and have done you all rather a huge favour by choosing a special, one off addition to tonight's set list." The audience goes off, realising then that they're gaining an additional song. They'd promised, back on their first livestream, that there would be the possibility of fans influencing an extra song onto the set list. Though the small shows they'd been playing had largely covered that option, playing it during those shows was only for a smaller crowd, not like tonight's where there were seventeen thousand people attending the event.

"Now I've got to say," Zayn cuts in then, finally taking a seat in one of the burrows, "This is rather special, seeing as this is the very first time this song is to be performed live. So without further ado, we'd like to invite Mr. Rowlands down to main stage to help with this one." Mitch had already begun making his way down to them as Zayn had spoken, taking a seat on the stool which had also been brought out onstage, as well as the acoustic guitar he now carries.

Louis stands from his burrow, the briefest of glances cast his way as he shuffles forward into the center of the stage. Harry smiles back at him, looking out as the lights of the venue close off, spotlighting center stage. Phone lights immediately emerge, without even the first chord of the song having been played.

From where he's seated behind Louis and Mitch, he still catches the smile Louis offers the crowd as he passes the microphone through his hands nervously as he takes a seat across from Mitch.