Letters To Harry

Epilogue

I pulled the visor of my cap down to cover my face. I had been getting a few odd looks, but was doing my best to ignore them. I was by myself, this wasn't something I could do with my wife and children. I walked along side of the quiet road as quickly as I could, shoes slipping on the thin layer of ice every few steps. I spared a glance up at the corner, noticing how dark the clouds were, threatening rain. The dark shop was only meters away now. I slipped through the door, noticing the dim lighting and shaded windows.

As I walked into the shop, a blast of cold air hit me in the face. The source of it was a small fan sat in the corner of the front room. I narrowed my eyes, squinting and trying to make out the shadowy figures behind the lamp positioned next to the fan. I caught my breath when one of them moved, coming close to me. I felt tears building up in my eyes as I watched the movements.

"Louis."

His name escaped my lips in a breathless gasp. Seconds later, I was envelopped in his familiar embrace, both of us sobbing into eachothers' shoulders. It had been too long since I'd been with him. I felt three other sets of arms fold around us both. Niall had his head buried in the crook of my neck and was shaking with tears. Liam was saying something made unintelligible by Zayn's arm which half covered his mouth. We didn't move apart, just far enough that we could all see eachothers' faces.

"After ten years, it's still the same." I commented, looking around the tight circle. Niall let out a choked laugh, pulling me towards him for another hug. "I've missed you so much..."

"Trust me Hazza," I almost started crying again when Louis used his old nickname for me, "I've missed all of you more!"

Liam shook his head, smiling. I noticed he'd grown his hair out again, it was almost as long as it had been when we'd first met.

"Still have to be the best, huh Lou?" He joked.

I looked up at Zayn again and felt my heart drop. He was smiling, but I could see the pain in his eyes. I reached out to him, placing a hand on his arm.

"I'm so sorry, Zayn." I said softly, wishing my words could help. "I wish I could have been there for you."

The half smile slipped from his face and he let Liam pull him slightly away and hug him separately. Louis, Niall and I watched them, just holding each other while Zayn quietly cried in Liam's arms. If I could have taken his place...well, I couldn't even imagine if that had happened to me.

"She's safe now," Liam whispered, the shop was so quiet that we all heard, "You know that, right? And she would want you to be happy."

Niall managed to detach Zayn from Liam and fit him into his own arms. Where Zayn had let his inner emotions flood through with Liam, he seemed to be healing while Niall held him. The smile slowly returned, but his eyes remained sad.

"Why did we wait this long?" Louis asked from beside me. None of us could answer that question. Things happened, things that affected us in a way that made us need time off from One Direction, again and again.

"At least we're together now." Liam stated, matter-of-fact just like old times. "And we will be for a long while, I hope."

"Definitely!" Niall exclaimed, looking horrified at any other option there might be. "I don't wanna be away from you guys like that ever again...even for a month. It doesn't feel right."

We all nodded in agreement. The saddest part was that we'd barely seen each other since that day ten years ago, when we'd decided to take a 'short break' and had mostly found out about what was going on with each other through media. For the first couple of months we'd done our best to keep in contact ; calling eachother, texting, Skype or facetiming, but it hadn't lasted. We'd gotten so busy that we had stopped trying, almost stopped caring about what went on with the others.