The Reunion

"She's good."

"No, Louis."

"Why, I don't fucking need therapy, it's not going to change my hatred towards the fucker," He exclaims.

Simon sighs from his seat, "Louis, we cannot possibly move forward if two out of the five members in a band are at odds."

"We fucking did it for it for half of 2015, until the big break in 2016," he reminds him.

"And you did a better job then. I mean, you can obviously see the the Hollywood report that was done on you two!"

Louis only folds his arms and looks the other way in annoyance. Zayn had told him before he thought of some weird shit to talk it out with Simon. Clearly the Bradford lad didn't remember this man was impossible to compromise with.

"No therapy or I leave the band."

"You can't just threaten to leave the band every time you don't get something your way."

Louis tilts his head, "Oh, but can't I?"

Simon drags a hand across his face, "This is why we need contracts."

"You lost that option with the way things ended before."

Simon forms a tight line with his lips but nods. He sighs, "You're still going to therapy."

"Fuck off."

....................................................................................

"You all have been coming to this group therapy for three days now," Dr. Riley says near the end of their session. "Would you like to know what I've gathered?"

Everyone nods around the room. "Well," she rises from her seat on the small cushioned couch across from them to her desk. She places the notebook in her hand on the desk and looks back up at the five. "None of you feel quite comfortable sharing much with me. I can understand that, we've only known each other for a short time, but something tells me it's not the only reason."

"What would be the other reason?"

"Well, Liam. I don't think any of you are comfortable sharing your private thoughts around each other," she takes a seat at her desk and folds her arms, looking intently at the boys. She notices Harry glancing off to the window with his brows furrowed indicating he's thinking.

Niall cleared his throat and was looking to everyone else around him, "I'm an open book, so couldn't be me."

Dr. Riley smiles at that, "Especially you Niall." This came as shock to everyone in the room.

"Me?"

She nods, "I feel you know some things within the group, everyone trusts and is comfortable enough around you. You also have strong opinions on them, but you can't discuss it. Why, I wondered. Maybe you don't want to put anyone on the spot?"

Niall scoffs, and shifts uncomfortably, "No, no I don't. Not me."

"Let me tell you all why I think that," she says walking back over to her previous seat. "Niall seems like the safe zone for everyone in the group. Everyone in the room has spoken to Niall with words meant for another."

"What do you mean by that?" Zayn questioned.

"There are problems within this group," she starts.

"Obviously, that's why we're forced here," Louis mutters.

She decides to ignore his comment but notices Harry's eye roll. "There are layers to this problem and Niall seems to be the glue holding everything together. Liam and Harry never directly speak to each other. What's the issue with you two?"