seasons of love | Narry Storan AU

chapter 35.

2032

"Of course I said yes", Niall Horan blurts out, making his two kids jump in their beds just for the celebration. "You didn't think I was gonna say no, right?"

"Of course not", Chloe jokes. 

She indeed thought this was a possibility, because she knows how fearful of everything her father can be sometimes. She knows her father and she knows this particular trait of his personality, the one that fears everything and everyone.

Chloe Horan just chooses not to mock him for that because she feels like that too, sometimes.

"So, if you said yes to Harry back then..." Taylor Horan, his other kid, is willing to take the next step in the storytelling. "Tell me... why is he not here and now?"

Niall gulps after listening to Taylor's words. He was not ready for this part. He was expecting to reveal them the other stages of their relationship first.

The blossoming romance between Harold and him. 

The first "I love you" he said. 

The first "I love you" Harry said.

Their graduation at the NYU.

Their long and numerous nights of amazing love that shouldn't be described to kids like Chloe and Taylor.

The moment when Harry got down on his knees and asked for Niall's hand.

The moment when Niall said "yes".

The moment when they got married with all of their friends gathered along at the backyard of Niall's dad's home.

He has been thinking about telling all those things to his children for a very long time. He wanted them to know that the love he felt for Harry Styles was genuine. The smile he kept on his face until the point of the story when he became Harry's boyfriend, however, dies with Taylor's question.

"Taylor..." He stutters, trying to find the right words to say. "I have to... I have to make a call."

Niall runs from the kids' bedroom, trying to save his tears for later, when he goes to bed and nobody is watching him. However, he feels himself crying to the point of hiccups when he dials Louis' number.

"Hey, Heineken."

"I need help."

He locks himself in the guests' bathroom. Chloe bangs on the door numerous times, but she gets no answer from that. She wants to help him. 

Taylor is panicking. He believes he was the one who made Niall suffer from an anxiety attack — he's been aware of his father's struggles with this for quite some time. He cries out of self-guilt. The situation seems to get worse at every minute that passes on, until Louis's spare key unlocks the house's main door and he comes up, with Liam on his back.

"Where is him?" He yells, not caring about anything else than to find his best friend.

Chloe is the one who points out the bathroom, and Lou bangs on the door harder than Chloe had done minutes before.

"Niall, it's me. Open it."

It takes 30 seconds, but Niall opens the door. His eyes are red, his face looks terrible and he's still sobbing, which is enough for the Tomlinson man to lift Niall's body from the floor and pull him intro a tight hug.

"I'm here, Niall, don't worry. I'm here", Louis whispers into his ears. "You're safe now. Think about something good. Think about your kids. Think about your friends. Think about your songs. Think about the people who love these songs. Think about the difference you've made in the world."

Lou always tells him those words when he needs to hear it. Niall's anxiety condition has worsened with time, and only a few people manage to calm him down when this kind of thing happens. Louis and Liam are some of them. This is why they're always with Niall when he goes out on a tour; they're not just his friends — they are his family, his support when he needs them.

Talk about Harry's fate is something only they are able to do with Niall.

"I don't know how to tell them", the older Horan at the house finally says something. "I don't know how to tell them, Louis."

"Niall."

"They want to know. They need to know. And still I don't have strength for that."

"Niall."

"I failed as a father."

"Don't you ever say that again", Liam overhears the conversation and pulls Niall away from Lou's hug, willing to encourage him. "You have amazing kids who love you no matter what. You didn't fail as a father just 'cause you don't know how to face something that is out of everybody's control. Harry is not here, but this is not your fault, Niall. It never was."

"What does uncle Liam mean with that?" Chloe asks, before measuring the consequences of what she just said.

"Go with them to the yard", Liam says to his partner, "I'll take care of him and then we can all talk about it."