Rekindled

The Boys

Once they all had their drinks and little plates of snacks-or a large, over-piled up plate in Niall's case-they all sort of stood awkwardly in the kitchen for a few seconds before Zayn and Harry said at the same time:

"Maybe we should go out back" (Z)

"Let's eat outside" (H)

The other three shared a knowing look while the two men glanced at each other, Zayn smirking slightly before catching himself, and Harry letting out a nervous huff of breath before leading the way out to the patio, leading the boys out despite the fact that this wasn't even his house.

Harry walked over to the  outdoor couches rather than the actual table set up on the other side of the patio, and just sort of stood there, waiting for the others to choose their seats. Zayn sat first in a chair at the far end of the grouping with the unlit firepit in front of him. Liam sat on the couch closest to Zayn, with Niall and Louis settling in the other two spots beside him. This left Harry the option of the love seat directly across from the three lads but beside Zayn, or the single chair directly opposite Zayn.  He chose the lesser of the two evils in his mind and gracefully lowered himself into the single chair directly across from his ex-lover, trying to act as if this wasn't affecting him in a much stronger way than the others.

Zayn and Harry caught each other's eyes briefly as they each chanced a glance across the fire pit to admire their former lover, and friend. Zayn blushed and looked back down quickly, taking a sip from his glass as Harry cleared his throat and popped a piece of kiwi into his mouth.

"Alright lads, let's just get on with it shall we," Liam started after catching the exchange between two of his best mates.  He knew it must be awkward as hell for the two of them, even more so than it was for everyone else. Way back when, he had been the first to find out about their 'more-than-friendship', as he had been super close to both of them when it all started. He couldn't believe it when Zayn had first told him about wanting to get everyone together to squash all of the negativity and try to start fresh, for their sake as individuals as well as a possible future for the band-whether that included him or not.

Everyone looked pointedly at Zayn, waiting for him to announce his intentions behind this gathering. "Right, erm, okay," he said, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand as he struggled with how exactly to start out. "I've not practiced a speech or anything, I guess I should have, but I know first and foremost, I want to apologize to you all." He looked at each of the boys individually, around the circle, landing lastly on Harry's face, watching him take a deep breath before raising his eyes to meet Zayn's.

"I don't necessarily regret my actions, because it was something I really needed to do for myself, for my health-physically and mentally. I definitely could have handled it better though, I'll admit that. I truly regret whatever part my leaving may have played in creating any tension between you guys leading up to the hiatus." He coughed quickly once, then twice before continuing. 

"More than anything I just needed to make sure you all knew how I felt about that, and wanted you to know that I am in a much better place now. The only thing that I think could improve my life at the moment, is knowing that if nothing else comes from this get together, that we're all on good terms. We were best friends, brothers at one point in our lives. Sure we don't have the most in common, but it worked well then, who's to say it couldn't work even better now that we're all more mature and better equipped to handle all the shit life throws at us?" He's visibly trying to control his emotion at this point, but the guys can tell he's on the verge of tears; this obviously means a lot to him, it's not just some publicity stunt or scheme he's thought up. Not that the boys necessarily thought that was the case, however Louis had brought it up when the invitation had first been extended. It had been on everyone's mind since then.

Zayn took a deep breath, and then exhaled with an awkward laugh, "So yeah, I guess that's why I invited you all here."

"So you're not just trying to get back into the band then?", Niall said rather seriously, then fell into a fit of laughter after seeing Zayn's appalled look. "Just kidding mate, we know you're not like that," he said, standing up to reach over and fist bump Zayn.

"Well you've obviously got Liam and Niall in your pocket already, but I won't lie, I'm still on the fence. I accept your apology, and I'm glad you're in a better place, but given our history specifically, I'm holding off on coming to an immediate conclusion. Surely you understand," Louis said as he took a drink from his nearly empty glass.

"Fair enough, and if it means anything at all, I will accept my part in that whole Twitter thing, and I apologize to you directly for that," Zayn offered, reaching out a hand-which Louis accepted-for a quick handshake.

Everyone's gaze fell on Harry after that, as he had been quiet during all of this. Everyone knew the nature of his relationship with Zayn had been different than theirs, more intense, so naturally it would take longer to process all of this for the both of them.