Where I Am Without You [L.S]

Chapter Twenty Four

Double update - make sure to read chapter twenty three first !!

Present Day

"Alright, you both need to come together in that final line otherwise it's going to distort the sound." Their vocal coach, Helene, hums to Niall and Liam. "Start over from the top of the verse."

The five of them are sat in a small studio in Paris, having been here for an hour already in the early morning for their vocal run throughs of the setlist. The band hasn't joined them for these first rehearsals, their contributions to the songs will come in later once they properly start rehearsing the set list and choreography but that it's till the start of next month. They'd flown into Paris early the previous morning and had spent the day in interviews, as well as most of this morning.

Despite everything they were immersed in with album and tour promotions, he'd found his thoughts snagged on Louis more often than he would have liked. It was all just too much stuff to try and sort through. If only Louis had told him back then, been honest instead of letting things build up before he'd finally cracked. Harry was angry, and upset. He'd been so hurt by what Louis had thought was good intentions when he couldn't have been more wrong. Maybe he'd realised that now if his words that night had suggested anything, but it didn't erase the fact that he'd still done it. He definitely stills needed time to sort through his thoughts.

It's been two weeks since they left LA, the middle of February well upon them and countless interviews for the promotion of the album and tour, regardless of their pleas that since the tour has already sold out all seventy shows it seemed somewhat pointless doing all this promo. Their management however had made a valid enough point that it was less about promoting the tour and more about providing content for a loyal fandom which had been waiting for this moment for nearly five years. When they'd argued it was for the sake of the fans they'd all relented and none of them had brought it up again.

It had been easy enough to arrange flying Helene over form the UK to begin their vocal rehearsals, each of them knowing it would take a while to fall together again. They'd been solo artists for long enough now, working with their own backing vocalists that their voices would need time to blend together again. Especially now that they were older and more sure in each of their own vocal ability but it was fascinating watching it fall together as they each found each other's rhythm.

He was sat on a bench stool in the middle of the room, the four other lads spread out around them as Helene stood before them, eyes scrutinizing them as they sung over What A Feeling.

"Ok and now Zayn comes back in and you sing through the chorus once more."

She studies Liam, Niall and Zayn as they join their voices together and sing through the chorus.

            "Alright you know what, Louis and Harry go next door and move through to Walking In The Wind because I want to spend some time with these three sorting through this and your wasting your time sitting here with this. The sheet is on the table, colours marking your names as usual and I'll join you soon." Helene says to them and gestures towards the table behind her which is scattered with marked out lyric sheets of all their individual parts in the songs.

Harry wonders briefly whether Helene knows what she's just asked of them.

He doesn't comment as he stands from the stool and grabs for one of the sheets for the song lying in a pile on the table. He blindly follows Louis out of the room and into the adjacent booth across the hall. They're in a popular recording studio, having rented out the room weeks prior but thankfully word hadn't got out to the public so they'd been able to slip inside with minimal notice from any press or wandering photographers. Not that Paris was anywhere near as bad as the UK or America.