Once in a Lifetime

Thirty-Nine.

Twelve months later

"Can you believe we've been together for two wonderful years?" Harry whispered, his head resting on Louis' shoulder as he stood behind his boyfriend, his arms around his waist. The past twelve months had been a whirlwind of work trips and new experiences. Harry had been excelling at his job as a physiotherapist and had even managed to do some work with some players from Chelsea FC, one of the biggest football clubs in London. Louis had been doing well too, his boss had recently given him a new client who was trying to qualify for Wimbledon, the British tennis tournament, and needed help to get his mind in the right space. They were both falling more and more in love with their jobs every day, and to be honest, with each other, too.

"I'm so glad I asked you to be my boyfriend," Louis smiled, turning his head slightly to kiss Harry's cheek. That was when Liam coughed loudly, reminding them that they weren't alone. Liam had been working hard at the restaurant, and for the past year he had been showing his boss that he was capable of being head chef one day. He had been helping with creating new dishes and had proved himself as someone who knew his way around the kitchen. A few months ago, he had started dating one of his colleagues, Rosie, and as soon as he introduced her to the group, she formed a quick friendship with Niall's girlfriend, Abigail. Speaking of Niall, he had been with Abi for over a year, and they had recently decided to move in together. That wasn't the biggest thing to happen in Niall's life though, as he had finally finished writing his album. He had already released a single six months ago, which managed to reach 29 in the charts thanks to his incredible team who had worked tirelessly to get him the recognition he deserved. Niall seemed to have quite a strong following already, but it still felt strange to hear his music on the radio or see fan pages dedicated to him on social media. Louis, Harry and Liam were so proud of everything he had achieved, and they knew that this album was destined for big things. That's why they were here, standing in the middle of a packed crowd, waiting for their best friend to take to the stage. His manager had set up an album release gig for his family, friends and fans to experience the music live before it was released to the general public. Suddenly, the lights dimmed, and Louis squealed in excitement. Niall walked onto the stage holding his guitar, his brown hair styled into a neat quiff as he smiled and waved at the people cheering for him.

"Hello, everyone! Thank you so much for coming to the release of my debut album. I'm so happy to see so many familiar faces tonight, especially my mum and dad, Maura and Bobby, who flew all the way from Ireland to be here. Right, let's get started. The first song is a song I wrote about nine months ago and it's called 'Black and White'." The band around Niall started playing as the audience cheered and clapped, only getting louder when Niall's beautiful voice filled the room. It was magical. For about two hours, Niall played every single song on his album, talking through the meaning behind each song and explaining to his fans why he had written it. There were a few songs about heartbreak, and although it could easily be depicted as romantic heartbreak, Louis knew that Niall had taken some of the emotions from when Zayn passed, and put them into his lyrics. It was an emotional night, and once Niall had thanked everyone for coming and had given Louis and Harry a special anniversary mention, they went backstage to find the ecstatic Irish lad.

"Oh my God, Niall, that was incredible!" Louis screamed, running up and jumping on Niall's back as he laughed.

"It felt amazing! Did you hear them singing some of the words back to me? Do you think they liked it?" he rambled, the sweat dripping from his forehead.

"100%, mate, everyone loved it!" Harry chipped in, hugging him once Louis had got off.

"We're so proud of you!" Liam announced, smiling from ear to ear. They spent the rest of the night at the after party, celebrating Niall's album and drinking until they couldn't remember how to get home. Niall's album actually debuted at number 32 on the album charts, an incredible achievement for someone who was still so new to the music industry. Everyone was so proud of him, and Niall couldn't have been happier for how things were going.