While on the Run

Part VI.

"I thought you said we could have our individual music played during the tour, too?" Louis exclaimed.

"All of that old music? What for?" Niall inquired.

"Boys, I know how it seems. Originally we thought that incorporating your newer music would be really cool, but we've been scrolling through data from fans and these are the songs they're itching to hear! Unless you want to have a five-hour long concert for eight months, we need to compromise." 

All four looked at each other, their expressions speechless.

It was the first and last time I'll ever think this: "Please! Say something!"

I coughed awkwardly from my corner and offered the music team and sympathetic smile after a minute or two of silence. "Do you mind giving Harry, Louis, Liam and Niall a moment? I think they just need to process. Totally understandable, don't you think?" I offered.

"Absolutely!" Peter exclaimed, excited that someone had broken the obvious tension. "We'll just be down the hall. Please, take all the time you need in here."

As the music team ushered their way out of the room, I observed the band still staring at each other. I think in disbelief.

As soon as the glass door to the conference room closed...

"Are they bloody joking?"

"How did our publicists let this happen?"

"Are you okay with any of this?"

"Blake!"

Standing up from my seat, I caught their enraged attention. "How about this. Instead of freaking out over what is, let's game plan a way to fix it. Obviously, this setlist is not what you want. How can we adjust it?"

"Well first of all..." "I think we need to..." "Do you guys even remember the words to..." "How about our own music..."

At that point, I coughed very loudly to grab their attention. Once I had it, I walked up the white board on the side of the room, grabbed a marker, and rolled up my sleeves.

"One idea at a time, gentleman. Who's first?"

_______________________________________________

Two hours later, my hair was pulled up into a not-so-signature pony tail, my fingers had blue smudges on them from constantly holding the marker, and my bladder was about to explode from the three cups of coffee I drank...

...and we were at a standstill. 

Louis insisted on playing music that was mainly from "Made in the A.M.". He thought the fanbase would want the band to pick up right where they left off.

While Liam partially agreed with that theory, he wanted to mix up the setlist of "Made in the A.M." with their much older hits, as well. Niall began insisting that this was because Liam primarily had his solos in their earlier career and I quote, "Lad just loves to hear himself sing, Blake! Don't let him convince you!"

Harry was fairly quiet, but did contribute an idea to the table. He insisted that the boys incorporate their solo music into the setlist, but always follow a new song with a One Direction hit. Louis immediately battled that idea with "Harry, we have too much solo music between us! We'd be on the stage for hours and we'd never be able to pick the right songs!" Liam followed up with, "And what do you insist the rest of us do during this time? Dance around like monkeys? Too weird, mate."

Niall wanted to throw a list of possible songs into a random generator and call it a day.

Oh.

My.

God.

"This is ridiculous," I muttered under my breath.

"Alright boys, listen up. We need a combination of all three ideas. Stop bickering over stupid things. Now, I have no idea what I'm doing. Set lists are a foreign concept to me. But I know that right now, none of these are feasibly going to work."

"Wait what do you mean three ideas?" Niall asked.

I shot him a sympathetic look, "Sorry, not yours honey."

Niall rolled his eyes, but bent over to plant a kiss on my head. "She's right, lads. Let's do this or else they're going to do it for us. And we all know how that goes."

Louis sighed aloud and then plopped himself into the nearest seat. Liam continued to pace the room, his hands tucked into his pockets with a 'thinking face' on. Harry on the other hand seemed lost in thought, until a few minutes later.

Those bright green eyes lit up, his hands ran through his hair as he slowly stood from his seat. His eyes locked with mine. "I've got it."

_______________________________________________

"You really think this'll work?"

All four boys stood in front of me, framing the white board that now looked like one of the most complicated math problems of all time. But I couldn't help but smirk as I observed all of their smiling, proud faces.

I glanced over the list.

1. No Control

2. Temporary Fix

-- Niall Commentary & Welcome to the show! --

3. a Liam solo song

4. [Song from FOUR (ex: Girl Almighty)]

5. Steal My Girl

6. Story of My Life

-- Louis Commentary --

7. Infinity

8. Perfect

9. What A Feeling

10. a Niall solo song

11. End of the Day

12. [Song from FOUR (ex: WDBHG)]

-- Liam Commentary --

13. a Harry solo song

14. A.M.

15. [Song from FOUR (ex: Stockholm Syndrome)

16. a Louis solo song

17. [Song from MM (ex: Happily)]

18. [Song from MM (ex: Midnight Memories)]

19. Drag Me Down

20. History

Encore: What Makes Your Beautiful

"Guys... this isn't going to be easy."

I continued to stare at the white board, only beginning to imagine that the chaos that this solution would bring. Each night would bring an entirely different setlist. A rotation of all four of their individual tracks, a rotation of songs from past albums, on top of choreography changes and I can't even begin to comprehend how the band will feel once we throw this at them.

"We know it wont, Blake. But this feels right," Niall stated.

"Yeah, this feels like us," Louis added.

"This list. This is the list that will make that stage feel like home again," Harry spoke up. Looking right into those green eyes, and then the other set of three, I only saw pride, encouragement, and excitement.

I took a deep breath and fluttered my eyes shut to clear my thoughts and when I opened them a few moments later, all four band members stared at me, waiting.

If this is what they wanted and what they believed in, then this is what it was going to be. These are my boys, and it was my job to fight for them.

Smirking slightly, I whispered, "Start getting your speech prepared, lads." With that I walked out of the conference room and down the hallway to retrieve their music manager and his posse. If I learned anything from today, it's that One Direction is persistent and strong. 

I smiled. Yupp, those are my boys.