10 Years Later (Larry 1d)

Chapter 1

Louis let out a long breath he didn't realise he was holding and stared at the phone in his hand, his mind and pulse racing. He looked up blankly to see his girlfriend Emma brushing her hair in the doorframe. Pausing her motions, she asked "Who was it babe?" Louis relied "Simon Cowell", adding after Emma raised an eyebrow "he wants to reform the band for some kind of reunion."

They both looked at each other stunned, the silence stretching between them before Emma let out a low whistle, "Jesus, that's a bit out of the blue." Louis nodded and let out a hollow laugh which did nothing to relieve the tension in the room. Emma walked over and put her arms around him while Louis sat quietly trying to digest the information he'd just received.

His mind reeled as the gates of his memories opened and flooded his brain with images of the past. He hadn't spoken to anyone from his old life for ten years. Of course after the split, they had all tried to contact him but after a year or two of not responding they gave up. Harry had tried for a little longer, but Louis pushed away the thought of Harry, his name painful even now. He was suddenly overwhelmed and pushed Emma away, running for the bathroom.

Louis head pounded as he emptied his stomach and laid his head against the cold bathtub, his thoughts spinning. Emma fetched some water and followed him into the small room, smoothing his hair back from his sweaty forehead. She sat next to him on the tiled floor and rubbed his back soothingly.

Sitting by the bathtub with his head in his hands he told Emma the details of his phone call with Simon. The other four had already agreed and signed the contracts; there had been a campaign involving over 3 million fans to get them back together; the reunion process was going to be filmed and televised, ending with a reunion arena tour. All his expenses would be covered and there was a million pound paycheck at the end of it, if everything had been completed. If he dropped out part way, he would get nothing.

Emma blanched, "Three million people... Cameras... Newspapers... Tour... Bloody hell..." Louis gave her a wobbly smirk, "Hence the vomiting". They sat on their bathroom floor with their arms around each other in silence, processing the news. Thinking about fans, filming, paparazzi and fame made Louis feel queasy again and he vomited the remains of his stomach contents into the toilet.

Louis wondered to himself why he hadn't heard of this campaign, before ruefully realising that given that he hadn't used any form of social media since it all fucked up 10 years ago; and that all of his colleagues and friends had learned very quickly over the last decade not to mention anything about the band if they didn't want to be growled at, it wasn't that surprising that he hadn't heard anything.

He thought about what it would mean to be famous again, the lack of privacy, the crazed fans, the speculation, the betrayal. He had managed to live his life in near anonymity for nearly 10 years, relishing the quiet and the privacy after living in a goldfish bowl with every move and word scrutinised with the rest of One Direction for so long.

No one in his life really cared that he'd once been in a band, that he'd once been famous; people had learnt not to mention it, at least not around him. His mum still had the awards and platinum discs at home, but Louis had made her put them in the attic so they weren't on display, so that he wasn't reminded. As far as he knew, no one cared at all about the band, apart from occasional plays on nostalgic radio like Absolute Teens, and '10s club nights. That there were still fans at all surprised him, let alone three million of them.

After rinsing his mouth out and brushing his teeth, Emma made them both tea and they went to sit on the sofa to talk it through properly. Emma said softly, "A million pounds is a lot of money, it would really help your mum". Louis nodded, "Yeah, she'd kill me for giving up this opportunity". Jay had suffered a stroke a few years ago and couldn't work anymore. Her benefits didn't cover the cost of her care and she had started to get threatening letters from her mortgage company. Any money from the band days was long gone, and there was far less of it than anyone assumed. Louis had to surrender most of his assets and his writing credits to buy his way out of his contract, so he was left almost penniless after the split. Louis did his best to look after her, but he only had a call centre job, having been in One Direction at the time he would have normally gone to university.