If I could fly (BOOK 2)

Heavy

The studio was quiet in a way that felt intentional.

Not awkward. Not tense.

Just... heavy.

The lights were still on, but none of the microphones were. Guitars leaned untouched against amps. Empty coffee cups crowded the table like evidence of how long they'd been avoiding this conversation.
They sat in a loose circle-no hierarchy, no frontman energy. Just four people who'd grown up together.
Louis broke the silence first.

"We need to stop pretending we don't all feel it," he said, arms crossed, jaw tight. "This doesn't feel like a normal break."

Harry looked at him, then at the others.

Liam nodded slowly. "I've been thinking the same thing. Every time we talk about the future, it's... different."

Niall rubbed the back of his neck. "Doesn't mean it's bad. Just means it's not what it was."

Harry finally spoke. "I don't want us to resent this. Or each other. I don't want it to turn sour."

Louis exhaled. "Then maybe we call it what it is."

"A hiatus," Liam said carefully. "Publicly."

Niall tilted his head. "But privately... we know."

No one disagreed.
That was the moment it settled.
Louis leaned forward. "Fans don't need to hear the word permanent. Not yet."

"They don't deserve to feel abandoned," Liam added. "We give them time."

"And music," Niall said. "Something to hold onto."

Harry nodded. "An album."

Louis smiled faintly. "Made in the A.M."

"That feels right," Harry said.

"November thirteenth," Liam said, already thinking ahead. "We've talked about that date before."

Niall let out a breath. "Soon. But doable."

Louis drummed his fingers on the table. "And one last show."

The room went still again.

"One last," Harry echoed.

"Halloween," Niall said suddenly.

Everyone turned to him.

"October thirty-first," Niall continued. "It feels... symbolic. A closing night."

Liam blinked. "That's the day after-"

"Darcy's birthday," Harry finished quietly.

No one spoke for a moment.

"She'll turn one on October thirtieth," Harry said. "The day before."

Louis watched him carefully. "You alright with that?"

Harry nodded without hesitation. "I'll be there for her birthday. I won't miss it. Then I'll go out there and give the fans everything I have left."

Liam leaned back, swallowing hard. "One last night. Together."

"One last night," Niall repeated.

Louis nodded once. "Then we do it right."

They didn't celebrate. They didn't mourn.

They sat there in the studio that had raised them, realizing they were choosing how this ended-together.

Not because it was falling apart.

But because it was time.

Later that night, Harry stood in Darcy's doorway at home, watching her sleep.

She curled on her side now, knees tucked in, fist gripping the edge of her blanket like she already knew how to hold onto things.

"One year," he whispered. "You have no idea."

Y/N stepped up beside him, resting her head against his shoulder. "They decide?"

"We all did," he said. "Together."

She smiled softly. "That matters."

"August fifteenth," he continued. "November thirteenth. Halloween."

She absorbed it quietly. "The day after her birthday."

"Yeah."

She wrapped her arms around his waist. "That's a lot."

Harry nodded. "But it feels honest."

He leaned down, kissing Darcy's hair through the crib bars, then turned back to Y/N.

"No one's walking away," he said. "We're just choosing what comes next."

She met his gaze. "And you're not doing it alone."

Outside, the world was still loud. Still waiting.

But inside, everything that mattered was here-awake, asleep, changing, and chosen.