Don't Look Back - A Niam Horayne Love Story

Epilogue

Five years later, the five boys stood in the front and center of the Madison Square Garden stage. It was their fifth time selling out and playing at the venue, and they were just as excited as the first.

The jumped around and sang their hearts out just like they’d done all that time ago when they first were on The X-Factor. Their songs got the crowd involved, and the fans were screaming, crying, and getting low on oxygen. The beat pounded through the area, and even those who didn’t have tickets could hear most of the concert from outside. There were more people here to witness this exact concert than had been at any One Direction concert before.

This was the closing concert for their fourth album’s tour. The boys’ sound changed a little over the years, slowly becoming more live sounding and guitar- and drum-heavy. However, their fans still loved them and their music just as they had all throughout their careers. There were simply less of them at this point.

Everything good comes to an end at some point, and of course all five of them knew when they started that they were a boy band, and as such, their group career wouldn’t be extremely long. It had been a fun six and a half years, nearly seven, but the time was coming when they would have to say goodbye one last time.

It wasn’t until halfway through the concert that Harry could be seen with tears in his eyes. He had always been the most emotional of the boys, so it wasn’t surprising that he was the first to break. Soon the tears were streaming down his face uncontrollably, and his boyfriend had to move to his side and hold him close in hopes of the flow ebbing.

The next to cry was Zayn. He would miss the crowd of girls screaming his name, even if they could be quite annoying at times. Those times would include the middle of the night when he was trying to sleep or during the holidays with his family and girlfriend, but he knew that they were just showing how much they supported their favorite band, and that thought brought him to tears as he remembered what was to come.

Surprisingly, Liam was the next to break down. It wasn’t as bad as the other boys, but his eyes were no longer smiling and though he would never admit it, the corners of his eyes were glistening with salty tears. Niall wrapped him in a warm embrace and rested his head on his shoulder as Liam tried to be strong for the other boys and their thousands of fans that were watching.

Of course, Louis couldn’t resist it for long once his love was already sobbing. Soon he was bawling right along with Harry, reminiscing on the good old days when they didn’t have to worry about when their career was ending. His only regret was wishing that they had come out sooner and realized their love for each other, but there was nothing that could be done about it now.

He tried desperately to be the one holding it together, but Niall was indeed the next to fall. His embrace of Liam turned into a mutual comfort as silent tears ran down his cheeks, splotched red from the heat of the stage lights.  When all this was over, what would happen to them? He was going to miss his best friends when they weren’t around every day of every week, even if they did frustrate him sometimes when they refused to make him a meal or give him time alone with his boyfriend.

It wasn’t long until Josh was crying as well, seeing some of his best mates bawling. Then came the rest of the band, and their manager, and the cameramen, and soon enough the entire place was full of sniffing and sobbing. It was as if nobody had any control over their actions, the whole big group of them just screaming and crying and wondering why they were even crying in the first place.

The one to bring them back together was Liam, of course. Even in their last little bit together, he had to be the one in control. As the song ended and everyone collapsed in their lover or best friend’s embrace, he spoke up.