Larry Stylinson One-Shots

#41 (Special One-Shot)

Title: ...And Then There Were Four by RaspberryKites on AO3

Summary: Not given

Work Count: 2,465

~

Despite the screams that could still be heard from behind the curtains, the silence was deafening backstage. There was no encore. Those songs had already been sung and now the five boys were finished for the night.

Well, 4 of them for the night anyway.

Bottles of water were given and towels shared around, the entire venue still alive behind them, only slightly dulled from the intensity but it didn't seem to be dying down any time soon.

Really, Hong Kong is a beautiful and passionate place, especially for the band. For the five brothers who had just sung their hearts out in front of thousands of people in this country so far away from home. Hundreds upon thousands of miles away and yet it still felt warm, it still felt like they belonged there singing the lyrics they have engraved into their minds and repeatedly sing now. The same setlist only expanding as album by album is released. The same songs they poured everything into, poured their entire souls and spirits and late night drinking games into. Yeah, 5 years of this. 5 years of 5 boys being closer than friends. Closer than brothers, 5 years of madness

5 years of home.

None of the boys spoke as they headed to their dressing rooms and as a result no one else dared to make a sound. It was almost as if they'd requested this beforehand, whatever this is, but regardless, silence right now was golden.

Both the youngest and eldest of the 5 headed into one of the rooms, the other 3 going to their own separate ones. It felt wrong and Harry could help but hesitate behind Louis. The other boys had already entered their rooms but the words written on the door across the hall shook him, hurt him more than any tattoo ever could.

Zayn Malik, One Direction

It hurt just to look at.

"Harry, love?" Louis murmured silently into their shared dressing room. The younger of the two quickly turned away and silently walked back over to his boyfriend. Grabbing at the elders hand, they withdrew.

-

Niall couldn't keep still.

He could feel it, he could feel the stress and anxiety effecting his head and his heart simultaneously but no matter how much water he drank or how many deep breaths he took his foot and hands couldn't keep still.

Tonight was it. Tonight was the end of so many things, so many memories and no one asides from the few who knew about the shit their management was doing to them understood why the silence was so thick. It hadn't even been discussed yet but he knew. They all knew. They could tell by the way the dark haired boy had acted on stage. They could tell by the tone of his voice and the way he addressed the crowd. He knew, they all knew. It comes with being brothers, you see. Being as close as they were, but still. This wasn't something that could be fixed quickly. This wasn't something that was going to go away as the media got bored of the subject and Justin Bieber fucked something up again. No, this was going to effect them forever.

Like losing a brother.

"Fuck," he sighed, legs still bouncing as he stood up and ran a shaky hand through his hair. "fuck."

-

"Harry, dear? Do you want some tea? Tea fixes everything." Louis all but breathed into his boyfriends hair, the joke perhaps a little pathetic but hey at least he tried. The other boy collapsed onto the sofa in a fit of hiccupy tears as soon as he was finished staring at Zayns door. He was heartbroken and Louis could tell why straight away. That's not to say he wasn't also upset, of course he was, but Harry was taking this extremely hard.