All These Lights

Suits

After an emotional goodbye -  tears shed and heart shattering cries of worry and dread from their mothers - the lads were escorted away from their families. They were ushered out of  a back door, keeping them hidden away from any photographers or journalists that may have been trying to grab an extra story.

Louis had never felt more pain in his life than when his smallest sisters had to be forcefully pulled off him, tears streaming down their faces as they had to watch him walk away, not knowing if he would return. Echoes of 'Don't go Lou - please stay Louis - let me come with you' made it so much harder for Louis to finally let go of their hands and turn to walk away like he knew he had too. 

Fuck, if he had known all those years ago that this moment would be this hard, he perhaps would never have pursued this career. He stayed quiet as they went, head low as they walked through the now silent corridors, his heart shattering still as they made their way out the back of  the space centre towards a huge warehouse -  the one that could be seen from their bungalow.

Louis was past the point of caring about his image as tears continued to stream down his face - trying to take deep breaths and focus on his breathing to keep himself from getting any more hysterical. As they walked, Liam put an arm around his shoulders.

'We will see them again mate - it's just  goodbye for now,' he said, pulling Louis in closer and ruffling his hair, causing him to smile a little through his heavy heart. 

'Thanks mate,' Louis muttered, feeling lucky he had these guys in his life,  lucky even if right now he didn't feel it. 

They were all quiet as they walked across the grounds, each of them thinking over the past hour and how their goodbyes had been so much harder than they had all expected. The sun was beaming down on them as they approached the warehouse, the humid Florida heat causing Louis to sweat profusely from the build up of anxiety and nerves. He let his mind wander over engineering details of the station and how its heat would be regulated, successfully distracting his mind from his family for a few short moments.

'You have a few moments to freshen up here, then we must get you all suited up,' said a woman who was dressed in a smart pant suit, hair pulled back tightly and a clipboard held at her front. She pointed her arm towards a small door that was just outside the huge warehouse with 'The John Glenn Room' was written on a plaque on the door. 'Someone will knock for you soon,' she said as she wandered away round the corner and into the warehouse where Louis knew they would be getting ready for their flight.

His mind was still a little frazzled, his heart still felt heavy and his reddened eyes stung as the last of his tears seemed to dry. All four of them entered the small room, there were no windows but the lights coming from a dresser in the corner were bright. A few bottles of water sat on a little coffee table next to a sofa and two armchairs. Current live coverage from NASA - going out across the world - was playing on a television screen and the volume was set quietly. It was like a dressing room and Louis realised it was a place for them to grab a few moments of calm to compose themselves - to get their heads in the game. 

Liam and Niall sat themselves down on the sofa, grabbing a water each and focusing on the coverage that was being fed to the world. 

'Look - that's a drone over us right now,' Niall laughed as himself and Liam began chattering together and trying to do their own commentary over the footage. Louis walked himself over to the back of the room, behind where Liam and Niall sat and leaned his back against the wall, closing his eyes and breathing deeply - the cold of the wall cooling his body down.

'Louis?' he heard Harry's voice as he opened his eyes and saw Harry looking at him, a concerned frown on his face.

'I'm okay,' Louis reassured him, 'Just trying to get excited for this mission again,'.