10 Years Later (Larry Stylinson)

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 to see his girlfriend, Emma, brushing her hair against the doorframe. her motions on hold, she asked, "Who was it, babe?" Louis replied, "Simon Cowell," adding after Emma raised an eyebrow, "he wants to reform the band for some type of reunion."

They both looked at each other stunned, 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 Louis while he sat quietly trying to digest the information he had just received.

His mind reeled as the gates of his memories opened and flooded his brain with images of his past. He hadn't spoken to anyone from his old life for ten years. Of course, after the spilt, they 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 him away. The thought of Harry, his name, is 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 partway, he would get nothing.

Emma blanched, "Three million people.. cameras.. newspapers.. tour.. bloody hell." Louis gave her a wobbly grin. "Hence the vomiting." They sat on their bathroom floor with their arms around each other in silence, processing the news. Thinking about the 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 realising that, given the fact 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 not to mention anything about the band, it wasn't 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 by the rest of One Direction for so long.

No one in his life cared that he'd once been in a band, that he'd once been famous; people had learned not to mention it, at least not around him. His mum still had the awards and platinum discs at home, but Louis 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 the occasional play on the radio. The fact that there were still fans around surprised him, let alone 3 million of them.

After rinsing his mouth 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 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 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 spilt. 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.