seasons of love | Narry Storan AU

chapter 36

2032

"Kids, I want the two of you to look up", Louis Tomlinson says, laying down next to Chloe and Taylor Horan, children of his best friend. "I want you to look at the stars and try to imagine what they're made of."

"We studied this topic at school once, Lou", Chloe says, "I don't know what you're trying to do, but we've done it before."

"I don't want you to think about it in a realistic way. I want you to imagine what the stars are made of, not just remember what teachers told you so", he shrugs, still lying down in the grass of the Horan's backyard.

"White matter?" Taylor wonders out loud.

"Dead stars?" His sister shares another thought.

"Dead stars is actually a good answer", Louis smiles at her. "The stars we see right now have been dead for a very long time, but I think you already know it. This always amazes me, somehow. We see the past right above our heads, but most of us have no idea of this."

"Lou." 

"Yes, Taylor?"

"What you're trying to say is that Harry is dead? Like, you know, a star?"

"Louis, for God's sake, you're just making this more confusing than it already is." 

Niall's voice comes out of the door, and his serene figure shows up in the yard, with Liam right behind him. There are no tears left on his face. His hands hold each other in front of his body, and he looks up at the sky just like his children are doing at the moment. Before Louis can say anything, Liam makes a gesture to him, indicating that it's time to stay silent until Niall feels ready.

In about a minute, all of them are gathered in the yard. Liam Payne is the only one still sitting at the grass, while the other four people lay down on it. The silence feels haunting for Niall Horan, but he knows it's time. He cannot hold it any longer than that.

"After Harry and I got married, we were headed to our honeymoon. A trip to California. It was supposed to be the best thing ever. We were in love. True love." He starts telling that damned story. "I had even worked out the details so that I could officially adopt you both as our children. We were living the happiest moment of our lives then."

"And we were about to get married, too", Liam shares his part on the story, trying to make everyone laugh, which he succeeds at it.

"Yeah, that was epic", Niall smiles at the thought of it. "So we went to California. Amazing 30 days there. We had lots of love-making, if you know what I mean, and we just... enjoyed ourselves. It was perfect. It was supposed to end in the most perfect way, too. Until our ride back home."

He inhales. He exhales. He closes his eyes. The memory feels vivid in his mind.

"Harry was driving. I had insisted I should drive on the way back to New York, since I was the one who drove us to California, too. But, no. He was stubborn enough to allow himself to drive."

Louis holds his best friend's hand, just like Liam does, too.

"We didn't see the truck coming. The truck also shouldn't be on that side of the road, so we were not wrong there. The shock was really fast, but the consequences haunt me to this very day." Niall opens his eyes, but instead of looking at his friends or at his kids, he stares at the wooden table at the yard. "I recovered faster than him from the wounds. He woke up three months after me. But when Harold woke up... he couldn't remember. Me. The college times. Us. Our love. He couldn't remember us or anyone he met after high school."

He ends up the sentence with tears falling down his eyes again.

"He still does not remember us", the older Horan tearfully admits, "and I knew it was useless to fight for this. So I gave up. I let him go. I realized I'm not part of his life anymore, so I left. I came back to Bobby's house until I could build a career to myself."

"Those times were the darkest for all of us", Louis consoles his friend while talking to Chloe and Taylor Horan. "I dropped everything to help Niall at the time. Liam made his own career and then helped us, too. We were willing to elevate your father to the top, if it means he could move on from that situation. It was terrible, but we had help from many people and, basically, this is how Niall Horan found strength to become the famous singer you have as your dad right now."

"And I wouldn't have done it without you, Lou", Niall is still crying. "You know that."

Chloe stands up from the grass and hugs her father from behind; Taylor also runs to Niall's arms, hugging him from the front. Louis lays his head down on Niall's left shoulder. Liam does the same with his right shoulder. Suddenly, they're all there, just holding each other, holding on to each other.

Because this is what they've been doing for the past sixteen years. They've been a family.