United We Live

Epilogue

The boys hovered around the back of the coffee shop.

"So this has been it, that's the story so far up till this point, Niall," Liam explained wrapping up. "All this time, we thought, well, we had no idea what to think. Most of the time all of us just seemed to go from one thing to the next."

The blonde Irishman sat quietly in his booth, his coffee long forgotten as he absorbed everything they had said in the past several hours.

He was picking at his fingernails quietly, well aware that their eyes followed every movement he did.

"I'm so sorry," He whispered, eventually breaking eye contact with his hands to look at them each.

"You have nothing to apologize for Nialler, but we beg of you, please. What happened? What happened that night? We've been trying to piece it all together, but there is still so much we still don't understand."

There was silence that fell over their small little secluded booth as they all observed the fifth member of their band. It was obvious that he didn't want to talk, and had resumed scratching at the wood surface of the table.

"I'd rather not tell you. Not now. Not after everything I just heard, you guys need a break from all of this."

The teens protested without hesitation.

"Niall, I swear if you don't tell us-"Louis threatened, his eyes exhausted and weary.

"Okay, okay! It's just-don't forget it's just as hard to tell my side of the story as yours was," Niall heaved a deep breath.

"If you need to stop, go ahead, but please Niall."

The blonde nodded.

"I suppose my story starts just a little before Harry woke up...right with the first strike of lightening..."

0o0

Thump.

Thump. Thump.

Thud.

Niall shifted on the couch, reaching for the remote of the television to turn the volume down, listening intently to the noise that had distracted him.

The other boys had long since gone to bed, having been exhausted from the concert prior to the evening. He knew they would need to get up early the next morning to continue recording tracks in the bus for the next album, but for some reason he was feeling restless.

Typically, when people questioned him, Niall was quick to tell them that he got the crankiest out of the group with lack of sleep, which always resulted in him trying to go to bed at a reasonable time. So imagine the other boy's surprise when they found Niall set to stay on the couch continuing to watch the television blankly instead of retiring to his bunk.

He had informed them he wasn't really tired yet, and would likely fall asleep out here watching some movie, and not to be worried about him.

At one point, Niall did slip back into the bunk area, accidently waking Harry who was the lightest sleeper of them as a group. He figured the other teen would just assume he had finally come to bed, but in reality, Niall had just grabbed an extra pillow and slipped back out.

Now, Niall had a theory as to why he was so restless.

A thunderstorm seemed to be brewing outside, and for some reason Niall had always had trouble sleeping when there was thunder. Not that he was terrified; just some odd part of his brain couldn't seem to find sleep when there was rain pounding against the side of the bus.