Don't Forget Where You Belong

Chapter 1: Shooting The Shit

As the usual music to begin a typical concert from back in the day was cued up through the chatter on his in-ear, Louis felt the nerves turn the blood in his veins ice cold. What had he been thinking? It had all been a bit of a lark, a laugh in the beginning to get back together and begin stuffing around.

*

Liam had wistfully begun reminiscing after they caught up at Louis' own documentary premiere in London. He had left his PR piece back at the cinema in the capable hands of a minder, and accompanied Louis to the casino and the private bar that had been rented.

Finding that he was in the best mood he had been in for months, Liam followed Louis and his family back to Louis' London house for an after-after party. Long after Louis' sisters had gone to bed, it was just the two of them on the couch in the large lounge room, having a heart to heart.

"Nah man, those were the days. I haven't felt a high like it ever since." He mused, bringing the glass to his lips to take another sip. "I mean, I know it was all sorts of fucked up. I... I know I wasn't in a good place Lou. And, I selfishly relied on you too much." At Louis' protest at this, Liam raised a hand, showing he wanted to continue, had more to say.

"I did. I was in a dark place, and the suits wouldn't acknowledge that I needed help. You did though. The water fights? Man, you shouldn't have had to work so hard to keep me alive." Liam caught Louis' gaze.

Louis shrugged. "It's whatever. Anyone would do it for a friend, Li."

"No," Liam protested. "Lou, I know you had so much going on back then. Closeting. Fighting the suits every step of the way for you and Harry. The whole kid-thing. Your mum. Fuck, all of the family issues. Dealing with a beard." He huffed, obviously thinking of his own predicament with Kate, his newest beard. Had they only known the extent of the contracts they were all signing when they signed with Syco so many years ago...

"Liam, for fucks sake. I wasn't going to let anything happen to you. I love you. I loved the band. You all changed my life- did you not watch my fucking documentary?" Louis gave him a small smile that made the corners of his eyes crinkle.

Liam huffed another bitter laugh. "I did. I haven't stopped gushing about it, you dickhead. I just.. where did it all go so wrong?" he mused.

"Zayn.. he wasn't happy. Or healthy. That was the beginning of the end, Li. Doing it without him was... empty."

Liam levelled Louis with a look. "You're fucking telling me," he said, smaller than before. "I know it was empty. Weird. We had it all, onstage. We went from fucking the highs of San Siro, Madison Square Garden, the O2 Arena.. to being separated at every turn because the people who were supposed to look after us, who we trusted, couldn't deal with who we were and what we wanted. You and Harry nearly broke because of it... Zayn and I did break... he stopped eating, I started drinking.. and Niall.." Liam sighed. "Even Ni lost his spark. That's when I knew it was fatal, Lou. When the fucking eternal optimist lost his shine, there was no denying it anymore."

"Yeah, but Niall's ok now, so don't go getting all fucked up about that." Louis placated.

"Yeah, yeah I know. I was talking to him the other day. He sent me a few songs he had written for his new album?" Liam was looking around the lounge, taking in all of the platinum album memorabilia on the walls, the Brit awards, the MTV and Aria awards on the mantle. "He thought I might have wanted to use some, maybe, said they didn't fit his new vibe. I looked them over, they're pretty good actually." Liam shrugged as he took another sip from his glass.

Sipping his own vodka and red bull, Louis made a small noise as a gesture for Liam to go on. Obviously he had a point he would get to, eventually.

"They're the type of song we were looking for when we did Made in the AM." Liam said, not looking at Louis. Steadfastly keeping his eyes on the mantelpiece, he continued on. "Do you ever wish we toured that album?"